Introduction:
RESEARCH TYPOLOGY IS VERY RELEVANT TO WHAT WE’RE GOING TO DISCUSS TODAY. ACCORDING TO BROTHERTON, HE SAYS RESEARCH COMES IN THREE FLAVORS: EXPLORATORY, DESCRIPTIVE, AND EXPLANATORY. THESE ARE ALSO CALLED RESEARCH DESIGNS. SO, WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN, IS A COMMON TOPIC NOW. LET US FIND OUT THE ANSWERS TO WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN?AND WHAT ARE THE VARIOUS TYPES?
WE HAVE DISCUSSED A QUESTION ABOUT WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN. LET’S NOW HAVE A CRYSTAL CLEAR ANSWER TO THE QUESTION OF WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN. IT IS A SCIENTIFIC STUDY THAT INCLUDES METHODS, TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES OF THE MOST ADVANCED FORM IT IS A GREAT HELPER IN IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEMS THAT RISE DURING A RESEARCH. HERE IN THIS ARTICLE, WE WILL ALSO BE DISCUSSING IN DETAIL ABOUT WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN, WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN TYPES, WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGNMETHODS, WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES.
Research designs:
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH OBVIOUSLY AIMS TO EXPLORE AND ANSWER OUR QUESTION WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN IN AN INNOVATIVE WAY. TYPICALLY WE WANT TO EXPLORE A CERTAIN SUBJECT MATTER ABOUT WHICH WE KNOW NOTHING OR VERY LITTLE. THAT IS WHY PEOPLE EXPLORE. WE WANT TO SURFACE THE KEY ISSUES FROM THE SUBJECT AND FORM A BASIC UNDERSTANDING AS A STARTING POINT FOR FURTHER RESEARCH. SO WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN IN EXPLORATORY RESEARCH?EXPLORATORY RESEARCH IS USUALLY QUITE QUALITATIVE BECAUSE IN AN EXPLORATORY PHASE THERE IS NO NEED TO BE PRECISE OR ACCURATE AND THAT IS WHY QUANTITATIVE METHODS ARE USUALLY NOT YET APPLICABLE AT THIS POINT. SO THIS IS A CRYSTAL CLEAR ANSWER FOR WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN IN EXPLORATORY RESEARCH. NOW IT IS TIME TO ASK THE QUESTION – WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN IN DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH?DESCRIPTIVE MEANING IS TO DESCRIBE. WE PERFORM DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH ON THE SUBJECT MATTERS ABOUT WHICH WE ALREADY KNOW SOMETHING, ABOUT WHICH WE ALREADY HAVE A CERTAIN LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING BUT WE WANT TO KNOW MORE. WE WANT TO BE MORE ACCURATE AND PRECISE IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF IT. WE WANT TO DESCRIBE IT BETTER AND WITH MORE ACCURACY OR DEPTH. THAT IS WHY WE WANT TO PERFORM DESCRIPTIVE STUDIES. AND BECAUSE THE GOAL HERE IS TO DEVELOP A BETTER AND MORE ACCURATE UNDERSTANDING OF SOMETHING, DESCRIPTIVE STUDIES ARE GENERALLY SPEAKING QUANTITATIVE. IT CAN BE QUALITATIVE THOUGH IN SOME CASES. SO THAT IS HOW THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN FOR DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH GOES.IT IS NOW HIGH TIME TO ASK THE QUESTION TO THE THIRD AND FINAL RESEARCH TYPE. SO WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN IN EXPLANATORY RESEARCH? ACCORDING TO BROTHERTON, EXPLANATORY RESEARCH DEPENDS ON WHAT LITERATURE YOU READ, THIS RESEARCH TYPE IS ALSO SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS CAUSAL RESEARCH OR PREDICTIVE RESEARCH. THERE ARE SOME SLIGHT DIFFERENCES AMONG THEM BUT WE’RE NOT GOING TO HAIR SPLIT HERE. FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS LITTLE PRESENTATION, THE GENERAL IDEA OF THIS TYPE OF RESEARCH IS TO LOOK AT CAUSE-AND-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS. IN OTHER WORDS HOW AND WHY WOULD ONE THING CAUSE SOMETHING ELSE TO OCCUR OR CHANGE? THIS TYPE OF RESEARCH IS DIFFICULT TO PERFORM BECAUSE CAUSALITY IS DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH AND CAN USUALLY ONLY BE INFERRED. SO WHAT’ S A RESEARCH DESIGN FOR EXPLANATORY RESEARCH CONCLUDE? IT IS INFERRED.
AND DUE TO THE NUMBER OF POTENTIAL PREDICTOR VARIABLES THAT ARE ALSO SOMEHOW RELATED TO THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE, IT IS DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH CAUSALITY WITH ONE HUNDRED PERCENT CERTAINTY. BUT NEVER MIND THAT, LETS SAY FOR NOW WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN INEXPLANATORY RESEARCH, IT IS THE KIND OF RESEARCH THAT AIMS TO EXPLAIN CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS AMONGST VARIABLES. SO LET’S KEEP IN MIND THESE THREE RESEARCH TYPES AS WE NOW START TO TALK ABOUT THE SEVEN RESEARCH DESIGNS THAT BROTHERTON DISCUSSES IN CHAPTER 6. SO WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN HE REALLY DISCUSSES? THE SEVEN RESEARCH DESIGNS HE DISCUSSES ARE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN, SURVEY DESIGN, COMPARATIVE DESIGN, CASE STUDY DESIGN, OBSERVATIONAL DESIGN, ACTION RESEARCH DESIGN, AND MIXED METHOD DESIGN.
WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES?EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ARE PERFORMED TO EXAMINE CAUSE-AND-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS. THE IDEA BEHIND THIS RESEARCH DESIGN IS TO HAVE A CONTROL CONDITION VERSUS AN EXPERIMENTAL CONDITION OR A FEW EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS SO THAT THE DIFFERENCES AMOUNT OF VARIOUS CONDITIONS CAN BE IDENTIFIED WHICH WILL ENABLE RESEARCHERS TO INFER CAUSALITY. FOR INSTANCE, IF WE WANT TO KNOW IF A TEACHER’S ATTITUDE HAS ANY EFFECT ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE, WE WILL NEED TO SET UP AT LEAST TWO CONDITIONS: A CONTROL CONDITION IN WHICH A TEACHER TEACHES WITH A COOL CALM COLLECTED ATTITUDE AND AN EXPERIMENTAL CONDITION IN WHICH THE SAME TEACHER TEACHES WITH MUCH ENTHUSIASM AND PASSION. THEN AFTER A SEMESTER OR SO WE MEASURE THE POTENTIAL DIFFERENCES IN STUDENT PERFORMANCE BETWEEN THE TWO CONDITIONS IN ORDER TO INFER WHETHER CAUSALITY EXISTS. AS SUCH, EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ARE GENERALLY PERFORMED IN THE NAME OF CAUSAL OR PREDICTIVE, OR EXPLANATORY RESEARCH. SO WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN FROM THE NEXT CHAPTER? THE SECOND RESEARCH DESIGN FROM THIS CHAPTER IS SURVEY DESIGN. THE KEY IDEA BEHIND THIS RESEARCH DESIGN IS TO USE A STANDARDIZED INSTRUMENT TO COLLECT STANDARDIZED DATA FROM A LARGE NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS. RESEARCHERS CAN USE TELEPHONE-BASED SURVEYS OR INTERNET-BASED SURVEYS OR QUESTIONNAIRE-BASED SURVEYS.BUT REGARDLESS OF WHAT MEDIUM OR CHANNEL THE RESEARCHER USES, THE IDEA HERE IS TO COLLECT RATHER STANDARDIZED DATA FROM A LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE. SURVEY STUDIES ARE USUALLY PERFORMED FOR DESCRIPTIVE PURPOSES. IN OTHER WORDS, WE WOULD TYPICALLY SURVEY PEOPLE IN ORDER TO DESCRIBE SOMETHING. THE IMPLICATION OF THIS PROCESS CAN BE EXPLORATORY OR EVEN CAUSAL, BUT THE PROCESS ITSELF IS USUALLY DESCRIPTIVE BY NATURE.
WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN THAT IS COMING UP THIRD?.THE THIRD RESEARCH DESIGN IS COMPARATIVE DESIGN. THIS IS STRAIGHTFORWARD. THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION OF WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN FOR THIS SPECIFIC QUESTION IS A DIRECT ONE. THE IDEA IS TO COMPARE ONE THING TO SOMETHING ELSE. RESEARCHERS MAY WANT TO COMPARE THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF DUTCH AND GERMAN STUDENTS IN OUR SCHOOL. OR PERHAPS THE DIFFERENCE IN TERMS OF STUDENT SATISFACTION BETWEEN CHINESE AND EU STUDENTS IN OUR FACULTY. BROTHERTON CALLS THIS KIND OF RESEARCH COMPARATIVE RESEARCH. SO WHATS A RESEARCH DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS IN COMPARATIVE DESIGN? THIS RESEARCH DESIGN IS GENERALLY DESCRIPTIVE. THE FOURTH RESEARCH DESIGN IS A CASE STUDY ACCORDING TO BROTHERTON A CASE STUDY IS USUALLY EXPLORATORY AND QUALITATIVE. IT IS CALLED A CASE STUDY BECAUSE THE STUDY IS PERFORMED ON A PARTICULAR CASE AND BY CASE WE TYPICALLY MEAN AN ORGANIZATION. BECAUSE THE CASE STUDY IS PERFORMED IN JUST ONE ORGANIZATION, THE FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE STUDY MAY NOT GENERALIZE TO OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, INDUSTRIES, OR GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS. HOWEVER, AS CASE STUDIES ARE MOST OF THE TIME EXPLORATORY IN NATURE, GENERALIZABILITY IS USUALLY NOT IN MAIN CONSIDERATION ANYWAY, SO IT’S ALL GOOD.
WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN NUMBER 5, IT ISAN OBSERVATION DESIGN. SO LET US GET INTO DETAIL ABOUT WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN THAT IS WRITTEN BASED ON OBSERVATION DESIGN LOOKS LIKE. THIS BASICALLY MEANS THE RESEARCHER WILL COLLECT DATA BY LOOKING AT THINGS. SO WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN TYPES? WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGNCHARACTERISTICS, WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN MOTIVE, WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGNMETHODS. LET US SEE. OBSERVATION CAN BE COVERT OR OVERT, QUANTITATIVE OR QUALITATIVE. SO WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN PERFORMANCE TYPE? IT IS PERFORMED MERELY AS AN OBSERVER OR AS A PARTICIPANT, DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU THINK IS BEST AND WHAT YOUR RESEARCH CALLS FOR, THE RESEARCHER CAN CHOOSE ALL THESE DIFFERENT FORMATS OF OBSERVATION. WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN OF OBSERVATION DESIGN USED FOR? THE OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH DESIGN CAN BE USED FOR ALL THREE RESEARCH TYPES: WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN OF OBSERVATION DESIGN TYPES: EXPLORATORY, DESCRIPTIVE, AND EXPLANATORY. WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN NUMBER 6, ACTION RESEARCH? SO WHAT’S ARESEARCH DESIGN OF ACTION DESIGN INVOLVED? THIS RESEARCH DESIGN INVOLVES THE RESEARCH TAKING CERTAIN ACTIONS WITHIN AN ORGANIZATION.
NOW LET US SEE WITH AN EXAMPLE, WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN CAN DO ON A PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN. FOR EXAMPLE, A RESEARCHER IMPLEMENTS A CERTAIN PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN AND THEN MEASURES ITS EFFECTS OF IT IN TERMS OF REVENUES GENERATED. SO WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN WILL DO THEN? THIS IS A BIT OF A TRICKY RESEARCH DESIGN BECAUSE THE RESEARCHER WOULD GENERALLY WANT TO PRESENT THE STUDY AS BOTH DESCRIPTIVE AND CAUSAL. SO WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN DO WHEN BOTH OF THESE COME AT THE SAME TIME? OBVIOUSLY, IF WE WANT TO IMPLEMENT SOMETHING IN AN ORGANIZATION AND THEN WRITE IT UP AS A RESEARCH STUDY, WE WOULD NATURALLY WANT TO DESCRIBE HOW THE IMPLEMENTATION WENT. THEN WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN OF DESCRIPTIVE CAN DO TO A RESEARCHER’S RESEARCH? BUT IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE TO MAKE THIS CAUSAL CLAIM SAYING BECAUSE OF THIS IMPLEMENTATION, THERE WAS THIS OUTCOME. BUT AS DISCUSSED EARLIER, CAUSALITY IS IN FACT QUITE DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH, WHEN WE WORK ON THE WHAT’S ARESEARCH DESIGN AND WHICH TYPE IS TO BE IMPLEMENTED. SO AN ACTION RESEARCH DESIGN IS ALSO SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS A LIVE EXPERIMENT, ACCORDING TO BROTHERTON, ACKNOWLEDGING THAT IT IS NOT A STRICT DESIGN. THEN WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN HE SAYS; IT IS AN EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN BUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT. FINALLY, THE LAST RESEARCH DESIGN FROM THIS CHAPTER IS MIXED-METHOD DESIGN. SO WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN OF MIXED METHOD? BY DEFINITION, IT MEANS A STUDY IN WHICH DIFFERENT DATA COLLECTION METHODS ARE USED OR DIFFERENT RESEARCH DESIGNS ARE COMBINED.WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN OF MIXED METHOD BE CAREFUL OF. THIS IS ALSO A RESEARCH DESIGN THAT NEEDS TO BE APPROACHED CAUTIOUSLY, ESPECIALLY FOR BACHELOR’S STUDENTS. BECAUSE THINK ABOUT IT, WHY WOULD SOMEONE WANT TO COMBINE DIFFERENT COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS, DIFFERENT TYPES OF DATA PROBABLY FROM DIFFERENT POPULATIONS AND SAMPLES IN JUST ONE STUDY?WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN OF THAT TYPE CAN INFLUENCE A RESEARCHER? OR EVEN MORE COMPLICATED, WHY WOULD WE WANT TO COMBINE MULTIPLE RESEARCH DESIGNS IN JUST ONE STUDY?WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN CAN DO NOW TO A RESEARCH? WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN SCOPE? IF WE TRULY HAVE A NEED TO DO SO, WHY DON’T WE JUST DESIGN AND PERFORM A SERIES OF STUDIES OF RESEARCH TYPES AND WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN DO TO A RESEARCH WITH EACH ONE HAVING A CLEAR SCOPE AND USING A CLEAR METHODOLOGY?WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN OF ACTION AND MIXED METHOD HAD TO DO WITH THEMSELVES SHARING THE SAME TRAITS SO JUST LIKE THE ACTION RESEARCH DESIGN, THIS MIXED METHOD DESIGN IS ALSO A BIT OF A TRICKY ONE. THINK ABOUT IT BEFORE GOING WITH THESE.
IN CHAPTER 7 OF THE BROTHERTON BOOK HE PRESENTS FOUR MAIN DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS. DOES IT HAVE ANY CONNECTION TO THE QUESTION WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN, WE WILL SEE? THE FIRST ONE IS A SURVEY. RESEARCHERS CAN USE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SURVEYS TELEPHONE-BASED SURVEYS, INTERNET-BASED SURVEYS, OR QUESTIONNAIRE BASED SURVEYS BUT REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE MEDIUM OR CHANNEL THE RESEARCHER USES, THE IDEA BEHIND SURVEYS IS TO USE A RATHER STANDARDIZED INSTRUMENT TO COLLECT RATHER STANDARDIZED DATA FROM A RELATIVELY LARGE NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS IN A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. SO WHEN WE BUILD A SURVEY, WE NEED TO CONSIDER THE KIND OF QUESTIONS OR ITEMS THAT SHOULD BE PUT INTO IT. SO WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN CAN DO TO A SURVEY OF THE RESEARCH? WE MIGHT COME INTO QUESTION ALL THESE QUESTIONS. IT HELPS A LOTGENERALLY SPEAKING, SURVEYS CONTAIN MOSTLY CLOSED QUESTIONS, YES OR NO QUESTIONS, MULTIPLE CHOICE ITEMS, OR LIKERT SCALE QUESTIONS. THERE ARE TWO MAIN REASONS FOR USING THESE TYPES OF QUESTIONS AND ITEMS IN A SURVEY. FIRST, SURVEYS ARE USED TO COLLECT MOSTLY QUANTITATIVE DATA. THE PERFECT SURVEYS CAN ENHANCE WHAT WE SAY WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN.BECAUSE SURVEYING IS PRIMARILY USED FOR DESCRIPTIVE PURPOSES, AS A RESULT, WE DESCRIBE SOMETHING, WE GENERALLY HAVE THE INTENTION OF BEING ACCURATE AND PRECISE. AND AS SUCH, QUANTITATIVE MEASURABLE DATA IS A GOOD CHOICE. SECOND, FROM A PRACTICAL POINT OF VIEW, PROBABLY NO ONE WILL BOTHER TO WRITE LENGTHY ANSWERS IN A SURVEY FOR YOU. SO AS A RESULT OF BOTH THEORETICAL AND OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS, SURVEYS TYPICALLY USE CLOSED QUESTIONS THAT RESPONDENTS CAN ANSWER RELATIVELY EASILY AND QUICKLY THERE ARE A FEW IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS WHEN MAKING SURVEY QUESTIONS OR ITEMS: FIRST, OFFERING GRADATIONS IS USUALLY BETTER THAN JUST YES OR NO. INSTEAD OF ASKING DO YOU LIKE THIS OR DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT OR NOT, WE CAN BETTER ASK TO WHAT EXTENT YOU LIKE SOMETHING OR TO WHAT DEGREE YOU AGREE WITH A CERTAIN STATEMENT AND THEN OFFER A LIKERT SCALE. NOT ONLY SUCH ANSWERS WILL MORE ACCURATELY REFLECT THE OPINION AND THE PERCEPTION OF THE RESPONDENT, BUT THEY ALSO OFFER MORE POSSIBILITIES IN TERMS OF DATA ANALYTICAL METHODS.
ANOTHER CONSIDERATION FOR CREATING SURVEY ITEMS IS REALLY JUST TO USE YOUR COMMON SENSE. FOR INSTANCE, IF THE PHRASEOLOGY OF THE SURVEY ITEMS ARE HIGHLY LEADING OR REALLY PROVOCATIVE, THEN WE CAN ALMOST BE CERTAIN THAT THE RESPONDENTS WON’T BE ABLE TO PROVIDE US WITH HIGHLY RELIABLE DATA. ALSO, SOMETIMES WHEN WE COME ACROSS SURVEYS WITH MULTIPLE-CHOICE ITEMS BUT THE MULTIPLE CHOICES DO NOT EVEN INCLUDE ALL THE POSSIBILITIES THAT MAY EXIST. SO REALLY A LOT OF SUGGESTIONS THAT THIS CHAPTER OFFERS ARE JUST COMMON SENSE. SO USE YOUR COMMON SENSE. THE SECOND DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT THIS CHAPTER DISCUSSES IS INTERVIEWING. INTERVIEWS CAN BE STRUCTURED, SEMI-STRUCTURED, OR UNSTRUCTURED. BROTHERTON ALSO CATEGORIZES FOCUS GROUPS UNDER INTERVIEWING IN THIS CHAPTER. IF SURVEYS ARE TYPICALLY USED TO COLLECT STANDARDIZED QUANTITATIVE DATA, INTERVIEW IS PRETTY MUCH ON THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM. INTERVIEWS ARE TYPICALLY USED TO COLLECT QUALITATIVE DATA. CONSEQUENTLY – DURING INTERVIEWS ONLY OR MOSTLY OPEN QUESTIONS WILL BE ASKED. INSTEAD OF ASKING – DO YOU LIKE RESEARCH?WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN? WE SHOULD BE ASKING WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT RESEARCH? CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT RESEARCH MEANS TO YOU? WHAT IS YOUR OPINION REGARDING DOING RESEARCH AS A BACHELORS’ STUDENT? DOES THERE ARE TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGNS, WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN CAN DO TO A RESEARCH ETC? BECAUSE QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION IS TYPICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH EXPLORATORY RESEARCH WE’RE NOT INTERESTED IN GETTING JUST A YES OR NO ANSWER OR LIKERT SCALE ANSWER. WE WANT TO TRIGGER QUALITATIVE ANSWERS – PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN PERSPECTIVES. WE WANT TO LET NEW ISSUES SURFACE THROUGH INTERVIEWING. THAT IS WHY WE WANT TO ASK OPEN QUESTIONS WE WANT TO ASK FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS. WE ASK FOR CLARIFICATIONS. WE ASK RESPONDENTS TO TELL US MORE. TO EXPLAIN AND ELABORATE FURTHER. THAT IS THE GOAL OF INTERVIEWING.
THE THIRD DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT THIS CHAPTER TALKS ABOUT IS OBSERVATION. RESEARCHERS CAN CONDUCT OBSERVATION IN DIFFERENT MANNERS COVERT OR OVERT, QUALITATIVE OR QUANTITATIVE, AS A MERE OBSERVER AS A PARTICIPANT, IN A CONTROLLED LAB SETTING, OR IN THE FIELD. AS THE RESEARCHERS TYPICALLY CONDUCT THE OBSERVATION THEMSELVES, THEY CAN EASILY DETERMINE HOW BEST THE OBSERVATION SHOULD BE DONE IN LINE WITH THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF A PARTICULAR RESEARCH STUDY, AS SUCH OBSERVATION IS QUITE A VERSATILE DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT THAT CAN BE USED IN ALL RESEARCH TYPES, SO WHAT ARE THE RESEARCH TYPES OR WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. THEY ARE EXPLORATORY, DESCRIPTIVE, AND CAUSAL. THE FINAL DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT OF THIS CHAPTER DISCUSSES IS PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES. SO THE IDEA HERE IS TO SHOW OR PROJECT SOME KIND OF STIMULUS, EITHER VAGUE OR RATHER EXPLICIT, TO THE RESPONDENT AND YOU ASK THE RESPONDENT TO RESPOND TO THAT STIMULUS. A STIMULUS ASKS RESPONDENTS TO ASSOCIATE WITH SOMETHING. COMPLETION, SHOW THE RESPONDENTS STIMULUS THAT IS INCOMPLETE AND ASK THEM TO COMPLETE IT. CONSTRUCTION, ASKS RESPONDENTS TO CONSTRUCT SOMETHING ON THE BASIS OF THE STIMULUS SHOWN. EXPRESSIVE, ASK THE RESPONDENTS TO EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS ON THE BASIS OF THE STIMULUS SHOWN. AND CHOICE ORDER, ASKS THE RESPONDENT TO ORDER THE SHOWN STIMULUS ON THE BASIS OF IMPORTANCE OR PREFERENCE OR SOME OTHER TYPE OF CRITERION.
WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN OF MIXED-METHOD DESIGNS CAN DO TO A RESEARCH? IT IS DIFFICULT SO BETTER NOT TO DO IT IN A BACHELOR’S DISSERTATION. I AM OF THE OPINION THAT EACH RESEARCH STUDY SHOULD HAVE A CLEAR SCOPE, SHOULD KNOW WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT IT,AND ONE STUDY SHOULD BE ABOUT ONE THING. A STUDY SHOULDN’T BE ABOUT EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING WHERE THE RESEARCHER HAS TO COLLECT ALL SORTS OF DATA,ALL SORTS OF KNOWLEDGE ON WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGNUSING ALL KINDS OF INSTRUMENTS. BECAUSE IF A STUDY WERE LIKE THAT, I CAN PRETTY MUCH GUARANTEE YOU THAT THEIR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS WILL BE ALL VAGUE AND UNCLEAR BECAUSE A STUDY LIKE THAT WILL TYPICALLY LACK FOCUS AND SCOPE. SO IF YOUR STUDY IS LIKE THAT THAT YOU REALLY SHOULD THINK ABOUT NARROWING THINGS DOWN.ALSO ON WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN AND CHOOSE THE ONE.
AND NOW WE MOVE ON TO CHAPTER 8 WE START BY DEFINING POPULATION, SAMPLE, AND SAMPLING. SIMPLY PUT, A RESEARCH POPULATION REFERS TO ALL THE PEOPLE ABOUT WHOM WE WANT TO DRAW OUR CONCLUSIONS, A SAMPLE IS THE GROUP OF PEOPLE FROM WITHIN THAT POPULATION FROM WHOM WE ACTUALLY COLLECT DATA, AND SAMPLING REFERSTO AND DECIDES ON WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN TYPE TO BE ADOPTED IN THE RESEARCH. TO THE PROCESS THROUGH WHICH WE DRAW THE SAMPLE OUT OF THE POPULATION. FOR INSTANCE, IF MY MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION IS WHAT HOTEL SCHOOL STUDENTS IN LEEUWARDEN THINK ABOUT PBL, THEN OBVIOUSLY THE RESEARCH POPULATION WOULD BE ALL THE HOTEL SCHOOL STUDENTS IN LEEUWARDEN, WHICH WOULD BE ABOUT 2,000 PEOPLE. FOR A STUDY WE WILL ONLY COLLECT DATA FROM 200 STUDENTS, THEN THESE 200 STUDENTS WILL BE OUR SAMPLE, AND THE PROCESS OR PROCEDURE THROUGH WHICH WE CHOOSE THE 200 STUDENTS OUT OF THE 2,000 IS KNOWN AS SAMPLING. THERE ARE TWO MAIN CATEGORIES OF SAMPLING PROCEDURES: PROBABILITY SAMPLING AND NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLING. AND FOR EACH WE HAVE THREE EXAMPLES. WITH PROBABILITY SAMPLING, WE AS THE RESEARCHERS GUARANTEE THAT EVERY SINGLE SUBJECT FROM THE POPULATION WILL STAND THE SAME CHANCE OR THE SAME PROBABILITY OF BEING CHOSEN FOR AT THE SAMPLE. HENCE THE TERM PROBABILITY SAMPLING. IN NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLING PROCEDURES, OBVIOUSLY, WE DON’T BOTHER WITH GUARANTEEING EQUAL PROBABILITY.
BY THIS DEFINITION, PROBABILITY SAMPLING IS ALWAYS MORE COMPLEX AND PERHAPS MORE DIFFICULT TO PERFORM BECAUSE WE AS THE RESEARCHERS ARE KNOWN TO THE QUESTION OF WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN. HAVE THE DUTY OF GUARANTEEING EQUAL PROBABILITY. THE BOOK TALKS ABOUT 4 PROBABILITY SAMPLING PROCEDURES AND WE’RE GOING TO RUN THROUGH THE THREE MOST COMMONLY USED ONES. THE FIRST ONE IS A SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING PROCEDURE MEANING WE ESTABLISH A SIMPLE PROCEDURE TO GUARANTEE EQUAL PROBABILITY. FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE HAVE A POPULATION OF 100 AND NEED A SAMPLE OF 20, WE CAN PUT THE 100 NAMES INTO A JAR, SHAKE THEM UP, AND PICK OUT 20 NAMES WITH EYES CLOSED. THROUGH THIS SIMPLE PROCEDURE, WE CAN REASONABLY GUARANTEE THAT PERSONAL BIAS DOES NOT EXIST AT ALL AND THAT 20 NAMES ARE PICKED OUT PURELY BY CHANCE. THE SECOND IS SYSTEMATIC RANDOM THIS PROCEDURE SAYS THAT WE TAKE THE POPULATION SIZE AND / OR THE DESIRED SAMPLE SIZE AS SUCH WE CALCULATE THE SKIP INTERVAL. WE PICK A RANDOM STARTING POINT FROM WITHIN THE POPULATION SKIP THE NUMBER OF SUBJECTS AS IDENTIFIED THROUGH THE SKIP INTERVAL AND PICK THE NEXT SUBJECT. MATHEMATICALLY AFTER WE HAVE RUN THROUGH THE ENTIRE POPULATION WE WOULD HAVE SELECTED THE SAMPLE SIZE THAT WE DESIRE. THE THIRD PROBABILITY SAMPLING PROCEDURE IS STRATIFIED RANDOM THIS IS TO ENSURE THAT WHATEVER SUBGROUPS EXIST IN THE POPULATION WILL BE RETAINED IN THE SAMPLE. FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE KNOW THE GENDER DISTRIBUTION IN THE POPULATION IS 80 20 MALE AND FEMALE AND WE WANT THIS TO BE RETAINED IN THE SAMPLE, WE WOULD NEED TO CREATE TWO STRATA OR TWO SUBGROUPS, ONE OF THE MALES AND ONE OF THE FEMALES, SO ESSENTIALLY WE BREAK THE POPULATION DOWN INTO TWO SUB POPULATIONS AND SAMPLE THEM PROPORTIONATELY SO THAT THE GENDER DISTRIBUTION THAT EXISTS IN THE POPULATION WILL ALSO EXIST IN THE SELECTED SAMPLE, THIS CHAPTER ALSO PRESENTS A FEW NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLING PROCEDURES, THE FIRST IS CONVENIENT SAMPLE. THIS BASICALLY MEANS THAT THE RESEARCHER TAKES A SAMPLE BASED ON CONSIDERATIONS OF WHAT IS EASY AND CONVENIENT.
IF WENEED 10 PEOPLE AS A SAMPLE AND HAPPEN TO HAVE 10 PEOPLE IN THIS CLASS, WE CAN JUST TAKE THESE 10 PEOPLE AS A CONVENIENCE SAMPLE. NOW IS THIS SAMPLE TRULY REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ENTIRE POPULATION? IT IS OKAY IN SOME SITUATIONS IF YOUR POPULATION IS VERY HOMOGENEOUS OR IF REPRESENTATIVENESS IS SIMPLY NOT A MAJOR CONCERN FOR YOU LIKE IN CERTAIN EXPLORATORY STUDIES, THEN A CONVENIENCE SAMPLE IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE. THE SECOND ONE IS CALLED JUDGMENTAL SAMPLING WHICH MEANS THE RESEARCHER WILL SET UP A LIST OF CRITERIA AND THEN JUDGE WHOM HE OR SHE WANTS TO INCLUDE AS PART OF THE SAMPLE FOR A SPECIFIC STUDY. FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE STUDY CALLS FOR COLLECTING DATA FROM INDIVIDUALS WHO MUST FULFILL A CERTAIN COMBINATION OF CHARACTERISTICS OR EXPERIENCES, THEN JUDGMENTAL SAMPLING MIGHT BE VERY USEFUL. THE THIRD ONE IS CALLED SNOWBALL SAMPLING OR SNOWBALLING. ESSENTIALLY THIS MEANS IF WE CAN LOCATE ONE PERSON WHO WOULD QUALIFY TO BE INCLUDED AS PART OF THE SAMPLE, WE WILL ASK HIM OR HER TO INTRODUCE US TO MORE PEOPLE LIKE HIM OR HER WHO MIGHT ALSO BE ABLE TO FULFILL THE CRITERIA THAT WE HAVE SET FORTH FOR SELECTING THE SAMPLE. SO IN THIS ARTICLE, WE HAVE DISCUSSED THREE RESEARCH TYPES, 7 RESEARCH DESIGNS, 4 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS, AND SIX SAMPLING PROCEDURES.
About Global Research Letters:
DATA COLLECTION, SURVEYS, OR THE QUESTION OF WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN ALL CAN BE ANSWERED BY THE GLOBAL RESEARCH LETTERS, WHICH IS AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARLY PUBLISHER. THEY ANSWER THE QUESTIONS IN AN EXPERT MANNER TO ALL YOUR QUESTIONS RELATED TO WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN OR WHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGNTYPE. THEY OFFER PROFESSIONAL PUBLISHING SERVICES TO ALL THE RESEARCHERS OUT THERE. THEY HAVE THE MOST INNOVATIVE AND ADVANCED ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTION ABOUTWHAT’S A RESEARCH DESIGN. THEY AIM TO ADHERE TO THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMUNITY BY FOLLOWING THE BEST PUBLISHING SERVICES.