Chapter Three Research Desings 1

Edna Adan University
Medical College
Academic Year 2021-2022
Research Methodology
Instructor
Mohamed Abdi Indha Yare
Emali: labaale201@gmail.com
Tell: +252634471540
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH DESIGNS/METHODS
Introduction
It is necessary to develop a master plan for a project or for any important undertaking.
The master plan of a research undertaking is the research design.
The purpose of this unit is to introduce you into the domain of research
planning and equip you with the knowledge and techniques of planning and
conducting a research.
A research design is the plan or strategy for conducting a research.
It is generally a means of ensuring that a research process is sufficiently
systematic and scientific, and that the results obtained are applicable in real
life.
a research design is a plan for a study, providing the overall framework for
Research Methods versus Methodology
Research methods may be understood as all those

methods/techniques that are used for conduction of research.
Research methods or techniques*, thus, refer to the methods the
researchers use in performing research operations. In other words, all those
methods which are used by the researcher during the course of studying his research
problem are termed as research methods.
Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research

problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is
done scientifically
Cont.
It is necessary for the researcher to know not only the research

methods/techniques but also the methodology.
Researchers not only need to know how to develop certain indices or tests,
how to calculate the mean, the mode, the median or the standard deviation
or chi-square, how to apply particular research techniques, but they also
need to know which of these methods or techniques, are relevant and
which are not, and what would they mean and indicate and why.
Researchers also need to understand the assumptions underlying various
techniques and they need to know the criteria by which they can decide
that certain techniques and procedures will be applicable to certain
problems and others will not
Criteria for Classifying Research Designs…
Research designs are classified basing on different

criteria such as:
1. The research approach/paradigm.
2. Ability to control research conditions.
3. The goal of the inquiry.
4. Time dimension of the study.
5. The intention to generalize study findings.
6. Phasing of data collection.
7. The desire to ensure validity and reliability
Research Designs/Approaches by Research Paradigms
Qualitative research design is a research method used extensively by scientists and
researchers studying human behavior, opinions, themes and motivations etc.
It is characterized by data (or information) that can be narratively described, not
numerically.
it is based on the philosophy of interpretivism.
Quantitative research design relates to the design of a research project which

uses quantitative research methods.
Its characterized by data that are presented in form of numbers (or statistics).
It is based on the theory of positivism, or more precisely, logical positivism.
Mixed methods research design is a methodology for conducting research that involves
collecting, analyzing and integrating quantitative (e.g., experiments, surveys) and qualitative
(e.g., focus groups, interviews) data.
This approach to research is used when this integration provides a better
understanding of the research problem than either of each alone.
Quantitative Research Designs
Quantitative research designs are broadly divided into experimental and non-
experimental designs.
Experimental designs generally involve control and manipulation of variables in

order to establish cause-effects relationships, the knowledge of which is used to
predict and control events.
Experimental designs are carefully designed to control all variables except the
independent variables. Non-experimental designs do not manipulate variables,
and they do not establish cause-effect relationships, but are basically used to:
Cont..
Describe and explain events, situations, or phenomena as they exist or as they

once existed.
Evaluate products, events, concepts, etc.
Develop new innovations.
In an experimental research;
1. The researcher manipulates the independent variable. This is to say;the researcher
deliberately determines (directly or indirectly) what forms the independent variable takes,
and which groups receive which forms of treatment.
2. There are always at least two groups (one experimental and one control group). The
experimental group receives treatment while the control group does not.
3. There is randomization of subjects. Subjects are first randomly selected from the target
population and then randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups, or the
groups (E and C) are randomly assigned to subjects.
Cont..
In order to comprehensively describe experimental research, three other terms need to be

understood. These are pretest, treatment and posttest.
Pretest: The determination of the initial value of the dependent variable before the
intervention is called a pretest. It is on the basis of a pretest that the change caused by the
intervention can be assessed.
Treatment: This is the intervention or the change that a researcher introduces in the
independent variable to see its effects on the dependent variable.
Posttest: After the intervention, a researcher would want to know if the treatment (or
induced change) has caused a change in the dependent variable.
Non-experimental Research Designs
Non-experimental designs are broadly classified as expost facto and Descriptive.
Expost facto or casual comparative research designs are kinds of “experiments” which rather
than administer treatment, examines the effects of a naturalistically occurring treatment
after the treatment has occurred.
Survey Research
Descriptive designs generally examine situations as they are; they do not attempt to change
or modify situations under investigation nor do they attempt to detect cause-effects).
designs do not manipulate variables nor attempt to establish cause-effect. Instead they;
1. Seek to gain more information about a particular characteristic within a particular field
of study.
2. Seek to develop theories, identify problems with current practices or justify current
practices.
3. Are used to obtain information concerning the current status of as phenomenon in
order to:
I. Describe what exits with respect to the variables or conditions in a situation;
II. Identify the characteristics of a phenomenon or explore possible correlations
among two or more phenomena.
Types of Survey Research Designs
There are two main types of survey research designs: cross sectional survey and longitudinal
survey designs. The difference between the two survey designs found is in the time and
procedure taken to collect data.
Cross-Sectional Survey
A cross-sectional survey design collects data from a target population at one point in time.
Data is collected from various cases at the same time - although the time taken to collect data
may vary between a day and a few weeks.
Cross-sectional survey designs save time and cost which may be incurred in repeated data
collections.
Cont…
Longitudinal Survey
Longitudinal (or developmental) surveys collect data from the same target population at
different points in time in order to study changes over time.
the cases in a longitudinal survey are followed over a long period to track changes on the
some issue of interest through collecting same data from the same cases (or case) over
extended period of time.
A major problem of longitudinal surveys is that they take a long time to collect data.
Panel Longitudinal Survey
 In a panel longitudinal survey, a sample is selected from a target population at the
beginning of a study, and the same sample is surveyed at different times in the course of
the study.
 The sample and the population from which it is drawn do not change over time.
The panel longitudinal designs:

Are easily affected attrition.
Are is discriminative and do not allow new information from other members of the
population who are not members of the panel
Could lose representativeness if the population is mobile.
Cohort Longitudinal Survey
Cohort longitudinal surveys study specific target populations over time through sampling.
A population of study is defined and data is collected from fresh samples of a same size
drawn from a defined population which does not change through time.
The purpose of cohort longitudinal survey is to analyze the stability or changes in
characteristics or behavior of specific target cohort populations.
Trend Longitudinal Survey
In a trend survey design, data is collected over time and at specified points in time by drawing
new samples at each observation point from a target population which keeps changing as
new members join and other leave.
The trend survey is ideal when a researcher wants to keep track of the changes in the
population.

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Edna Adan University

Research methods may be understood as all those

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research

It is necessary for the researcher to know not only the research

Research designs are classified basing on different

Quantitative research design relates to the design of a research project which

Experimental designs generally involve control and manipulation of variables in

Describe and explain events, situations, or phenomena as they exist or as they

In order to comprehensively describe experimental research, three other terms need to be

Non-experimental designs are broadly classified as expost facto and Descriptive.

The panel longitudinal designs:

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