How to conduct good investigation in social sciences

RESEARCH DESIGN

Albu Iulian Alexandru

FIRST OF WE NEED A DESIGN

But what is a Design ?

Is a strategy that directs a researcher in planning and implementing a study in a way that is most likely to achieve the intended goal

DESIGN

Every research project has an implicit or explicit logic that provides the framework for the research and guides the

research strategy.

It is the plan, the structure and the strategy of the investigation, so conceived as to obtain answers to research

questions or problems

RESEARCH DESIGN

There are thus two functions of research design: first, to develop or conceptualize an operational plan and the second, to ensure that the procedures adopted within the plan are adequate to provide valid, objective and accurate solutions to the research problems. Usually the researcher has limited funds and limited time to do the research.

FACTS

There are two main ways of viewing the process of research :

THE RESEARCH TYPES

• Wheel model

• Linear model

The first stage consists of deciding on the topic of the research project, specifying its scope, developing hypotheses to explain its working, and developing a conceptual framework or model showing the relationships between the different hypotheses and variables the researcher wishes to investigate.

It includes all the thinking and theorizing that has to be done before the empirical work can begin.

THE LINEAR MODEL

Theoryspecificatio

nand the

developmentof

hypotheses

Dataspecificatio

n

Datacollection

Dataanalysis

Publication

LINEAR MODEL

The second stage consists of deciding what kinds of data are appropriate for answering the research questions,

testing the hypotheses or investigating the accuracy of the model.

Depend on the naturę of the research problem but also on the kinds of data that are available and that can be

generated and collected.

DATA SPECIFICATION

This stage is the actual process of collecting the data.

DATA COLECTION

Once the data has been collected, it needs to be coded so that analysis of the results can take place more efficiently.

CODING

The analysis of data is never as straightforward as might be thought.

DATA ANALYSIS

The final stage of research is the publication of the results. This usually occurs in the form of a report, academic papers

or a book.

PUBLICATION

THE LINEAR MODEL SUMMARY

In the research process as wheel, the researcher follows a not dissimilar set of steps to the linear model but may

repeat some of the steps

The research process can thus be shown as a large circle containing internal circles.

THE RESEARCH WHEEL

MORE

PONYS

Experimental design a research design that eliminates all factors that influence outcome except for the cause being

studied (independent variable). All other factors are controlled by randomization, investigator-controlled

manipulation of the independent variable, and control of the study situation by the investigator, including the use of

control groups.

Experiments arę widely considered to be the best way of determining cause and effect in scientific research.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

As experiments are so difficult to carry out in real life, social scientists have adopted cross-sectional design as one

of their most popular research designs. Cross-sectional design involves the collection of information on a large

number of cases at a single point in time.

CROSS-SECTIONAL DESIGN

Longitudinal design a research strategy in which one or more group(s) of subjects in various stages of development

are examined simultaneously with the intent of inferring trends over time. The assumption is that the phenomenon

under study progresses with time.

The major limitation of cross-sectional design is that it is unable to explain change over time.

LONGITUDINAL DESIGN

Case study design an investigation strategy involving extensive exploration of a single unit of study, which may be a person, family, group, community, or institution, or a very small number of subjects who are examined intensively. The

number of variables is usually very large.

Case studies are an extremely popular form of research design and are widely used throughout the social sciences.

Case studies enable researchers to focus on a single individual, group, community, event, policy area or

institution, and study it in depth, perhaps over an extended period of time.

CASE STUDY DESIGN

Example

Comparative design is one of the most important research designs in political science and compares two or more

groups on one variable.

Example: comparing the grades of female students to the grades of male students.

COMPARATIVE DESIGN

The planning and execution of a research project are critical to its success. This plan or research design involves determining the object of the research, developing research

questions, transforming these questions into hypotheses, and deciding on the appropriate research strategy

CONCLUSION

AND NOW A

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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