Research Design

Research Design Paper

It will be composed primarily of three key parts, should range from 5-7 pages :

Part One: Research Question

To bring clarity and focus to your research design you need to develop specific research questions. Examples of research questions will be given below but a good way to go about raising your own questions is to review both your thesis and review the literature. Then consider:

◦ What questions have not been answered or need to be asked?  

◦ What research already exists and how can I test this information?  

◦ What data needs to be collected?  

◦ How do I go about collecting my own data?  

• Surveys, Interviews, Observations, Experiments?

Spending this time developing good research questions will help define the focus and give a strong backbone to your research design.


 Part Two: Collecting Data

Collecting data can be as simple as observing, interviewing, surveying, or doing social experiments. You will be choosing your own methodology but look to collect qualitative and/or quantitative data.

Qualitative data is often the gathering of verbal data and would be, for example, interviews, either conducted by you or researching existing interviews online. Qualitative data can even be your own personal/professional experience. While qualitative data is often viewed as more subjective it can offer key insights from the actor’s perspective.

Quantitative data is often more objective and is such that you can quantify through numbers, like statistical models or survey data (again, either designed and conducted by you or by researching existing surveys online that refer and pertain to your topic). Surveys are also a great way to collect both qualitative and quantitative data by utilizing a variety of questions. This is what I mean by choosing your own methodology; it would depend on what makes sense for you and your research.

Student example :

One student was looking into the voting habits of people (core topic of civic responsibility) and administered a survey via Survey Monkey. She was able to get over 60 responses to a series of questions with interesting results including the seemingly contradictory result that the number

one reason for not voting was "not enough time." Yet, when asked if they would be more likely to vote if election day was a holiday - the majority of results came back "no."

Another student was interested in the AIDS epidemic in Africa (core topic civic responsibility). According to this scientific inquiry, it made more sense for her to research existing data through statistics and percentages of this unfortunate epidemic so she utilized quantitative data for her Research Design.

Part three: Research Design: Data Analysis The way each of you will approach your analysis will probably be as varied as the ways you went about collecting the data. Some of you might end up crunching numbers, creating charts or graphs, breaking down key statements from interviews, or even comparing responses to survey questions. Do look to:

• process and make sense of the data • provide insights, connections, and inferences • single out the most significant findings • discuss the data in relation to your thesis • translate insights into actionable ideas and conclusions

Student example :

A great example of a student discussing and analyzing research data is Shankar Vedantam, a science correspondent for NPR. His analysis is primarily focused on data regarding human behavior surrounding contemporary issues. One of the issues he explored recently was people’s responses to the Senate report on U.S. interrogations (released December 9th, 2014). This report outlined horrific abuses ranging from waterboarding one individual at least 183 times to CIA interrogators threatening to sexually assault the mother of a detainee. Brutal stuff and the research question explored by Shankar Vedantam was how people react when they are given information that members of their own group (U.S. citizens) have indeed tortured other people.

To conclude this section on analysis and the Research Design I just want to reiterate that each of you will end up with differing research methodology, analysis, and even varying lengths to this section. It’s this portion of the paper that brings a true uniqueness to your research and will help cement your ideas around your issue. Also, be sure to include a conclusion to the Research Design which will summarize your research and analysis while connecting them back to your thesis.