research design and analysis
A research design encompasses the method and procedures employed to conduct scientific research. The design of a study defines the study type (descriptive, correlational, semi-experimental, experimental, review, meta-analytic) and sub-type (e.g., descriptive-longitudinal case study), research question, hypotheses, independent and dependent variables, experimental design, and, if applicable, data collection methods and a statistical analysis plan.
Contents [hide]
1 Design types and sub-types
1.1 Grouping
2 Confirmatory versus exploratory research
3 Examples of fixed designs
3.1 Non-experimental research designs
4 Examples of fixed designs
4.1 Non-experimental research designs
5 Examples of flexible research designs
5.1 Case study
5.2 Ethnographic study
5.3 Grounded Theory study
6 References
7 See also
Design types and sub-types[edit]
There are many ways to classify research designs, but sometimes the distinction is artificial and other times different designs are combined. Nonetheless, the list below offers a number of useful distinctions between possible research designs.[1]
Descriptive (e.g., case-study, naturalistic observation, survey)
Correlational (e.g., case-control study, observational study)
Semi-experimental (e.g., field experiment, quasi-experiment)
Experimental (Experiment with random assignment)
Review (Literature review, Systematic review)
Meta-analytic (Meta-analysis)
Sometimes a distinction is made between "fixed" and "flexible" or, synonymously, "quantitative" and "qualitative" research designs.[2] However, fixed designs need not be quantitative, and flexible design need not be qualitative. In fixed designs, the design of the study is fixed before the main stage of data collection takes place. Fixed designs are normally theory driven; otherwise it is impossible to know in advance which variables need to be controlled and measured. Often, these variables are measured quantitatively. Flexible designs allow for more freedom
Contents [hide]
1 Design types and sub-types
1.1 Grouping
2 Confirmatory versus exploratory research
3 Examples of fixed designs
3.1 Non-experimental research designs
4 Examples of fixed designs
4.1 Non-experimental research designs
5 Examples of flexible research designs
5.1 Case study
5.2 Ethnographic study
5.3 Grounded Theory study
6 References
7 See also
Design types and sub-types[edit]
There are many ways to classify research designs, but sometimes the distinction is artificial and other times different designs are combined. Nonetheless, the list below offers a number of useful distinctions between possible research designs.[1]
Descriptive (e.g., case-study, naturalistic observation, survey)
Correlational (e.g., case-control study, observational study)
Semi-experimental (e.g., field experiment, quasi-experiment)
Experimental (Experiment with random assignment)
Review (Literature review, Systematic review)
Meta-analytic (Meta-analysis)
Sometimes a distinction is made between "fixed" and "flexible" or, synonymously, "quantitative" and "qualitative" research designs.[2] However, fixed designs need not be quantitative, and flexible design need not be qualitative. In fixed designs, the design of the study is fixed before the main stage of data collection takes place. Fixed designs are normally theory driven; otherwise it is impossible to know in advance which variables need to be controlled and measured. Often, these variables are measured quantitatively. Flexible designs allow for more freedom
References: Bell (1999) states “a case study approach is particularly appropriate for individual researchers because it gives an opportunity for one aspect of a problem to be studied in some depth within a limited time scale”.[5] Ethnographic study[edit]