Research design & review of
literature
Research design
What it entails?
• The strategy/framework employed to pursue research
from the initial to the final stage.
Starts with research questions and follows:
research questions, theoretical framework, approach to
answering the research questions, methods of data
collection, data analysis and interpretation.
Philosophical assumptions (ontology and epistemology)
will play a big role, whether implicit or explicit!
Bad research questions
Not empirically testable, non-scientific
• Does free will exist?
• What is the purpose of human life?
• Should out-migration from rural areas be stopped?
General topics/non-specific/vague
• What are the problems in rural areas?
• Poverty in rural areas/slum areas?
• What can be done to prevent negative effects of
climate change?
Research design as a framework for data collection &
analysis
Designs Quantitative Qualitative
Experimental Control and treatment groups Quasi-experimental &
randomly assigned; quasi- ex-post facto design, not
experimental & ex-post facto the experimental
(groups not randomly assigned) design*.
Cross-sectional Sample of cases in single point Interviews or focus
of time as in survey research. groups at a single point
of time.
Longitudinal Survey more than one time, Ethnographic research
panel and cohorts
Case-study Single case Single case
Comparative Comparison of cases (small-n, Ethnographic or
large-n studies) qualitative interview in
more cases.
Source: Bryman (2016) pp.63
Typical process of quantitative research
• Theory
• Hypothesis
• Research design
• Measures of concepts
• Research site
• Research subjects
• Data collection
• Process and analyze data
• Findings & conclusions
Source: Bryman (2016) pp.109
Typical process of qualitative research
• Research questions
• Research site and subjects
• Data collection
• Interpretation of data… (Collection of further data)
• Conceptual & theoretical framework…. (better
research questions)
• Findings and conclusions
Source: Bryman (2016) pp.297
Typical guide to research design (methods & analysis not included)
• Choose a topic of interest (use personal experience,
something in the media, problem you want to solve,
socially useful, personal values, everyday life experiences
etc.)
• Generate research questions (use earlier studies, findings
and theories, talk to people/experts)
• Narrow questions to a geographical unit, time-period or
specific group of population.
• Decide on aims and objectives: exploratory, descriptive,
explanatory.
• Depending on questions choose amongst qualitative,
quantitative or mixed-methods approach.
• Data collection, analysis/interpretation, conclusions!
Literature review
• Goals
Familiarity with a body of knowledge in your chosen area/topic/subject
of interest
Getting to know prior research in the area/topic/subject
Summarize what is already known
Learn from others ideas/approaches/findings
How to conduct literature review
• Sources to be used
⮚Scholarly/academic journals for research papers
⮚Books and book chapters in academic databases
⮚Working papers (grey literature)
⮚Policy reports by research and academic institutions (grey
literature)
⮚Commissioned research reports by government or other
institutions (grey literature)
⮚Newspapers, magazines and other periodicals (credible)
Even Wikipedia helps if you are new to an area as it gives
you several links to follow up on a given topic/subject ☺
What to look for ?
• Look for relevance of titles: matches your area/subject
• Read the abstract if it matches your area/subject.
• Read the full paper
⮚Key findings
⮚Methods used for data collection, analysis
⮚Sources used (references)
Group assignment-2
• Choose a topic that you will work on for the final
project.
• Go to Google Scholar; search 5 research articles that
are relevant and open access using keywords from
your topic;
• You can also use basic google search as it gives links
to relevant research articles many times.
• Prepare a presentation comprising:
a) Reason behind choosing a topic (1 slide).
b) Key findings, similarities and differences and
summary of 5 research articles(2 slides at max).
c) Lessons for your research project based on 5 articles.
(1 slide)
d) Reference of the 5 articles in APA format (1 slide).
References
Bryman, A. (2016). Social Research Methods (International edition).
Oxford University Press: New York.
Lawrence, N.W. (2015). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and
Quantitative Approaches (7th edition). Allyn and Bacon: Noida.
Mishra, P. (2015). Business Research Methods. Oxford University
Press: New Delhi.
