NATURE NATURE OF RESEARCH DESIGN
I. GENERAL RESEARCH DESIGN A research design is a plan for comprehensive data collection to answer research !estions and"or test research research h#potheses. It consists of detailed prescriptions for solving pro$lems from either a scientific or h!manistic h!manistic perspective. A. Can classif# research designs designs $# % pairs of schema schema &Smith'( ). *!antitative &co!nting and meas!ring data+ anal#,e anal#,e statisticall#' statisticall#' and !alitiative &e-amining narrative data categori,ing into themes etc.' /. Interpretive &st!d# of meaning' and f!nctional &meaning is $aseline $aseline for inferring concl!sions' 0. E-perimental &manip!lation of research environment and o$serving reactions+ !antitative 1 f!nctional' and nat!ralistic &o$serving and recording o ngoing $ehavior in nat!ral settings2no manip!lation of the environment. 3ore interpretive $!t ma# ma# $e !antitative or !alitative' 4. La$orator# &$ringing s!$5ects s!$5ects to a controlled environment2!s!all# e-perimental e-perimental altho!gh that isn6t essential+ artificial' and field &occ!rs in a more nat!ral environment $!t can still $e e-perimental2not identical to nat!ralistic'. 7. 8articipant &investigator activel# activel# participates with s!$5ects who ma# or ma# not $e aware of researcher6s identit#' and non9participant &researcher is o!tside+ s!$5ects ma# not even $e aware part of a st!d# altho!gh that raises ethical !estions' :. ;vert research &s!$5ects
asic &theoretical with little or no concern for practical application+ more e-perimental e-perimental and la$orator#' and applied &concerned with pra-is as well as theor#2aims to solve pro$lems in ever#da# life+ more field or nat!ralistic' nat!ralistic' >. General *!antitative 3ethods &a review'2Note not all researchers wo!ld classif# !antitative methods this wa#99ma# have slightl# different terminolog# or categori,ing &e.g. s!rve# and content anal#sis !s!all# treated separatel#'.
). E-perimental"*!asi9E-perimental2investigate possi$le ca!se9effect ca!se9effect relationships $# e-posing one or more e-perimental gro!ps to one or more treatment conditions and comparing res!lts to a control gro!p &for !asi the conditions and setting is less controlled'. /. Ca!sal9comparative &?e- post facto@'2investigate possi$le possi$le ca!se9effect relationships relationships $# o$serving an e-isting conse!ence and searching thro!gh data &i.e. accident rates cens!s data etc.' for pla!si$le ca!sal factors. 0. Correlational2to investigate the e-tent e-tent to which variations in one factor correspond with variations in on or more other factors $ased on correlation coefficients. 7. Descriptive2to descri$e s#stematicall# s#stematicall# a sit!ation or topic as acc!ratel# as possi$le possi$le to descri$e characteristics of a pop!lation and"or sit!ation etc. Incl!des most s!rve# research some historical research some te-t!al research &i.e. content anal#sis' 1 some case or field st!dies &can $e com$ined with !alitative research'. research'. 3ight also $e developmental2to investigate patterns or se!ences of change or growth over time. C. General *!alitative 3ethods Conf!sing $eca!se no one set definition of what constit!tes !alitative research. However it is generall# agreed that this research involves the !se of s#m$ols classification etc. to descri$e e-plain interpret and"or eval!ate mostl# te-t!al data &witho!t seeales I8A &ma# $e part of ethnomethodolog# or not+ can also generate a ?te-t@ as in Conversational Anal#sis'. Anal#sis'. 0. In9depth interviews2!sing open9ended !estions to !nderstand attit!des $ehaviors $ehaviors etc. &can $e part of ethnomethodolog# or stand9alone' 4. oc!s Gro!ps2gro!p interview interview to !nderstand attit!des attit!des and $ehaviors 7. Case St!dies2!ses m!ltiple m!ltiple data so!rces to st!d# a partic!lar partic!lar case &organi,ation &organi,ation event person etc.' :. Historical anal#sis2descriptive anal#sis2descriptive and interpretive st!dies of historical persons events ideas places doc!ments etc. &can $e com$ined with !antitative anal#sis' =. Critical Anal#sis(
a. Descriptive Be-t!al Be-t!al Anal#sis2a Anal#sis2a st!d# $# a researcher of the content of a te-t sometimes mista!rased in logical positivism2all positivism2all
%. E-amines nominal ordinal interval and"or ratio data !sing a variet# variet# of meas!rement instr!ments s!ch as meas!rement scales. . Depends on acc!rate sampling sampling from an overall pop!lation.
>. 3eas!rement instr!ments99scales A meas!rement scale is a composite meas!re of a varia$le !s!all# $ased on more than one item. Scales !s!all# are !sed with with comple- varia$les that don6t lend themselves to single item meas!rements. Data s!ch as age height weight $!t also n!m$er of Bs in a ho!se can $e meas!red witho!t scaling techni!es. techni!es. Bhe most common t#pes are associated with the level of data anal#sis &which is hierarchical'. ). 3eas!ring dimensions of concepts a. nidimensional concepts are are meas!red $# a set of indices added together e!all# to derive a single overall score. A scale of s!ch items is called a s!mmated scale. or e-ample the H!mor ;rientation ;rientation Scale &see p. 7 re# et. al.'. >. 3!ltidimensional concepts refer to concepts that have more than one factor factor &or s!$concepts' which m!st $e meas!red $# more than one set of scale items &e.g. credi$ilit# is made !p of at least three independent factors see p. 4 re# et. al.' /. Nominal scales2meas!re discrete discrete varia$les which are differentiated differentiated on the $asis of t#pe or categor# &instead of degree or amo!nt' a. 3!st $e classifia$le classifia$le into at least two two different categories categories that are m!t!all# e-cl!sive e!ivalent and e-ha!stive &e.g. male9female'. $. ;ften !sed for $ac
)' Ipsative scale2each ran< can $e !sed onl# once &often !sed in 5!dging $# the wa#' /' Normative scale2permits scale2permits ran
=' 8otential pro$lems a' possi$ilit# of response $ias2a tendenc# to mar< the same response for each item less li
$. Semantic Differential scale )' Developed $# ;sgood et. al. to meas!re the meanings people ascri$e to a specific stim!l!s &a word phrase sentence etc.' /' >eca!se meas!re m!ltifaceted meanings of constr!ct are more m!ltidimensional. a' for e-ample can $e !sed to meas!re eval!ation &good9$ad' $' another dimension might relate to potenc# &strong9wea<' c' can do man# other dimensions &active9passive tr!st9distr!st liasic steps to constr!ct a' identif# the concept and its dimensions $' select appropriate ad5ective pairs2need to $e representative of each dimension of a concept &with at least / $!t not more than ) scales per dimension with an optimal n!m$er of 4'. Bhis choosing is not ar$itrar# or random+ it m!st also $e geared to the !nderstanding of the respondents.
c' format the scales with each concept concep t presented separatel# $!t the different dimensions mi-ed and polarit# alternated &to prevent response $ias'. d' administer to a pilot gro!p and anal#,e to fig!re o!t dimension scores can determine !n
/. Sometimes !sed in in comm!nication research when determining fre!enc# of $ehaviors &see pp. 094 in re# et. al.' C. 3eas!rement Bechni!es Bechni!es ). *!estionnaires 1 Interviews2pro$a$l# the techni!e techni!e !sed most fre!entl# fre!entl# in comm!nication research. A. Can $e part of the scales noted a$ove or as part of e-perimental e-perimental research or as part of s!rve# research+ can also $e !sed to elicit messages in te-t!al research or nat!ralistic research2esp. more open9ended !estions !sed in interviews'.
>. In general !estionnaires tend to !se written responses whereas whereas interviews re!ire interaction $etween the researcher and respondent. C. Bwo Bwo general t#pes of !estions !estions !sed in $oth( ). Closed"Closed ended"Str!ct!red2preselected ended"Str!ct!red2preselected answers from which respondent chooses &see the interval scales a$ove $!t also can $e !sed in a ?#es9no@ format'. a. Limited answers permits !antitative !antitative treatment. $. Since easier to compile and compare often !sed with large samples. c. Bend Bend to $e researcher $iased &what researchers deem important etc.' /. ;pen";pen9ended"nstr!ct!red2respondents !sed their own words in answering !estions. a. Bime9cons!ming Bime9cons!ming to prepare and administer $. 3ore diffic!lt to categori,e and anal#,e responses &and more time9cons!ming as well' esp. !antitativel# c. 8rovide more information information on individ!als and don6t lead lead the respondent to answer in preconceived wa#s+ !sed with small samples and in pre9research. d. ;ften !sed in interviews+ interviews+ researchers can !se $oth in in the same st!d#. D. *!estion Strategies Strategies and ormats. ). Can $e directive &f!ll# str!ct!red str!ct!red in a predetermined predetermined se!ence' or non9 directive &initial response determines the ne-t !estion'2which chosen depends on the researcher6s intent &for generali,a$le data m!st !se more str!ct!red approaches'.
/. A list of !estions ma# $e called the interview sched!le or protocol. 0. Interviews ma# $e semistr!ct!red semistr!ct!red !sing a mimi- of directive and non9 directive !estions &a $asic list with follow !p to $e determined $# the interviewer'. 4. ario!s ario!s wa#s to se!ence the !estions &
). 3a# occ!r in a la$ setting setting or in the the field /. Respondents ma# or ma# not . Indirect o$servation o$servation &!no$tr!sive meas!res' ). E-amination of artifacts or te-ts prod!ced $# people &e.g. transcripts transcripts video and a!dio tapes etc.' /. Can also e-amine e-amine trace meas!res &ph#sical &ph#sical evidence left $ehind2li
