Principles, Practices and Dynamics of Research Management
LECTURE-4Research Design
Kazi Nurmohammad Hossainul HaqueSenior Lecturer, Civil Service College Dhaka
MPA 5th Batch (2010-11)15 January 2011 SaturdayBIAM Foundation Complex
Defining Research Design
• “‘Design’ ... is a process of deliberate anticipation directed (to bring) an expected situation under control.”
• Designing – apriori decision-making about a situation as it unfolds.
• Research design – A systemic approach to establish a plan of action to implement the research.
• A simulated construction of research action.
• The arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data.
• Simply, research design is an operational plan for a proposed research, a kind of ‘mapping strategy’.
Components of Research Design
Statement on Research Problem
Positioning the research
Research objective(s)
Research question(s)
Research sub-question(s)
Brief theoretical/analytical review
Research methodology
Research schedule
Table of contents
Indicative reference list
Components of Research Design (Cont.)
• Problem statement:
• A statement on the nature of the research problem
• Should define temporal, geographical and conceptual limits of the research work
• Clarifications: Definitions, Delimitations, Assumptions, Theoretical/conceptual bases
• Positioning the research: An indication of the connection of the research to a ‘theoretical/conceptual’ or ‘discipline’ or ‘policy’ field
• Research objectives: A statement regarding the objectives to be attained through this research
Components of Research Design (Cont.)• Research question(s) and sub-question(s):
• Formation of questions and/or hypotheses that are examined in the research
• Research questions needs to be as ‘precise’ and ‘concise’ as possible
• Indication to relationships between theories, concepts, variables, phenomena and/or events
• Questions/hypotheses – vital role in research design through determining scope and focus
• If relevant, formulation of sub-questions and/or operational hypotheses
• Sub-questions further help define what relations the research is observing and explaining
Components of Research Design (Cont.)
• Research question(s) and sub-question(s) (cont.):
• Variable:-
• A general category of objectives, events or situations, i.e. sex, income, social class
• Within this category, specific instances will vary
• Variable is a measurable dimension of a concept
• Research involve manipulation or measurement of variable
• Variables must have at least two values
• Explanation and analysis of the changes and differences in the variables is at the crux of research
Components of Research Design (Cont.)
• Research question(s) and sub-question(s) (cont.):
• Variable:-
• Typology of variable: nature & effect (causality)
Components of Research Design (Cont.)
• Research question(s) and sub-question(s) (cont.):
• Hypothesis:-
• Formulation of hypothesis for presuming problems that requires systemic inquiry.
• Hypothesis formulation gives direction in which way facts are to be arranged so irrelevant facts can be eliminated from relevant facts.
• Characteristics of hypothesis:
Components of Research Design (Cont.)
• Research question(s) and sub-question(s) (cont.):
• Hypothesis:- Sources• Specialized knowledge field• Publications i.e. published studies, research
abstracts, journals, books, papers etc.• Experiences and observations• Discussions and deliberations
Components of Research Design (Cont.)
• Research question(s) and sub-question(s) (cont.):
• Hypothesis:- Process of developing hypothesis
• Inductive reasoning deductive reasoning
Generalization, abstraction,
theory
Prediction, expectation, hypothesis
Observations, facts,
evidence
Observations, facts,
evidence
Components of Research Design (Cont.)
• Research question(s) and sub-question(s) (cont.):
• Variable & Hypothesis:• Operational definition of variables/concepts:
• Difficulties of operationalization:
Components of Research Design (Cont.)• Brief Theoretical/Analytical Review:
• A short discussion of relevant theoretical background
• An introduction of main analytical approaches to be examined and used
• One of the main functions of theory – providing explanation of processes and predict possible movements of certain variables
• Theories explain causal and natural relationship of variables
• Social problems and issues are complex and interrelated by nature – difficulty to give a comprehensive and satisfactory analysis – so use of analytical approaches, combining theories in an integrated framework of analysis
Components of Research Design (Cont.)
• Research Methodology:• An argued indication of the sources of data:• An argued choice for data collection, data
analysis and data processing techniques• Primary data, secondary data• Different methods: (i) Survey of documents and
other (secondary) sources, (ii) Observations, (iii) Questionnaire, (iv) Interview, (v) Case Study
• Research methods are tools and techniques for attacking research problem. But tools and techniques themselves are not enough without their appropriate uses.