Research design

Research design refers to the overall strategy utilized to answer research questions. A research design typically outlines the theories and models underlying a project; the research question(s) of a project; a strategy for gathering data and information; and a strategy for producing answers from the data.^[1] A strong research design yields valid answers to research questions while weak designs yield unreliable, imprecise or irrelevant answers.^[1]

Incorporated in the design of a research study will depend on the standpoint of the researcher over their beliefs in the nature of knowledge (see epistemology) and reality (see ontology), often shaped by the disciplinary areas the researcher belongs to.^[2]^[3]

The design of a study defines the study type (descriptive, correlational, semi-experimental, experimental, review, meta-analytic) and sub-type (e.g., descriptive-longitudinal case study), research problem, hypotheses, independent and dependent variables, experimental design, and, if applicable, data collection methods and a statistical analysis plan.^[4] A research design is a framework that has been created to find answers to research questions.

^ ^a ^b Blair, Graeme; Coppock, Alexander; Humphreys, Macartan (2023), Research Design in the Social Sciences: Declaration, Diagnosis, and Redesign, Princeton University Press, doi:10.1515/9780691199580, ISBN 978-0-691-19958-0
^ Wright, Sarah; O'Brien, Bridget C.; Nimmon, Laura; Law, Marcus; Mylopoulos, Maria (2016). "Research Design Considerations". Journal of Graduate Medical Education. 8 (1): 97–98. doi:10.4300/JGME-D-15-00566.1. ISSN 1949-8349. PMC 4763399. PMID 26913111.
^ Tobi, Hilde; Kampen, Jarl K. (2018). "Research design: the methodology for interdisciplinary research framework". Quality & Quantity. 52 (3): 1209–1225. doi:10.1007/s11135-017-0513-8. ISSN 0033-5177. PMC 5897493. PMID 29674791.
^ Creswell, John W. (2014). Research design : qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-1-4522-2609-5.

[:0-1] Blair, Graeme; Coppock, Alexander; Humphreys, Macartan (2023), Research Design in the Social Sciences: Declaration, Diagnosis, and Redesign, Princeton University Press, doi:10.1515/9780691199580, ISBN 978-0-691-19958-0

[2] Wright, Sarah; O'Brien, Bridget C.; Nimmon, Laura; Law, Marcus; Mylopoulos, Maria (2016). "Research Design Considerations". Journal of Graduate Medical Education. 8 (1): 97–98. doi:10.4300/JGME-D-15-00566.1. ISSN 1949-8349. PMC 4763399. PMID 26913111.

[3] Tobi, Hilde; Kampen, Jarl K. (2018). "Research design: the methodology for interdisciplinary research framework". Quality & Quantity. 52 (3): 1209–1225. doi:10.1007/s11135-017-0513-8. ISSN 0033-5177. PMC 5897493. PMID 29674791.

[Creswell2014-4] Creswell, John W. (2014). Research design : qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-1-4522-2609-5.

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