goals of research and research design

Discuss the goals of research and research design.

Research and its goals

Each research study has some specific goals, which are clearly stated, so that a research des can be developed either in specific terms or may be somewhat informal. In a historical perspective one can say that it is difficult to classify research designs because goals are not always as clear as research team would like to have. In recent years there had been tremendous improvements in articulating goals and purpose of research study. A specific approach demands that no only goals but even sub-goals should be defined. Research design which is primarily concerned with data collection technique and sampling method is guided by the overall objective of the study, which is them most important part of research methodology.

Following definitions of research gives the meanings and purpose of research:

1.      Research is a systematic, formal rigorous and precise process employed to gain solutions to problems and/or to discover and interpret new facts and relationships.

2.      Research is the process of looking for a specific answer to a specific question in an organized objective reliable way

3.      Research is systematic, controlled, empirical and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions about the presumed relations among natural phenomena

Research Design and its goals

Research design specifies what group(s) for which data will be collected, to which group(s) and when the intervention will occur, and when the data will be collected from each group.  The strength of a design, and the possible biases inherent in a design, depend on the type of questions being addressed in the research.

·         Descriptive and associational questions need designs that only specify when the data will be collected from one group of interest.

·         Causal questions are usually answered by designs where:

o        the intervention is applied to one group of two comparable groups, and measures of expected outcomes are made for both groups at the end of the intervention; 

o        repeated measures of the outcomes of interest are made several times before and after the intervention is applied to one group; or, 

o        for a group in which some units have received the intervention (perhaps varying levels of it) and some units have not, data is collected at one point in time on suspected causal variables, on the outcome variables of interest, and on various other variables that might have affected the outcomes of interest, and then the data are analyzed to determine whether the suspected causal elements actually had an effect on the outcomes.

·         Benefit-cost analyses require the designs for causal questions plus collection of data that permits calculations of the value of the benefits as well as the costs.

Traditional Research Designs

The two popular traditional research designs chosen by sociologists as well as business researchers are survey designs and case study. Survey method is one of the most popular research technique for collecting and analysis facts opinions and interpretations of respondents. Individuals or organizations, who are supposed to possess the relevant information, which may guide. Sometimes the data collected in a survey may help in testing certain hypothesis, which the researcher wants to test. Survey work is also undertaken to collect present or past information about the attitude and behavior of consumer or social behavior of the common man or any special category of a group. Survey design uses questionnaire techniques may consist of personal interviews, telephone talks or mail. Sometimes information in a survey research may be collected through observation of the overt behavior of respondents in particular social and economic.

Advantages of Survey Designs

1. The most apparent advantage of survey designs is the gathering of data at low cost and in less time.
2. Random Sample Surveys make generalization reliable.
3. Surveys are flexible to permit the use of a variety of data collection techniques personal mail and telephone.
4. Often surveys sensitize the researchers to new problems
5. Random Sample Surveys are useful tools; enable investigators to verify theories at reasonable cost and their results can be evaluated.