Crafting a Research Proposal:

II. Approach to Research Design

What Type of Overall Design Approach

Fits My Research Methodology?

To determine the design approach that best suits your investigation, reflect upon your research topic,
purpose, and method of investigation. Then complete the following questionnaire.
______

1. In my research will I need to . . .

a. observe and report on phenomena?
b. control variables in an experiment?

_____

2. Will my data consist mostly of . . .

a. narratives?
b. numbers?

_____

3. Will I use. . .
a. inductive reasoning in my conclusions?
b. deductive reasoning in my conclusions?

_____

4. Are variables. . .
a. difficult to identify?
b. easy to identify?

_____

5. Does the research answer. . .

a. how or why?
b. who or what?

_____

6. Will I be. . .
a. exploring a question or problem?
b. testing a hypothesis?

_____

7. Will my research design. . .

a. emerge and change as the study takes place?
b. be decided in advance?

_____

8. Will . . .
a. participant responses affect which questions are asked?
b. data collection and research methods remain stable throughout the
investigation?

_____

9. Will . . .
a. I, as the researcher, be one of the instruments of measurement?
b. various tools and instruments measure the investigation?

_____

10. Does my study use. . .

a. semi-structured, flexible methods to collect data?
b. highly structured methods to collect data?

_____

11. Will instruments of measure be. . .

a. flexible in collecting and categorizing data?
b. rigid in collecting and categorizing data?

_____

12. Will my questioning be. . .

a. open-ended?
b. close-ended?

_____

13. Does my problem/issue lend itself to investigation. . .

a. of peoples lives, feelings and attitudes?
b. with experiments and/or data surveys?
c.
How many responses for each letter? Tally your results.

______ a.

______ b.

If you have more as, you should use a qualitative approach in your research design.
If you have more bs, you should use a quantitative approach in your research design.

The approach that would work best for your research design and methodology is: (check one)

_____ a qualitative approach.

_____ a quantitative approach.

You will now follow a specific pathway dependent upon your above choice. Each approach has its own
methodology, and the steps you follow will be specific to your approach. The next step is to start the
specific III. Crafting the Proposal: The Methodology planning guide that goes with your approach.
Remember: The type of investigation you have chosen, its purpose, and the research question itself will
suggest the best methodology for a study. Keeping this in mind will eliminate mismatched efforts and
results that can frustrate a beginning researcher. It is also important to understand that although your
overall project design may use one approach or the other, it is possible that your actual methods used in
your investigative procedure will borrow from each approach.