Research Design

According to Trochim (2005), research design provides the glue that holds the research project together. A design is used to structure the research, to show how all of the major parts of the research project wor together to tr! to address the central research "uestions.# The research design is li e a recipe. $ust as a recipe provides a list of ingredients and the instructions for preparing a dish, the research design provides the components and the plan for successfull! carr!ing out the stud!. The research design is the %ac %one# of the research protocol . &esearch studies are designed in a particular wa! to increase the chances of collecting the information needed to answer a particular "uestion. The information collected during research is onl! useful if the research design is sound and follows the research protocol . 'arefull! following the procedures and techni"ues outlined in the research protocol will increase the chance that the results of the research will %e accurate and meaningful to others. (ollowing the research protocol and thus the design of the stud! is also important %ecause the results can then %e reproduced %! other researchers. The more often results are reproduced, the more li el! it is that researchers and the pu%lic will accept these findings as true. Additionall!, the research design must ma e clear the procedures used to ensure the protection of research su%jects, whether human or animal, and to maintain the integrit! of the information collected in the stud!. There are man! wa!s to design a stud! to test a h!pothesis . The research design that is chosen depends on the t!pe of h!pothesis (e.g. )oes * cause +, or -ow can . descri%e * and +, or /hat is the relationship %etween * and +,), how much time and mone! the stud! will cost, and whether or not it is possi%le to find participants. The 0. has considered each of these points when designing the stud! and writing the research protocol.

Descriptive Studies
A descriptive stud! is one in which information is collected without changing the environment (i.e., nothing is manipulated). 1ometimes these are referred to as correlational # or o%servational # studies. The 2ffice of -uman &esearch 0rotections (2-&0) defines a descriptive stud! as An! stud! that is not trul! e3perimental.# .n human research, a descriptive stud! can provide information a%out the naturall! occurring health status, %ehavior, attitudes or other characteristics of a particular group. )escriptive studies are also conducted to demonstrate associations or relationships %etween things in the world around !ou. )escriptive studies can involve a one4time interaction with groups of people

( cross4sectional stud! ) or a stud! might follow individuals over time ( longitudinal stud! ). )escriptive studies, in which the researcher interacts with the participant, ma! involve surve!s or interviews to collect the necessar! information. )escriptive studies in which the researcher does not interact with the participant include o%servational studies of people in an environment and studies involving data collection using e3isting records (e.g., medical record review).

Expermental studies
5nli e a descriptive stud!, an e3periment is a stud! in which a treatment, procedure, or program is intentionall! introduced and a result or outcome is o%served. The American -eritage )ictionar! of the 6nglish 7anguage defines an e3periment as A test under controlled conditions that is made to demonstrate a nown truth, to e3amine the validit! of a h!pothesis, or to determine the efficac! of something previousl! untried.# True e3periments have four elements8 manipulation , control , random assignment , and random selection . The most important of these elements are manipulation and control. 9anipulation means that something is purposefull! changed %! the researcher in the environment. 'ontrol is used to prevent outside factors from influencing the stud! outcome. /hen something is manipulated and controlled and then the outcome happens, it ma es us more confident that the manipulation caused# the outcome. .n addition, e3periments involve highl! controlled and s!stematic procedures in an effort to minimi:e error and %ias which also increases our confidence that the manipulation caused# the outcome. Another e! element of a true e3periment is random assignment. &andom assignment means that if there are groups or treatments in the e3periment, participants are assigned to these groups or treatments, or randoml! (li e the flip of a coin). This means that no matter who the participant is, he;she has an e"ual chance of getting into all of the groups or treatments in an e3periment. This process helps to ensure that the groups or treatments are similar at the %eginning of the stud! so that there is more confidence that the manipulation (group or treatment) caused# the outcome. 9ore information a%out random assignment ma! %e found in section &andom assignment.

Historical studies:
The process of learning and understanding the %ac ground and growth of a chosen field of stud! or profession can offer insight into organi:ational culture, current trends, and future possi%ilities. The historical method of research applies to all fields of stud! %ecause it encompasses their8 origins,

growth, theories, personalities, crisis, etc. <oth "uantitative and "ualitative varia%les can %e used in the collection of historical information. 2nce the decision is made to conduct historical research, there are steps that should %e followed to achieve a relia%le result. 'harles <usha and 1tephen -arter detail si3 steps for conducting historical research (=>)8 the recognition of a historical pro%lem or the identification of a need for certain historical nowledge. the gathering of as much relevant information a%out the pro%lem or topic as possi%le. if appropriate, the forming of h!pothesis that tentativel! e3plain relationships %etween historical factors. The rigorous collection and organi:ation of evidence, and the verification of the authenticit! and veracit! of information and its sources. The selection, organi:ation, and anal!sis of the most pertinent collected evidence, and the drawing of conclusions? and the recording of conclusions in a meaningful narrative. .n the field of li%rar! and information science, there are a vast arra! of topics that ma! %e considered for conducting historical research. (or e3ample, a researcher ma! chose to answer "uestions a%out the development of school, academic or pu%lic li%raries, the rise of technolog! and the %enefits; pro%lems it %rings, the development of preservation methods, famous personalities in the field, li%rar! statistics, or geographical demographics and how the! effect li%rar! distri%ution. -arter and <usha define li%rar! histor! as the s!stematic recounting of past events pertaining to the esta%lishment, maintenance, and utili:ation of s!stematicall! arranged collections of recorded information or nowledge@.A %iograph! of a person who has in some wa! affected the development of li%raries, li%rar! science, or li%rarianship is also considered to %e li%rar! histor!. (=A)