The functions of a research design in management research

The above definitions suggest that a research design has two main functions. The first relates to the identification and/or development of procedures and logistical arrangements required to undertake a study, and the second emphasises the importance of quality in these procedures to ensure their validity, objectivity and accuracy. Hence, through a research design you:

• conceptualise an operational plan to undertake the various procedures and tasks required to complete your study;
• ensure that these procedures are adequate to obtain valid, objective and accurate answers to the research questions. Kerlinger calls this function the control of variance (1986: 280).

Let us take the first of these functions. The research design should detail for you, your supervisor and other readers all the procedures you plan to use and the tasks you are going to perform to obtain answers to your research questions. One of the most important requirements of a research design is to specify everything clearly so a reader will understand what procedures to follow and how to follow them. A research design, therefore, should do the following:

• Name the study design per se – that is, ‘cross-sectional’, ‘before-and-after’, ‘comparative’, ‘control experiment’ or ‘random control’.
• Provide detailed information about the following aspects of the study:
  • Who will constitute the study population?
  • How will the study population be identified?
  • Will a sample or the whole population be selected?
  • If a sample is selected, how will it be contacted?
  • How will consent be sought?
  • What method of data collection will be used and why?
  • In the case of a questionnaire, where will the responses be returned?
  • How should respondents contact you if they have queries?
  • In the case of interviews, where will they be conducted?
  • How will ethical issues be taken care of?

Chapter 8 describes some of the commonly used study designs. The rest of the topics that constitute a research design are covered in the subsequent chapters.

Source: Kumar Ranjit (2012), Research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners, SAGE Publications Ltd; Third edition.