Research Methodology Part 3

7/24/2019 Research Methodology Part 3

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Program : MBA

Semester : III

Subject Code : MB0050

Subject Name : Research Methodology

Unit Number : 3

Unit Title : Research Designs

Lecture Number : 3

Lecture Title : Research Designs

Book Id : B1700

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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


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Lecture Outline

Introduction

Nature and Classification of Research Designs

Exploratory Research Designs

Descriptive Research Designs

Experimental Designs

Errors affecting Research Design

Summary

Check Your LearningActivity

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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 underwhat conditions.

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The Nature and Classification ofResearch 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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Exploratory designs are the simplest and most loosely structured

designs. The basic objective of the study is to explore and obtainclarity 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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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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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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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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Cross-sectionalstudies

The cross-sectional study iscarried out at a singlemoment in time and thus theapplicability is most relevant

for a specific period.

These studies are carried outon a section of respondentsfrom the population units

under study (e.g.,organizational employees,

voters, consumers, industrysectors).

LongitudinalStudies

A single sample of theidentified population that isstudied over a longer period

of time is termed as alongitudinal study design.

Longitudinal study using thesame section of respondentsthus provides more accuratedata than one using a series

of different samples.



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 DesignsThere 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 more

independent variables at various levels.

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Errors Affecting Research Design

Exploratoryresearch

It is quite likely that members of the focusgroup have not been selected properly.

Secondary data may not be free fromerrors (in fact, one needs to evaluate themethodology used in collecting such adata).

Descriptivedesign

It could happen that the respondents donot give correct responses to some of thequestions, thereby resulting in wronginformation.

Experimentaldesign

Many a times, in actual business situation,the value judgments play very important

role in selecting the respondents. Further,there can always be errors inobservations.

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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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U it 1 I t d ti t R h



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 errorsin the study.

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