Research Design

Abstract A research is valid when a conclusion is accurate or true and research design is the conceptual blueprint within which research is conducted. A scholar for his research, prepare an action plan, it constitutes the outline of collection, measurement and analysis of data. Research design is not associated to any particular technique of data collection or any particular type of data. When designing research it is necessary that we recognize the type of evidence required to answer the research question in a reasonable way. The purpose, importance and types of research design. Keywords: Origin, Exploratory, Descriptive, Explanatory, Experimental Introduction Research design can be considered as the structure of research it is the “Glue” that holds all of the elements in a research project together, in short it is a plan of the proposed research work. Research design is defined by different social scientists in different terms; some of the definitions are as: according to Jahoda, Deutch & Cook “A research design is the arrangement of conditions for the collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy and procedure”. 2 Research design is the plan, structure and strategy and investigation concaved so as to obtain ensured to search question and control variance”. 3 Henry Manheim says that research design not only anticipates and specifies the seemingly countless decisions connected with carrying out data collection, processing and analysis but it presents a logical basis for these decisions. 4 Zikmund defined as “a master plan specifying the methods and procedure for collecting nd analyzing the needed information”. 5 The definitions stress systematic methodology in collecting right information for interpretations with economy and procedure. In-fact the research design is the conceptual within which research is conducted: 1. The blueprint for the collection. 2. Measurement and 3. Analysis of data. Research design should be based more or less on some methodology the research design should be made once the topic and problem of research have been selected and formulated, objectives have been properly outlined, concepts have been properly defined and the hypothesis have been properly framed. The research design should be able to provide answers of the following reserve queries: 1. What is the study about and, what type of data is required? 2. What is the purpose of study? 3. What are the sources of needed data? 4. What should be the place or area of the study? 5. What time, approximately, is required for the study? 6. What should be the amount of materials or number of cases for the study? 7. What type of sampling should be used? 8. What method of data collection would be appropriate? 9. How will data be analysed? 10. What should be the approximate expenditure? 11. What should be the specific nature of the study? Origins Research design emerged as a recognizable field of study in the 1960s, at first marked by a conference on Design Method at Imperial college, London in 1962. It led to the founding of the Design Research Society (DRS) in 1966. John Christopher Jones founded a postgraduate Design Research laboratory at the University Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (who initiated the 1962 conference) and L. Bruce Scher founded the postgraduate Department of Design Research at the Royal College of Art, London and became the first professor of Research Design. Some of the origin of design methods and research design lay in the emergence after the and world management decision making technique the most fundamental challenge to conventional ideas on design has been the grouching advocacy of systematic methods of problem and the development of design solutions. Herbert Simon (1969) established the foundations for a science of design which would be a body of intellectually tough, analytic, partly formalizable, partly empirical,teachable doctrine about the design process. Features 1. It is a plan that specifies the sources and type of information relevant to the research problem. 2. It is a strategy specifying which approach distill be used gathering and analyzing data. 3. 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 1. A clear statement of research problem. 2. Procedures and technique to be used for gathering data or information. 3. The population to be studied. 4. Methods to be used in processing & analysis data. Phases in Research Designing The Research process proceeds in six phases: 1. Specifying the problem/topic to be studied 2. Framing research design 3. Planning a sample (probability or non-probability or combination of the two) 4. Collecting the data 5. Analyzing the data (editing, coding, processing, tailgating) 6. Preparing the report Elements of Design Observation our Measures These are symbolized by an „O‟ in design notation. An O can refer to a single measure (e.g. measure of a body weight), a single instrument with multiple items (e.g. a 10 item self-esteem scale), a complex multipart instrument (e.g., survey), or a whole battery of tests or measures given out on one occasion. If you need to distinguish among specific measures, you can use subscripts with the O, as in O1, O2 & So on. These symbolized will an „X‟ in design notation the X can refer to a simple employment training program. Group:- Each group in a design gives its own line in the design structure if the design notation has three lines, there are three groups in the design Assignment to Group Assignment to group is designed by a latter at the beginning of each time (eg. Group) that describe how the group was assigned. The major types of assignment are: - R = Random Assignment N = Nonequivalent groups C = Assignment by cutoff Time Time moves from left to right elements that are listed on the left occur before elements that are listed on the right. Need for Research Design Research design is necessary because it makes possible the smooth sailing of the various research procedures, thereby creation research as professional as possible, yielding maximum information with a minimum expenditure of effort, time and money. For better, economical and attractive construction of a house, we need a blueprint (or what is a community called the map of the house) prepared by an expert architect, similarly we need a research design or a plan in advance of data collection and analysis for four research projects. Research design stands for advance planning of the methods to be adopted for collecting the relevant data and the techniques to be used in the analysis, keeping in view the objective of the research and the audibility of staff, time and money. Designing the research project may result in rending the research exercise unsuccessful. It is, therefore, imperative that an efficient and appropriate design must be prepared before starting research processes. The research design helps the investigator to organize his ideas in a shape whereby it will be possible for him to look for errors and shortages. Nature of Good Research Design A good research design is regularly characterized by adjectives like flexible, appropriate, efficient, and economical. Generally, the design which minimizes bias and collected & analyses is considered a good design. The design which gives the smallest experimental error in supposed to be the best design in many investigations similarly; a design which yields maximal information many different aspects of a problem is considered most appropriate and efficient design in respect of many research problems. Some of the strategies of good research design are as follows: Theory – Grounded Good research reflects the theories which are being investigated where specific theoretical expectations can be hypothesized these are incorporated into the design. Situational Good research designs make known the settings for the study, this was shown above where a specific need of teacher and administrators was openly addressed in the design plan. Similarly,demoralization, intergroup competition and competition might be accessed throughout the use of the additional comparison group who are not in direct contact with the original group. Feasible Good design can be implemented. The series and timing of events are cautiously throughout. Possible problems in measurement,devotion to project database construction and the like, are predictable. Redundant Good research designs have some flexibility built into them often this flexibility results from the repetition of essential design. Efficient Good research design strikes a balance between redundancy and the tendency to over design.