Research Design : Why Thinking About Design Matters

Designing research is about making decisions to transform an idea into a plan that can provide answers to a research question. This engaging new text provides a serious but accessible introduction to research design and serves as a guide when designing research or reading the research of others. The authors illustrate how designing research is an iterative and reflexive process in which there is constant thinking through, and re-visiting of, decisions about that design as it develops.

Designing research is about making decisions to transform an idea into a plan that can provide answers to a research problem or question. Thinking about, and then making these decisions results in the research design – the plan that will be followed to conduct the research and answer the question. This text engages in a dialogue with the reader, providing a serious but accessible introduction to research design, for use as a guide when designing your own research or when reading the research of others. 

Julianne Cheek and Elise Øby show that designing research is an iterative and reflexive process in which there is constant thinking through, and re-visiting of, decisions about that design as it develops. They use a variety of pedagogical devices throughout the book including Tip; Activity; and Putting it into Practice boxes to emphasize specific points and encourage readers to think about the practical implications of what they have learned.