Research Methodology

Module 3: Research Design and Sample Design

Lecture : 1
 Contents
Module 3: Research Design and Sample Design
3.1 Research Design
- Meaning
- Types, and
- Significance

3.2 Sample Design

- Meaning and Significance
- Essentials of a good sampling
- Stages in Sample Design
- Sampling methods/techniques
- Sampling Errors
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 MEANING OF RESEARCH DESIGN
“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.”
- The research design is the conceptual structure within which research is
conducted.
-It constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of
data.
-The design includes an outline of what the researcher will do from writing
the hypothesis and its operational implications to the final analysis of data.

More explicitly, the design decisions happen to be in respect of:

(i) What is the study about?
(ii) Why is the study being made?
(iii) Where will the study be carried out?
(iv) What type of data is required?
(v) Where can the required data be found?
(vi) What periods of time will the study include?
(vii) What will be the sample design?
(viii) What techniques of data collection will be used?
(ix) How will the data be analysed?
(x) In what style will the report be prepared? 3
Keeping in view the above stated design decisions, one may split the
overall research design into the following parts:
(a) the sampling design which deals with the method of selecting items to be
observed for the given study;
(b) the observational design which relates to the conditions under which the
observations are to be made;
(c) the statistical design which concerns with the question of how many items
are to be observed and how the information and data gathered are to be
analysed; and
(d) the operational design which deals with the techniques by which the
procedures specified in the sampling, statistical and observational designs
can be carried out.

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Important features of a research design:
(i) It is a plan that specifies the sources and types of information
relevant to the research problem.
(ii) It is a strategy specifying which approach will be used for
gathering and analysing the data.
(iii) It also includes the time and cost budgets since most studies are
done under these two constraints.

In brief, research design must, at least, contain:

(a) a clear statement of the research problem;
(b) procedures and techniques to be used for gathering information;
(c) the population to be studied; and
(d) methods to be used in processing and analysing data.

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FEATURES OF A GOOD DESIGN:
-A good design is often characterised by adjectives like flexible, appropriate,
efficient, economical and so on. Generally, the design which minimises bias
and maximises the reliability of the data collected and analysed is considered a
good design.
-The design which gives the smallest experimental error is supposed to be the
best design in many investigations.
-Similarly, a design which yields maximal information and provides an
opportunity for considering many different aspects of a problem is considered
most appropriate and efficient design in respect of many research problems.
Thus, the question of good design is related to the purpose or
objective of the research problem and also with the nature of the problem to be
studied. A design may be quite suitable in one case, but may be found wanting
in the context of some other research problem. One single design cannot serve
the purpose of all types of research problems.
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A research design appropriate for a particular research problem,
usually involves the consideration of the following factors:
(i) the means of obtaining information;
(ii) the availability and skills of the researcher and his staff, if any;
(iii) the objective of the problem to be studied;
(iv) the nature of the problem to be studied; and
(v) the availability of time and money for the research work.

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- If the research study happens to be an exploratory or a formulative one,
wherein the major emphasis is on discovery of ideas and insights, the
research design most appropriate must be flexible enough to permit the
consideration of many different aspects of a phenomenon.

- But when the purpose of a study is accurate description of a situation or of

an association between variables (or in what are called the descriptive
studies), accuracy becomes a major consideration and a research design
which minimizes bias and maximizes the reliability of the evidence collected
is considered a good design.

- Studies involving the testing of a hypothesis of a causal relationship

between variables require a design which will permit inferences about
causality in addition to the minimization of bias and maximization of
reliability.
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- It is only on the basis of its primary function that a study can be
categorized either as an exploratory or descriptive or hypothesis-
testing study and accordingly the choice of a research design may be
made in case of a particular study.

- Besides, the availability of time, money, skills of the research staff

and the means of obtaining the information must be given due
weightage while working out the relevant details of the research
design such as experimental design, survey design, sample design
and the like.

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IMPORTANT CONCEPTS RELATING TO RESEARCH DESIGN

Before describing the different research designs, it will be appropriate to explain the
various concepts relating to designs so that these may be better and easily
understood.

1.Dependent and independent variables: A concept which can take on

different quantitative values is called a variable. As such the concepts like weight,
height, income are all examples of variables. Qualitative phenomena (or the
attributes) are also quantified on the basis of the presence or absence of the
concerning attribute(s).
-Phenomena which can take on quantitatively different values even in decimal
points are called ‘continuous variables’. But all variables are not continuous. If they
can only be expressed in integer values, they are non-continuous variables or in
statistical language ‘discrete variables’.
Age is an example of continuous variable, but the number of children is an
example of non-continuous variable.
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- If one variable depends upon or is a consequence of the other variable, it is
termed as a dependent variable, and the variable that is antecedent to the
dependent variable is termed as an independent variable.

- For instance, if we say that height depends upon age, then height is a
dependent variable and age is an independent variable.

- Further, if in addition to being dependent upon age, height also depends

upon the individual’s sex, then height is a dependent variable and age and
sex are independent variables.

- Similarly, readymade films and lectures are examples of independent

variables, whereas behavioral changes, occurring as a result of the
environmental manipulations, are examples of dependent variables.
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2. Extraneous variable: Independent variables that are not related to the purpose
of the study, but may affect the dependent variable are termed as extraneous
variables.
- Suppose the researcher wants to test the hypothesis that there is a relationship
between children’s gains in social studies achievement and their self-concepts.
In this case self-concept is an independent variable and social studies
achievement is a dependent variable. Intelligence may as well affect the social
studies achievement, but since it is not related to the purpose of the study
undertaken by the researcher, it will be termed as an extraneous variable.

- Whatever effect is noticed on dependent variable as a result of extraneous

variable(s) is technically described as an ‘experimental error’.

- A study must always be so designed that the effect upon the dependent
variable is attributed entirely to the independent variable(s), and not to
some extraneous variable or variables.
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3. Control: One important characteristic of a good research design is to minimize
the influence or effect of extraneous variable(s). The technical term ‘control’ is used
when we design the study minimizing the effects of extraneous independent
variables. In experimental researches, the term ‘control’ is used to refer to restrain
experimental conditions.

4. Confounded relationship: When the dependent variable is not free from the
influence of extraneous variable(s), the relationship between the dependent and
independent variables is said to be confounded by an extraneous variable(s).

5. Research hypothesis: When a prediction or a hypothesised relationship is to be

tested by scientific methods, it is termed as research hypothesis. The research
hypothesis is a predictive statement that relates an independent variable to a
dependent variable. Usually a research hypothesis must contain, at least, one
independent and one dependent variable.
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6. Experimental and non-experimental hypothesis-testing research: When the
purpose of research is to test a research hypothesis, it is termed as hypothesis-
testing research. It can be of the experimental design or of the non-experimental
design.
- Research in which the independent variable is manipulated is termed
‘experimental hypothesis-testing research’ and a research in which an
independent variable is not manipulated is called ‘non-experimental
hypothesis-testing research’.

- For instance, suppose a researcher wants to study whether intelligence affects

reading ability for a group of students and for this purpose he randomly selects
50 students and tests their intelligence and reading ability by calculating the
coefficient of correlation between the two sets of scores. This is an example of
non-experimental hypothesis-testing research because herein the
independent variable, intelligence, is not manipulated.
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- But now suppose that our researcher randomly selects 50 students from a group
of students who are to take a course in statistics and then divides them into two
groups by randomly assigning 25 to Group A, the usual studies programme, and
25 to Group B, the special studies programme. At the end of the course, he
administers a test to each group in order to judge the effectiveness of the
training programme on the student’s performance-level. This is an example of
experimental hypothesis-testing research because in this case the
independent variable, viz., the type of training programme, is manipulated.

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7. Experimental and control groups: In an experimental hypothesis-testing
research when a group is exposed to usual conditions, it is termed a ‘control
group’, but when the group is exposed to some novel or special condition, it is
termed an ‘experimental group’.
In the above illustration, the Group A can be called a control group and the
Group B an experimental group. If both groups A and B are exposed to special
studies programmes, then both groups would be termed ‘experimental groups.’ It is
possible to design studies which include only experimental groups or studies which
include both experimental and control groups.

8. Treatments: The different conditions under which experimental and control

groups are put are usually referred to as ‘treatments’. In the illustration taken
above, the two treatments are the usual studies programme and the special studies
programme. Similarly, if we want to determine through an experiment the
comparative impact of three varieties of fertilizers on the yield of wheat, in that case
the three varieties of fertilizers will be treated as three treatments.
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9. Experiment: The process of examining the truth of a statistical hypothesis,
relating to some research problem, is known as an experiment. For example, we
can conduct an experiment to examine the usefulness of a certain newly developed
drug. Experiments can be of two types viz., absolute experiment and comparative
experiment. If we want to determine the impact of a fertilizer on the yield of a crop,
it is a case of absolute experiment; but if we want to determine the impact of one
fertilizer as compared to the impact of some other fertilizer, our experiment then will
be termed as a comparative experiment. Often, we undertake comparative
experiments when we talk of designs of experiments.

10. Experimental unit(s): The pre-determined plots or the blocks, where different
treatments are used, are known as experimental units. Such experimental units
must be selected (defined) very carefully.

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 DIFFERENT RESEARCH DESIGNS

Different research designs can be conveniently described if we categorize them as:

(1) research design in case of exploratory research studies; (2) research design in
case of descriptive and diagnostic research studies, and (3) research design in case
of hypothesis-testing research studies.

1. Research design in case of exploratory research studies: Exploratory

research studies are also termed as formulative research studies. The main purpose
of such studies is that of formulating a problem for more precise investigation or of
developing the working hypotheses from an operational point of view.

- The major emphasis in such studies is on the discovery of ideas and insights. As
such the research design appropriate for such studies must be flexible enough to
provide opportunity for considering different aspects of a problem under study.

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- Inbuilt flexibility in research design is needed because the research problem,
broadly defined initially, is transformed into one with more precise meaning in
exploratory studies, which fact may necessitate changes in the research
procedure for gathering relevant data.

Generally, the following three methods in the context of research design for such
studies are talked about: (a) the survey of concerning literature; (b) the
experience survey and (c) the analysis of ‘insight-stimulating’ examples.

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- The survey of concerning literature happens to be the most simple and fruitful
method of formulating precisely the research problem or developing hypothesis.
Hypotheses stated by earlier workers may be reviewed and their usefulness be
evaluated as a basis for further research. It may also be considered whether the
already stated hypotheses suggest new hypothesis. In this way the researcher
should review and build upon the work already done by others, but in cases where
hypotheses have not yet been formulated, his task is to review the available material
for deriving the relevant hypotheses from it.
The researcher should also make an attempt to apply concepts and
theories developed in different research contexts to the area in which he is himself
working. Sometimes the works of creative writers also provide a fertile ground for
hypothesis formulation and as such may be looked into by the researcher.

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