Program

MBA

Semester

III

Subject Code

MB0050

Subject Name

Research Methodology

Unit Number

Unit Title

Research Designs

Lecture Number :

Lecture Title

Research Designs

Book Id

B1700

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Unit-3 Research Designs

Research Designs

Objectives :

Describe the nature of research designs.

Explain exploratory research designs.

Discuss the designs used for descriptive studies.

Describe the range of experimental designs available.

Identify and control the errors in research designs.

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Unit-3 Research Designs

Lecture Outline

Introduction

Nature and Classification of Research Designs

Exploratory Research Designs
Descriptive Research Designs
Experimental Designs
Errors affecting Research Design

Summary
Check Your Learning
Activity

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Unit-3 Research Designs

Introduction

It has been found by research scholars and managers alike that

most research studies do not result in any significant findings
because of a faulty research design.

The design approach available to the researcher are many and will
depend on whether the study is of descriptive or conclusive

nature.

The designs range from very simple, loosely structured to highly

scientific experimentation.

In this unit, you will study the complete choice of designs, along
with detailed reasoning on which design should be used under
what conditions.

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Unit-3 Research Designs

The Nature and Classification of

Research Designs

Thyer (1993) states that, A traditional research design is a

blueprint or detailed plan for how a research study is to be
completedoperationalizing variables so they can be measured,
selecting a sample of interest to study, collecting data to be used

as a basis for testing hypotheses, and analysing the results.

Kerlinger (1995) refers to a research design as, .. a plan,

structure and strategy of investigation so conceived as to obtain

answers to research questions or problems. The plan is the

complete scheme or programme of the research. It includes an
outline of what the investigator will do from writing the hypothesis
and their operational implications to the final analysis of data.
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Unit-3 Research Designs

The Nature and Classification of

Research Designs

The researcher has a number of

designs

available

to

him

for

investigating the research objectives.

The classification that is universally

followed is the one based upon the
objective or the purpose of the study.

A simple classification that is based

upon the research needs ranging

from simple and loosely structured to
the

specific

and

more

formally

structured.
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Unit-3 Research Designs

Exploratory Research Designs

Exploratory designs are the simplest and most loosely structured

designs. The basic objective of the study is to explore and obtain

clarity about the problem situation.

The essential purpose of the study is to:

Define and understand the research problem to be investigated.
Explore and evaluate the diverse and multiple research opportunities.
Assist in the development and formulation of the research hypotheses.
Define the variables and constructs under study.
Identify the possible nature of relationships that might exist between the
variables under study.
Explore the external factors and variables that might impact the

research.

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Unit-3 Research Designs

Exploratory Research Designs

The researcher can make use of different methods and techniques in

an exploratory research like:

Secondary Resource Analysis:

Secondary sources of data are data in terms of the details of previously
collected findings in facts and figureswhich have been authenticated

and published.
Based on the resources and the level of accuracy required, the
researcher might decide to make use of them.

Case Study Method:

This requires an in-depth study and is focused on a single unit of
analysis. This unit could be an employee or a customer; an organization
or a complete country analysis.

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Unit-3 Research Designs

Exploratory Research Designs

Expert Opinion Survey:

The approach of collecting particulars from significant and knowledgeable
people is referred to as the expert opinion survey. This methodology
might be formal and structured and is useful when authenticated or
supported by a secondary/primary research or it might be fluid and
unstructured and might require an in-depth interviewing of the expert.

Focus Group Discussions:

In a typical focus group, there is a carefully selected small set of
individuals representative of the larger respondent population under

study. It is called a focus group as the selected members discuss the

concerned topic for the duration of 90 minutes to, sometimes, two hours.
Usually the group is made up of six to ten individuals.

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Unit-3 Research Designs

Descriptive Research Designs

The objective of descriptive research studies is to provide a

comprehensive and detailed explanation of the phenomenon
under study. The intended objective might be to give a detailed
sketch or profile of the respondent population being studied.

Descriptive research thus are conclusive studies. However, they

lack the precision and accuracy of experimental designs, yet it
lends itself to a wide range of situations and is more frequently
used in business research.

Descriptive research is further subdivided into two categories:

Cross-sectional studies and Longitudinal studies.

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Unit-3 Research Designs

Descriptive Research Designs

Crosssectional
studies

Longitudinal
Studies

The cross-sectional study is

carried out at a single
moment in time and thus the
applicability is most relevant
for a specific period.

A single sample of the

identified population that is
studied over a longer period
of time is termed as a
longitudinal study design.

These studies are carried out

on a section of respondents
from the population units
under study (e.g.,
organizational employees,
voters, consumers, industry
sectors).

Longitudinal study using the

same section of respondents
thus provides more accurate
data than one using a series
of different samples.

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Unit-3 Research Designs

Experimental Designs

Experimental designs are conducted to infer causality. In an

experiment, a researcher actively manipulates one or more causal
variables and measures their effects on the dependent variables of
interest.

There are two conditions that should be satisfied while conducting

an experiment. These are:

Internal validity: Internal validity tries to examine whether the observed effect
on a dependent variable is actually caused by the treatments (independent
variables) in question.
External validity refers to the generalization of the results of an experiment.

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Experimental Designs
There are four types of experimental designs:
Pre-experimental designs:There are three designs under this one short case study where
observation is taken after the application of treatment, one group pre test-post test design
where one observation is taken prior to the application of treatment and the other one after

the application of treatment, and static group comparison, where there are two groups
experimental group and control group.
Quasi-experimental designs: In these designs the researcher can control when measurements
are taken and on whom they are taken.
True experimental designs: In these designs, researchers can randomly assign test units and
treatments to an experimental group.
Statistical designs: These designs allow for statistical control and analysis

of external

variables.
Statistical design includes the following designs:
Completely randomized design: This design is used when a researcher is investigating the effect
of one independent variable on the dependent variable.
Randomized block design : In the randomized block design it is possible to separate the influence
of one extraneous variable on a particular dependent variable, thereby providing a clear picture
of the impact of treatment on test units.
Factorial design: A factorial design may be employed to measure the effect of two or more13
independent variables at various levels.
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Unit-3 Research Designs

Errors Affecting Research Design

Exploratory
research

It is quite likely that members of the focus

group have not been selected properly.
Secondary data may not be free from
errors (in fact, one needs to evaluate the
methodology used in collecting such a
data).

Descriptive
design

It could happen that the respondents do

not give correct responses to some of the
questions, thereby resulting in wrong
information.

Experimental
design

Many a times, in actual business situation,

the value judgments play very important
role in selecting the respondents. Further,
there can always be errors in
observations.
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Unit-1 Introduction to Research

Summary

Research design is the blueprint or the framework for carrying out the
research study.

Based upon the objective or the purpose of the study, research design may
be exploratory, descriptive or experimental.

Exploratory designs are loosely structured and investigative in nature.

In case the hypothesis formulated is descriptive in nature, the study design

would also be descriptive. The study involves collecting the who, what, why,
where, why, when and how about the population under study.

Descriptive studies can further be divided into cross-sectional and

longitudinal design.

Experimental designs are conducted to infer causality. There are four types
of experimental designs pre-experimental designs, quasi experimental
designs, true experimental designs and statistical designs.

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Unit-1 Introduction to Research

Check Your Learning

1. How would you define research designs?

Ans: The research design is the specific framework that has been created to
seek answers to the research question.
2. What are descriptive designs?
Ans: The objective of descriptive research studies is to provide a comprehensive and
detailed explanation of the phenomena under study.
3. Distinguish between internal and external validity of the experiments.
Ans: Internal validity tries to examine whether the observed effect on a dependent
variable is actually caused by the treatments (independent variables) in question,
while external validity refers to the generalization of the results of an experiment.

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Unit-1 Introduction to Research

Activity

Choose a company that is facing a high turnover of employees.

Conduct a focus group discussion to get an insight into the problems.
You might find that some of the members of the group are not
participating in the discussion at all. At the end of the focus group

discussion, talk to these members to identify the possible causes of

their non-participation. These could be the possible causes of errors
in the study.

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