RESEARCH DESIGN

• Research design is blueprint for the collection, measurement

and analysis of data.
• Decisions regarding what, where, when, how much, by what
means concerning an inquiry or a research study constitute a
research design.
• Design decisions happen to be in respect of:
what is the study about?
why is the study being made?
what type of data is carried out?
where can the required data be found?
what periods of time will the study include?
what will be the sample design?
what techniques of data collection will be used?
• How will the data be analysed?
• In what style will the report be prepared

DEFINITION:
“A research design is the arrangement of conditions for
collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to
combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in
procedure.”

The parts of the research design

• The sampling design: which deals with the method of
selecting items to be observed for the given study
• The observational design: which relates to the conditions
under which the observations are to be made
• The statistical design: which concerns with the
question of how many items are to be observed and
how the information and data gathered are to be
analysed
• The operational design: which deals with the
techniques by which the procedures specified in the
above said designs can be carried out
IMPORTANT FEATURES OF RD
• It is a plan that specifies the sources and type of
information relevant to the research problem
• It is a strategy specifying which approach will be
used for gathering and analysing the data
• It also includes the time and cost budgets since most
studies are done under these two constraints
 NEED FOR RESEARCH DESIGN
• Research design is needed because it facilitates the smooth
sailing of the various research operations, thereby making
research as efficient as possible yielding maximal
information with minimal expenditure of effort, time and
money
• Research design is needed in advance for collection and
analysis

• FEATURES OF A GOOD DESIGN

• Flexible
• Appropriate
• Efficient
• Economical
 COMPONENTS OF RESEARCH DESIGN

TITLE OF THE STUDY:

i. The title should be specific to the area of the study
ii. The title should indicate the topic of the study
iii. The language of the title should be professional in nature but not
pedantic
iv. The title should be as brief as possible

INTRODUCTION :
Under this heading a brief explanation of the genesis of the problem
should be given
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:
After a breif introduction explaining the genesis of the problem,
the researcher should state lthe problem. While stating the
problem use of the clear, simple and concise statement is preferable
REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES:
Under this head the researcher presents what is so far
known about the problem under consideration.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY: the scope of the study is

dependent on several factors such as time and
money available with the investigator, availability of
the sample, co-operation of the respondents etc.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

HYPOTHESIS TO BE TESTED:
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF CONCEPTS:

GEOGRAPHICAL AREA TO BE COVERED:

METHODOLOGY:

SAMPLING :

TOOLS FOR COLLECTION OF DATA:

PLAN OF ANALYSIS:
 IMPORTANT CONCEPTS RELATING TO
RESEARCH DESIGN

• Dependent and independent variables: A variable

which can take on different quantitative values is
called a variable. For e.g weight , height, income

If one variable depends upon or is a consequence of

the other variable is called as dependent variable and
the variable that is antecedent to the dependent
variable is termed as an independent variable
• Extraneous variable:independent variables that are
not related to the purpose of the study, but may
affect the dependent variable

• Control : minimising influence or effect of

extraneous variables

• Confounded relationship: when the dependent

variable is not free from the influence of extraneous
variable, the relationship between the dependent and
independent variables is said to be confounded by an
extraneous variables
• Research hypothesis: when a prediction or a
hypothesised relationship is to be tested by scientific
methods, it is termed as research hypothesis

• Experimental and non-experimental hypotheses-

testing research: when the purpose of research is to
test a research hypothesis is termed as hypothesis-
testing research. Research in which the independent
variable is manipulated is termed ‘experimental
hypotheses-testing research’ and a research in which
an independent variable is not manipulated is called
‘non-experimental hypothses-testing research’
Experimental and control groups:
In an experimental hypothesis testing research when a
group is exposed to usual conditions, it is termed as
‘control group’ but when the group is exposed to
some special condition, it is termed as ‘experimental
group’

Treatment: the different conditions under which

experimental and control groups are put are usually
referred to as ‘treatments’

Experiment: the process of examining the truth of a

statistical hypothesis, relating to some research
problem
 Different research designs
• Research design in case of exploratory research
studies

• Research design in case of descriptive research

studies

• Research design in case of hypothesis-testing

research studies
 Exploratory research design
• Exploratory research studies are also termed as formulative
research studies
• Main purpose of this is that of formulating a problem for
more precise investigation or of developing the working
hypotheses from an operational point of view
• The design should be flexibles
Methods in the context of research design for exploratory
studies are:
• The survey of concering literature
• The experience survey
• The analysis of ‘insight-stimulating’ cases
The survey of concerning literature;
• Method of formulating precisely the research
problem
• Developing hypothesis
• Bibliographical survey

Experience survey:
• Survey of people who have had practical experience
with the problem to be studied
• The object of such a survey is to obtain insight into
the relationships between variables and new ideas
relating to the research problem
Analysis of ‘insight-stimulating’cases:
• For suggesting hypotheses for research
• This method consists of the intensive study of selected
instances of the phenomenon

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

• Concerned with describing the characteristics of a particular
individual, or of a group
• The design must be rigid and not flexible
• It must focus attention on the following
1. Formulating the objective of the study
2. Designing the methods of data collection
3. Selecting the sample
4. Collecting the data
5. Processing and analysing the data
 Difference between exploratory and descriptive RD
Type of study
Research Design Exploratory or formulative Descriptive\diagnostic

Overall design Flexible design (design must Rigid design (design must
provide opportunity for make enough provision for
considering different aspects of protection against bias and
the problem) must maximize reliability)

Sample design Non-probability sampling Probability sampling design

design(purposive or judgement (random sampling)
sampling)

Statistical design No pre-planned design for Pre-planned design for

analysis analysis

Observational design Unstructured instruments for Structured instruments for

collection of data collection of data

Operational design No fixed decision about the Advanced decisions about

operational procedures operational procedures
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGN:
Under this study researcher tests the hypotheses of
causal relationships between variables. Such
studies require procedures that will not only reduce
bias and increase reliability, but will permit
drawing inferences about causality.

Basic Principles of Experimental Design

1. The Principle of Replication
2. The Principle of Randomization
3. The Principle of Local Control
Principle of Replication:
According to the Principle of Replication, the
experiment should be repeated more than once.
By doing so the statistical accuracy of the experiments
is increased.

Principle of Randomozation:
This principle provides protection, when we conduct
an experiment, against the effects of extraneous
factors by randomization.
In other words , this principle indicates that we should
design or plan the experiment in such a way that the
variations caused by extraneous factors can all be
combined under the general heading of “chance”
THE PRINCIPLE OF LOCAL CONTROL:

Under this the extraneous factor, the known source of

variability, is made to vary deliberately over as wide
a range as necessary and this needs to be done in
such a way that the variability it causes can be
measured and hence eliminated from the
experimental error.

In brief, through the principle of local control we can

eliminate the error variability due to extraneous
factors from the experimental
 IMPORTANT EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
INFORMAL EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
1.Before-and-after without control design
2. After-only with control design
3. Before-and-after with control design

FORMAL EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

1.Completely randomized design
2.randomized block design
3.Latin square design
4. Factorial designs
 Before-and-after without control design

Test area: level of phenomenon Treatment level of phenomenon

before treatment(X) introduced after treatment(Y)

Treatment Effect = (Y)-(X)

 After-only with control design

Test area : treatment introduced level of phenomenon

after the treatment(Y)

Control area: level of phenomenon

without treatment(Z)
treatment effect = (Y) ---(Z)
 Before-and-after with control design

Time period I
Time period II

Test area: Level of phenomenon Level of phenomenon

Treatment
before treatment(X) introduced After treatment(Y)

Level of phenomenon
Control area: Without treatment(A) Level of phenomenon
Without treatment(Z)

Treatment Effect =(Y-X) – (Z-A)

 COMPLETELY RANDOMIZED DESIGN

1. Two-group simple randomized design:

T
R I
E N
A D
T
E
M
P
Experimental E
E
N
group T N
A D

Population Randomly Randomly E

Sample N
selected assigned T
T
R V
Control E A
A R
group T I
M A
E B
N L
T
E
B
2.RANDOM REPLICATION
DESIGN
 POPULATION POPULATION
(Available for study) (Available to conduct
treatment)

Random selection
Random selection Random selection

SAMPLE SAMPLE
(To be studied) (To conduct
treaments)

Random Group1 E Random

selection Group2 E selection
Group3 E
Group4 E

Group5 C
Group6 C
Treatment A Group7 C Treatment B
Group8 C
Independent variable
Or causal variable
 RANDOMIZED BLOCK DESIGN

• It is an improvement over the CR design. In the RB design

the principle of local control can be applied along with the
other two principles of experimental designs. The R.B.
design is analysed by the two-way analysis of variance
(two-way ANOVA) technique.
*

Very Low IQ Average High Very

low IQ IQ IQ high IQ
Student Student Student Student Student
A B C D E
Form 1 82 67 57 71 73
Form 2 90 68 54 70 81
Form 3 86 75 90 65 84
Form 4 93 77 60 65 71
Latin Square Design (L.S
Design)
 Latin squares design
fertility level

X1 A B C D E

Seeds X2 B C D E A
differences
X3 C D E A B

X4 D E A B C

X5 E A B C D
 FACTORIAL DESIGNS
• Factorial designs are used in experiments
where the effects of varying more than one
factor are to be determined. They are
specially important in several economic and
social phenomena where usually a large
number of factors affect a particular
problem.