Research Design

A blue print for conducting study with maximum control over factors that may interfere
with the validity of the findings.
A research design is the set of methods and procedures used in collecting and analyzing
measures of the variables specified in the research problem research study.

Characteristics of research design

Objectivity: The findings obtained by the research should be objective. It is possible by
allowing more than one person to agree between the final scores/ conclusion of the
research.
Reliability: If the similar research is carried out time and again in a similar setting it
must give similar result. So, the researcher must frame the research questions to make it
reliable and provide similar outcomes.
Validity: Any measuring device can be said to be valid if it measures what it is expected
to measure and nothing else. To make a research valid the questionnaire framed before
research must be framed accordingly.
Generalization: The information collected from given sample must be utilized for
providing a general application to the large group of which the sample is drawn.

Elements of Research Design

Identifying the broad problem area
The aim of our project might grow out of an intimate knowledge of a particular
environment and this may be a great deal more useful than a study which reflects the range of
opinion in the literature. This echoes the problem-solving focus of applied research., and suggest
that in looking at a problem close to home, your understanding of the situation will provide a
significance advantage.
It is not to suggest that you should not consider the experience of others as reflected in the
literature, or for that matter focus on a whole new area, but rather it recognizes that our ability to
recognize problem is often based in specialist knowledge that has developed from an ongoing
gathering of data relevant to our interest.
We are taking an example of woman empowerment
1. Decision making
2. Hold on money
3. Childrens decision
4. Self confidence
5. Bank account
6. Insurance
7. Freedom of movement
 8. Independence
Problem statement
Having identified a possible problem, there are a number of ways of articulating the focus of a
research project. When it comes to writing up a research project this is sometimes called a problem
statement. It is equally important and extremely useful to spend some time reshaping the problem
as a question.
1. Research question
2. Research objectives
Types of Variables
The phenomena that can vary/change from person to person is known as variable. A
variable is anything that can take on differing or varying values. The values differ at various times
for the same object or person, or the values can differ at the same time for different objectives or
persons.
There are two types of variables
1. Independent Variable
2. Dependent Variable researchers focus
The dependent variable is the variable of primary interest to the researcher. The researchers
goal is to explain or predict the variability in the dependent variable. In other words, it is the main
variable that lends itself as a viable issue for the investigation. Though analysis of the dependent
variable it is possible to find answers or solutions to the problem at hand
The changes that can be seen in the dependent variable due to the effect of independent variable
are sometimes called criterion or yield.
Data collection
Gathering primary data is one way of referring your thoughts, or looking for symptoms, as
a doctor often does. Secondary data contained in a n organizations reports and documents may
help to sharpen your focus on the problem you have identified. The researcher is anxious to get to
the stage of gathering primary data; that is, data has not been accumulated before.
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is an educated guess. A hypothesis is there for a proposition, a theoretical
statement to account for the facts. Can we say this is true? is the everyday question with which
we generally greet a hypothesis. Strong research projects usually begin with a clear and simple
hypothesis. They should not contain multiple possibilities that would make the task of testing them
more difficult. The hypothesis is always get the benefit of the doubt. It continues to be accepted
until evidence to the contrary becomes statistically overwhelming. If the hypothesis was true, it
would be extremely unlikely that all the observed results could have occurred.
 Conceptual Framework
Causes of violation of law in Pakistan
Background/Demographic/ Independent Variables Dependent Variables
Socio economic Variables/
Personal Characteristics
Gender Policy Implementation Violation of Law
Education Class Conflict
Age Economic position/Poverty
Marital Status Norms and Values
Number of children Societal thrill
Residential area Unequal distribution of
resources
Income Political interference
Class Over population
Profession Unemployment
Poor Socialization
Bad company/peers
Lack of awareness
Fulfilment of basic needs

Types of Research design

1. Explanatory
When we encounter an issue that is already known and have a description of it, we might begin
to wonder why things are the way they are. The desire to know why, to explain, is the purpose
of explanatory research. It builds on exploratory and descriptive research and goes on to identify
the reasons for something that occurs. Explanatory research looks for causes and reasons. For
example, a descriptive research may discover that 10 percent of the parents abuse their children,
whereas the explanatory researcher is more interested in learning why parents abuse their children.
2. Exploratory
This is a descriptive type of research specifically designed to deal with complex issues. It aims
to move beyond just getting the facts in order to make sense of the myriad other elements
involved, such as human, political, social, cultural and contextual.
You may be exploring a new topic or issue in order to learn about it. If the issue was new or the
researcher has written little on it, you began at the beginning. This is called exploratory research.
The researchers goal is to formulate more precise questions that future research can answer.
Exploratory research may be the first stage in a sequence of studies. A researcher may need to
know enough to design and execute a second, more systematic and extensive study.
 3. Descriptive
Descriptive research relies on observation as a means of collecting data. It attempts to examine
situations in order to establish what is the norm, i.e. what can be predicted to happen again under
the same circumstances.
Descriptive research presents a picture of the specific details of a situation, social setting, or
relationship. The major purpose of descriptive research, as the term implies, is to describe
characteristics of a population or phenomenon. Descriptive research seeks to determine the
answers to who, what, when, where, and how questions. Labor Force Surveys, Population Census,
and Educational Census are examples of such research. Descriptive study offers to the researcher
a profile or description of relevant aspects of the phenomena of interest. Look at the class in
research methods and try to give its profile the characteristics of the students. When we start to
look at the relationship of the variables, then it may help in diagnosis analysis.
4. Experimental
This design is best suited in controlled settings for example labs. The design assumes random
assignment of subjects and random assignment to groups (A and C). It tries to investigate cause
and affect associations where causes could be manipulated to generate different types of effects.
Due to the requirement of random assignment, this design can be challenging to carry out in the
real world (non-laboratory) setting.
5. Prediction
This can sometimes be done in research areas where correlations are already known.
Predictions of possible future behavior or events are made on the basis that if there has been a
strong relationship between two or more characteristics or events in the past, then these should
exist in similar circumstances in the future, leading to predictable outcomes.
6. Evaluation
This involves making judgements about the quality of objects or events. Quality can be
measured either in an absolute sense or on a comparative basis. To be useful, the methods of
evaluation must be relevant to the context and intentions of the research.
It addresses the question, Did it work? The process of establishing value judgment based on
evidence about the achievement of the goals of a program. Evaluation research measures the
effectiveness of a program, policy, or way of doing something. Did the program work? Did it
achieve its objectives? Evaluation researchers use several research techniques (survey, field
research). Practitioners involved with a policy or program may conduct evaluation research for
their own information or at the request of outside decision makers, who sometime place limits on
researchers by setting boundaries on what can be studied and determining the outcome of interest.
Two types of evaluation research are formative and summative. Formative evaluation is built-in
monitoring or continuous feedback on a program used for program management. Summative
evaluation looks at final program outcomes. Both are usually necessary.
 7. History
The idea is to gather, validate, synthesize evidence to establish facts which defend or oppose
your hypothesis. It makes use of primary sources, secondary sources, and a lot of qualitative data
sources for example logs, diaries, official data, reports, and so on. The issue is that the sources
need to be both authentic and valid.

The Classical experimental design

The classical experimental design consists of two comparable groups.
Experimental group: The members of this group are selected randomly.
Control group: The members of this group are selected randomly for assignment of cases.
Pre-Test: Taken prior to the introduction of independent variable
Post-Test: After exposure, has been done.
The difference in measurement between posttest and pretest is compared in each of the two
groups. If the difference in the experimental group is significantly larger than in the control group,
it is referred that the independent variable is causally related to the dependent variable.
The classical experimental design is usually associated with research in the biology and physical
sciences.
Random Pre-Test Independent Post-Test Differences
Selection Variable
<
Experimental Group R O1 X O2 O2-O1=de
Control Group R O3 X O4 O4-O3=dc

de > dc

Causal interference components

Covariation
A variable change when the other variable is changed. Covariation simply means that or
more phenomena vary together. For example, if a change in the level of education is accompanied
by a change in the level of income, one can say that education covaries with income, that is that
individuals with higher levels of education have higher incomes than individuals with lower levels
of education. Thus, a correlation between phenomena is necessary evidence for a causal
interpretation.

Non-Spurious
The second operation requires the researcher to demonstrate that the observed covariation
is nonspurious. Non-Spurious relationship is a relationship between two variables that is not
explained by the third variable in analysis. In other words, if the effects of all relevant variables
are controlled for and the relation between the original two variables is maintained, the relation is
non-spurious. A nonspurious relation implies that there is an inherent causal link between variables
and that the observed covariation is not based on an accidental connection with some associated
phenomena.

Time Order
The third operation, time order, requires the researcher to demonstrate that the assumed
causes occur first or change prior to the assumed affect.

Components of Research Design

Comparison
The process of comparison underlies the concept of covariation or correlation. A
comparison is an operation required to demonstration that two variables are correlated. Let us say
that we wanted to demonstrate a correlation between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, that the
smoking of cigarettes is associated with a greater risk getting lung cancer. To examine this, one
may compare the frequency of cancer cases among smokers and nonsmokers or, alternatively,
compare the number of cancer cases in a population of smokers before and after they started
smoking.
Manipulation
The notion of causally implies that if Y is caused by X, then an induced change in X will
be followed by a change in Y. it is hypothesized that the relations are asymmetrical: that one
variable is the determining force and the other is a determined response.
Control------Non-Spurious
Extrinsic/External Intrinsic/Internal
Extrinsic account for possible braces resulting Intrinsic account for change in the individuals
from the differential requirement of research or the units studied that occur during the study
participants to the experimental and control period, change in the measuring instrument or
group. in the reactive effect of the observation itself.

Intrinsic Factors
History
History refers all those events that occur during the time of the study that might affect the
individuals studied and provide a rival explanation for the change in the dependent variable.

Longer time period Higher the chances of error

Maturation
 Maturation involves Biological, Psychological or Social processes that produce changes in
the individuals or units studied with the passage of time. These changes could possibly influence
the dependent variable and lead to erroneous.
Experimental Mortality
Experimental Mortality refers to dropout problems that prevent the researcher from
obtaining complete information on all cases. When individuals dropout selectively from the
experimental or control group, the final sample on which complete information is available may
be biased.
Instrumentation
Instrumentation designates change in the measuring instruments between the pretest and
the posttest. To associate the difference between posttest and pretest scores with the independent
variable, one has to show that repeated measurements with the same measurement instrument
under unchanged conditions will yield the same result. If this cannot be shown, observed
differences could be attributed to the change in the measurement instrument and not necessarily to
the independent variable. The stability of measurement is also referred to as reliability and its
absence can be threat to the validity of experiments.
Testing
The possible reactivity of measurement is a major problem in social science research. The
process of testing may itself change the phenomena being measured. The effect of being pretested
might Sensitize the individual and improve their scoring on the posttest. A difference between
posttest and pretest scores could thus be attributed not necessarily to the independent variable but
rather to the experience gained by individuals while taking the pretest.
Regression Artifact
Regression Artifact is a threat that occurs when the individuals are assigned to experimental
group on the basis of their extreme scores on the dependent variables. When this happens and
measures are unreliable, individuals who scored below average on the pretest will appear to have
improved on retesting. Conversely, individuals who scored above average on the pretest would
appear to have done less well on retesting. The most familiar example of this problem is taken
from our own experience in test taking. Most of us have sometimes performed below our
expectations on an academic test because of factors beyond our control that had nothing to do with
our academic ability.
Interaction with selection
i) Selection-History interaction results when the experimental group and the control
group are selected from different settings so that each might affect their response
to the treatment.
ii) Selection-Maturation interaction occurs when the experimental group and the
control group measure at a different rate. For example, suppose that the cognitive
development of males and females is compared at pretest and posttest. It is possible
 that the rate of development for females is faster than for males, and this might
account for their better performance on the posttest.

How to write literature review

1st Step: Literature citation/Reference (et.al)
For one author: Khan (2010)
For two authors: Khan & Mahmood (2010)
For more than two authors: Khan,et.al.,(2010)
Important Note: dont forget to atelic (et.al)
2nd Step: 1 line of Topic + Area/City
3rd Step:1 or 2 lines of methodology: -
Data collection
Data Analysis
For example: The data was collected from 200 respondents while the respondents were chosen
through simple random sampling technique. The results were through regression model.
4th Step: Write down the findings/suggestions of the research.
5th Step: Write down the Similarities or dissimilarities of research if you compared it with any
other.
6th Step: Arrange the complete refence with the Authors names, Year, topic, Journal name,
Volume, Edition and page number.

Sample
1st Step: Literature citation/Reference (et.al): Khan,et.al.,(2010)
2nd Step: 1 line of Topic + Area/City: Stated/Presented/Studied/Reported/Reconducted the
situation of migrants families left behind in District Toba Tek Singh, Punjab, Pakistan.
3rd Step:1 or 2 lines of methodology: -
Data collection
Data Analysis
They interviewed 120 wives of migrants with a well-structured questionnaire through snowball
and convenient sampling techniques. The descriptive data analysis shows that the/70% of them
were feeling secure economically. The respondents reported that they were feeling socially
insecure 50% and loneliness 70%.
4th Step: Write down the findings/suggestions of the research.
70% of them were feeling secure economically. The respondents reported that they were feeling
socially insecure 50% and loneliness 70%. They suggested educational facilities, frequent parents-
teacher meeting and counselling centers for woman to improve the situation.
5th Step: Write down the Similarities or dissimilarities of research if you compared it with any
other.
We dont compare the research with any other research therefore we have no Similarities or
dissimilarities to write.
6th Step: Arrange the complete refence with the Authors names, Year, Topic, Journal name,
Volume, Edition and page number and year.
Khan,I.A.,Mahmood,S.,Yasin,G.,and Shahbaz,B.(2010) Impact of International Migration on
social Protection of Migrants Families Left Behind in agrarian Communities of District Toba Tek
Singh, Punjab, Pakistan. Pak.J.Agri.Sci.,Vol.47(4), 425-428;2010.
Authors names: Khan,I.A.,Mahmood,S.,Yasin,G.,and Shahbaz,B.
Year: (2010)
Topic: Impact of International Migration on social Protection of Migrants Families Left Behind
in agrarian Communities of District Toba Tek Singh, Punjab, Pakistan.
Journal name: Pak.J.Agri.Sci.,
Volume: Vol.47
Edition: (4),
Page number and year: 425-428;2010.

Complete Sample

Khan,et.al.,(2010) Studied the situation of migrants families left behind in District Toba Tek
Singh Punjab, Pakistan. They interviewed 120 wives of migrants with a well-structured
questionnaire through snowball and convenient sampling techniques. The descriptive data analysis
shows that the 70% of them were feeling secure economically. The respondents reported that they
were feeling socially insecure 50% and loneliness 70%. They suggested educational facilities,
frequent parents-teacher meeting and counselling centers for woman to improve the situation.
Khan,I.A.,Mahmood,S.,Yasin,G.,and Shahbaz,B.(2010) Impact of International Migration on
social Protection of Migrants Families Left Behind in agrarian Communities of District Toba Tek
Singh, Punjab, Pakistan. Pak.J.Agri.Sci.,Vol.47(4), 425-428;2010.