Descriptive Research Design – Definition, Types And Examples
In research work, every research design investigates something particular. One of the research designs is descriptive. Descriptive research design is a systematic way to study and explain a particular event or phenomenon for research work. You must be familiar with the research design you are going to use for research. The information includes purpose, importance, and limitations.
Furthermore, the structure to follow for using a particular design in research also has great importance. In the case of descriptive research, the purpose is to get insights into a research problem. When discussing the limitations of descriptive design, it cannot address the reason behind any event happening. On the other hand, the best thing about descriptive design is that its use is not limited to a single research method, but you can find it effective for more than one research method. This all is possible because of its quality of examining several variables in single research. Now, let’s have a look at descriptive research design in detail.
What are the Steps to Follow while working on Descriptive Research Design?
The objective of research defines if there is any need for a descriptive research design. Whenever you have to determine the characteristics of a study or there is a need to find a trend of data, you can use descriptive design. Once you get a head on descriptive design, the very next step should be to know about the way to conduct it. Following are the steps that you must follow for descriptive research design:
Come up with a Research Problem
For descriptive research design, the very first step is to come up with a research problem. The research statement needs to be simple and easy to understand for most of the readers. In this statement, you are supposed to briefly describe which data can better explain the research problem. Also, you have to specify a particular way to collect data. For example, you have to conduct a survey to collect data for research. In this, it is not enough to mention that the data collection way is a survey, but you need to specify a particular type of survey. That is how, you can make a compelling research statement.
Focus on the Objective of Research Study
After the research statement, your main focus should be on an objective. There can be a single research objective, or you can go for more than one. In both cases, you have to design a strong objective that can make your research stand out. Every problem has several facets, but you have to target a particular facet in research work. Based on the selected facet, it becomes easy to target the objective. A clear objective of research frames your structure to follow in the next steps.
Determine the tools and Techniques
The third step in descriptive research design is to identify which tools and techniques can fit best to it. In the case of tools, you can go for a survey, interview, observation, focused group, and many more ways.
Go for Data Sampling
In this step, you have to define an area for research. For example, you can target some country, city, or a small area within a city. It is your research statement and objective which helps you in targeting a particular area. On the other hand, you have to define a certain group of the population.
Analyze the Collected Data
The fifth step in descriptive research design highlights the analysis procedure. First of all, you have to see if there are numeric or subjective data. In case you have both categories of data, then you have to separate them. Make a different sheet for numeric and non-numeric data. For numeric data, you can use quantitative analysis. On the other hand, subjective data need qualitative analysis.
Mention the Research Results
The most challenging step of descriptive research design is reporting the obtained results after having an analysis. At the time of reporting, you are not supposed to summarize the whole research work. You have to prove the achievement of the objective in the conclusion part.
What are the Different Types of Descriptive Research Design?
The following are the main types of descriptive research design:
Cross-Sectional Descriptive Research
This type of descriptive research targets a particular section of the audience and analyzes their responses. Furthermore, a particular time is also focused on as per the demand of this type. In marketing research, you can find its major role where audience and time are both specified.
Normative Descriptive Research
At the time of using this type, you are supposed to make a comparison between your study and an existing norm. Here, the focus point should be the result section. You can use this type while working on legal research, and the verdicts can be compared. If it seems difficult to work on this type, you can contact experts working at dissertation help UK.
Correlational Descriptive Research
This type of descriptive research design is beneficial when you are supposed to identify a relationship between different variables while investigating a research problem. In this regard, you can take the example of research in social science as well as psychology. The relationship can be between the use of phones and mental health of people.
Comparative Descriptive Research
Comparative descriptive research makes a comparison between people and other research conditions rather than variables. For example, you may have to compare the results of two students of same degree studying in different universities. Here, you can avail of dissertation writers UK in case of any query.
Classification Descriptive Research
One of the types in which you have to deal with data and classify it based on the need of the hour is called classification descriptive research. For example, there can be a classification of employee data based on their performance for business research.
Final Thoughts
The above-mentioned points can help you understand the descriptive research design. With the help of a descriptive research design, you can get insights into any occurrence. Furthermore, you have to go for a particular type of descriptive research based on the research problem. Each type has a special role to play, and you have to be careful about it. If you feel confused about any step, you can feel free to contact me.
