Before you start designing your research, you should have a clear idea of the research question you want to investigate.
There are many different ways you could go about answering this question. Your aims and priorities should drive your research design choices—start by thinking carefully about what you want to achieve.
The first choice you need to make is whether you’ll take a qualitative or quantitative approach.
| Hypotheses clearly defined before data collection. | Qualitative research designs tend to be more flexible and inductive, allowing you to adjust your approach based on what you find throughout the research process. |
| A quantitative approach is most suitable if you want to test the effectiveness of an online teaching method. You can use this research to measure learning outcomes like grades and test scores. | A qualitative approach would make the most sense if you want to generate new ideas for online teaching strategies. You can use this research to explore what teachers and students struggle with remote classes. |
| It’s also possible to use a mixed-methods design that integrates aspects of both approaches. By combining qualitative and quantitative insights, you can gain a complete picture of the problem you’re studying and strengthen the credibility of your conclusions. | |
Observational studies allow you to collect data unobtrusively, observing characteristics, behaviors or social interactions without relying on self-reporting.
Observations may be conducted in real-time, taking notes as you observe, or you might make audiovisual recordings for later analysis. They can be qualitative or quantitative.
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Quantitative observation |
Qualitative observation |
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Systematically counting or measuring |
Taking detailed notes and writing rich description |
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Categories and criteria determined in advance |
All relevant observations can be recorded |
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Measure different types of variables and describe frequencies, averages, and correlations |
Understand subjective experiences, beliefs, and concepts |
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Test hypotheses about relationships between variables |
Gain in-depth knowledge of a specific context or culture |
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Test the effectiveness of a new treatment, program or product |
Explore under-researched problems and generate new ideas |
Survey methods
Surveys allow you to collect data about opinions, behaviors, experiences, and characteristics by asking people directly. There are two main survey methods to choose from: questionnaires and interviews.
| Interviews | Questionnaires |
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More common in qualitative research |
More common in quantitative research |
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Conducted by researcher in person, by phone or online |
May be distributed online, by phone, by mail or in person |
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Usually allow participants to answer in their own words |
Usually offer closed questions with limited options |
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Ideas can be explored in-depth with a smaller group (e.g., focus group) |
Consistent data can be collected from many people |
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