Methods of Research Design

By Rebeca Renata, eHow Contributor

There are many details involved in the design of a research project. Research designs are used to investigate a specific question or hypothesis. The hypothesis is a prediction of what the researcher expects to find and helps guide the researcher in choosing the types of methods that are used. Researchers generally choose from a few basic types of research designs or methods to find the one that best fits the question or topic they are investigating.

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1. Functions
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The goal of most research studies is to find the relationship between two things or variables. A hypothesis is a statement that makes a prediction about how one thing -- the independent variable -- will be related to another -- the dependent variable. Research methods reflect the best way to find this relationship, for instance, through an experiment or a descriptive study. Experiments are ways to control certain factors in order to look specifically at the relationship between two variables and can help the researcher to discover causality. In contrast, descriptive studies simply observe and describe a phenomenon as it is, without the process of experimenting.

Types

A pre-experimental or non-experimental design is a method that looks at a single group, without the researcher comparing it to any other groups. In contrast, a quasiexperimental design is one in which different groups are compared, using an experiment; however, the groups are not randomized. Finally, an experimental research design is a method in which at least two groups are used, one of which is a control group. A control group is a group that is not given any treatment during the experiment. Also, for a true experimental design, subjects are selected at random and, therefore, the results can be generalized.
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Features

Pre-experimental designs are flawed in that they do not compare two groups and do not use control groups; that is, groups that do not receive the treatment. They can be good for learning about a phenomenon but cannot predict a causal relationship. Quasiexperimental designs have greater validity because they do employ comparison groups, and can show a difference between the groups. However, these methods do not use randomization and, therefore, the results cannot be generalized. The use of a true experimental design is the only way that a prediction about or relationship between two variables can be truly confirmed or disproved.

Considerations
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While experimental research methods, also known as quantitative research methods, are best in making a prediction about the relationship between two variables, there are qualitative research methods that can also be beneficial for some types of studies. These methods are good for openly exploring a topic

about which little is known, and understanding subjective information, such as the individual experiences of people. Qualitative research methods include case studies, participant observation, interviewing and survey research.

PART I WHAT IS RESEARCH DESIGN? 1 THE CONTEXT OF DESIGN Before examining types of research designs it is important to be clear about the role and purpose of research design. We need to understand what research design is and what it is not. We need to know where design ts into the whole research process from framing a question to nally analysing and reporting data. This is the purpose of this chapter. Description and explanation Social researchers ask two fundamental types of research questions: 1 What is going on (descriptive research)? 2 Why is it going on (explanatory research)? Descriptive research Although some people dismiss descriptive research as `mere description', good description is fundamental to the research enterprise and it has added immeasurably to our knowledge of the shape and nature of our society. Descriptive research encompasses much government spon-

sored research including the population census, the collection of a wide range of social indicators and economic information such as household expenditure patterns, time use studies, employment and crime statistics and the like. Descriptions can be concrete or abstract. A relatively concrete description might describe the ethnic mix of a community, the changing age prole of a population or the gender mix of a workplace. Alternativelythe description might ask more abstract questions such as `Is the level of social inequality increasing or declining?', `How secular is society?' or `How much poverty is there in this community?' Accurate descriptions of the level of unemployment or poverty have historically played a key role in social policy reforms (Marsh, 1982). By demonstrating the existence of social problems, competent description can challenge accepted assumptions about the way things are and can provoke action. Good description provokes the `why' questions of explanatory research. If we detect greater social polarization over the last 20 years (i.e. the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer) we are forced to ask `Why is this happening?' But before asking `why?' we must be sure about the fact and dimensions of the phenomenon of increasing polarization. It is all very well to develop elaborate theories as to why society might be more polarized now than in the recent past, but if the basic premise is wrong (i.e. society is not becoming more polarized) then attempts to explain a non-existent phenomenon are silly. Of course description can degenerate to mindless fact gathering or what C.W. Mills (1959) called `abstracted empiricism'. There are plenty

of examples of unfocused surveys and case studies that report trivial information and fail to provoke any `why' questions or provide any basis for generalization. However, this is a function of inconsequential descriptions rather than an indictment of descriptive research itself. Explanatory research Explanatory research focuses on why questions. For example, it is one thing to describe the crime rate in a country, to examine trends over time or to compare the rates in different countries. It is quite a different thing to develop explanations about why the crime rate is as high as it is, why some types of crime are increasing or why the rate is higher in some countries than in others. The way in which researchers develop research designs is fundamentally affected by whether the research question is descriptive or explanatory. It affects what information is collected. For example, if we want to explain why some people are more likely to be apprehended and convicted of crimes we need to have hunches about why this is so. We may have many possibly incompatible hunches and will need to collect information that enables us to see which hunches work best empirically. Answering the `why' questions involves developing causal explanations. Causal explanations argue that phenomenon Y (e.g. income level) is affected by factor X (e.g. gender). Some causal explanations will be simple while others will be more complex. For example, we might argue that there is a direct effect of gender on income (i.e. simple gender discrimination) (Figure 1.1a). We might argue for a causal chain, such as that gender affects choice of eld of training which in turn affects

2 WHAT IS RESEARCH DESIGN?occupational options, which are linked to opportunities for promotion, which in turn affect income level (Figure 1.1b). Or we could posit a more complex model involving a number of interrelated causal chains (Figure 1.1c). Prediction, correlation and causation People often confuse correlation with causation. Simply because one event follows another, or two factors co-vary, does not mean that one causes the other. The link between two events may be coincidental rather than causal. There is a correlation between the number of re engines at a re and the amount of damage caused by the re (the more re engines the more damage). Is it therefore reasonable to conclude that the number of re engines causes the amount of damage? Clearly the number of re engines and the amount of damage will both be due to some third factor such as the seriousness of the re. Similarly, as the divorce rate changed over the twentieth century the crime rate increased a few years later. But this does not mean that divorce causes crime. Rather than divorce causing crime, divorce and crime rates might both be due to other social processes such as secularization, greater individualism or poverty. Income level Gender a) Direct causal relationship Gender

Field of training Occupation Promotion opportunities Income level b) Indirect causal relationship: a causal chain c) A more complex causal model of direct and indirect causal links Gender Child-care responsibility Occupation Part time or full time work Income level Field of training Figure 1.1 Three types of causal relationships THE CONTEXT OF DES