Research Design and Methodology

Research is the study of materials, sources and data in order to get conclusions. The primary purposes of basic research are documentation, discovery, interpretation, or the research and development (R&D) of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge. Approaches to research depend on epistemologies, which vary considerably both within and between humanities and sciences. Getting the research design right is the first step towards organized research, which is more likely to be good research. The research design provides the structure of the research and links all of the elements of the research together. It provides the researcher the opportunity to carefully consider the research and to plan the way in which they will approach the research. Research design can be divided into two groups: exploratory and conclusive. Exploratory research, according to its name merely aims to explore specific aspects of the research area and does not aim to provide final and conclusive answers to research questions. In exploratory research the researcher may even change the direction of the study to a certain extent, however not fundamentally, according to new evidences gained during the research process. This Text offers a thorough review of the relevant topics in research design and methodology.