Research Design: Methods, Sample, Data Collection and Ethical Considerations

Assessment 3: Research Design

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Research methods........................................................................................................................................3
Research design...........................................................................................................................................5
Sample and subject of the research..............................................................................................................6
Data collection.............................................................................................................................................7
Blueprint of the research..............................................................................................................................7
Ethical consideration...................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
References.................................................................................................................................................10
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Introduction
Research design is an integral part of a research, which helps in providing with accurate direction
to the research, forming a blueprint of the research and executing the research in accordance to
that. It can be defined as the set of procedures and methods, which is used for the purpose of
gathering and examining, specified variable’s measures in the research problem.
Research methods
Research methods can be broadly categorized into two types- Qualitative research and
quantitative research. Each of these two research types has its individual sets of strengths and
flaws, based on which, the researcher has chosen for the research method that is appropriate in
accordance to the need of the research.
Qualitative research- In this type of research method, the emphasis is given on understanding
the relation between societal factors and its impact on specific variables. In other words, it is
used for understanding the ways in which individuals respond to specific social realities, its
consequence and the ways in which they in the social dimension. There are various ways of
conducting this research like with the help of open ended questionnaire, diary accounts,
participant observation, documentation etc (Silverman, 2016).
Under this type of research, usually the data that are collected are analyzed and interpreted in a
creative manner. Different techniques are used for understanding and analyzing the data
collected under this method like thematic analysis, content analysis, grounded theory etc. The
major advantage of this research method is the fact that, under this research method there is no
single reality based on which, the research can be conducted. The research under qualitative
research is based on subjective reality and its presence is associated with the opinion of the
observer (Marshall & Rossman, 2014).
However, there are certain drawbacks associated with this type of research. One of the
mentionable drawbacks is its limitation of reliability and validity of the data collected from this
type of research. Moreover, the time and costs involved in this type of research is another of its
major setbacks (Lewis, 2015).
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Quantitative research- In case of this type of research, the study is based on numerical data,
which are categorized in certain categories. The focus of this type of research is on establishing
usual laws of behavior and occurrences across different contexts. In order to conduct such
research different methods like questionnaires and observations are used that provides with
quantitative information (Muijs, 2014).
It is with the help of quantitative data and information that are collected through this research,
which helps in decision making process. These statistics can be inferential or descriptive.
Statistics collected with the help of this research helps in summarizing the data that helps in
describing relationship, connections. It is with the help of descriptive statistics data collected
under quantitative research can be summarized (McMillan & Schumacher, 2016).
On the other hand, inferential statistics contributes in recognizing statistically significant
differences between diverse groups of data. One of the major advantages of this type of research
is the fact that it focuses on objectivity and helps in conducting the research in the absence of any
kind of bias. However, one minor set back of this type of research is the fact that it cannot be
conducted in natural settings (Neuman, 2013).
Explanation and justification
Considering the above discussed fact, the research has opted for quantitative research method for
the purpose of conducting the research. The underlying research of opting for quantitative
research for conducting the research is the fact that the focus of the present research is on
establishing and determining the relationship diverse factors of interest in the research.
Quantitative research design is appropriate for the purpose of conducting this reason, the
underlying reason being the focus of the research on examining the relationship between sexual
violence screen, which is the core of this research and other factors of the research like health
care savings, healthcare usage and quality of life. Herein, for the purpose of collecting
quantitative data, online survey would be conducted (Polit & Beck, 2016).
In the process of conducting the quantitative research, for statistical evaluation, correlation
analysis would be conducted. In this study, correlation analysis would be conducted with the
help of Pearson Correlation Coefficient Test. The value in this test ranges between -1 and 1.
Values which are close to 0 would indicate a weak correlation. Values that are close to negative
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