A Research design is concerned with turning a research question into a testing project.

The best design depends on the research questions. Every design has its positive and negative sides. The research design has been considered 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. 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. OR The research d e s i g n i s a p l a n o f a c t i o n i n d i c a t i n g t h e s p e c i f i c s t e p s t h a t a r e n e c e s s a r y t o p r o v i d e answers to those questions, test the hypotheses, and thereby achieve the research purpose that helps choose among the decision alternatives to solve the management problem or capitalize on the market opportunity DEFINITIONS OF RESEARCH DESIGN: (1) According to David J. Luck and Ronald S. Rubin, " A r e s e a r c h d e s i g n i s t h e determination and statement of the general research approach or strategy adopted/or the particular project. It is the heart of planning. If the design adheres to the researchobjective, it will ensure that the client's needs will be served." (2) According to Kerlinger

" R e s e a r c h d e s i g n i n t h e p l a n , s t r u c t u r e a n d s t r a t e g y o f investigation conceived so as to obtain answers to research questions and to control variance." (3) According to Green and Tull "A research design is the specification of methods and procedures for acquiring the information needed. It is the over-all operational pattern or framework of the project that stipulates what information is to be collected from which source by what procedure Data collection is a term used to describe a process of preparing and collecting data, for example, as part of a process improvement or similar project. The purpose of data collection is to obtain information to keep on record, to make decisions about important issues, to pass information on to others. Primarily, data are collected to provide information regarding a specific topic. Data collection usually takes place early on in an improvement project, and is often formalised through a data collection plan] which often contains the following activity. 1. Pre collection activity agree on goals, target data, definitions, methods 2. Collection data collection 3. Present Findings usually involves some form of sorting[3] analysis and/or presentation. Prior to any data collection, pre-collection activity is one of the most crucial steps in the process. It is often discovered too late that the value of their interview information is discounted as a consequence of poor sampling of both questions and informants and poor elicitation techniques. After pre-collection activity is fully completed, data collection in the field, whether by interviewing or other methods, can be carried out in a structured, systematic and scientific way. A formal data collection process is necessary as it ensures that data gathered are both defined and accurate and that subsequent decisions based on arguments embodied in the findings are valid.The process provides both a baseline from which to measure from and in certain cases a target on what to improve. Other main types of collection include census, sample survey, and administrative byproduct and each with their respective advantages and disadvantages. A census refers to data collection about everyone or everything in a group or population and has advantages, such as accuracy and detail and disadvantages, such as cost and time. A sample survey is a data collection method that includes only part of the total population and has advantages, such as cost and time and disadvantages, such as accuracy and detail. Administrative by-product data are collected as a byproduct of an organization's day-to-day operations and has advantages, such as accuracy, time simplicity and disadvantages, such as no flexibility and lack of control.[6]

Measures of Central Tendency Several different measures of central tendency are defined below. The mode is the most frequently appearing value in the population or sample. Suppose we draw a sample of five women and measure their weights. They weigh 100 pounds, 100 pounds, 130 pounds, 140 pounds, and 150 pounds. Since more women weigh 100 pounds than any other weight, the mode would equal 100 pounds. To find the median, we arrange the observations in order from smallest to largest value. If there is an odd number of observations, the median is the middle value. If there is an even number of observations, the median is the average of the two middle values. Thus, in the sample of five women, the median value would be 130 pounds; since 130 pounds is the middle weight. The mean of a sample or a population is computed by adding all of the observations and dividing by the number of observations. Returning to the example of the five women, the mean weight would equal (100 + 100 + 130 + 140 + 150)/5 = 620/5 = 124 pounds.