Exploratory and Formal Studies
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Transcript of Exploratory and Formal Studies
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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.