By As the name describes, descriptive research involves research methods that describe the subject, phenomenon, or population under study. These research designs focus more on investigating the ‘WHAT’ of the research subject than the ‘HOW.’ A typical descriptive research design is all about describing the nature and characteristics of a subject without bothering much about the reasons and causes.
Descriptive research designs are among the most commonly used research methodologies. Visit MyAssignmentHelp.com for expert research help, and review this write-up for an intuitive and informative descriptive research design example, definition, and more.
A Bot About The Descriptive Research Design
As stated, descriptive studies focus on describing the nature, features, and characteristics of the subject/problem/phenomenon, situation, or group under study. The goals of implementing a descriptive research design are to explore and describe the background, details, and patterns in the problem for clearer understanding. The results and insights are then utilized for further in-depth, conclusive research.
Descriptive research can be both preliminary and conclusive. However, data from descriptively designed experiments is generally employed in preliminary research.
The key characteristics of a descriptive research design are à:
- It answers the ‘what, when, and where’ of a research problem.
- Descriptive research comprises the preliminary stages of much more extensive and deeper investigations.
- The insights from descriptive research set the stage or form the foundation for diving deeper into the topic.
- Both quantitative and qualitative methods can be utilized in descriptive research designs.
- These research designs are generally conducted in a natural setting. Typical examples are surveys, opinion polls, and user-activity tracking.
- A versatile methodology, descriptive methodologies can be applied across different domains and used with diverse research methods.
Let’s look at the seven types of descriptive research designs and three major examples of descriptive research methods.
Seven Types & Three Examples of Descriptive Research
Seven major descriptive research types are à
- Cross-Sectional Research: study of a particular group or section of a group
- Longitudinal Research: study of a group over a long period
- Normative Research: comparison of the results of a study against existing norms
- Correlational/relational Research: investigation of relationships and patterns across two research variables
- Comparative Research: Comparison of two or more subjects based on certain traits
- Classification Research: Arrange data into classes as per specific criteria
- Archival Research: Extraction of information from records and archives
The above descriptive approaches are best implemented using the three following effective research methods à
- Surveys: Survey research is generally brief conservations, interviews, or questionnaires.
- Observations: The researcher observes the subject and notes any ongoing behavior.
- Case Studies: In-depth studies that delve into a case or subject using different investigation methods and techniques.
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