Unit-14 Elements of Research Design

8/13/2019 Unit-14 Elements of Research Design

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nit 4Elements of Research DesignContents14.1 lntroduction14.2 Structuring the Research Process14.3 ConclusionLearning ObjectivesI t s expected that after reading Unit 14 you would be able to prepare aresearch design of your own mini reqearch project which would includethe following details.Q The research probiem that you have decided to work onQ The choice of the field site where you would carry out your research

The estimated time and cost of the researchQ Review of already published material relating to your research topic

The hypothesis or hypotheses you have set out to testQ Theoretical orientation of your researchQ The universe and unit of study of the research and methods of

data collectionQ Interpreting the data and writing the research findings.

14 1 lntrodu tionResearch design is a kind of blueprint that you prepare before actuallycarrying out research. t is a systematically prepared outline stating themanner in which you plan to carry out your research. You may like tocontemplate your research in terms of two facets namely the err~piricalfacet and the analyt ical facet. The two facets remain in your mindtogether while in practical terms you may piian your research in terms ofa phase of data collection and another phase of analysing the data.Theoretical orientation and conceptual models in your mind help youdecide the kind of data you would collect and to some extent also howyou would collect them. Later while analysing your data again yourtheoretical and conceptual understanding of social reality in general wi llguide you to classify the data and t recognise the pattern in order toexplain and present your findings.Research i s an ongoing process consisting of a series of steps beginningwith your identifying various concepts related to your research theme.Once begun it continues through a set of regulated steps to i t s conclusion.Unit 14 is about the steps that you state in your research design. Weare going to discuss each of the ten broad steps that generally constitutethe basic elements of sociological researches. For your assignment ofcarrying out a mini research project you may prepare a research design


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14 2 Structuring the Research ProcessThe structuring of the research process is an essential part of science.However this does not mean tha t these steps are always in a sequence. Infact, the various phases of research overlap. At t imes the first stepdetermines the nature of th6 last step The steps involv ed are no tmu tually exclusive, nor they are separate and distinct. Figure 14. Ide pic tsth e broad steps researchers usually take i n th e process.

Defining research problem

Reviewing the litera tureI Identifying the universe and unit of study

Formu lating hypothesis and id enti fyin g variablesISelection of research techniques and methods

, Standardisation of research

l ~ i l o t tudy1 use of s ta t i st ic ra nd other methods1

Analysing data74Interpretation and report Writing

Figure 14 1 Ten Steps in Research DesignResearch design i s the strategic plan of the project that sets out thebroad structure of the research. See Box 14.1 for a brief mention offunctions and purposes of preparing a research design.

Box 14 1 Function and Purpose of Research DesignBlack and Champion 1976: 76-77) have pointed out the following three functions

of research designresearch design provides a blueprint for operationalising the research

activityIt defines the limit and scope of the researchIt provides an opportunity to the researcher to foresee possible areas ofproblems in the process carrying out the research


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Manheim (1977: 142) identified the following five purposes of preparing a researchdesign.* To gather sufficient evidence to support one s hypothesis and t o disprove

alterna tive hypotheses.* To carry out a research that can be repeated in terms of its subject matterand research procedure. In other words, it does not pertain only to uniquesituation that has no relevance to society at large.* To b e able to work out correlations among variables in a manner th at producesinterrelated propositions.* To make out the need for a pilo t study in order to carry out the fut ureplans of a full-fledged research-project.

3 To b e able to economise on ti me and resources by selecting appro priatetechniques of data collection.

A highly standardised quantitative research strictly follows the researchdesign wh ile qua litative research is f lexib le and amendments to the designare possible. Nevertheless, it s always a good idea to form ulate a researchdesign. A research design needs to take into account the fol lowingconsiderations, w hich en tail a ll th e steps mentioned in Figure 14.1.De fining your. research p roble mIn the research process, th e firs t step is to select and clearly define th eproblem to be researched. You need to fin d th e problem and formulatei t so that it can be subjected t o research. A research problem i n generalrefers to some enquiry, which a researcher undertakes in the con text o fe i ther a theoret ica l or prac t ica l s i tuat ion and wants to obta in anexplanation of the same.The formulat ion of a general topic into speci f ic research problemsconstitutes th e first step in a scientific inquiry. Essentially tw o steps areinvolved in formula ting the research problems, th at is, understandingthe problems thoroughly and rephrasing i t into meaningful terms fromthe analytical point o f view. You need to select the su bject tha t is fam iliarand feasible so that research material or sources of research are withinyour reach. It s be tter to select the research problem before a preliminarystudy of the exist ing l i terature. Formulat ing or def ining a researchproblem s an imp orta nt step in the research process and a clearly s tatedproblem is research half done.You need to clea rly state the research questions in th e light o f th e topicof research and the theo retica l foundations on which it rests. Next, youneed to spell out the aims and objectives as per the requirements ofyour research questions. This gives the research process a well-definedfocus and direction. Unless one has a clear idea of the objec tives, thecourse of th e research wi ll n ot be smooth and the data w il l no t have thedesired consistency because i t is possible for you to approach a topicfrom the viewpo int o f differe nt perspectives, each addressing a d ifferentset o f issues. For instance, research on the sociology of developmentcan have many research questions like women s role i n development,the role o f caste and kinship in development, or social consequences of

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Quantitative andSurvey ethods development on family a nd community life of people. While preparingresearch design, demarcate the focus of research by jott ing dbwn th e

ou tline and features of the topic and the aims and objectives of search.Choice of fietd site(s)Embarking on a research, give as m uch emphasis to the area of researchas the topic. To some extent, the choice of the area determines thesuccess of your research. The relevance of a research topic depends onits usefulness to the problems of the area either in terms of a practicalpurpose or obtaining a th eore tical understanding of the epistemologicalissues. For instance, a study on communal relations cannot be carriedout in a tribal village. In such a study, you would need to observe theinteraction between different religious groups and therefore you wouldchoose an area inhabited by people of several religious communities. Itis desirable to have two or three sub-areas in mind within the broadarea. For instance, sometimes you may encounter some unforeseen andunmanageable problems at the district level or th e village lev el and thenyou would need to find an alternative to fall back upon. You should firstspell out your choice of fie ld site(s) and then s tart gathering informationon it This would help you gain an understanding of the geographical andsoc io-politica l conditions of the area, w hich would have a bearing on thecollec tion of data. This would help you frame your research strategiesand questions in a m anner suited t o the area and i t s people.Consideration of time and resourcesYou need to be fu lly aware of the lim its of your resources and also clearlydefine the time frame while designing your research. Unless you drawup a schedule of the different steps of your research, it i s l ike ly tobecome a Long drawn process, which is bad for bo th qua lity and relevance.Imagine researches on cholera epidem ics taking years to comp lete. Thedelay would mean poor quality research and an unchecked death rate.We also know that unless you get liberal time your research wou1.d failbecause you cannot subject social reality to overnight machine tests inth e laboratory to obta in quick results. You need to evaluate the ti m erequirement in a realistic manner and plan the strategy accordingly.Careful planning and sticking to a time schedule will help you use yourresources effec tively and complete the research i n time. Besides, youshould be aware of the limitation s of your resources and p lan the strategyin a realistic and cost effec tive manner. If the resources are exhaustedmidway, it w il l be a severe blow to research. I f an agency i s funding theresearch, your credibility i s at stake. Hence, you need to clearly state inyour research design the tim e and resources th at you have for research.You need also to foresee and note down the effects of your resourceconstraints on the research process. After identifying the effects youwould develop strategies to counter those you can possibly do. The accountof those, which cannot be managed, will help future researchers to be


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Reviewing secondary materialThe purpose of reviewing the ex isting li ter atu re on your research themeis to help you assess the feasibility of the project but also to formulatean effective methodology. You wo uld need t o consult academ ic journals,conference proceedings, government reports, books, etc see Box 14.2).

ox 14.2 The Use of Computer in Literature SearchingFor the purpsoe of making use of the Internet facilities to search related litera tureyou need to read Unit 32 in Block 8 of Book 3. If your research topic s preciselydefined the search can be a very fast and efficient way of obtaining relevantreferences in a number of bibliographic tools.

You may review tw o types of liter atur e, litera ture concerning the conceptsand theories, and th e empiric al lite rat ure consisting of studies madeearl ier. You may come across even such studies that contain boththe ore tica l as w el l as substantive aspects o f your research. The outcom eof the review w ill be th at you w il l know about available d ata and othermaterials on the theme of your research. A more sophisticated andclearer statement of specific research questions is likely t o emerge aft erthe literature review.When researchers prepare a research design they draw an outline of theentir e research process. They need to have a clear p ictu re of t he natureof data that would help tackle the research questions. For instance,researchers decide in advance how many case studies would help themdraw meaningful conclusions or the number of l ife histories that theyneed to collect and of which categories of persons. A lot of hard workand insig htfu l thinking goes in to the process. Researchers review th epast studies on their topics and work upon their research questions toarrive a t a realistic research design.Scheduling the tim e and events t o observe i n the fie ld forms an im portantcomponen t o f your research design. This provides you a sense o f directionwhile collecting data. This does not imply th at you have to strictly followyour schedule regardless of t he situation i n the field. The ac tual fieldconditions do guide you and correspondingly your research design mayface un anticipated changes. Yet, you cannot just land up i n th e fie ldunprepared and bewildere d and hence you need to plan out the variousstages and strategies of research. At the same time you have to beready to make adjustments according t o t he fie ld exigencies.HypothesisAfter extensive literat ure survey, you need to state i n clear terms th eworking hypothesis or hypotheses. The hypothesis is a tentat iveassumption made i n order t o test its logical or emp irical consequences.You may d efine a hypothesis as a propos ition or a it of propositions setforth as an explanation for the occurrence of some specified phenomenaei ther asserted merely as a provis ional conjecture to guide some

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Quantitative ndSurvey ethods investigation or accepted as highly probable in the light of establishedfacts. A hypothesis may seem contrary to the real si tuation. t mayprove to be correct or incorrect. In any event, it leads to an em piricaltest. Your hypothesis needs to be clear and precise and capable of beingtested. I t s to be l im ited i n scope and consistent with known or establishedfacts and should be amenable to testing within the stipulated time. tneeds to explain w hat it cla'lms to explain and should have empiricalreference.A hypothesis may have variables and it may be looking for the nature ofthe relat ionship between the variables. The variables are empiricalproperties that take two or more values. For the purpose of research,you need to make a distinction between dependent and independentvar iables. The var iables that you wish to explain are regarded asdependent variables (or crite rion variables). The other variable expectedto explain the change in the dependent variable is referred to as anindependent variable (or predictor variable). The dependent variable isthe expected outcome of the independent variable and independentvariables produce dependent variables.Variables can have three types of relationships among them. A positiverelationship is one whe re an increase in one variab le leads t o an increasein the other. A negative relationship is one where an increase in onevariable leads to a decrease in the other. Finally, a zero relationship isone which shows no significant relationship between two variables. Sucha distinction between dependent and independent variables is analyticaland relates only to the research purpose.I t needs to be ment ioned tha t the formulat ion o f hypothesis i s no talways a part of the research process. You may carry out exploratoryresearch when you do not have sufficient knowledge of the situation toprepare a hypothesis.Theoret ica l or ienta t ionYour research design needs t o clea rly spell ou t th e data collection methodsto be nployed. Your methodolog ical and philosophical orien tations governyour choice of methods. Your research design would elucidate themethodological and theoretical basis of research and help you identifyappropriate methods and techniques of data collection. For instance, ifyou have positivistic orien tation, you would re ly on observational methodbecause for you social reality would be an observable entity. On theothe r hand i f you adopt a phenomenological model, you would employvarious kinds of interviews to unravel the logico-mathematical model ofculture. A researcher conforming to the post-modernist approach wouldview social reality as multidimensional and record multiple voices andinterpretations. An action research with l imited time resources wouldemploy t r iangulat ion' (comprising m ul t ip le methods and m ul t ip leinvestigators), and focus g roup discussions. You have t o ca refu lly choosefrom the vast repertoire of sociological/ anthropological methods, the


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ones that suit your research purpose most. ~lementsResearch esignUniverse and unit of studyBefore starting with data collection you have to identify the universeand the unit of study. The identification of universe implies demarcationof the physical area and social unit of study. The universe consists of thepopulation within a well-defined area where the study i s to be conducted.However, such a group i s usually too large and not possible to be coveredby a single investigator. Therefore, a smaller and more manageablegroup may be selected by sampling. The outlines of the universe and i t sattributes may be delineated more clearly by a taking a census and thenmaking the choice of the group(s) to work on. Within the broad universefurther specification of the possible units that could be studied makes upthe actual or effective universe. The group(s) selected as focus of studyi s called the unit of study.Pilot studyThe pilot study s the leading study in your research area. The pilot studyleads the researcher to the full-length investigation depending on thesize of the population and the amount of time. In other words, a pilotstudy s an exploratory study done before the actual work starts in thefield. It i s a pre-testing of your research methods and techniques inorder to perfect them. Pilot study wi ll ensure that right questions havebeen put in the questionnaires for making the fieldwork fruitful. tmakes you aware of the difficulties beforehand and provides you anopportunity of modifying your techniques to suit f ield conditions. Pilotstudy depends upon the size of the population, the time available andthe availability of funds.SamplingA universe i s often too large for an individual to work upon. A sample sthe smaller representation of a larger whole. Sampling allows theresearcher to work scientifically and saves time. Analysing large quantitiesof material s wasteful and an intensive analysis of fewer cases i seconomical. You need to be cautious and careful while sampling. Asexplained earlier, the universe refers to a defined population size. Sucha universe may be further divided depending on the specificationsrequired. This s known as stature or subpopulation. A stature i s a divisiblecategory which depends upon the kind of problem in which one i sinterested. A sampling frame includes all the elements of a -populationfrom which the sample i s drawn. The determination of an error whilesampling, statistically or qualitatively i s known as sampling error. Thesample must be a true representative of the universe, as well as beingadequate in size (for different kinds of sampling see Units in Blocks 5and 6 of Book 2 .Data collectionAfter obtaining some idea and understanding your field and working outyour methods and techniques of data collection, you may plan how to


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can use one or more methods t o collec t th e data, taking int o considerationthe nature of investigation, objectives and scope of inquiry, financialresources and time available and degree of accuracy. The data to becollec ted would need t o b e adequate and dependable.Analysis and rep ort w r i t in gAfter data collection, you would tu rn t o th eir analysis. Analysis requires anumber of closely related operations such as establishing categories andtheir application to raw data through coding, tabulation so that you candraw statis tical inferences. For coding and tabulation of coded symbols,you need to carefully read the units in Blocks 5 and 6 o f Book andBlocks 7 and 8 of Book 3. Tabulation is a part of the technical procedurewherein you are able to put your classified data in the form of tables(see Box 14.4 .

ox 14.4 Classifying and Coding the ataClassifications facilitate rapid, accurate and comprehensive searches of storedfield material, but a poor classification or careless retrieval may be wrose thanhaving none at all. In connection with this, particu lar attention should be paidto classifications which separate data which are otherwise related . For example,i name-giving ceremonies are indexed only under RITUAL, a search intendedto assemble all data on KINSHIP may fall short of the mark.Notes must, in the first instance, be coded so that they can be subsequentlylocated in a mass of material. You will probably wish to refer back to earliernotes quite frequently in the field, to check up on certain matters and testinform al hypotheses. At the very least , a ll sheets should be numbered sequentially.

You need to c learly delineate the form of analysis you wish to e ventua llyadopt. Although often the nature of data collected by you determinesthe nature of analysis, yet at the stage of opting for certain methods ofdata collection you would have some idea of the analytical tools you arelikely t o employ. If you plan t o adop t certain computer packages youwould need to collect data keeping that in mind. While analysis maydepend on the nature of data, you need to be careful to avoid thereverse situation, that is, the pre-determined mode of analysis solelydetermines the methods of d ata collection. You m ay face g etting a one-sided picture of the social reality if you were to adopt computer-basedmethods only, because computer paekage sbffer analy of a par ticulardimensions of rea lity w hile so cial research requires as broad a pictu re ofre al ity as possible. You wou ld be be tte r o ff colle ctin g da ta covering asmany dimensions of r ea lity as possible. In any case, you need t o be qu iteclear about the mode of analysis to employ t o nte rp ret the data collected.Your research design is meant t o re flec t your theo retica l orientation. Inth is way, you are actua l ly p lanning every stage of research, f ro midentifying the topic of research and method of data collection to reportwri t ing.

Elements ofResearch esign

Your research design would b e com plete if you spell out the marlner in


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Quantitative andSurvey Methods which you would present the results of the research. It is an equallyimportant step because you would need.to keep in mind the ethics ofrepresentation, especially i f th e research deals w ith sensitive issues.While you seek to unravel social reality, you cannot play wit h t he privacyof th e people who are m ore than just th e subjects of research. I t isyour responsibility to do justice both t o th e research and to the people.There s a pra ctice of presenting data wi th pseudonymse and mo dificationof identities , even ts and location. You need to always elucidate in yourresearch design the manner i n which you wo uld r ep ort th e results.Presentation o f research findings for publication imp lies the ir d istributionamong the public, including those you studied. This is the point whenyou achieve the aim o f m aking a contribution t o th e general body ofl i teratur e re lated to the subject of your research.

14 3 ConclusionUnit 14 has enumerated the various steps for undertaking a sociologicalresearch with the aim of preparing you to carry out one such research.This w i l l be a practical exercise for you t o COIII> - + S a compulsoryrequirement of com pleting MSO 002 You w ill need to prepare a researchdesign before actual ly carrying out your mini research project. TheReflection and Action exercise for Un it 14 is that you prepare a researchdesign for your proposed research. You may of course mod ify i t as youcome to learn in more detai l about the various steps needed in theresearch process.r Reflection an d Action 14 1 IPrepare a research desiqn of your proposed research af ter selecting tentative ly)

a topic of your interest. The research design needs to incorporate all the steps II shown in Figure 14 1. ILFurther Reading@Singleton, Jr Royce A. and Bruce C. Straits 1999. Approaches to SocialResearch Oxford University Press: New YorkSarantakos, 5.1998 (first published in 1993). Social Research Macmillan:London

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Unit-14 Elements of Research Design