Research Design Classification

Reasearch Design Methods After we could define our research problems clearly,
the next step we will do is formulating research design. This step is ultimately
important as research design actually will be our detail guideline in conducting
research project. Research design contains all required procedures in gaining
information needed toanswer our problems. If research approach is
research guideline in a brief, thus research design will be our procedures in detail
form to answer research problems.
In general, there are two main forms of research design: exploratory research design
and conclusive research design. Conclusive research design is familiar known as
quantitative research approach, while exploratory is known as qualitative research.

A. Exploratory Research Design

Exploratory research design is mainly aimed to explore or to gain a new or deeper
understanding about particular problem. It is inappropriate to examine correlation
between observed variables, since the variables in exploratory research commonly
have not yet been defined. And, in exploratory researchers usually use more flexible
and using unstructured questions in the measurement tools.
When should we use exploratory research?
Researchers usually use this research design for several purposes:

To help define research problems more clearly

Many companies sometimes want to research their products, but they have no
idea what should be measured from their products. They still are unable to
cover what problems inherit their products. However, to be able to get the best
solution we must understand what problems we face, so that they need to
conduct a qualitative research in order to figure out any problems they are
facing now. They can hold a focus group discussion or in-depth interview with
some customers to gain all information from their point of view.

To help identify all possible alternative answers.

Assume that your company is facing two alternative decisions for your
promotion and marketing programs. You need to decide whether the program
will be focused on above the line or below the line events. To choose the right
decision you may need to conduct interview with some experts or your
respondents. From that activity you can gain any opinions to be considered for
your decision.

To help researchers build a deeper hypothesis.

Hypotheses are temporary allegation of the answer for research questions. A
good hypothesis should consider various factors that affect on the observed
variables. However, in fact we sometimes face a condition where the available
theoretical framework is not enough to answer all the questions. As
consequence, we need to conduct a prior exploratory research before doing the
actual research to determine the factors that could be expected as the causes
of certain event can happen.
Exploratory Research as A Qualitative Research
From the purposes of exploratory research as I have explained before, you might
think that exploratory research design is no different with qualitative research. You
are not wrong. When we are talking about the research design we use the term of
exploratory research, but when we discuss research approach you can consider
qualitative research to describe any attempts to explore something. We can consider
them as the same method because both of they are aimed to explore a deeper
understanding about particular material by using unstructured questions. In general,
there are two procedures for collecting data in this research design, directly and
indirectly. The directmethod means that the researcher directly meets the
respondents, letting the respondents know his/her identity as interviewer and
collecting data from them. This direct method includes face-to-face interview and
focus group discussion. Then, the indirect method is conducted by disguising
your identity because if the respondents know that you are a researcher who are
observing them, some of them may manipulate their answers.
B. Conclusive Research Design
In contrast with exploratory research design, conclusive research uses more formal
and structured questions to test the correlation between variables or to test the truth
from underpinning hypothesis. In conclusive research design we will be required to
use some quantitative calculations.
When should we use conclusive research design?
There are two circumtances when researcher needs to use conclusive research:

As conclusive research is the best suit research design for research with
many statistical equations and it can provide you a fix number about particular
material, so that it is commonly used in helping you make a decision based on
an absolute number, which in this setting we cannot use exploratory research
design because it cannot provide you a fix number.

When your research is related to market study (such as to measure market

share, market size, distributor available, and consumers profile), sales (e.g, a
study to measure the effect of packaging on the consumers intention to buy),
and to market test.

What are included in conclusive research designed?

Conclusive research design is divided to causal research and descriptive research.
1. Causal Research
It is used to prove that there is a relationship between observed variables.
Commonly, there are two purposes of causal research. First, it helps researcher to
figure out the nature of that relationship which factor becomes the cause and the
effect. Second, researcher can use this design to observe respondents even they
who have never experienced the phenomena being researched by conducting
an experiment. For more understanding you can read illustration below.
A manufacturer is intending to launch a new form of mosquito repellent products.
This product has not been available in the market before. To test whether the new
form will be preferred by consumers or not, the manufacturer tested through an
experimentation. The cause variable (independent variable) is the new form of
repellent. And, the effect variable (dependent variable) is the ease in use and the
level of consumer complaints. Respondents were given samples of both the old
products and the new form products to see how respondents response to the new
one.
2. Descriptive Research
Descriptive research is a type of research design which main purpose is to describe
phenomena. Basic assumption in this research design is the researchers have
already figured out the problem, they are able to define the observed variables, and
they can classify the population being measured. A researcher cannot describe
Iphone based on the answers gained from a survey on respondents who have never
known the Iphone.
Based on how data are collected from respondents, descriptive research is split to:
a. Cross-sectional research
It is a descriptive research design where data is taken only once in a given time.
Data can be taken from a group of respondents (single cross-sectional design), and
can also be taken from several different groups of respondent (multiple crosssectional design).
b. Longitudinal research
In this design, data are captured during a certain time interval from the same group
of respondents. This research aims to see whether there are changes in the
behavior of the respondents for a period of time. For example, researchers want to
know howconsumer of an airline will behave during the holiday season.
The major limitation of longitudinal research is it is difficult to maintain the level of
data consistency along the time interval because some factors may affect the
respondents such as death, respondents were out of the deal, and the limited ability
of the company to provide research facilities for long periods of time.
Cross-sectional research versus Longitudinal research
The table below presents you some relative advantages and disadvantages for both
cross-sectional and longitudinal design. A plus (+) symbolize that the design has a
comparative advantage compared to another one, and a minus (-) means it has
comparative disadvantage.