Research Design

Meaning and Types.

Formulation of Research problem.

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 Meaning
Research design is the framework of
research methods and techniques chosen
by a researcher. The design allows
researchers to hone in on research
methods that are suitable for the subject
matter and set up their studies up for
success.

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 Definition
A plan of action for collecting and analyzing
the data in an economic, efficient and
relevant manner.
V. Young
The planned sequence of the entire process
involved in conducting a research study.
-Miller

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 Objectives of research
design
• Research design makes research efficient
by planning & formulating an outline of the
research work.
• The aim is to economic and minimizes time
energy and cost that would’ve been wasted
if it was not present.
• It provides an accurate idea of where
research has reached in his research
journey.
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 Characteristics of Research
Design
• Neutrality: When you set up your study, you
may have to make assumptions about the
data you expect to collect. The results
projected in the research design should be
free from bias and neutral.
• Reliability: With regularly conducted
research, the researcher involved expects
similar results every time. Your design should
indicate how to form research questions to
ensure the standard of results.
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 Cont…
• Validity: There are multiple measuring tools
available. However, the only correct measuring
tools are those which help a researcher in
gauging results according to the objective of the
research. The questionnaire developed from this
design will then be valid.
• Generalization: The outcome of your design
should apply to a population and not just a
restricted sample. A generalized design implies
that your survey can be conducted on any part of
a population with similar
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accuracy.
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 Types of
Research
Design
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 Descriptive Research

• Describes data and characteristics about the

population or phenomenon being studied.
• Answers the questions who, what, where, when
and how.
• Describes the characteristics of the respondent in
relation to a particular product. Deals with
demographic characteristics of the consumer.

• Example : Degree of viewing TV Channels, its

variation with age, income level, profession of
respondent as well as time of viewing.
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 Exploratory Research

• Provides insights into and comprehension of an

issue or situation.
• Often relies on secondary research such as
reviewing available literature and/or data, or
qualitative approaches such as informal
discussions with consumers, employees,
management or competitors and more formal
approaches through in-depth interviews, focus
groups, case studies or pilot studies.
• Carried out at the very beginning when the
problem is not clear or is vague.
Example : Exploring
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decline of a product in a company.
 Applied Research

– Undertaken to find solutions for real-life

problem requiring an action or policy decision.
– It may incidentally contribute to the
development of theoretical knowledge.
– Contributions:
• Can contribute new facts about existing
theories.
• Puts theories to test.
• May aid in conceptual clarification.
• Integrate previously existing theories.

• Example : To developMegha
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a newArora
market for the
 Pure/Fundamental or
Basic Research
 Undertaken for the sake of knowledge without any
intention to apply or practice.
 Not directly involved with practical problems.
 Does not have any commercial potential.

– Contributions:
• By developing principle, pure research offers
solutions to many practical problems.
• Helps to find critical factors in a practical
problem.
• Develops many alternative solutions.

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• Example : Theory of Relativity (by Einstein)
 Conceptual Research

• Generally used by philosophers.

• Related to some abstract idea or
theory.
• Researcher should collect the data to
prove or disapprove his hypothesis.

• Example : Various ideologies

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 Causal Research

• Conducted to determine the cause and effect

relationship between the two variables.
• Way of seeing how actions now will affect a
business in the future.

• Example: A clothing company selling blue denim

jeans, causal research can measure the impact of
the company changing the product design to the
color white. The company bosses will be able to
decide whether changing the color would be
profitable.
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 Historical Research
• Historical study is a study of past records and data in order
to understand the future trends and development of the
organization or market.
• There is no direct observation.
• Research has to depend on the conclusions or inferences
drawn in the past.
• Main objective is to derive explanation and generalization
from the past trends in order to understand the present and
anticipate the future.

• Example : Investors in the share market study the past

records or prices of shares which he/she intends to buy.
Studying the share prices of a particular company enables
the investor to take decision whether to invest in the shares
of a company.
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Shortcomings of Historical Research

• Reliability and adequacy information

is subjective and open to question.
• Accuracy of measurement of events
is doubtful.
• Verification of records are difficult.

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 Action Research
• Research is undertaken by direct action.
• Action Research is conducted to solve a
problem.
• Example : Test Marketing a product is
an example of action research. Initially,
the geographical location is identified. A
target sample is selected from among
the population. Samples are distributed
to selected samples and feedback is
obtained
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from the respondent.
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 Formulation of Research
Design.
• Defining your research problem is the first
step - and one of the most important - in
any piece of research. It’s also a task that
will come up again and again, because
any business research process is cyclical.
New questions arise as you iterate and
progress through discovering, refining, and
improving your products and processes.

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 Steps Formulating Research
Problem
1. Observe and identify
• Businesses today have so much data that
it can be difficult to know which questions
to address first.
• Researchers also have business
stakeholders who come to them with
problems they would like to have explored.
• A researcher’s job is to sift through these
inputs and discover the higher-level trends
that are worth the investment of
resources.
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 Cont…

• Sometimes, a small-scale preliminary

study might be worth doing to help get a
better understanding of the business
context and needs, and to make sure your
research question addresses the most
critical problems.

• This could take the form of a few in depth

interviews, an environmental scan, or a
literature review. Megha Arora
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 Example:
The sales manager of a sportswear
company has a problem: sales of
trail running shoes are down year-
on-year and she isn’t sure why. She
approaches the company’s research
team for input and they begin to
explore by
asking questions
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within the company
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and reviewing their knowledge of
 2. Review the key factors
involved
• As a marketing researcher, you must work closely
with your team of researchers to define and test the
influencing factors and the wider context involved
in your study.

• These might include demographic and economic

trends or the business environment affecting the
question at hand.

• To do this you have to identify the factors that will

affect the research project and begin formulating
different methods to control for them.
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 Cont…

• You also need to consider the relationships

between factors and the degree of control you
have over them.
• Doing this will help you determine whether the
findings of your project will produce enough
information to be worth the cost.
• You need to determine:
a. which factors affect the solution to the research
problem.
b. which ones can be controlled and used for the
purposes of the company, and to what extent.
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c. the functional relationships between the factors
 Example

• The research team at the running shoe company

is hard at work. They explore the factors involved
and the context of why YoY sales are down for
trail shoes, including things like what the
company’s competitors are doing, what the
weather has been like – affecting outdoor exercise
– and the relative spend on
marketing for the brand from year to year. The
final factor is within the company’s control,
although the first two are not. They check the
figures and determine
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significant impact on the company.
 3. Prioritize

• Once you and your research team have a few observations

with promise, prioritize them based on their business impact
and importance.
• It may be that you can answer more than one question with a
single study, but don’t do it at the risk of losing focus on your
overarching research question.
• Questions to ask:
Who? Who are the people with the problem? Are they end-users,
stakeholders, teams within your business? Have you validated
the information to see what the scale of the problem is?
What? What is its nature and what is the supporting evidence?
Why? What is the business case for solving the problem? How
will it help?
Where? How does the problem manifest and where is it
observed?
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 Example:

• After observing and investigating, the running shoe researchers

come up with a few candidate research questions, including:
• What is the relationship between US average temperatures and
sales of our products year on year?
• At the present time, how does our customer base rank Competitor
X and Competitor Y’s trail running shoe compared to our brand?
• What is the relationship between marketing spend and trail shoe
product sales over the last 12 months?
• They opt for the final question, because the variables involved are
fully within the company’s control, and based on their initial
research and stakeholder input, seem the most likely cause of the
dive in sales. The research question is specific enough to keep the
work on course towards an actionable result, but it allows for a few
different avenues to be explored, such as the different budget
allocations of offline and online marketing and the kinds of
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messaging used. Megha Arora
 4. Align

• Get feedback from the key teams within your

business to make sure everyone is aligned and
has the same understanding of the research
question and the actions you hope to take based
on the results. Now is also a good time to
demonstrate the ROI of your research and lay out
its potential benefits to your stakeholders.
• Different groups may have different goals and
perspectives on the issue. This step is vital for
getting the necessary buy-in and pushing the
project forward.
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 Example:

• The running shoe company researchers now have

everything they need to begin. They call a meeting with
the sales manager and consult with the product team,
marketing team, and C-suite to make sure everyone is
aligned and bought in to the direction of the research.

• They identify and agree that the likely course of action

will be a rethink of how marketing resources are
allocated, and potentially testing out some new channels
and messaging strategies.

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 h a v e
You ly
e s s fu l
Succ e
e t e d t h
Com p l
u l e o n
Mod
e a rc h
Res
s i g n !
De

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