Research design 1

Research design
Research designs are concerned with turning the research question into a testing project. The best design depends on
your research questions. Every design has its positive and negative sides. The research design has been considered as
a "blueprint" for research, dealing with at least four problems: what questions to study, what data are relevant, what
data to collect, and how to analyze the results.[1]
Research design can be divided into fixed and flexible research designs (Robson, 1993). Others have referred to this
distinction with ‘quantitative research designs’ and ‘qualitative research designs’. However, fixed designs need not be
quantitative, and flexible design need not be qualitative. In fixed designs the design of the study is fixed before the
main stage of data collection takes place. Fixed designs are normally theory-driven; otherwise it’s impossible to
know in advance which variables need to be controlled and measured. Often these variables are quantitative. Flexible
designs allow for more freedom during the data collection. One reason for using a flexible research design can be
that the variable of interest is not quantitatively measurable, such as culture. In other cases, theory might not be
available before one starts the research.

Examples of fixed (quantitative) designs

Experimental design
See also Design of experiments.
In an experimental design, the researcher actively tries to change the situation, circumstances or experience of
participants (manipulation), which leads to a change in behaviour of the participants of the study. The participants
are assigned to different conditions, and variables of interest are measured. All other variables are controlled
Experiments are normally highly fixed before the data collection starts. Read more about experiental research
designs here Experiment.

Non-experimental research designs

Non-experimental research is almost the same as experimental research, the only difference is that non-experimental
research does not involve a manipulation of the situation, circumstances or experience of the participants.
Non-experimental research designs can be split up in three designs. First, relational designs, in which a range of
variables is measured. These designs are also called correlational studies, since the correlation is most often used
analysis. The second type is comparative designs. These design compare two natural groups. The third type of
non-experimental research is a longitudinal design. See Longitudinal study.]

Quasi experiment
Quasi research designs are research design that follow the experimental procedure, but do not randomly assign
people to (treatment and comparison) groups. See Quasi-experiment and natural experiment for more details.

Examples of flexible (qualitative) research designs

Case study
In a case study, one single unit is extensively studied. This case can be a person, organization, group or situation.
Famous case studies are for example the descriptions about the patients of Freud, who were thoroughly analysed and
described. Read more on case study. Bell (1999) states “a case study approach is particularly appropriate for
individual researchers because it gives an opportunity for one aspect of a problem to be studied in some depth within
a limited time scale”.
Research design 2

Ethnographic study
This type of research is involved with a group, organization, culture, or community. Normally the researcher shares a
lot of time with the group. Read more on Ethnography.

Grounded theory study

The aim of grounded theory studies is to make theories that can explain certain events. Read more about this on
Grounded theory

References
[1] Philliber, Schwab, & Samsloss, 1980

• Adèr , H. J., Mellenbergh, G. J., & Hand, D. J. (2008). Advising on research methods: a consultant's companion.
Huizen: Johannes van Kessel Publishing.
• Hoogland, T. & Hoogland, T. (in preparation). Conversations with Myself.
• Robson, C. (1993). Real-world research: A resource for social scientists and practitioner – researchers. Malden:
Blackwell Publishing.
Article Sources and Contributors 3

Article Sources and Contributors

Research design  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=428073740  Contributors: Bearcat, Falk Lieder, Marleen12345, Melcombe, Michael Hardy, PAvdK, Piotrus, Resident
Mario, ThomasHoogland, 3 anonymous edits

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