RESEARCH DESIGNS

Historical Design
The study is focused on the past (what was). It is a scientific critical inquiry of the whole truth of past events using the critical method in the understanding and interpretation of facts which are applicable to current issues and problems. Uses of Historical Research

It is useful in searching through the past for solutions to contemporary problems and needs. It is used to throw light on the present. It gives people a sense of continuity of the past to the present. It enables the communities to grasp their relationship with the past to the current issues; and Presentation of the facts in readable form involving problems of organization, composition, exposition and interpretation.

Major Steps of Historical Research

Collection of data Criticism of data collected Presentation of facts

Sources of Historical Research

Primary Sources

Documents These include school directives, court decisions, executive and other official records, personal materials. Newspapers and periodicals. Remains These include physical plant, equipment, apparatus, teaching aids and devices, pictures of buildings or furnishing, forms of diplomas and certificates, textbooks and reference books.

Secondary Sources These are histories bibliographies, encyclopedia and many others. the

of

education, Design condition.

Descriptive The study focuses on Descriptive researches are valuable in:

present

Providing facts on which scientific judgments may be based.

Providing essential knowledge about the nature of objects and persons. For closer observation into the practices, behavior, methods and procedures. Playing a large part in the development of the instrument for the measurement of many things. Formulating of policies in the local, national or international level.

Types of Descriptive Research 1. Descriptive-survey This type is suitable wherever the subjects vary among themselves and one is interested to know the extent to which different conditions and situations are obtained among these subjects. A survey is useful in (1) providing the value of facts, and (2) focusing attention on the most important things to be reported. 2. Descriptive-normative survey The term normative is sometimes used because surveys are frequently made to ascertain the normal or typical condition for practice, or to compare local test results with a state or national norm. 3. Descriptive-status This approach to problem-solving seeks to answer questions to real facts elating to existing conditions. 4. Descriptive-analysis This method determines or describes the nature of an object by separating it into its parts. 5. Descriptive-classification This method is employed in natural sciences subjects. 6. Descriptive-evaluative This design is to appraise carefully the worthiness of the current study. 7. Descriptive-comparative This is a design where the researcher considers two variables and establishes a formal procedure to compare and conclude that one is better than the other. 8. Correlational survey This is designed to determine the relationship of two variables (X and Y). 9. Longitudinal survey This involves much time allotted for investigation of the same subjects of two or more points in time. Experimental Design Is the problem-solving approach that the study is described in the future on what will be when variables are carefully controlled or manipulated. Types of Experimental Design 1. Single-group design This design involves a single instrument with two or more levels. 2. Two-group design In this design, two comparable groups are employed as experimental and control groups or two comparable groups are both experimental groups. 3. Two-pair group design This design is an elaboration of the twogroup design wherein there are two control groups and two

experimental groups. 4. Parallel-group design This design in which two or more groups are used at the same time with only a single variable manipulated or changed. 5. Counterbalanced or Latin square design This design is also called rotation design or quasi-experimental design. It involves an exchange of two or more instruments taken by the subjects during the experiment. 6. Complete Randomized Design (CRD) This design in which a group of test plants or animals is studied only once but subsequent treatment is applied to determine the cause of change. 7. Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) This experimental design uses a group of test plants and animals as subjects of the study which are studied once but subsequent treatment applied are replicated to determine the cause of change. 8. Correlational design This experimental design is used to determine the relationship of two dependent variables, X and Y, how they are manipulated by the independent variables. 9. Pre-Test-Post-Test design This design involves the experimental group and the control group which are carefully selected through randomization procedure. Case Study Design Is a problem-solving technique wherein the study is described from the past, present and the future. The Cycle of Case Study

Recognition and determination of the status of the phenomenon to be investigated. Collection of data related to the factors or circumstances associated with the given phenomenon. Diagnosis or identification of causal factors as basis for remedial or developmental treatment. Application of remedial or adjustment measures. Subsequent follow-up to determine the effectiveness of the corrective or developmental measures applied.

Research design
Research designs are concerned with turning the research question into a testing project. The best design depends on your research questions. Every design has its positive and negative sides. The research design has been considered as a "blueprint" for research, dealing with at least four problems: what questions to study, what data are relevant, what data to collect, and how to analyze the results.[1] Research design can be divided into fixed and flexible research designs (Robson, 1993). Others have referred to this distinction with quantitative research designs and qualitative research designs. 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 theorydriven; otherwise its impossible to know in advance which variables need to be controlled and measured. Often these variables are quantitative. Flexible designs allow for more freedom during the data collection. One reason for using a flexible research design can be that the variable of interest is not quantitatively measurable, such as culture. In other cases, theory might not be available before one starts the research.

Examples of fixed (quantitative) designs

Experimental design

In an experimental design, the researcher actively tries to change the situation, circumstances or experience of participants (manipulation), which leads to a change in behaviour of the participants of the study. The participants are assigned to different conditions, and variables of interest are measured. All other variables are controlled Experiments are normally highly fixed before the data collection starts. Read more about experiental research designs here Experiment.

Non-experimental research designs

Non-experimental research is almost the same as experimental research, the only difference is that non-experimental research does not involve a manipulation of the situation, circumstances or experience of the participants. Non-experimental research designs can be split up in three designs. First, relational designs, in which a range of variables is measured. These designs are also called correlational studies, since the correlation is most often used analysis. The second type is comparative designs. These designs compare two natural groups. The third type of non-experimental research is a longitudinal design. See Longitudinal study.]

Quasi experiment

Quasi research designs are research design that follow the experimental procedure, but do not randomly assign people to (treatment and comparison) groups. See Quasi-experiment and natural experiment for more details.

Examples designs
Case study

of

flexible

(qualitative)

research

In a case study, one single unit is extensively studied. This case can be a person, organization, group or situation. Famous case studies are for example the descriptions about the patients of Freud, who were thoroughly analysed and described. Read more on case study. 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.

Ethnographic study
This type of research is involved with a group, organization, culture, or community. Normally the researcher shares a lot of time with the group. Read more on Ethnography.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

Quantitative research design is the standard experimental method of most scientific disciplines. These experiments are sometimes referred to as true science, and use traditional mathematical and statistical means to measure results conclusively. They are most commonly used by physical scientists, although social sciences, education and economics have been known to use this type of research. It is the opposite of qualitative research. Quantitative experiments all use a standard format, with a few minor inter-disciplinary differences, of generating a hypothesis to be proved or disproved. This hypothesis must be provable by mathematical and statistical means, and is the basis around which the whole experiment is designed. Randomization of any study groups is essential, and a control group should be included, wherever possible. A sound quantitative design should only manipulate one variable at a time, or statistical analysis becomes cumbersome and open to question. Ideally, the research should be constructed in a manner that allows others to repeat the experiment and obtain similar results. When to perform the quantitative research design.

ADVANTAGES
Quantitative research design is an excellent way of finalizing results and proving or disproving a hypothesis. The structure has not changed for centuries, so is standard across many scientific fields and disciplines. After statistical analysis of the results, a comprehensive answer is reached, and the results can be legitimately discussed and published. Quantitative experiments also filter out external factors, if properly designed, and so the results gained can be seen as real and unbiased. Quantitative experiments are useful for testing the results gained by a series of qualitative experiments, leading to a final answer, and a narrowing down of possible directions for follow up research to take.

DISADVANTAGES
Quantitative experiments can be difficult and expensive and require a lot of time to perform. They must be carefully planned to ensure that there is complete randomization and correct designation of control groups.

Quantitative studies usually require extensive statistical analysis, which can be difficult, due to most scientists not being statisticians. The field of statistical study is a whole scientific discipline and can be difficult for non-mathematicians In addition, the requirements for the successful statistical confirmation of results are very stringent, with very few experiments comprehensively proving a hypothesis; there is usually some ambiguity, which requires retesting and refinement to the design. This means another investment of time and resources must be committed to fine-tune the results. Quantitative research design also tends to generate only proved or unproven results, with there being very little room for grey areas and uncertainty. For the social sciences, education, anthropology and psychology, human nature is a lot more complex than just a simple yes or no response.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

Qualitative research design is a research method used extensively by scientists and researchers studying human behavior and habits. Read more: http://www.experiment-resources.com/qualitative-researchdesign.html#ixzz1W4SIiPho It is also very useful for product designers who want to make a product that will sell. For example, a designer generating some ideas for a new product might want to study peoples habits and preferences, to make sure that the product is commercially viable. Quantitative research is then used to assess whether the completed design is popular or not. Qualitative research is often regarded as a precursor to quantitative research, in that it is often used to generate possible leads and ideas which can be used to formulate a realistic and testable hypothesis. This hypothesis can then be comprehensively tested and mathematically analyzed, with standard quantitative research methods. For these reasons, these qualitative methods are often closely allied with interviews, survey design techniques and individual case studies, as a way to reinforce and evaluate findings over a broader scale. A study completed before the experiment was performed would reveal which of the multitude of brands were the most popular. The quantitative experiment could then be constructed around only these brands, saving a lot of time, money and resources. Qualitative methods are probably the oldest of all scientific techniques, with Ancient Greek philosophers qualitatively observing the world around them and trying to come up with answers which explained what they saw.

DESIGN
The design of qualitative research is probably the most flexible of the various experimental techniques, encompassing a variety of accepted methods and structures. From an individual case study to an extensive interview, this type of study still needs to be carefully constructed and designed, but there is no standardized structure. Case studies, interviews and survey designs are the most commonly used methods. When to use the Qualitative Research Design

ADVANTAGES
Qualitative techniques are extremely useful when a subject is too complex be answered by a simple yes or no hypothesis. These types of designs are much easier to plan and carry out. They are also useful when budgetary decisions have to be taken into account. The broader scope covered by these designs ensures that some useful data is always generated, whereas an unproved hypothesis in a quantitative experiment can mean that a lot of time has been wasted. Qualitative research methods are not as dependent upon sample sizes as quantitative methods; a case study, for example, can generate meaningful results with a small sample group.

DISADVANTAGES
Whilst not as time or resource consuming as quantitative experiments, qualitative methods still require a lot of careful thought and planning, to ensure that the results obtained are as accurate as possible. Qualitative data cannot be mathematically analyzed in the same comprehensive way as quantitative results, so can only give a guide to general trends. It is a lot more open to personal opinion and judgment, and so can only ever give observations rather than results. Any qualitative research design is usually unique and cannot be exactly recreated, meaning that they do lack the ability to be replicated.