maximum information with minimum spending of effort, money and
time by preparing the advance plan of all about the research.
(ii) To facilitate the smooth scaling:
Research design is needed because it facilitates the smooth scaling of
the various research operations, thereby making research as efficient as
possible yielding maximal information with minimal expenditure of
effort, time and money.
(iii) To collect the relevant data and technique:
Research design stands for advance planning of the methods to be
adopted for collecting the relevant data and the techniques to be used
in their analysis, keeping in view the objective of the research and the
availability of staff time and money. Poor preparation of research design
upset the entire project.
(iv) To provide blue print for plans:
Research design is needed due to the fact that it allows for the smooth
working of many research operations. It is like blue print which we need
in advance to plan the methods to be adopted for collecting the
relevant data and techniques to be used in its analysis for preparation of
research project. Just as for better economical and attractive
construction of a house need a blue print and a map of that, similarly
we needs a blue print or a design for the smooth flow of operation of
research.
(v) To provide an overview to other experts:
A research design provides an overview of all the research process and
with the help of the design we can take the help and views of experts
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of that field .The design helps the investigator to organize his ideas ,
which helps to recognize and fix his faults.
(vi) To provide a direction:
A research design provides a proper or particular direction to the other
executives and others who are helping us into the process. The
researcher studies available, literature and learns about new
(alternative approaches.
Characteristics of Good Research Design:
Generally a good research design minimizes bias and maximizes the
reliability of the data collected and analyzed. The design which gives the
smallest experimental error is reported to be the best design in
scientific investigation. Similarly, a design which yields maximum
information and provides an opportunity for considering different
aspects of a problem is considered to be the most appropriate and
efficient design. A good research design possesses the following
characteristics;
(i) Objectivity:
It refers to the findings related to the method of data collection and
scoring of the responses. The research design should permit the
measuring instruments which are fairly objective in which every
observer or judge scoring the performance must precisely give the same
report. In other words, the objectivity of the procedure may be judged
by the degree of agreement between the final scores assigned to
different individuals by more than one independent observer. This
ensures the objectivity of the collected data which shall be capable of
analysis and interpretation.
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(ii) Reliability:
It refers to consistency throughout a series of measurements. For
example, if a respondent gives out a response to a particular item, he is
expected to give the same response to that item even if he is asked
repeatedly. If he is changing his response to the same item, the
consistency will be lost. So the researcher should frame the items in a
questionnaire in such a way that it provides consistency or reliability.
(iii) Validity:
Any measuring device or instrument is said to be valid when it measures
what it is expected to measure. For example, an intelligence test
conducted for measuring the IQ should measure only the intelligence
and nothing else and the questionnaire shall be framed accordingly.
(iv) Generalizability:
It means how best the data collected from the samples can be utilized
for drawing certain generalizations applicable to a large group from
which sample is drawn. Thus a research design helps an investigator to
generalize his findings provided he has taken due care in defining the
population, selecting the sample, deriving appropriate statistical
analysis etc. while preparing the research design. Thus a good research
design is one which is methodologically prepared and should ensure
that generalization is possible. For ensuring the generalization we
should confirm that our research problem has the following
characteristics;
a) The problem is clearly formulated.
b) The population is clearly defined.
c) Most appropriate techniques of sample selection are used to
form an appropriate sample.
d) Appropriate statistical analysis has been carried out.
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