Research Design
Definition
The overall plan for answering the research question, such as a cross-sectional survey, a longitudinal cohort study, or a case study, chosen to fit the question and the available resources.
Related terms
- Dissemination
- The stage at which findings are written up, peer reviewed, published and communicated to academic, policy and practitioner audiences so the study...
- Hypothesis
- A proposed explanation for observed evidence. In reconstruction, competing hypotheses are evaluated against the physical facts and background knowledge. A good hypothesis...
- Operationalisation
- The process of turning an abstract concept, such as fear of crime or recidivism, into a measurable variable with a stated procedure...
- Pilot Study
- A small-scale trial run of the data collection instrument and procedure, carried out before the full study, to catch unclear questions, timing...
- Research Problem
- A specific, answerable question that narrows a broad area of interest into something a study can actually investigate with available data and...
- Data Analysis
- Cleaning, coding and interpreting collected data, quantitative or qualitative, in relation to the original hypothesis or research question.
- Literature Review
- A structured reading of prior studies that shows what is already known, which measures worked, and where a genuine gap in the...
Explained in these topics
- Main Steps in the Criminological Research Process
- Main Steps in Criminological Research (UGC-NET Unit VI)The overall plan for answering the research question, chosen from options such as cross-sectional, longitudinal, experimental or case-study designs.