Research Design Definition — Main Types and Characteristics

When you need to write a scientific work, it requires in-depth research in the particular field. Before you make this paper, you need to define the strategy to integrate various components of your future research logically, that will help you to solve the main problem of your future work. You need to define which methods of research you should use in your paper as well as determine the type of design.

In this article, we will provide you with detailed information about the research design definition. You will find the classification of different designs and get all the needed facts about various types. If you choose a wrong method for your future research, the main problem of your work will not be solved properly. Read our detailed guide to get useful information about the research design.

What Is Research Design Definition and Main Function?

At the very beginning, let's understand the definition of research design. It is the main structure of your future research that gives you direction and helps to systematize the entire work. The main function of design is to guarantee that your research problem will be solved logically. There are various types of research designs you can use for different purposes in your future paper.

Many people make a mistake when writing a research paper: they start the investigation of the problem too early before they have figured out what kind of information they may need to solve the research problem. Without this, they will not be able to make a successful work, and the entire paper may be weak. It is quite important to develop a design for your research before you start writing the paper.

Here are the main goals you can achieve by developing a proper design for your research paper:

  • Formulate the research problem clearly.
  • Analyze the existing literature on the particular issue.
  • State research questions clearly.
  • Describe the data you will need for the analysis.
  • Choose the proper methods of analysis.
  • Structure your future document correctly.

After you have understood the research design meaning, let's view the main types of design.

Experimental Research Design Definition and Uses

This type of design is commonly used in psychology, medicine, biology, physics, etc. Let's see the experimental research design definition: this is an experiment where the person manipulates a particular variable and controls other variables. This type of design is important for society because it helps people to improve their life.

Qualitative Research Design Definition and Uses

According to the qualitative research design definition, it analyses the data received in various surveys, interviews and case studies. In fact, this is the oldest scientific technique that is used in sociology to study human motivations, behavior, and opinions.

Quantitative Research Design Definition and Uses

That is the opposite method of qualitative research design. According to the quantitative research design definition, it uses traditional and mathematical means to measure the received data. Quantitative experiments may be hard to perform, but the quantitative design is a great way to organize your results and disprove/prove the hypothesis of your scientific paper. This design is commonly used by scientists.

Descriptive Research Design Definition and Uses

Let's understand the descriptive research design definition: this method includes describing and observing the object without any influence on it. This design is used in sociology and psychology by psychologists, scientist of sociology, market researchers, and anthropologists. But this method doesn't let the researcher analyze the results statistically.

Correlational Research Design Definition and Uses

According to the correlational research design definition, this method helps to analyze, measure, and describe the connections between two or more things without any influence on them. This design can be used by sociologists, teachers, researchers, and scientists to measure and analyze the relationship between the particular variables.

Mixed Method Research Design Definition and Uses

After you have read about some types of research designs, it is not hard to guess the mixed method research design definition: this is a combination of two or more types we have listed above. Needless to say, mixing various types of designs gives an opportunity to research the problem more deeply and get more accurate results.

The mixed method is more complicated but more effective because it gives a researcher more possibilities to report and describe, helps to generalize data, and also may be useful when you get any unexpected results from the study.

We hope that our article has shed some light on various types of research design. If you are planning to write a scientific paper, do not forget to choose a proper design for your future work before you start to investigate the research problem. We wish you good luck in writing a successful and exciting paper!