RESEARCH DESIGN

DECIDING ON THE RESEARCH

APPROACH AND CHOOSING A
RESEARCH STRATEGY
 RESEARCH DESIGN
• Your Research design is the general plan of how
you will go about answering your research
questions.
• Research design is a general plan of how you will go
about answering the research question(s) you have set;
• It contains clear objectives, derived from your research
questions;
• It specifies the sources from which you intend to collect
data;
• It considers the constraints which you will inevitably have
(eg. Access to data, time, location, money).
 Research design
• The research design depends on :
• 1.Research philosophy
2. Research approach
3. Research strategy
4. Time horizon
5.The Purpose of the research
 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHIES

• Research philosophy relates to the

development of knowledge and the nature
of that knowledge,
• The research philosophy you adopt
contains important assumptions about the
way in which you view the world.
 Research philosophies
• POSITIVISM: working in the tradition of the natural
scientists
-Uses Deductive approach to research

• PHINOMENOLOGY/INTERPRETIVISM
-Understanding differences between humans as social
actors
-This is based on the way people experience social
phenomena in the world in which they live.
-Uses Inductive approach to research
 APPROACHES TO RESEARCH
• DEDUCTION: Testing theory
This approach to research owes much to what we
would think of as scientific research. It is what
we call the positivist philosophy.
Robson(1993) lists five sequential stages through
which deductive research will progress:
 Stages of Deductive approach

• Deducing a hypothesis (a testable proposition

about the relationship between two or more
events or concepts) from the theory.
• Expressing the hypothesis in operational
terms(i.e. ones indicating exactly how the
variables are to be measured) which propose a
relationship between two specific variables.
• Testing this operational hypothesis. This will
involve an experiment or some other form of
empirical inquiry.
 Stages of Deduction
• Examining the specific outcome of the
inquiry(it will either tend to confirm the
theory or indicate the need for its
modification).
• If necessary, modifying the theory in the
light of the findings
 Distinguishing features/Characteristics of
Deductive research
1. It is deductive (theory tested by observation);
2. It seeks to explain causal relationships between
variables;
3. It normally uses quantitative data;
4. It employs controls to allow the testing of
hypotheses;
5.It uses a highly structured methodology to
facilitate replication (Gill and Johnson, 1991)
 Characteristics of Deduction
6. Concepts are operationalised in a way
that enables facts to be measured
quantitatively.
7. Principle of reductionism. Problems as
a whole are better understood if they are
reduced to its simplest possible elements.
8. Generalisation
 Features (Easterby-Smith et al 1991)

1. Independence. The observer is independent of

what is being observed.
2. Value-freedom. The choice of what to study,
and how to study it, can be determined by
objective criteria rather than by human beliefs
and interests.
3. Causality. The aim of the social sciences is to
identify causal explanations and fundamental
laws that explain regularities in human social
behaviour.
 Features/characteristics
4. Hypothetico-deductive. Science proceeds
through a process of hypothesising fundamental
laws and then deducing what kinds of
observations will demonstrate the truth or falsity
of these hypotheses.
5. Operationalisation. Concepts need to be
operationalised in a way which enables facts to
be measured quantitatively.
6. Reductionism. Problems as a whole are better
understood if they are reduced to the simplest
possible elements.
 Characteristics
7. Generalisation. In order to be able to generalise
about regularities in human social behaviour, it
is necessary to select samples of sufficient size.
8. Cross-sectional analysis. Such regularities can
most easily be identified by making comparisons
of variations across samples.
Advantages and disadvantages
• Advantages
1. Economical collection of large amount of data
2. Clear theoretical focus for the research at the
outset
3. Greater opportunity for researcher to retain
control of research process
4. Easily comparable data
• Disadvantages
1. Inflexible. Direction often cannot be changed
once data collection has started
2. Weak at understanding social processes
3. Often does not discover the meanings people
attached to social phenomena
 INDUCTION: Building theory
• This is based on the way people experience
social phenomena in the world in which they
live.
• It can be contrasted with the deductive approach
which treats the social world in the way it would
be approached by natural scientist, something
with which the phenomenologist would feel
uncomfortable.
• Inductive research is characterised by / focuses
on the meanings that research subjects attached
to social phenomena;
 Induction
• an attempt by researcher to understand what is
happening and why it is happening.
• Researchers in this tradition are likely to use
qualitative data and use a variety of methods to
collect these data in order to establish different
views of phenomena.
MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DEDUCTION
AND INDUCTION
Deduction emphasises Induction emphasises
•Scientific principles •Gaining an understanding of the
meanings humans attach to
events.
•Moving from theory to data •A close understanding of
research context
•The need to explain causal •The collection of qualitative data
relationships between variables
•The collection of quantitative data •A more flexible structure to permit
changes of research emphasis as
the research progresses
•The application of controls to • a realisation that the researcher
ensure validity is part of the research process
•The operationalisation of concepts to •Less concern with the need to
ensure clarity of definition generalise
 Major differences between
deduction and induction
Deduction emphasises Induction emphasises
•A highly structured
approach
•Researcher independent of
what is being researched
The necessity to select
samples of sufficient size in
order to generalise
conclusions
Importance of knowing the research approach

1. It enables you to take a more informed

decision about your research design.
-methods by which data are collected and
analysed
-what kind of evidence is gathered and from
where
- how such evidence is interpreted in order to
provide a good answers to the basic research
question.
 cont
2. It will help you to think about those
research approaches that will work for
you, and crucially, those that will not.
Eg; if you are particularly interested in
understanding why something is happening
rather than being able to describe what is
happening, it may be more appropriate to adopt
the phenomenological approach than the
positivist.
3. It enable you to adapt your research
design to cater for constraints.
Combining approaches to research
It is perfectly possible to combine
approaches within the same piece of
research.
 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHIES
• POSITIVISM

• PHENOMENOLOGY
 RESEARCH STRATEGIES
DIFFERENT RESEARCH STRATEGIES

Robson(1993) identifies three traditional

strategies as;

• Experiment;
• Survey;
• Case study
 Experiment
• Experiment is a classical form of research
which owes much to the natural sciences,
although it features strongly in much social
science research, particularly psychology.
• It normally involves the ff
-the definition of a theoretical hypothesis;
- the selection of samples of individuals from
known populations;
 -allocation of samples to different experimental
conditions
-introduction of planned change on one or more
of the variables;
-measurement on a small number of the
variables;
-control of other variables.
 Survey
• The survey method is a popular and common
strategy in business and management research.
• It allows the collection of a large number of data
from a sizeable population in a highly
economical way.
• It is based mostly on questionnaire; the data is
standardised, allowing for easy comparison.
• The researcher has more control of the research
process.
• Much time is normally spent in designing and
piloting the questionnaire.
• Analysing the results may also be time
consuming.
• Other methods which are used in survey include
structured observation, structured interviews etc
 Case study
• Robson (1993:40) defines case study as the
“development of detailed, intensive knowledge
about a single “case”, or a small number of
related “cases”’.
• This strategy will be of particular interest to you if
you wish to gain rich understanding of the
context of the research and the processes being
enacted (Morris and Wood, 1991).
• It also has considerable ability to generate
answers to the question “why”? as well as
“What”? and “How”?
 TIME HORIZON
• Cross-sectional study : The study of a
particular phenomenon (or phenomena) at a
particular time.
• It may be said that cross-sectional study is a
“snapshot” taken at a particular time.
• Cross-sectional studies often employ the survey
strategy.
• Eg a survey of the IT skills possessed by
managers in one organisation at a given point in
time.
 Longitudinal studies
• It is akin to a “diary” and a representation of
events over a given period.
• It is a study conducted over a period of time.
• The main strength of longitudinal studies or
research is the capacity that it has to study
change and development.
• Adams and Schvaneveldt(1991) point out that in
observing people or events over time, the
researcher is able to exercise a measure of
control over variables being studied, provided
that they are not affected by the research
process itself.
 THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH

EXPLORATORY STUDIES
• Exploratory studies are a valuable means
of finding out “what is happening”; to seek
new insight; to ask questions and to
assess phenomena in a new light.
• They are particularly useful if you wish to
clarify your understanding of a problem.
 Ways of conducting exploratory research

• A search of the literature;

• Talking to experts in the subjects;
• Conducting focus group interviews
 Descriptive studies
• The objective of descriptive research is “to
portray an accurate profile of persons,
events or situations”.
• This may be an extension of, or a
forerunner to, a piece of exploratory
research
 Explanatory studies
• Studies which establish causal
relationships between variables may be
termed explanatory studies.
• The emphasis here is on studying a
situation or a problem in order to explain
the relationships between variables.
• It is characterised by a focus on the meanings
that research subjects attach to social
phenomena; an attempt by the researcher to
understand what is happening and why it is
happening
 Advantages and disadvantages

• Advantages:
1. Facilitates understanding of how and why
2. Enables researcher to be alive to changes which
occur during the research process
3. Good at understanding social processes
Disadvantages
1. Data collection can be time consuming
2. Data analysis is difficult
3. Researcher has to live with the uncertainty that clear
patterns may not emerge
 cont
4. Generally perceived as less credible by “non-
researchers”