Categories of Research Designs: True Experiment, Factorial,

¶ … categories of research designs: true experiment, factorial, quasi-experiment, and ex post facto. Under each broad category, there are a number of more specific research designs. For instance, a co-relational design in which the researcher aims to determine the relationship between two or more variables falls under the category of ex post facto designs. Your research design represents the structure of your study. In other words, it reflects the number and type of variables you are studying and the number and type of groups you are using. Research methods are used to carry out research designs. Research methods fall under two broad categories: quantitative (e.g., survey, experiment) and qualitative (e.g., case study, grounded theory, ethnography, etc.).

Your problem statement and research questions will help determine your research design, and your research design will help determine your research method.

Using the feedback your instructor gave you following your initial premise in Week 1 and the Premise Guide, revise your premise and post it. Also, post your research questions. Then describe at least one potential research design and one potential research method you could use. Explain why each would be appropriate based on your problem statement and research questions. Be specific.

My Response:

Problem

Inner-city children are exposed to detrimental environments that are known to hinder their development and prevent them from thriving. The literature does not incisively indicate which of these environmental factors foreseeably does the most harm to the largest share of inner-city children and which also holds the most promise for amelioration (Trochim, 2006).

Purpose

The purpose of this correlational ex-post facto research is to determine which detrimental environmental factor creates the biggest developmental challenge for children, foreseeably doing the most harm, and lends itself to feasible intervention.

Research Questions

What measures can be taken to counter the most detrimental environmental factor impacting low-income children living in inner-city contexts?

Possible Research Design

The two possible research designs proposed for consideration are:

• Correlational ex-post facto research design.

• Multiple case study design.

Potential Research Method

The correlational ex-post facto research design is useful when it is impossible, impractical, expensive, or unethical to conduct an experiment, particularly because it is not possible to control and manipulate the variables necessary to study cause-and-effect relationships directly (Cohen, et al., 2011; Lammers & Badia, 2005). The correlational ex-post facto is practical when the independent variable lies outside the researcher's control and when it is not possible to take a rigorous experimental approach (Cohen, et al., 2011; Lammers & Badia, 2005).