A Research Design is a procedural plan that is adopted by the researcher to answer questions validly, objectively, accurately and economically. Research Design is considered as a “blueprint” for research, dealing with at least four problems: (According to Philiber, Schwab, & Samsloss, 1980) 1) Which questions to be studied, 2) Which data are relevant, 3) What data to collect, and 4) How to analysis the result.

1. RESEARCH
DESIGN
Presented by: KANG Sophanna
012​ 234 896
kangsophanna@yahoo.com
7/26/2017 by: KANG Sophanna

2. Introduction: Research Design
• A Research Design is a procedural plan that is
adopted by the researcher to answer questions
validly, objectively, accurately and economically.
• Research Design is considered as a “blueprint” for
research, dealing with at least four problems:
(According to Philiber, Schwab, & Samsloss, 1980)
1. Which questions to study,
2. Which data are relevant,
3. What data to collect, and
4. How to analysis the result
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3. Objectives of this Presentation
• To understand what Research Design Means
• The need for framing Research Design
• To understand the functions of Research Design
• The types of Quantitative and Qualitative
Research Design
• Features of Good Design
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4. Content
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1 • Definition of Research Design
2 • Meaning of Research
3 • Functions of Research Design
4 • Selecting a Study Design
5 • Features of Good Design
6 • Summary

5. 1. Definition of Research Design
• A research design is a plan, structure and strategy of
investigation, so conceived as to obtain answer to
research questions or problems. The plan is the
complete program 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. – Kerlinger, 1986.
• A traditional research design is the blue-print or
detailed plan for how a research study is to be
completed – operationalizing variables so they can
be measured, selecting a sample of interest to study,
collecting data to be used as a basis for testing
hypothesis and analyzing the results – Thyer 1993.
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6. 2. Meaning of Research Design
• A procedural plan that is adopted by the researcher
to answer questions validly, objectively, accurately
and economically.
• 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 (According to Seltiz,
Deutsch and Cook, 1962)
• Through research design researcher decides to
communicate to others on the decision regarding
the study design that propose to use, how the
information has been collected, analyzed, and how
the findings would be addressed.
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7. 3. Functions of Research Design
• There are two main Functions of Research
Design:
1. Identification and development of procedures and
logical arrangements required to undertake a study
2. To emphasize the importance of quality in these
procedures to ensure their validity.
• One of the most important requirements of
Research Design is to specify everything clearly,
this helps the reader to understand what
procedures to follow and how to follow them.
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8. In Brief Research Design must contain the following,
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A clear statement of the
Research Problem
Procedure and Techniques for
gathering information
Population to be Studied
Methods to be used in
Processing & Analyzing Data

9. 4. Selecting the Study Design
• Difference Between Quantitative & Qualitative
Research Design
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Qualitative
 Qualitative research studies are
focused on difference in quality.
 Results are in words or pictures
rather than numbers.
 Have fewer participants than
quantitative studies because
the depth of the data collection
does not allow for large number
of participants.
Quantitative
 Quantitative research focuses on
numbers or quantities.
 Results are based on numeric
analysis and statistics.
 Often, these studies have many
participants.
 It is ideal to have a large number
of participants because this gives
analysis more statistical power.

10. Study Design in Quantitative Research: 3
Types
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Number of Contact
with the Population
Reference Period
Nature of
Investigation
Quantitative Research

11. Study Design based on the number of contact
with the population: 3 Types
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Cross Sectional
Before & After
Longitudinal

12. A.Cross-sectional Studies
• Cross-sectional Studies: Best suited to studies
aimed at finding out the prevalence of a
phenomenon by taking the cross section of the
population (an overall picture)
– Cross-sectional studies are observational in nature
and are known as Descriptive Research
– Researchers record the information that is present in
a population, but they do not manipulate variables.
– This type of research can be used to describe
characteristics that exist in a population
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13. B. Before & After
• Before & After Study design: It can measure change in the situation or
phenomenon. An appropriate design for measuring the impact of a
program. This can described as two sets of cross-sectional data
collection points on the same population, between two points in a time.
• Eg. Website – Client, Natural Logic
• Before: The Christmas Warehouse, the website owner wanted to drive
more traffic to their website and make more sales. As the visitors to the
site gradually declined.
• Project: Redesigning the Christmas Warehouse Website after
measuring the impact of the website.
• After: As part of the whole online strategy, the website was designed in
such a way that it was more appealing and directed customers through
the site making it easier to find what they were looking for.
• Output: Sales increased 25% from the previous Christmas period and
they had twice the amount of visitors to the site.
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14. C. Longitudinal Study Design
• To determine the pattern of change in relation to
time. Useful to collect the factual information on a
continuing basis (study area is visited number of
times at regular interval)
• In longitudinal study the population is visited
number of times at regular intervals, usually over a
long period, to collect the required information.
• Intervals might be as short as a week or longer than
a year.
• Irrespective of the size of the interval, the type of
information gathered each time is identical.
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15. Study Design based on Reference Period: 3
Types
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1. Retrospective
2. Prospective
3. Retro-
Prospective

16. Study Design based on Reference Period:
Timeframe in which the study is exploring
1. Retrospective Study: investigates a phenomena that has
happened in past. A retrospective study is a longitudinal
study that looks back in time. E.g. A researcher may look
up the medical records of previous years to look for a
trend.
2. Prospective Study: likely preference in of a phenomena
or outcome in the future. E.g. The Nurses’ Health Study
in Australia is a good example of a prospective cohort
study. In this study, groups of nurses have been followed
for over 30 years to see how various factors – including
smoking, hormone levels, and exercise – after their long
term health.
3. Retrospective-Prospective Study: focus on the past
trends in a phenomena and study it into the future.
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17. Study based on the nature of investigation
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1.
Experimental
2. Non-
Experimental
3. Semi-
Experimental

18. Study based on the nature of investigation
1. Experimental Study: First path i.e. starting from
the cause to establish the effects​ (Involving
researcher to assume changes).
2. Non-Experimental Study: Second path i.e.
starting from effects to trace the cause
(Researcher observing a phenomenon and
attempting to establish what caused it).
3. Semi-Experimental Study: Has the properties of
both the experimental and non-experimental
studies.
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19. II Study Design in Qualitative Research
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1. Case Study
3. Focus
Groups/ Group
Interviews
2. Oral History

20. Study Design in Qualitative Research
1. Case Study: A group, community, sub-group of the
population. It is an approach in which a particular
instance or a carefully selected cases are studied
intensively.
2. Oral History: Is more a data collection than a study
design. It is a process of obtaining, recording,
presenting and interpretting historical or current
information, based upon personal expericnes of a
study group.
3. Focus Groups/ Group Interviews: Researcher raise
issues or asks questions that stimulate discussion
among members of the group.
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21. 5. Features of Good Design
• Flexible, appropriate, efficient, economical
• Design which minimize Bias
• Maximizes the reliability of the Data collected
• Design which gives smallest experimental error.
• Design which yields maximal information and
provides an opportunity for considering many
aspects of problem.
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22. Research Plan
• Research Objective: Clear; One/Double Line
• What information to obtained for solving Problem
• Major concept should be defined in operational term
• Plan should contain Methods to be used for solving
problem.
• Techniques to be adopted: Procedure for quantifying the
Data
• Clear mention of population to be studied
• Statistical methods used for processing the data
• Result of Pilot Test; Time; Cost should also be included in
the Research Plan.
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23. Summary of the Key Points
• A research design is a procedural plan that is adopted by the researcher
to answer questions validly, objectively, accurately and economically.
• The best design depends on the research question as well as the
orientation of the researcher.
• One of the most important requirements of research design is to
specify everything clearly, this help the reader to understand what
procedures to follow and how to follow them.
• There are two types of study design: quantitative research design and
qualitative research design.
• Quantitative research design: study design based on the number of
contact with the population; study design based on reference period:
Timeframe in which the study is exploring; Study based on the nature of
investigation.
• Qualitative Research design: Case Study; Oral History; Focus Groups/
Group Interviews
• A Good Design is often characterized by adjectives like flexible,
appropriate, efficient, economical etc.
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24. 24
Questions or Comments
?

25. Discussion Question
• What are the main functions of a research
design?
• What are the differences between quantitative
and qualitative study designs?
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26. Exercise
• Draw a diagram of your study
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