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Unit 2: Research Design

A research project starts from an idea, usually in the mind of a researcher who has done other Notes
investigations in the field. The idea may have come from a research done by others. The ideas
occur to researchers with a bulk of experience in some field by means of a process of intuitive
creative intelligence. A good research differs from a research that falls short of professional
quality by set of processes closely connected with each other.
Some researchers point out the cognitive processes of generating creative decisions, gathering
expert opinions, assessing the probable results of each alternative. Other researchers point out
the problems of good decision-making, such as impatience with gathering data, the consequences
of feeling inadequate, dependent. In this situation a hypothesis is used as a form of researchable
proposal. Hypothesis is an explanation of observable facts or phenomena that may be verifiable
via investigations.
A hypothesis is concerned with an explanation of something previously unknown. It needs
some form of investigative process. For the research to be acceptable others must be able to
apply the same procedure to get similar outcomes. Hypotheses that can be tested are known
as ‘testable hypotheses’. It is important to point out that not all investigations have to be
concerned with testable hypotheses. Nevertheless, testable hypotheses give a research design
that can reliably get high assessment. The purpose of proposal is to suspect the research
process before it is carried out and the hypothesis plays a significant role in it.

Research design is a critical part of research. It provides the link between the theory or argument
that informed the research, on the one hand, and the empirical material collected on the other.
Research design addresses at least three issues. First of all, and most importantly, it must
allow the researcher to engage in an on-going debate. Social science proceeds by examining
critically the positions in a debate, discover unanswered (or poorly answered) questions, and
then engage the debate through an analysis of these weaknesses. Research design therefore
has to address the debate, and allow the researcher to make a contribution to that debate.
Secondly, and as a result, the design of a research project must aim to include not just the
answers that the researcher is trying to give, but also explicitly address the positions in the
debate.
Case selection thus becomes an instrument that allows an intervention in the ongoing debate,
and therefore needs to be done not just with the researcher’s final argument in mind, but also
explicitly engaging the most important alternative explanations. Third, the research design
must allow the researcher to make the step from argument, over well-specified hypotheses
(about the probable outcome of the research) to the actual cases studied. Developing theory
or argument, translating them into well-specified hypotheses, and collecting empirical material
therefore are steps in the research process that are closely linked to one another. In sum,
research design and the selection of cases is an intricate part of building the argument: cases
offer analytical leverage.
There are many purposes that research design serve main are as follows:
• Defines, elaborate and explain the research topic.
• Make clear the area of research to other.

• Provide limits and boundaries to a research.
• Give the whole scenario of the research.

• Tell the modes and consequences.
• Ensuring of time and resources is done.

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