Chapter 5: Elements of the research design

Learning Objectives After completing this Chapter you should be able to:

1. Understand the different aspects relevant to designing a research study.

2. Decide, for any given situation, the type of investigation needed, the research
strategy, the study setting, the extent of researcher interference, the unit of analysis,
and the time horizon of the study.

The research design Up to now you have made a great effort to:

 develop a problem statement;

 develop a research proposal;
 conduct a critical review of the literature;
 develop a conceptual background (in inductive research) or a theoretical
framework (in deductive research).

 The next step is to design the research in such a way that the requisite data can
be gathered and analyzed to arrive at a solution for the problem that catalyzed
the research project.

 A research design is a blueprint for the collection, measurement, and analysis of

data, based on the research questions of the study.

 Issues relating to decisions regarding the purpose of the study (exploratory,

descriptive, causal), the research strategy (for instance, experiments, surveys,
interviews, case studies), its location (i.e., the study setting), the extent to which
the study is manipulated and controlled by the researcher (extent of researcher
interference), its temporal aspects (time horizon), and the level at which the
data will be analyzed (unit of analysis), are integral to research design.

 These are discussed in this chapter. In addition, decisions have to be made as to

the type of sample to be used (sampling design), how variables will be measured
(measurement), and how they will be analyzed to test the hypotheses (data
analysis).

 Each component of the research design offers several critical choice points. The
quality of a research study depends on how carefully the manager/researcher
chooses the appropriate design alternatives, taking into consideration its specific
purpose.

Purpose of the research
design study; Exploratory,
Descriptive, Causal
 Purpose (phenomena)
 Title name is purpose of the research design not purpose of the study
 Systematic approach: defined inputs and defined outputs and the research
design will make a processing (research design) for specific inputs to produce
specific outputs.
 The inputs before the research design step is the literature review with its details
(identification, evaluation and documentation)….nature of literature review is
the most important input plus the problem definition.


 Studies may be either exploratory, descriptive, or causal in nature. The nature of

the study – whether it is exploratory, descriptive, or causal – depends on the
 stage to which knowledge about the research topic has advanced.

 The design decisions become more rigorous as we proceed from the exploratory
stage, where we attempt to explore new areas of business research, to the
descriptive stage, where we try to describe certain characteristics of the
phenomena on which interest centers, to the causal, hypothesis testing stage,
where we examine whether or not the conjectured relationships have been
substantiated.

Exploratory study  Collect all the variables you believe that they are influence on the dependent
variable
 We should complete the deductive research for this design, collect data, data
analysis which may conclude that only out of 15 variables, just eight one of them
is the controlling.
 Audio from minute No. 25
 Non directional (no amount and no direction)
 No prove from science for this type.
 An exploratory study is undertaken when not much is known about the
situation at hand, or no information is available on how similar problems or
research issues have been solved in the past. In such cases, extensive
preliminary work needs to be done to understand what is occurring, assess the
magnitude of the problem, and/or gain familiarity with the phenomena in the
situation. Based on this preliminary work, we may either decide that further
research is not needed (if the problem is not as big as we thought) or set up a
more rigorous design for further, more comprehensive investigation.

 Along these lines, exploratory studies are necessary when some facts are
known, but more information is needed for developing a viable theoretical
framework.

 Exploratory research often relies on secondary research (such as a review of

the literature) and/or qualitative approaches to data gathering such as
informal discussions (with consumers, employees, managers) and more formal
approaches such as interviews, focus groups, projective methods, or case
studies.

 The results of exploratory studies are typically not generalizable to the

population. As a rule, exploratory research is flexible in nature. Indeed, the
activities of the researcher in exploratory research are quite similar to the
activities of inspector Lewis, inspector Wallander, sergeant Hunter, detective
Dee, or the South Florida team of forensic investigators from CSI Miami, who use
old-fashioned police work, cutting-edge scientific methods, or both to solve
murder crimes. Whereas the focus of the research is broad at first, it becomes
increasingly narrower as the research proceeds.
Descriptive study  Directional (amount -direction) but we did not measure the significance.
 The objective of a descriptive study is to describe.
 To measure the amount and direction for the selected model on my nine
elements.

 Descriptive studies are often designed to collect data that describe the
characteristics of persons, events, or situations.
  Descriptive research is either quantitative or qualitative in nature. It may involve
the collection of quantitative data such as satisfaction ratings, production
figures, sales figures, or demographic data, but it may also entail the collection
of qualitative information. For instance, qualitative data might be gathered to
describe how consumers go through a decision-making process or to examine
how managers resolve conflicts in organizations.

 Sometimes the researcher is interested in associations among variables to

describe populations, events, or situations. For instance, a researcher might be
interested in the relationship between job involvement and job satisfaction,
arousal seeking tendency and risk-taking behavior, self-confidence and the
adoption of innovative products, or goal clarity and job performance. Such
studies are correlational in nature.

 Correlational research describes relationships between variables. While

correlational studies can suggest that there is a relationship between two
variables, finding a correlation does not mean that one variable causes a
change in another variable.

 Descriptive studies may help the researcher to:

1. Understand the characteristics of a group in a given situation (for instance the

profile of a specific segment in a market).

2. Think systematically about aspects in a given situation (for instance, factors

related to job satisfaction).

3. Offer ideas for further probe and research.

4. Help make certain (simple) decisions (such as decisions related to the use of
specific communication channels depending on the customer profile, opening
hours, cost reductions, staff employment, and the like).

Causal or explanatory study  Causal studies are at the heart of the scientific approach to research.

 Such studies test whether or not one variable causes another to change.

 In a causal study, the researcher is interested in delineating one or more factors

that are causing the problem. In other words, the intention of the researcher
conducting a causal study is to be able to state that variable X causes variable Y.
So, when variable X is removed or altered in some way, problem Y is solved (note
that quite often, however, it is not just one variable that causes a problem in
organizations).

 In order to establish a causal relationship, all four of the following conditions

should be met:

1. The independent and the dependent variable should covary.

2. The independent variable (the presumed causal factor) should precede the
dependent variable.
 3. No other factor should be a possible cause of the change in the dependent
variable.

4. A logical explanation (a theory) is needed and it must why the independent

variable affects the dependent variable.

Because of the time sequence condition, experimental designs, are often used to
establish causal relationships.

Extent of the researcher  The extent of interference by the researcher has a direct bearing on whether the
interference with the study study undertaken is correlational or causal.

 A correlational study is conducted in a natural environment (for instance, a

supermarket or the factory floor) with minimal interference by the researcher
with the normal flow of events. For example, if a researcher wants to study the
factors influencing training effectiveness (a correlational study), all that the
individual has to do is delineate the relevant variables, collect the relevant data,
and analyze them to come up with the findings. Though there is some disruption
to the normal flow of work in the system as the researcher interviews employees
and administers questionnaires in the workplace, the researcher ’s interference
in the routine functioning of the system is minimal as compared to that caused
during causal studies and experimental designs.

Study setting: contrived  Business research can be done in the natural environment where events
and non-contrived proceeds normally (i.e., in non-contrived ‫ غير متفق‬settings) or in artificial,
contrived settings.

 Correlational studies are invariably conducted in non-contrived settings, whereas

most causal studies are done in contrived ‫ متفق‬lab settings.

 Correlational studies done in non-contrived settings are called field studies.

Studies conducted to establish cause-and-effect relationships using the same
natural environment in which the subjects under study (employees, consumers,
managers, and the like) normally function are called field experiments.

Time horizon: cross- Cross-sectional studies:

sectional versus
longitudinal studies  study can be undertaken in which data are gathered just once, perhaps over a
period of days or weeks or months, in order to answer a research question. Such
studies are called one-shot or cross-sectional studies.

Longitudinal studies:

 In some cases, however, the researcher might want to study people or

phenomena at more than one point in time in order to answer the research
question. For instance, the researcher might want to study employees ’ behavior
before and after a change in the top management, so as to know what effects
the change accomplished. Here, because data are gathered at two different
points in time, the study is not cross-sectional or of the one-shot kind, but is
carried longitudinally across a period of time. Such studies, as when data on the
 dependent variable are gathered at two or more points in time to answer the
research question, are called longitudinal studies.

 Longitudinal studies take more time and effort and cost more than cross-
sectional studies.
Every research include hypothesis test
Review of elements of This concludes the discussions on the basic design issues regarding the purpose of the
research design study, the research strategy, extent of researcher interference, study setting, unit of
analysis, and the time horizon. The researcher determines the appropriate decisions to
be made in the study design based on the research perspective of the investigator, the
problem definition, the research objectives, the research questions, the extent of rigor
desired, and practical considerations. Sometimes, because of the time and costs
involved, a researcher might be constrained to settle for less than the “ideal” research
design
Unit of analysis  The unit of analysis refers to the level of aggregation ‫ تجميع‬of the data collected
during the subsequent data analysis stage.

 If, for instance, the problem statement focuses on how to raise the motivational
levels of employees in general, then we are interested in individual employees in
the organization and have to find out what we can do to raise their motivation.

 Here the unit of analysis is the individual. We will be looking at the data gathered
from each individual and treating each employee’ s response as an individual
data source.

 If the researcher is interested in studying two-person interactions, then several

two-person groups, also known as dyads, will become the unit of analysis.
Analysis of husband–wife interactions in families and supervisor–subordinate
relationships in the workplace are good examples of dyads as the unit of
analysis.

 However, if the problem statement is related to group effectiveness, then the

unit of analysis will be at the group level. In other words, even though we may
gather relevant data from all individuals comprising, say, six groups, we
aggregate the individual data into group data so as to see the differences among
the six groups. If we are comparing different departments in the organization,
then the data analysis will be done at the departmental level – that is, the
individuals in the department will be treated as one unit – and comparisons
made by treating the department as the unit of analysis.

 Our research question determines the unit of analysis. For example, if we wish to
study group decision-making patterns, we will probably be examining such
aspects as group size, group structure, cohesiveness, and the like, in trying to
explain the variance in group decision making.

 Here, our main interest is not in studying individual decision making but group
decision making, and we will be studying the dynamics that operate in several
different groups and the factors that influence group decision making. In such a
case, the unit of analysis will be groups. As our research question addresses
issues that move away from the individual to dyads, and to groups,
organizations, and even nations, so also does the unit of analysis shift from
individuals to dyads, groups, organizations.
  If we want to study cultural differences among nations, we will have to collect
data from different countries and study the underlying patterns of culture in
each country.

 Some critical issues in cross-cultural research are discussed in later chapters.

Individuals do not have the same characteristics as groups (e.g., structure,
cohesiveness), and groups do not have the same characteristics as individuals
(e.g., IQ, stamina). There are variations in the perceptions, attitudes, and
behaviors of people in different cultures. Hence, the nature of the information
gathered, as well as the level at which data are aggregated for analysis, are
integral to decisions made on the choice of the unit of analysis. It is necessary to
decide on the unit of analysis even as we formulate the research question, since
the data collection methods, sample size, and even the variables included in the
framework may sometimes be determined or guided by the level at which data
are aggregated for analysis.

summary In this chapter we examined the basic research design issues and the choice points
available to the manager/ researcher. We discussed the situations in which exploratory,
descriptive, and causal studies are called for. We examined causal versus correlational
studies, and the implications of either for determining the study setting, the extent of
researcher interference, the research strategy, and the time horizon of the study. We
noted that the unit of analysis refers to the level at which data are aggregated for
analysis, and that the time horizon of studies may be one-shot or longitudinal. Finally, we
examined the circumstances in which each design decision would be appropriate.