Research Design

• Research Design
• You must make a number of decisions when you plan a research study.
• These decisions concern a number of issues commonly referred to as "research design."
• The decisions you make here will have far-reaching implications for:
• how the research is conducted,
• the nature of the data you obtain,
• the kinds of analysis you will be able to do,
• the kinds of information you will obtain about the situation under investigation,
• the use to which that information may be put.

• Eight dimensions along which research varies
• basic vs. applied
• laboratory vs. field
• overt vs. unobtrusive
• quantitative vs. qualitative
• interpretive vs. functional
• experimental vs. naturalistic
• participant vs. non-participant
• cross-sectional vs. longitudinal


• quantitative vs. qualitative
• uses numbers, counting, and statistics; likely to be called "scientific"
            vs.
• uses narrative, words, transcripts, documents; likely to be called "humanistic"
  
  
• Wars have been fought over this issue.
• Some people say quantitative is best; some say qualitative is best.
• I say you need both.



• interpretive vs. functional
• study of meaning, content analysis, deconstruction, postmodernist deconstruction in which the meanings behind everything are laid bare; by its nature abstract and conceptual
            vs.
• study of behaviour and effects, meanings are seen as causes and effects of communication behaviour



• experimental vs. naturalistic
• "scientific" -- manipulation of an independent variable followed by measurement of dependent variable, random assignment to conditions, control
            vs.
• study of processes as they take place in normal life activity, without manipulating the observational environment



• laboratory vs. field
• research is conducted in an artificial environment, all aspects controlled by the researcher
            vs.
• research is conducted in a natural environment where people normally are in the course of day-to-day life



• participant vs. non-participant
• researcher participates in the activities or situation being studied --anthropological work as example
            vs.
• observer is outside the situation and (ideally) has no effect on the processes being observed



• overt vs. unobtrusive
• subjects are aware of the research, no attempt is made to hide the fact that they are being observed/measured
            vs.
• researcher isn't involved in the situation, isn't physically present; covert; subjects are not aware of being observed



• cross-sectional vs. longitudinal
• measurement done at one point in time; past history and future conditions are ignored; process is approximated by comparing people in different stages of life to one another; uses a cross-section of the population
            vs.
  
• over-time research, repeated measures of the same group of people; process and change are actually observed/measured



• basic vs. applied
• focus is on purely theoretical issues; no attention is given to applications; sometimes called "curiosity driven"
            vs.
• focus is on addressing real problems, pragmatic issues