Descriptive Research Design Overview

Descriptive Research Design

• Descriptive-comparative studies aim to identify significant differences between two or more groups based on a specific measurement.
• No attempts are made to control extraneous factors.
• Example: Comparing the managerial effectiveness of three groups of managers.
• This type of research usually involves group comparisons.
• Groups represent the independent variable.
• Example: Gender, pre-school attendance, or children with a working mother versus children without a working mother.
• The independent variable is not under the researchers' control. This means researchers cannot randomly assign participants to specific groups (e.g., gender, socioeconomic class).

Assessment/Evaluation Studies

• These studies determine the effectiveness or efficiency of practices or policies applied to a group of respondents.
• Assessment involves measurement of key indicators without judgment.
• Evaluation adds judgment and valuation to the measurements.
• Evaluation research gathers feedback from various sources to aid in decision-making or policy formulation.

Formative Evaluation

• Determines the quality of implementation, efficiency, and effectiveness of a project or program.
• Evaluates organizational processes such as procedures, policies, guidelines, and human resource development.
• Types of Formative Evaluation:
  • Needs Assessment: Evaluates the need for a program or project. For example, identifying the need for a remedial math class.
  • Process Evaluation: Evaluates the implementation process of a program. For example, examining the implementation of a Student Information System in a school.
  • Implementation Evaluation: Evaluates the efficiency or effectiveness of a project or program. For example, assessing the effectiveness of a scholarship program.
  • Program Monitoring: Evaluates the performance and implementation of an unfinished program. This helps improve implementation and achieve optimal results.

Summative Assessment

• Examines the outcomes, products, or effects of a program after implementation.
• Types of Summative Assessment:
  • Secondary Data Analysis: Analyzes existing data. For example, examining the influence of gender and mental ability on National Achievement Test results.
  • Impact Evaluation: Evaluates the overall effect of a program.
  • Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation: Determines if a program has caused useful effects based on target outcomes.
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis: Compares the relative costs to the outcomes or results of different courses of action.

Experimental Research Design

• Also known as longitudinal or repeated-measures studies.

• Uses the scientific method to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables.

• A true experiment attempts to control all variables except one.

  • Independent variable is manipulated to determine its effect on the dependent variable.
  • Subjects are randomly assigned to experimental treatments rather than being identified within naturally occurring groups.

• Control group is used to eliminate potential confounding factors, such as the Hawthorne effect, maturation, and attrition.

• Solomon Four Group Design is used to further control for these potential confounding factors. It involves four groups:

  • Experimental Group 1: Pretest, treatment, posttest
  • Control Group 1: Pretest, no treatment, posttest
  • Experimental Group 2: Treatment, posttest
  • Control Group 2: No treatment, posttest

Factors Affecting the Experimental Plan

• History: Specific events occurring during the experiment may affect the results.
• Maturation: Biological or physiological changes in subjects may influence the outcomes.
• Testing: Subjects may become more aware of the test content due to taking a pretest.
• Mortality: Subjects may drop out of the study, potentially affecting group comparisons.
• Interaction Effects: Interactions between the experimental variable and extraneous factors (setting, time, conditions) may lead to errors in measurement and interpretation.
• Measuring Instruments: Changes in instruments, observers, or scoring methods can influence measurements.
• Statistical Regression: Extreme scores tend to move towards the mean with repeated measurements.
• Differential Selection: Different individuals or groups may have different levels of prior knowledge or ability, affecting the final measurement.
• John Henry Effect: The control group may feel disadvantaged and work harder to outperform the experimental group.

Historical Research Design

• Purpose: Collect, verify, and synthesize evidence from the past to establish facts that support or refute a hypothesis.
• Sources: Secondary sources and primary documentary evidence (logs, diaries, official records, reports, archives, non-textual information like maps, pictures, audio/visual recordings) are used.
• Authenticity and validity: Sources must be both authentic and valid.
• Quantitative history: Also called cliometrics, involves using quantitative data to analyze historical events.

Major Processes of Historical Research

• Data Collection: Gathering data from the past through relics, fossils, documents, or interviews.
• Analysis of Data: Bringing together collected data to understand past events.
• Report of Findings: Presenting findings, explaining discrepancies, and identifying potential causes for those discrepancies.