Design Thinking and Research

Research Design
Written By Janet Salmons

In this research conversation with Janet Salmons, Julianne Cheek and Elise Øby discuss the importance of an iterative, design-thinking approach to research. They explain ideas from their new book, Research Design: Why Thinking About Design Matters.

Learn more!

Research Design: Why Thinking About Design Matters: 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. You can preview two chapters, and use the code COMMUNITY3 for a 20% discoung, valid worldwide until 31/03/24..

Also, Dr. Cheek mentions the journal Qualitative Health Research, where she serves as the editor. This international, interdisciplinary journal contains many articles of interest to qualitative researchers, regardless of whether they are studying issues or settings in health care. While many of the articles are open-access, some will require library access.

More Methodspace Posts about Research Design

Blog
How to Study YouTube or TikTok Videos
Identifying & Planning Research
How to Study YouTube or TikTok Videos
Identifying & Planning Research

Researchers can easily access user-generated public videos. See this multidisciplinary collection of open access articles about quantitative and qualitative approaches to collecting and analyzing videos from YouTube or TikTok.

Identifying & Planning Research
Teach and Learn with a Research Case: Understanding Online Discussions of Key Public Health Issues Using a Mixed-Methods Approach
Identifying & Planning Research
Teach and Learn with a Research Case: Understanding Online Discussions of Key Public Health Issues Using a Mixed-Methods Approach
Identifying & Planning Research

Let’s use this open-access research case to think through the possibilities and potential problems involved with studying blog posts and online discussions.

Identifying & Planning Research
Collect Data on Social Media
Research Design, Identifying & Planning Research
Collect Data on Social Media
Research Design, Identifying & Planning Research

From the moment social media platforms began to welcome user-generated content, researchers have looked for ways to study it. Learn more with open-access articles about social media platforms.

Research Design, Identifying & Planning Research
Research questions: Insider/Outsider perspectives
Identifying & Planning Research, Research Ethics
Research questions: Insider/Outsider perspectives
Identifying & Planning Research, Research Ethics

Do you think about research questions as an insider, outsider, or somewhere in between? Why is positionality important in online research?

Identifying & Planning Research, Research Ethics
Design and Data Collection with Julianne Cheek and Elise Øby
Research Design, Teaching Methods
Design and Data Collection with Julianne Cheek and Elise Øby
Research Design, Teaching Methods

Julianne Cheek and Elise Øby, co-authors of the book Research Design: Why Thinking About Design Matters, discuss how to make decisions about what qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods data to collect and how to do so. This post is the third of a three-part series of posts that feature ten author interviews.

Research Design, Teaching Methods
Slow Ontology 2.0 as Inspiration for Methodological Approaches
Research Design
Slow Ontology 2.0 as Inspiration for Methodological Approaches
Research Design

What if we didn’t have to go fast to do our academic work and research? What if we could embrace the spaces and places around us to slow down? What could that mean for us personally, professionally, and in how we relate to social justice and ecological issues?

Research Design
Conducting my Research From an Island
Teaching Methods, Identifying & Planning Research
Conducting my Research From an Island
Teaching Methods, Identifying & Planning Research

Doctoral student Sandra Flores discusses her research in Puerto Rico, and what she learned from the experience.

Teaching Methods, Identifying & Planning Research
Design and Methodology with Julianne Cheek and Elise Øby
Research Design, Teaching Methods
Design and Methodology with Julianne Cheek and Elise Øby
Research Design, Teaching Methods

Julianne Cheek and Elise Øby, co-authors of the book Research Design: Why Thinking About Design Matters, discuss how to make decisions about methodology in this collection of video interviews. This post is the second of a three-part series of posts that feature ten author interviews.

Research Design, Teaching Methods
What is “Critical Participatory Inquiry”?
Identifying & Planning Research
What is “Critical Participatory Inquiry”?
Identifying & Planning Research

Learn about action and participatory research methods, and ways to design and carry out research with, not on, communities.

Identifying & Planning Research
New Thinking about Mixed and Multi- Methods
Identifying & Planning Research
New Thinking about Mixed and Multi- Methods
Identifying & Planning Research

Is it too hard to address problems in our complex world with one type of data? Mixed methods might be the answer. Find explanations and open-access resources in this post.

Identifying & Planning Research
Research in Education and Psychology: Focusing on Root Causes and Increased Justice
Research Design, Diversity Equity & Inclusion
Research in Education and Psychology: Focusing on Root Causes and Increased Justice
Research Design, Diversity Equity & Inclusion

Chart research directions that take you to the roots of the problem. Learn more in this guest post from Dr. Donna Mertens.

Research Design, Diversity Equity & Inclusion
Thinking About Research Design with Julianne Cheek and Elise Øby</a>
Research Design, Teaching Methods
Thinking About Research Design with Julianne Cheek and Elise Øby
Research Design, Teaching Methods

We need to think about research before we design and conduct it.

Julianne Cheek and Elise Øby, co-authors of the book Research Design: Why Thinking About Design Matters, discuss the first three chapters in these video interviews:

Chapter 1 – Research Design: What You Need to Think About and Why

Chapter 2 – Ethical Issues in Research Design

Chapter 3 – Developing Your Research Questions

Research Design, Teaching Methods
Methods Literature as Part of a Review
Identifying & Planning Research, Research Design
Methods Literature as Part of a Review
Identifying & Planning Research, Research Design

The process for researching literature on research methods is somewhat different from the process used for researching literature about the topic, problem, or questions. What should we keep in mind when selecting methods literature?

Identifying & Planning Research, Research Design
Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling: An Emerging Tool in Research
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Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling: An Emerging Tool in Research
Tools & Technology, Research Design

Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) enables researchers to model and estimate complex cause-effects relationship models

Tools & Technology, Research Design
Topics, problems, and methodologies
Research Design, Identifying & Planning Research
Topics, problems, and methodologies
Research Design, Identifying & Planning Research

How do researchers make design decisions about the methodology and methods?

Research Design, Identifying & Planning Research
What are the principal preoccupations of researchers employing qualitative methodologies?
Research Design
What are the principal preoccupations of researchers employing qualitative methodologies?
Research Design

In-depth comprehension and interpretation of social events, human experiences, and behaviours are often the main goals of qualitative researchers. Learn about the primary concerns of qualitative researchers in this guest post by Pinaki Burman.

Research Design
Units of Analysis and Methodologies for Qualitative Studies
Identifying & Planning Research
Units of Analysis and Methodologies for Qualitative Studies
Identifying & Planning Research

Learn about connecting the unit of analysis with the qualitative methodology.

Identifying & Planning Research
Research Road Mapping
Research Design
Research Road Mapping
Research Design

Research can often feel like an overwhelming process. If you are a novice researcher, there can be a lot of new terminology to learn too. This is where research road mapping can help!

Research Design
Studying Difficult Topics with Netnography
Research Design, Diversity Equity & Inclusion
Studying Difficult Topics with Netnography
Research Design, Diversity Equity & Inclusion

These difficult times present challenges for researchers. Find five original posts by Robert Kozinets about using Netnography to study sensitive topics.

Research Design, Diversity Equity & Inclusion
Research Stages: A 2023 Recap
Research Design, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Communicating Research
Research Stages: A 2023 Recap
Research Design, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Communicating Research

Looking back at 2023, find all posts here!
We explored stages of a research project, from concept to publication. In each quarter we focused on one part of the process. In this recap for the year you will find original guest posts, interviews, curated collections of open-access resources, recordings from webinars or roundtable discussions, and instructional resources.

Research Design, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Communicating Research
Epistemological Questions in Indigenous Research
Identifying & Planning Research, Diversity Equity & Inclusion
Epistemological Questions in Indigenous Research
Identifying & Planning Research, Diversity Equity & Inclusion

Read this collection of multidisciplinary articles to explore epistemological questions in Indigenous research.

Identifying & Planning Research, Diversity Equity & Inclusion
Methods Film Fest: Researchers Share Insights
Impact & Society, Research Design, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Communicating Research, Teaching Methods
Methods Film Fest: Researchers Share Insights
Impact & Society, Research Design, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Communicating Research, Teaching Methods

Methods Film Fest!
We can read what they write, but what do researchers say? What are they thinking about, what are they exploring, what insights do they share about methodologies, methods, and approaches? In 2023 Methodspace produced 32 videos, and you can find them all in this post!

Impact & Society, Research Design, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Communicating Research, Teaching Methods
Finding Researchable Problems
Identifying & Planning Research
Finding Researchable Problems
Identifying & Planning Research

Find suggestions for navigating the problem formulation stage that precedes research design in social science research.

Identifying & Planning Research
Who identifies research problems?
Research Design
Who identifies research problems?
Research Design

Let’s begin this quarter’s exploration of research design by thinking about the research problem or topic. Who decides what to study?

Research Design
Research Proposals: Writing Strategies and Ethical Considerations
Identifying & Planning Research, Communicating Research
Research Proposals: Writing Strategies and Ethical Considerations
Identifying & Planning Research, Communicating Research

This post includes tips about writing qualitative proposals excerpted from Research Design by Creswell and Creswell.

Identifying & Planning Research, Communicating Research
Philosophy of science and doctoral research design: The case of the Idea Puzzle software.
Research Design
Philosophy of science and doctoral research design: The case of the Idea Puzzle software.
Research Design

Learn how to design and defend your PhD research with the Idea Puzzle software from Ricardo Morais.

Research Design
What is randomness?
Data Analysis, Research Design, Skills
What is randomness?
Data Analysis, Research Design, Skills

Dr. Stephen Gorard defines and explains randomness in a research context.

Data Analysis, Research Design, Skills
Creative ways to teach from Dr. Gorard
Data Analysis, Research Design, Skills, Teaching Methods
Creative ways to teach from Dr. Gorard
Data Analysis, Research Design, Skills, Teaching Methods

Have you seen Dr. Gorard use card tricks to teach research methods? Watch this video!

Data Analysis, Research Design, Skills, Teaching Methods
Digital Inequalities and the Online Researcher
Research Design, Diversity Equity & Inclusion
Digital Inequalities and the Online Researcher
Research Design, Diversity Equity & Inclusion

Some of us feel that technology is everywhere, but that is not the case for everyone. Inequalities persist. What do these disparities mean for researchers?

Research Design, Diversity Equity & Inclusion
Working with population data
Data Analysis, Research Design
Working with population data
Data Analysis, Research Design

Mentor in Residence Stephen Gorard explains how to use population data.

Data Analysis, Research Design
Janet Salmons
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