The need for a research design arises out of the fact that it facilitates the smooth conduct of the various stages of research.
Importance Of Research
Design
The need for a research design
arises out of the fact that it facilitates the smooth conduct of the various
stages of research. It contributes to making research as efficient as possible,
thus yielding the maximum information with minimum effort, time and
expenditure. A research design helps to plan in advance, the methods to be
employed for collecting the relevant data and the techniques to be adopted for
their analysis. This would help in pursuing the objectives of the research in
the best possible manner, provided the available staff, time and money are
given. Hence, the research design should be prepared with utmost care, so as to
avoid any error that may disturb the entire project. Thus, research design
plays a crucial role in attaining the reliability of the results obtained,
which forms the strong foundation of the entire process of the research work.
Despite its significance, the
purpose of a well-planned design is not realized at times. This is because it
is not given the importance that it deserves. As a consequence, many
researchers are not able to achieve the purpose for which the research designs
are formulated, due to which they end up arriving at misleading conclusions.
Therefore, faulty designing of the research project tends to render the
research exercise meaningless. This makes it imperative that an efficient and
suitable research design must be planned before commencing the process of
research. The research design helps the researcher to organize his/her ideas in
a proper form, which in turn facilitates him/her to identify the inadequacies
and faults in them. The research design is also discussed with other experts
for their comments and critical evaluation, without which it would be difficult
for any critic to provide a comprehensive review and comments on the proposed
study.
Characteristics Of A Good Research Design
A good research design often
possesses the qualities of being flexible,
suitable, efficient, economical and
so on. Generally, a research design which
minimizes bias and maximizes the reliability of the data collected and
analysed is considered a good design (Kothari 1988). A research design which
does not allow even the smallest
experimental error is said to be the best design for investigation.
Further, a research design that yields
maximum information and
provides an opportunity of viewing the
various dimensions of a research problem is considered to be the
most appropriate and efficient
design. Thus, the question of a good design relates to the purpose or objective
and nature of the research problem studied. While a research design may be
good, it may not be equally suitable to all studies. In other words, it may be
lacking in one aspect or the other in the case of some other research problems.
Therefore, no single research design can be applied to all types of research
problems.
A research design suitable for a specific research problem would usually involve the following considerations:
1. The methods of gathering the information;
2. The skills and availability of the researcher and his/her staff, if any;
3. The objectives of the research problem being studied;
4. The nature of the research problem being studied; and
5. The available monetary support and duration of time for the research work.
Tags : Research Methodology - Introduction
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