The quantitative research design refers to studies that rely on collecting numerical data from a specified sample of the population of interest. You employ closed-ended questions in this study, with each possible response having a specific numeric value. After collecting valuables, it is possible to analyze them for useful information. Essentially, this is the entire process of conducting a quantitative study.
Kerlinger defines research design as a study’s framework, structure, and method for elucidating research objectives and minimizing variance. A quantitative research design can be divided into four categories. Your research questions will be crafted using these designs, put together, gathered, and analyzed using these data.
What Are The Types Of Quantitative Research Designs?
Quantitative research designs may be roughly classified into two categories: exploratory and conclusive.
Category 1: Exploratory Design
Often, exploratory designs are used to understand the study topic better. Typically, this is done when the alternative possibilities need to be better defined, or their breadth is unknown.
Exploratory research enables researchers to delve deeply into difficulties to get acquainted with the examined subject or idea. It establishes the groundwork for a more definitive study. Additionally, it may aid in developing the study design, sample technique, and data-gathering method.
Category 2: Conclusive Design
Conclusive research, as the name implies, is supposed to yield results that aid in drawing conclusions or making decisions. Usually, it takes the form of numbers that can be added up and summed up, making it quantitative in nature.
It is further subdivided into:
- Descriptive research
- Causal research
Descriptive Quantitative Research Design
A descriptive research design, the first type of conclusive research design, aims to characterize a certain variable to make conclusions.
The objective of descriptive research is not to formulate a hypothesis. Instead, you would attempt to gather systematic data about a particular phenomenon. To collect this data, you must select the units and variables that will be measured carefully. It describes an occurrence or offers a factually correct picture of the population being investigated. Observational research is another term for it. The following subcategories apply to descriptive research:
a) Case study- This type of descriptive research is relatively easy to conduct because it requires data collection from just one participant.
b) Case series study- A “case series” describes a study in which the researcher examines information from a small number of research subjects.
c) Cross-sectional study- When a researcher wants to learn about a community at a specific point in time, they often perform what are called cross-sectional surveys, which are essentially observational surveys.
d) Longitudinal change – These are also observational in nature, but they track shifts in attitudes and conduct over longer periods of time.
e) Retrospective study- Those conducting research can contrast cases or subjects with and without a given attribute.
Researchers rarely formulate hypotheses in advance because their work is purely observational. Instead, the descriptive researcher formulated the hypothesis after data collection and analysis.
Causal Quantitative Research Design
Studies measuring the magnitude and structure of relationships between variables are called causal studies.
Researchers conduct causal research, sometimes called explanatory or causal-comparative research, which seeks to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables. It aims to figure out which variable may be responsible for a particular behaviour; in other words, to determine if the variables are linked. When a causal relationship exists, it is necessary to examine the nature of the relationship.
Usually, two types of research methods/designs are used to investigate the cause-and-effect connection between variables: experimental and quasi-experimental studies.
- Experimental Research Design: Experimentation is still regarded to be and is utilized as one of the most significant research strategies for demonstrating causation between variables. Experimental studies are typified by control and experimental groups, with volunteers randomly allocated to either group.
- Quasi-experimental Research Design: The other research design is quasi-experimental research. In this kind of research, you attempt to find some relationship between the cause and the effect of two or more variables. This design, however, does not necessarily follow randomized or create groups since you cannot control all the contextual factors. Instead, you might be able to think about taking existing groups and seeing where we attempt to maintain control over all of the variables apart from the one being evaluated.
Wrapping Up
As the name implies, quantitative research relies heavily on the numerical value of the gathered data. To achieve this goal, you can employ one of five distinct quantitative research methods.
Quantitative data used in research must meet statistical significance criteria in order to be considered representative of the population of interest.
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