How would you describe the basic research design issues?

Answer 1

In the basic research design various issues are involved. These issues pertinent to research design relate to where the study will be conducted, the extent of which the researcher manipulates and controls the study, the duration of the study and at what level the data will be analyzed, as well as deciding what the sample would be, how the data would be collected, how variables will be measured and how they will be analyzed to test the hypotheses. Each component of the research design offers several critical choice points. The extent of scientific rigor in a research study depends on how carefully the researcher has chosen the appropriate alternatives taking into consideration the purpose for which the study is undertaken.

The most basic aspects of research design are:

• the purpose of the study,

• the types of investigation,

• the extent of researcher interference,

• the study setting,

• the unit of analysis, and

• the time horizon of the study.

These are described in detail as under:

• PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Studies can be either exploratory in nature, or descriptive, and/or conducted to test hypotheses

which depends on the stage of advancement of knowledge in the research area.

In exploratory stage we try to explore new areas of organizational research.

In descriptive stage we try to describe certain characteristics of the phenomena we are interested in knowing about.

In the hypotheses testing stage we examine whether or not the conjectured relationships have been substantiated and an answer to the research question obtained. In exploratory studies, the researcher is basically interested in exploring the situational factors so as to get a grip on the characteristics of the phenomena of interest.

The descriptive study is undertaken when the characteristics or the phenomena to be tapped in a situation are known to exist, and one wants to be able to describe them better.

Hypothesis testing offers an enhanced understanding of the relationships that exist among variables.

Hypothesis testing could also establish cause > effect relationship.

• TYPES OF INVESTIGATION

There are mainly two types of investigation; causal or a correlational. When the researcher wants to delineate the cause of a problem, then the study is called a causal study. When the researcher is interested in delineating the important variables that are associated with the problem, it is called a correlational study. Whether a study is a causal or a correlational one it

depends on the type of research questions asked and how the problem is defined.

• EXTENT OF RESEARCHER INTERFERENCE.

The extent of researcher interference has a direct bearing on whether a causal or correlational study is undertaken. The extent of researcher interference would depend on whether the study is correlational or causal and also the extent to which causal relationship have to be established beyond the shadow of a doubt. In causal studies the researcher deliberately changes certain variables in the setting and interferes with the normal flow of events as they usually occur in the organization. A correlational study is conducted in the natural environment of the organization with the researcher interfering minimally with the normal flow of events.

• STUDY SETTING

Correlational studies are invariably conducted in non contrived settings whereas rigorous causal studies are done in contrived lab settings. Correlational studies done in organizations are called filed studies where various factors are examined in the natural setting in which events normally occur with minimal researcher interference. Studies conducted to establish cause > effect relationships using the same natural environment in which employees normally function are

called field experiments.

Lab experiments where the researcher explores cause > effect relationships exercising a high degree of control and also in an artificially created setting.

• UNIT OF ANALYSIS

The level of aggregation of the data during subsequent analysis is called unit of analysis. Determining the unit of analysis based on our research question is an important aspect of the research design. Some research scenarios that would call for different units of analysis are:

> Individuals as the unit of analysis.

> Dyads as the unit of analysis.

> Groups as the unit of analysis.

> Divisions as the unit of analysis.

> Industry as the unit of analysis.

> Countries as the unit of analysis.

• TIME HORIZON OF THE STUDY.

The researcher determines the appropriate decisions to be made in the study design based on the problem definition. According to time and costs involved, they conduct a cross sectional study or a longitudinal study. Studies over a period of days or weeks or months are called cross-sectional. In longitudinal studies, the researcher wants to study people or phenomena at several points in time. Longitudinal studies often taken more time and effort than cross-sectional studies. These studies help to identify cause

Answer 2

There are many issues with basic research designs. One of these many issues with basic research designs is that they are inconsistent.