Tips for writing your research design

What do you include in your research design for your thesis?

In the research design of your thesis, you will describe how you plan to shape your research. This entails addressing the main research question and sub-questions of your study. Within your research design, you will elaborate on the specific areas you intend to investigate, identify the target participants or subjects, determine the type of research to be conducted, specify the research instruments to be utilized, and outline the process for data collection and analysis

Step 1: What are you going to measure?

You should begin by providing a description of what you intend to measure and explain the specific questions that you aim to answer through your research. It is important to establish a clear connection to the theory or theories that you will be utilizing, such as referring to relevant literature, sources, or a theoretical framework. For instance, if your research focuses on investigating the customer satisfaction of your client’s customers, it is essential to justify your choice of a specific model in your theoretical framework.

Step 2: Who is your research population?

Which group of respondents will you conduct your research with? Why did you choose this group for your research? Please describe these details here. Depending on the type of research, whether qualitative or quantitative, you need to explain who you will approach for the research, how you will approach them, and how you will conduct the research. Additionally, make sure to provide proper justification for your sample selection and ensure that your chosen sample accurately represents your target population.

Step 3: What kind of research will you do?

Describe the type of research you will conduct. Will you choose quantitative or qualitative research, and why? The choice of research type depends on your topic and research population. Sometimes conducting a survey is the most suitable approach to address your main and sub-questions, while other times interviews and observations may be more effective. Therefore, it is crucial to clarify the problem you are investigating or the insights you aim to provide before developing your research design.

When do you choose which method?

Below we describe which method you choose and when:

Desk research

In many courses, it is expected that you utilize desk research when formulating the problem and consult external sources to support your problem statement. In certain cases, desk research may also be used in the results chapter, and it is important to explain in your research design or methodology why you have chosen this method. Desk research is commonly employed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the problem and identify elements that can be explored through qualitative or quantitative testing. Additionally, desk research, along with the topic list, often helps in designing the questionnaire.

Qualitative research

You use qualitative research when you are seeking to understand the underlying opinions of your research population. With this method, you can assess how people respond to certain products and determine which elements are appreciated or disliked. Additionally, you can ask additional questions to further explore the answers you receive. This is often referred to as semi-structured interviewing. In qualitative research, the sample size is small (typically requiring 10-15 respondents until saturation is reached and no new information is obtained). Qualitative research can also inform quantitative research by allowing you to test a set of statements and design surveys based on them. There are various forms of qualitative research, such as interviews, group discussions, observations, or panel research, which can be used to gather the opinions of a group.

Quantitative research

You use quantitative research when you want to test an idea or statement with a large audience. For example, if you have gathered qualitative feedback from the target group about the importance of a new product, you can then opt for quantitative research to determine its market potential. The key question is whether the product is viable. Similarly, if you have gathered qualitative information about how customers perceive your client’s organization and want to assess customer satisfaction, you can use quantitative research to measure the percentage of satisfied or dissatisfied customers. When conducting quantitative research, it is important to work with a representative sample, understand the size of the target population, and determine the required number of respondents. This involves considering reliability margins and margins of error.

Step 4: Which research instruments do you use?

After describing the type of research you will conduct, you can now provide further details on the instruments you will utilize. This is where you will explain whether you will use a paper questionnaire to collect responses from participants or if you will use a digital survey. It is essential to carefully justify your choices in this section. If you plan to conduct a survey in a physical store or on the street, your instrument choices will likely differ from sending a survey via email to a group of respondents.

Step 5: How will you store and process your data?

In your research design, you must also describe how you will analyze your results. For instance, if you decide to use an online survey, it will be convenient to transfer the data to software such as SPSS, R, Python, or Stata. On the other hand, if you opt for qualitative research and conduct interviews, you will need to transcribe and code the interviews for analysis.

Furthermore, it is crucial to outline the specifics of your research method or design, including where and with whom the research was conducted, as well as the procedures followed. For in-depth interviews or other qualitative approaches, it is necessary to record the conversations, transcribe them, and then thoroughly analyze the data by comparing different codes and identifying patterns.

If you are conducting quantitative research, it is likely that you will use SPSS or another statistical program to process your results. Reliability is another important factor that should be considered - have you interviewed a sufficient number of participants to obtain reliable results? Additionally, it is essential to address validity and explain how you have ensured it.

Lastly, it is crucial to explain the structure and rationale behind your research design choices in order to provide clarity and justify your decisions. The results should logically stem from your research process.

Tips for writing your research design

• Take a careful look at the requirements set forth by your course. Often, there are already provided frameworks that you must adhere to.
• It is crucial to distinguish between primary research (your practical research, which can be either quantitative or qualitative) and secondary research (literature and source research, etc.). When describing your primary research, clearly explain the type of research you will be conducting and provide strong justification for your choice. For instance, if you decide to conduct surveys, explain why you chose this method, who your research population and respondents are, and the reasons behind these choices. In essence, provide thorough explanations for your decisions and engage the reader in your thought process.
• Ensure that your research methods align with your problem analysis and are in line with your research questions.
• Theoretical substantiation of your research methods is essential, along with establishing a connection to the theoretical models or literature you will be utilizing.
• Do not overlook the inclusion of a paragraph on the reliability and validity of your research.

How we help you with your research design

Jouw Scriptiecoach will be pleased to assist you in establishing a logical and well-supported research design. Together, we will discuss the direction of your research, determine the most suitable methods and instruments to address your main and sub-questions, and ensure that you obtain valid and reliable results. We will also provide guidance in analyzing and interpreting your qualitative research findings, conducting quantitative analyses, and utilizing statistical tools such as SPSS or STATA. If you are in need of assistance in writing your thesis, we are also available to help you.