Types and Purposes of Research Designs

 

Type of Study

Purpose

Research Design

Descriptive

to describe conditions and activities

survey

case study/ethnography

Exploratory

to develop theory

case study/ethnography

Explanatory

to test theories and hypotheses about causal relationships

experimental

survey

Evaluation

to evaluate effectiveness of program/intervention

experimental

survey

case study/ethnography

 

Key Differences Among Research Designs

 

 

Experimental

Survey

Case study/ethnography

Purpose

 

 

Explanatory

Evaluation

Descriptive

 

Explanatory

Evaluation

Descriptive

Exploratory

 

Evaluation

Sampling

Purposefull

Availability

Probability

Purposefull

Purposefull

Availability

Types of data

Observations

Interviews

 

Tests/Inventories

 

 

Questionnaires

Tests

Achival data

Observations

Inteviews

Questionnaires

 

Archival data

Artifacts

Types of analysis

Statistical

Statistical

Content/domain

Statistical

 

Types of Data Used in Research Designs

 

Types of data

Experimental

Survey

Case study/ethnography

1.       Observations

--structured

--unstructured

 

X

 

 

 

X

2.       Interviews

--structured

--unstructured

 

X

 

 

 

X

3.  Questionnaires

 

X

 

4.  Tests/inventories

X

X

 

5.  Archival data

      --numerical data

      --documents

 

 

X

 

 

X

6.  Artifacts

 

 

X