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Exploratory and formal Studies:

Both the studies are based in the category The degree to which the research question

has been crystallized

Exploratory Studies are done with the objective of discovering future research tasks.The purpose of such a kind of study is to develop hypotheses or questions for further

research. Exploratory type of research is particularly useful when researchers lack a

clear idea of the problem. Through this study researchers develop concepts more

clearly, establish priorities, develop operational definitions, and improve the final

research design. In this type of study usually the data is not known and hence in this

kind of study the secondary data can be rarely used.

Formal Study begins at the point where the exploration endsit begins with the

hypothesis or research question and it involves precise procedures and data source

specifications. The goal of formal research design is to test hypotheses or answer the

research questions posed.Formal Study serves a variety of research objectives which are

Descriptions of phenomenon or characteristic associated with a subjectpopulation

Estimate of the proportions of a population that have these characteristic Discovery of associations among different variables.

Experimental and ex post facto research design:

Both the studies are based in the category The power of the researcher to produceeffects in the variables under study.

In experimental research the researcher attempts to control and/or manipulate the

variables under study. This type of research is useful when one wants to discover

whether certain variables produce effects in other variables. This is one of the best

research methods when there is need to either approve or disapprove a hypotheses.

In ex post facto research, the researchers have no control over the variables in the

sense of being able to manipulate them. They can only report what has happened or

what is happening. The researcher is limited to holding factors constant by judicious

selection of subjects according to strict sampling procedures and by statisticalmanipulation of findings .It is also necessary that the researchers using this method do

not influence the variables inorder to introduce bias.

In both the type of research the data that is most likely to be used is the secondary

data ass they are basically looking at either approving or disapproving the hypotheses.

Descriptive and causal studies:

Both the studies are based in the category The purpose of the study

The difference between these 2 studies lies in their objectives.

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If the research is basically concerned with finding out who, what, where, when or how

much then it is called the descriptive study. On the other hand if it is concerned with

learning why and how one variable causes changes in another then it is called causal.

In causal method the emphasis is on how to explain the relationships among variables.

Descriptive studies serve a variety of research objectives:

Descriptions of phenomenon or characteristic associated with a subjectpopulation

Estimate of the proportions of a population that have these characteristic Discovery of associations among different variables.

The last objective is also called correlational study.

A causal hypotheses is a theory which talks about how things interact, specifically, on

whether one thing causes another. The purpose of causal studies is to confirm or reject

any given causal hypotheses.

The components of causal studies are

1. Cause: It is something that is thought to bring about something else2. Causal Factor: An effect is usually caused by an interaction of factors. So we

cannot say that a particular factor caused an effect. Instead we can usually

show that causal factor is producing a certain effect in a group of people.

3. Effect: It is something that bought about the result due to the effect of acombination of factors.

Causal studies are the studies designed to test the causal hypotheses.

3.Since very little is known about the subject on training the volunteer the best research

methodology which can be used is the exploratory research.

The three main target groups that can be used to gather the primary data are

Hospital Doctors Hospital Administration and Management Volunteers

In the initial phase of the research the best way to gather data and the views of the 3

groups about the training methods is by using a survey which can be done by eitherinterviewing people of these groups or by circulating a questionnaire.

The likely questions that can be asked to the Hospital doctors could be

Whether they think that the volunteers are well trained.

Had they had found any deficiency in the working of these volunteers. If yes where ?

What are the steps that needs to be taken inorder to improve or maintain the same

level of efficiency of the volunteers

The Hospital administration could be asked the following questions

What is the procedure for selecting the volunteers for training?

What is imparted to these volunteers during training?

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The volunteers could be asked the following questions

What kind of training are you getting

Do they feel whether the training is of any use in the work that they are doing

What else do you suggest should you be trained on during the training session

Once the responses/data is collected from these groups, we could tabulate theresponses inorder to determine the effectiveness of the training by correlating what

has been told by the hospital administration and the volunteers themselves.

The responses can be used to find out what is lacking in the training sessions and

ways by which it could be improved.

So after the data has been obtained we can make use of the formal study to actually

target a particular problem. The problem could be treated as the hypotheses and study

could be done inorder to determine whether it is feasible to actually do the necessary

changes or not.