Research Design Flashcards
What is research Design?
Research design is a plan for answering a research question by collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data. It’s a blueprint for the research project that ensures the research problem is thoroughly investigated.
What is purpose of Research Design?
The purpose of research design is to define the structure of an inquiry into a research problem that will produce a persuasive, valid, and demonstrably useful argument in the eyes of the researcher’s audience, yet can feasibly be carried out within the bounds of the material and intellectual resources, and time, available.
Research design is a form of constrained problem solving, used to prescribe a way to use available materials to yield some desired product or outcome.
What is significance of Research Design?
The significance of research design is thus twofold.
* First, the quality of the design will be a determinant of the quality of the product. It is usually easier to produce a good bridge or a demonstrably sound argument if you start with a carefully thought-out design.
* Second, by narrowing inquiry to a specific combination of theories, frameworks, research question(s), evidence, methods of drawing inferences from evidence, and audience, the design determines what arguments can and cannot convincingly be made, what uses can and cannot be made of the research findings, and by whom.
What are Variables?
Variables represent the measurable characteristics or attributes of the subjects, units, or environments under study.
What is Causality?
Causality in research focuses on identifying why something occurs or exhibits particular characteristics, aiming to explain how one phenomenon influences another.
What are type of variables?
Dependent Variable, Independent variable, moderating variable, spurious variable, unobserved variable, intervening variable, cofounding variable.
What is dependent variable?
The dependent variable is the outcome or the effect that the researcher aims to explain or predict. Its value changes as a result of influences from other variables. For example, in a study examining factors that affect test scores, the test score itself would be the dependent variable.
What is independent Variable?
The independent variable is the cause or predictor that is presumed to influence the dependent variable. Researchers manipulate or measure changes in this variable to see how it affects the outcome. For instance, the amount of study time could be considered an independent variable predicting test scores.
What is moderating variable?
A moderating variable affects the strength or direction of the relationship between an independent and a dependent variable. It does not cause the outcome directly but changes how the independent variable influences the dependent variable. If a student’s level of motivation alters how much study time affects their test score, motivation is acting as a moderating variable
What is spurious variable?
A spurious variable is an apparent cause that seems to explain the relationship between two variables, but in reality, the observed correlation is due to an underlying factor. If a teacher notices a correlation between the number of pencils a student owns and their test score, this could be a spurious relationship—perhaps socioeconomic status (an underlying factor) is causing both the ability to buy pencils and better academic performance
What is unobserved variable?
An unobserved variable is an influential factor that is not directly measured in a study but still affects the variables and outcomes. If a student’s innate aptitude influences their test scores but is never directly measured, it would be an unobserved variable affecting the results behind the scenes.
What is intervening variable?
An intervening variable is a mediator that explains the causal link between an independent and a dependent variable. If study time (independent) leads to better understanding of the material (intervening), which in turn leads to higher test scores (dependent), “understanding of the material” is the intervening variable.
What is cofounding variable?
A confounding variable is an external factor that influences both the independent and dependent variables, making it hard to determine the true relationship between them. If more study time (independent) is related to better test scores (dependent), but wealthier students (a confounding variable) can afford tutors and better resources that lead to both more study time and higher scores, wealth is confounding the relationship.
