Introduction
Designing of the research is done mainly to solve the problem of getting the various stages of the research under control. This control factor is very important for the researcher during any of the research operation. Preparation of the design for the research forms a very critical stage in the process of carrying out some research work or a research project.
Research Design in general terms can be referred to as the scheme of work to be done or performed by a researcher during the various stages of a research project.
With the help of the research design, one can very easily handle and operate research work as research design acts as a working plan, which is made by a researcher even before he starts working on his research project. By this, researcher gets a great help and guidance in achieving his aims and goals.
According to Russell Ackoff, research design is the process of making decisions before a situation arises in which the decision has to be carried out. It is actually a process of deliberate anticipation directed towards bringing an unexpected situation under control.
Russell Ackoff has in a great way explained about the research design in his book ‘Designs of Social Research’.
Meaning of research design
Like an architect prepares a blue print before he approves a construction – in the same way researcher makes or prepares a plan or a schedule of his own study before he starts his research work. This helps the researcher to save time and also save some of his crucial resources. This plan or blue print of study is referred to as the research design.
Research design is also called as the research strategy and the various steps or stages that a research design may include can be summarized as follows:
1. Research problem selection
2. Problem presentation
3. Hypothesis formulation
4. Conceptual clarity
5. Methodology
6. Literature survey
7. Bibliography
8. Collection of the data
9. Hypothesis testing
10. Interpretation of the result
11. Report writing
This specific presentation of the various steps in the process of research was given by Cook Jahoda.
Factors affecting research design
1. Availability of scientific information
2. Availability of sufficient data
3. Time availability
4. Proper exposure to the data source
5. Availability of the money
6. Manpower availability
7. Magnitude of the management problem
8. Degree of Top management’ s support
9. Ability, knowledge, skill, technical understanding and technical background of the researcher
10. Controllable variables
11. Un – controllable variables
12. Internal variables
13. External variables
Advantages of research design
1. Consumes less time.
2. Ensures project time schedule.
3. Helps researcher to prepare himself to carry out research in a proper and a systematic way.
4. Better documentation of the various activities while the project work is going on.
5. Helps in proper planning of the resources and their procurement in right time.
6. Provides satisfaction and confidence, accompanied with a sense of success from the beginning of the work of the research project.
Types of Research Design:
Various types of research design are as follow:
1. Research design for exploratory or formulative studies
• In this type of design, a vague problem is selected and understood and is then followed by an exploratory research to find a new hypothesis and then carrying out conclusion research decisions to finally get new ideas.
• Aims at finding a new hypothesis.
• Individual surveys, referring to secondary sources of data etc. play an important role in such research designs.
• Reviewing related literature, following or surveying people having practical experience in the problem related field act as very important and most commonly used methods by an exploratory researcher.
2. Research design for conclusive studies
Also referred to as the research design for the descriptive studies and is further divided as follows:
A. Case Study method:
• Finds extensive use in commerce and industry.
• Very respectable method of teaching and research in management.
• Helps greatly in knowing the causes and the results of the incident of the phenomenon.
B. Statistical method:
• Also trying to find its place in commerce and industry.
• Act as method of correlation and regressions, analysis, chi square etc.
• Has been made very rigorous and sophisticated by coming up of the computers.
3. Research design for experimental studies:
• Explains the structure of an experiment.
• Involve plans for the testing of the causal hypothesis.
• Decides the number of observations to be taken and also the order in which experiments are to be carried out.
• Which randomization method to be used.
• Which mathematical model to be used for explaining the experiment.
This research design can be further categorized into the following:
1. Informal experimental design:
• After only design.
• After only with control design.
• Before and after without control design.
• Before and after with control design.
2. Formal experimental design:
• Completely randomized design.
• Randomized block design.
• Latin square design.
• Factorial design.
Steps in Research Design
Following are the steps in research design:
1. The Problem: The first step involves the proper selection and then carefully defining the problem. By this researcher will be enabled to know about what he has to search, but it should be kept in mind that the problems selected should not be unmanageable in nature and also should not be based on the desires.
2. Objective of the study: The objective should be very clear in the mind of the researcher as this will lead to the clarity of the design and proper response from the respondents.
3. Nature of the study: The research design should be very much in relation with the nature of the study, which is to be carried out.
4. Data sources: The various sources of the data or the information should be very clearly stated by the researcher.
5. Techniques of data collection: For the collection of the required information, it sometimes becomes very necessary to use some especial techniques.
6. Social cultural context: Research design based on the social cultural concept is prepared in order to avoid the various study variations.
7. Geographical limit: This step becomes a necessity at this point of time as with the help of this step, research linked to the hypothesis applies only to certain number of social groups.
8. Basis of selection: Selecting a proper sample acts as a very important and critical step and this is done with the help of some mechanics like drawing a random stratified, deliberate, double cluster or quota sample etc.
