What is a Research Design? Importance and Types

A research design is a systematic procedure or an idea to carry out different tasks of the research study. It is important to know the research design and its types for the researcher to carry out the work in a proper way.

The purpose of research design is that enable the researcher to proceed in the right direction without any deviation from the tasks. It is an overall detailed strategy of the research process.

The design of experiments is a very important aspect of a research study. A poor research design may collapse the entire research project in terms of time, manpower, and money.

What is a Research Design in Research Methodology?

A research design is a plan or framework for conducting research. It includes a set of plans and procedures that aim to produce reliable and valid data. The research design must be appropriate to the type of research question being asked and the type of data being collected.

A typical research design is a detailed methodology or a roadmap for the successful completion of any research work.

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Importance of Research Design

A Good research design consists of the following important points:

• Formulating a research design helps the researcher to make correct decisions in each and every step of the study.
• It helps to identify the major and minor tasks of the study.
• It makes the research study effective and interesting by providing minute details at each step of the research process.
• Based on the design of experiments (research design), a researcher can easily frame the objectives of the research work.
• A good research design helps the researcher to complete the objectives of the study in a given time and facilitates getting the best solution for the research problems.
• It helps the researcher to complete all the tasks even with limited resources in a better way.
• The main advantage of a good research design is that it provides accuracy, reliability, consistency, and legitimacy to the research.

How to Create a Research Design?                      

According to Thyer, the research design has the following components:

• A researcher begins the study by framing the problem statement of the research work.
• Then, the researcher has to identify the sampling points, the number of samples, the sample size, and the location.
• The next step is to identify the operating variables or parameters of the study and detail how the variables are to be measured.
• The final step is the collection, interpretation, and dissemination of results.

Considerations in selecting the research design

The researchers should know the various types of research designs and their applicability. The selection of a research design can only be made after a careful understanding of the different research design types. The factors to be considered in choosing a research design are

1. Qualitative Vs quantitative
2. Basic Vs applied
3. Empirical Vs Non-empirical

Types of Research Design?

There are four main types of research designs: experimental, observational, quasi-experimental, and descriptive.

1. Experimental design
   • Experimental designs: are used to test cause-and-effect relationships. In an experiment, the researcher manipulates one or more independent variables and observes the effect on a dependent variable.
2. Observational design
   • Observational designs are used to study behavior without manipulating any variables. The researcher simply observes and records the behavior.
3. Quasi-experimental
   • Quasi-experimental designs are used when it is not possible to manipulate the independent variable. The researcher uses a naturally occurring independent variable and controls for other variables.
4. Descriptive designs
   • Descriptive designs are used to describe a behavior or phenomenon. The researcher does not manipulate any variables, but simply observes and records the behavior.

I hope, this article would help you to know about what is research design, the types of research design, and what are the important points to be considered in carrying out the research work.