Research Design

The research design1 is the framework through which the various components of a research project are brought together: research question, literature review, data, analysis and results. According to Grunow (1995), it is a crucial element of any empirical research project, whatever the research question and the chosen methodological point of view.

However, many research designs prove to be inadequate. As a reviewer for Administrative Science Quarterly and the Academy of Management Journal, Daft (1995) noted that he had to reject a large number of articles, and 20 per cent for this very reason. Grunow (1995), in a study of more than 300 examples of empirical research, both published and unpublished, noted that only 20 per cent presented no design problems. Grunow explained these design flaws by the general absence of strict determinist links between the various components of the research. Nevertheless, that does not mean that any arbitrary combination of research elements may be used (Grunow, 1995). Obviously, there is not one single ‘correct’ design appropriate to a research problem. Several designs are possible. While some are more attractive or original than others, certain designs can definitely be deemed ‘poor’.

In general, the quality of a design is partly a question of the overall logic of the research approach taken, and partly of how coherent its various compo­nents are. Apart from these two major principles, there are no precise rules. Bartunek et al. (1993) contend that qualitative and quantitative methods may both be used to solve the same problem. Neither is there a strict relationship between methodology and the level or type of analysis used. The level of analy­sis (individuals, groups, organizations or interorganizational) bears no relation to the type of approach used. In fact, no particular method appears indisputably superior to another in absolute terms. As McCall and Bobko (1990) argue, the most important aspect to consider in choosing a method is not the method in itself but what it is able to reveal of a particular problem.

This chapter is not, therefore, going to provide a set of rules for constructing a successful research design. It will merely make some suggestions about how to approach this process, and what questions researchers should ask themselves.

Source: Thietart Raymond-Alain et al. (2001), Doing Management Research: A Comprehensive Guide, SAGE Publications Ltd; 1 edition.

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