DESCRIPTIVE, CORRELATIONAL, AND
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNS
Research Design
- the specific method a researcher uses to collect,
analyze, and interpret data.
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
- research designed to provide a snapshot of the
current state of affairs
Goal: To create a snapshot of the current state of
affairs
Advantages:
-Provides a relatively complete picture of what is
occurring at a given time
- Allows the development of questions for further
study
Disadvantages:
- Does not assess relationships among variables.
- May be unethical if participants do not know they
are being observed
1. CASE STUDY
- descriptive records of one or more individual's
experiences and behaviour.
2. SURVEY
- A measure administered through either an
interview or a written questionnaire to get a
picture of the beliefs or behaviors of a sample of
people of interest
3. NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
- based on the observation of everyday events
CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
- designed to discover relationships among
variables and to allow the prediction of future
events from present knowledge
Goal: To assess the relationships between and
among two or more variable
Advantages:
- Allows testing of expected relationships between
and among variables and the making of
predictions.
- Can assess these relationships in everyday life
events.
Disadvantages:
- Cannot be used to draw inferences about the
causal relationship between and among the
variables.
Example : Body Perception of those who use social
media or of influencers
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
- initial equivalence among research participants in
more than one group is created, followed by a
manipulation of a given experience for these
groups and a measurement of the influence of the
manipulation
Goal: To assess the causal impact of one or more
experimental manipulations on a dependent
variable
Advantage: Allows drawing of conclusions about
the causal relationships among variables.
Disadvantages:
- Cannot experimentally manipulate many
important variables
- May be expensive and time consuming
Descriptive Statistics
- frequency, mean , median , mode , variance ,
range
- numbers that summarize the distribution of
scores on a measured variable
*Normal distribution
- a data distribution that is shaped like a bell
* If most scores are below average
CENTRAL TENDENCY
- the point in the distribution around which the
data are centred and its dispersion, or spread.
A) Mean - Average of all scores in the distribution
B) Median- Score that divides the distribution into
higher and lower scores
C) Mode - Most frequent score
* Outliers - One or more extreme scores
Dispersion
- the extent to which the scores are all tightly
clustered around the central tendency
* Range
- maximum-minimum observed score
- highest minus the lowest value
