Descriptive research attempts to elucidate characteristics of an object or phenomenon, without focusing on possible antecedents to that object or phenomenon. A descriptive researcher cannot determine the ‘cause and effect’ relationships that most experimental scientists aim to uncover (Knupfer, 2001). Descriptive designs often involve an investigator or investigative team that records the ‘qualities’ of what they are studying (e.g. a subject’s mood, the color of an object), but they are not restricted to recording ‘qualities’. They can also use quantitative (i.e. numerical) methods, such as using inferential statistics to find correlations between survey answers, but this use of statistics is often specific to survey studies rather than case studies. While descriptive observation is optimal for gaining information about how an organism behaves in its natural environment, descriptive methods can also prove useful in an experimental setting. According to Jackson (2011), one can carry out laboratory observations that involve bringing subjects into an environment that is designed so that a researcher can place more experimental control on his/her subjects. This method often involves minor environmental manipulations from the experimenter such as prompting a subject to answer questions; descriptive researchers that conduct case studies usually study few subjects and they rarely rely on post-observation statistical analysis. Norris et al. (2014) collected descriptive data,
Methods used in psychological research are used to obtain quantitative or qualitative data. Quantitative data is more often than not derived from methods such as experiments and statistics analysing data using surveys, questionnaires and interviews. Qualitative data tends not to be aimed at finding exact measurements in its findings, but is more concerned with evidence collection and analysis through practices such as observation and ethnography (using observations through involvement in activities over a period of time) (Brownlow 2011).
Descriptive designs -the current state of affairs, Provides a relatively complete picture, does not assess relationships among variables Experimental - impact on experimental manipulations on a dependent variable, Allows drawing of conclusions, Cannot experimentally manipulate many important variables
research is observational in nature and a type of correlational research, and is often contrasted with
The research design of this study is a descriptive prevalence study. The purpose of descriptive studies is to observe, describe, and document aspects of a situation as it naturally occurs. In
This article is called “What Happens to Mental Health Treatment During Pregnancy? Women’s Experience with Prescribing Providers?” The study included pregnant women that are depressed. There are woman that don’t the help because is challenge to get mental health. They are a concern whether a medication can cause damage to the fetal. The goal for this study is examine the decision of the prescribing provider when he is inform that a depress woman is pregnant. Some of the providers that are notified about the pregnancy, they stop giving the medication to the pregnant woman.
Regardless of whether the study is descriptive or experimental, the extent to which a study's results can be generalized or applied to other people or settings reflects its external validity. Group research engaging randomization will initially possess higher external validity than will case studies and single-subject experimental research that do not use random selection for the assignment.
Descriptive research is conducted primarily to collect data about variables rather than to test hypotheses about the relationships between variables. In another word a descriptive study is conducted to describe ‘how things are’.
Quantitative and Qualitative are said to be systematic in different design. Both design have to follow a process system that involved defining a principle of research.
The method used for the study was quantitative, this was chosen rather than a qualitative as this deals with facts and figures and is an investigatory type of study. This can be either experimental or non experiment. Experimental is the method used in this study which looks at cause and effect, and involves dependent and independent variables. (Balnaves and Caputi, 2001) A qualitative study can be described as interpretive which deals with personal thoughts and feelings (Flick, 2009).
A study design is the procedure that guides a researcher on how to collect, analyze and interpret observations. It is a logical model that guides the investigator while he navigates through the various stages of the research. Study types can be classified severally depending on the research strategy employed. A study type can be non-interventional that is ‘observational’ where a researcher just observes and analyses researchable objects or situations without intervening. Non-interventional study designs can be exploratory, descriptive or comparative. A study can also be
Descriptive research is often used as a pre-cursor to more quantitatively research designs, the general overview giving some valuable pointers as to what variables are worth testing quantitatively. Quantitative experiments are often expensive and time-consuming so it is often good sense to get an idea of what hypotheses are worth testing.
There are three main types of descriptive methods: observational methods, case-study methods and survey methods. This article will briefly describe each of these methods, their advantages, and their drawbacks. This may help you better understand research findings, whether reported in the mainstream media, or when reading a research study on your own.
Quantitative research design is the standard experimental method of most scientific disciplines. These experiments are sometimes referred to as true science, and use traditional mathematical and statistical means to measure results conclusively. They are most commonly used by physical scientists, although social sciences, education and economics have been known to use this type of research. It is the opposite of qualitative research. Quantitative experiments all use a standard format, with a few minor inter-disciplinary differences, of generating a hypothesis to be proved or disproved. This hypothesis must be provable by mathematical and statistical means, and is the basis around which the whole experiment is designed. Randomization of any study groups is essential, and a control group should be included, wherever possible. A sound quantitative design should only manipulate one variable at a time, or statistical analysis becomes cumbersome and open to question. Ideally, the research should be constructed in a manner that allows others to repeat the experiment and obtain similar results.
Descriptive research benefits you when you believe some problems are impossible to solve. This requires observations because it's based on what you need to discover that interests you. The first step in solving a problem in descriptive language is the research objective. It is what you need to find out, or what question you would want to answer. Luis and Midori would have answer saying their research objective, was to find out how the sources of the cholera epidemic and E.coli epidemic were tracked. Also during a science investigation, data tables are often used for recording information. The data can be supported whether or not the prediction was supported and conclusions can be drawn to it. The second step for the descriptive research is describing the research design. In the textbook, it says "one important research design is safety.'' What it means when scientists eliminate bias which means avoid which ones help you with a good investigation. When a scientific problem is solved by observations which are important. Scientists use the materials that are available or up to date. Furthermore, with materials, you don't need the most expensive one all you need is your investigations to be successfully done. One part of an investigation plan is it might include scientific models. In science, models represent things that go too slowly or quickly. For example like Dr. John Snow's map of the cholera epidemic was a model that allowed him to predict possible sources to the
A descriptive research is fact-finding investigation with adequate interpretation. It is the simplest type of research. It is more specific than an exploratory study, as it has focus on particular aspects or dimensions of the problem studied. It is designed to gather descriptive information and provided information for formulation more sophisticated studies.