
Research Design : Definition, Method & Examples
Research Design: Definition, Methods & Examples Get started with Research Design today. Request a free 15 min discovery call SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Table of
Explore Voxco
Need to map Voxco’s features & offerings? We can help!
We’ve been avid users of the Voxco platform now for over 20 years. It gives us the flexibility to routinely enhance our survey toolkit and provides our clients with a more robust dataset and story to tell their clients.
Steve Male
VP Innovation & Strategic Partnerships, The Logit Group
Explore Regional Offices
Explore Voxco
Need to map Voxco’s features & offerings? We can help!
We’ve been avid users of the Voxco platform now for over 20 years. It gives us the flexibility to routinely enhance our survey toolkit and provides our clients with a more robust dataset and story to tell their clients.
Steve Male
VP Innovation & Strategic Partnerships, The Logit Group
Explore Regional Offices
SHARE THE ARTICLE ON
In research, a conceptual framework refers to a visual or written representation of the expected relationship between the variables being studied. It depicts what a researcher expects to find through their research and clearly maps out the steps that must be carried out through the course of the study.
As the conceptual framework illustrates a researcher’s understanding of how variables connect, it can be used to identify the key variables that need to be investigated. It acts as a “map” that provides researchers with a shape and structure to their research, helping them carry out their study more effectively.
A conceptual framework should be constructed before the data collection process is commenced so as to guide the investigation. These are a few advantages of using a conceptual framework for descriptive research:
The way you formulate your research design will vary depending on the nature of the data being analysed. Let’s look at how the conceptual framework will vary when used with qualitative data in comparison to when it is used with quantitative data.
Qualitative data is used when a research problem focuses on meanings, perceptions, and/or descriptions of the research topic. When analysed, qualitative data allows researchers to understand behaviours, interactions, situations, and contexts. Researchers can then analyse these observations to identify correlations, patterns, and categories.
Quantitative data is used when a research problem requires numerical values associated with the variables being studied, whether they be traits, trends, or characteristics. When analysed, quantitative data can illustrate any outliers among the data. The numerical values can even depict the degree of difference or relationship between the variables being studied. Additionally, the data can help determine whether the findings are generalizable to the larger population or whether they are only true for the sample.
When testing the cause-and-effect relationship, there are two key variables we must identify: the independent variable and the dependent variable.
As we expand our framework, there are other important variables to consider, specifically Moderating and Mediating variables.
Create a conceptual framework using the following four steps:
The first step in creating your conceptual framework is to clearly outline your topic of research. In this step, you must decide on your topic of research. It is important to select a topic that relates to your field of specialization so that you will be familiar with the different aspects of your study.
A literature review involves the search and evaluation of the available and relevant literature in a chosen topic area. In this step, you must review and synthesise well-known scientific journals and research papers, preferably those that are peer-reviewed, to gain a deep and comprehensive understanding of the research problem at hand.
Once you’ve carried out the literature review, you should have an idea of the most important and relevant variables to your research topic. This brings us to the third step which requires you to isolate the key variables described in the literature and then determine how these variables relate to each other. In research papers, you will generally find the key variables outlined in the abstract, methodology, and summary section. The summary in research papers should also provide you with an understanding of how these variables work together.
Your fourth and final step is to generate your conceptual framework. Now that you’ve identified your most important variables and have a general idea of how they relate to each other, you can begin creating your conceptual framework. Your problem statement should serve as a reference for constructing it.
In descriptive research, the theoretical framework is a single formal theory that acts as a synthesis of the theory developed regarding a research problem. When a study is designed using the theoretical frameworks, the theory is the primary means by which the research problem is investigated.
A conceptual framework can be defined as an outline of the expected relationship between the variables being studied. It illustrates the researcher’s understanding of how the variables relate to each other.
When using the conceptual framework in quantitative research, it is vital to define the research problem, as well as the key variables that can be used to resolve it. This is in contrast to qualitative research, wherein researchers aim to build up a theory so the conceptual framework emerges after the research is complete.
When using the conceptual framework in qualitative research, an inductive approach is taken. This means that the researcher builds up the theory and only establishes a conceptual framework once the research is complete.
The main purpose of the conceptual framework is to define all the relevant variables being studied and to illustrate how they may be related to each other. It provides a visual format using which researchers can carry out their study more effectively.
Read more
Research Design: Definition, Methods & Examples Get started with Research Design today. Request a free 15 min discovery call SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Table of
Understanding the essence of correct sample size SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Table of Contents A good research is one that is well-designed and leads to
The Purpose of Public Opinion Polls SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on linkedin Table of Contents What is a
SURVEY METHODOLOGIES Experimental Research Market Research Toolkit Get started with Voxco’s Market Research Toolkit. Market Research trends guide + Online Surveys guide + Agile MArket
How a Market Research Tool Helps Solve Top Market Research Challenges SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Table of Contents The past two years have been challenging
Research Consultancy Emicity’s Drives Productivity & Stays Competitive With Voxco The Client Emicity is a research consultancy based in the US with a broad range of
We use cookies in our website to give you the best browsing experience and to tailor advertising. By continuing to use our website, you give us consent to the use of cookies. Read More
Name | Domain | Purpose | Expiry | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
hubspotutk | www.voxco.com | HubSpot functional cookie. | 1 year | HTTP |
lhc_dir_locale | amplifyreach.com | --- | 52 years | --- |
lhc_dirclass | amplifyreach.com | --- | 52 years | --- |
Name | Domain | Purpose | Expiry | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
_fbp | www.voxco.com | Facebook Pixel advertising first-party cookie | 3 months | HTTP |
__hstc | www.voxco.com | Hubspot marketing platform cookie. | 1 year | HTTP |
__hssrc | www.voxco.com | Hubspot marketing platform cookie. | 52 years | HTTP |
__hssc | www.voxco.com | Hubspot marketing platform cookie. | Session | HTTP |
Name | Domain | Purpose | Expiry | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
_gid | www.voxco.com | Google Universal Analytics short-time unique user tracking identifier. | 1 days | HTTP |
MUID | bing.com | Microsoft User Identifier tracking cookie used by Bing Ads. | 1 year | HTTP |
MR | bat.bing.com | Microsoft User Identifier tracking cookie used by Bing Ads. | 7 days | HTTP |
IDE | doubleclick.net | Google advertising cookie used for user tracking and ad targeting purposes. | 2 years | HTTP |
_vwo_uuid_v2 | www.voxco.com | Generic Visual Website Optimizer (VWO) user tracking cookie. | 1 year | HTTP |
_vis_opt_s | www.voxco.com | Generic Visual Website Optimizer (VWO) user tracking cookie that detects if the user is new or returning to a particular campaign. | 3 months | HTTP |
_vis_opt_test_cookie | www.voxco.com | A session (temporary) cookie used by Generic Visual Website Optimizer (VWO) to detect if the cookies are enabled on the browser of the user or not. | 52 years | HTTP |
_ga | www.voxco.com | Google Universal Analytics long-time unique user tracking identifier. | 2 years | HTTP |
_uetsid | www.voxco.com | Microsoft Bing Ads Universal Event Tracking (UET) tracking cookie. | 1 days | HTTP |
vuid | vimeo.com | Vimeo tracking cookie | 2 years | HTTP |
Name | Domain | Purpose | Expiry | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
__cf_bm | hubspot.com | Generic CloudFlare functional cookie. | Session | HTTP |
Name | Domain | Purpose | Expiry | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
_gcl_au | www.voxco.com | --- | 3 months | --- |
_gat_gtag_UA_3262734_1 | www.voxco.com | --- | Session | --- |
_clck | www.voxco.com | --- | 1 year | --- |
_ga_HNFQQ528PZ | www.voxco.com | --- | 2 years | --- |
_clsk | www.voxco.com | --- | 1 days | --- |
visitor_id18452 | pardot.com | --- | 10 years | --- |
visitor_id18452-hash | pardot.com | --- | 10 years | --- |
lpv18452 | pi.pardot.com | --- | Session | --- |
lhc_per | www.voxco.com | --- | 6 months | --- |
_uetvid | www.voxco.com | --- | 1 year | --- |
Voxco’s platform helps you gather omnichannel feedback, measure sentiment, uncover insights and act on them.
Voxco’s platform helps you gather omnichannel feedback, measure sentiment, uncover insights and act on them.