Busca, Reymark A. Research Design

Before beginning your paper, you need to decide how you plan to design the study

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The research design refers to the overall strategy that you choose to integrate the different components of the study in a coherent and logical way, thereby, ensuring you will effectively address the research problem; it constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement, and analysis of data. Note that the research problem determines the type of design you should use, not the other way around!

The function of a research design is to ensure that the evidence obtained enables you to effectively address the research problem logically and as unambiguously as possible. In social sciences research, obtaining information relevant to the research problem generally entails specifying the type of evidence needed to test a theory, to evaluate a program, or to accurately describe and assess meaning related to an observable phenomenon.

With this in mind, a common mistake made by researchers is that they begin their investigations far too early, before they have thought critically about what information is required to address the research problem. Without attending to these design issues beforehand, the overall research problem will not be adequately addressed and any conclusions drawn will run the risk of being weak and unconvincing. As a consequence, the overall validity of the study will be undermined. 

A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure or solve marketing research problems. In simple words it is the general plan of how you will go about your research.

Research design is needed because it facilitates the smooth sailing of the various research operations, thereby making research as efficient as possible yielding maximal information with minimal expenditure of effort, time and money. Research design has a significant impact on the reliability of the results obtained. It thus acts as a firm foundation for the entire research.

    Advantages of research design

1. Consumes less time.
2. Ensures project time schedule.
3. Helps researcher to prepare himself to carry out research in a proper and a systematic way.
4. Better documentation of the various activities while the project work is going on.
5. Helps in proper planning of the resources and their procurement in right time.
6. Provides satisfaction and confidence, accompanied with a sense of success from the beginning of the work of the research project.