The main subjects of this part are design strategies, how to organize fixed design and flexible design, and evaluation. Design concerns the various things which should be thought about and kept in mind when carrying out a research project. And the components of design are purpose, theory, research question, methods, and sampling strategy. All these aspects need to be inter-related and to be kept in balance. The figure “Framework for research design” shows the relationship between these aspects. The author recommends that when we have proposed study we need to judge design strategy appropriate for study characteristic. It can be fixed design or flexible design. The author also stated that while fixed design strategy calls for a tight pre-specification before you reach the main data collection stage and data are almost always in the form of number (hence this type is often referred to as a quantitative strategy), flexible design strategy evolves during data collection and data are typically non-numerical (hence this type is often referred to as qualitative strategy).
Here is another suggestion by author for selecting the strategy. Flexible (qualitative) strategies are appropriate for exploratory work and non-experimental fixed strategies are appropriate for descriptive studies. Also experiments are appropriate for explanatory studies.
In Fixed design part, author stated that the relative weakness of fixed design is that they cannot capture the subtleties and complexities of individual human behavior. The variable which is a part of quantitative worldview is explained as property or characteristic of a person, thing, group or situation that can be measured in some way. Also fixed design strategy should holds validity and generalizability to establish value and trustworthiness, then you can persuade others by clarity and logically argued accounts. In addition objectivity and credibility also support value and trustworthiness of fixed design enquiry.
Fixed design has two type of enquiry such as experimental fixed design and non-experimental fixed design. Experimental fixed design includes the assignment of participants to different conditions, manipulation of variables, measurement of the effects, and the control of all other variables. Also this book explains various kinds of experimental designs.
On the contrary non-experimental fixed designs are differs from the experimental one in that the phenomena studied are not deliberately manipulated or changed by the researcher. Hence it includes relational designs, comparative designs, and longitudinal designs. In flexible designs case studies, ethnographic studies, and grounded theory studies are the three influential design traditions. The Box 6.1 explains the difference between three studies in focus, discipline origin, data collection, data analysis, and narrative form.
Especially author indicates that researcher qualities needed for flexible design research and also emphasized that the quality of a flexible design study depends to a great extent on the quality of the investigator. So this research style needs well-trained and experienced investigators. To establish trustworthiness in flexible design research, some aspects are suggested for validity such as description, interpretation, theory, prolonged involvement, triangulation, peer debriefing and support, member checking, negative case analysis, and audit trail.
In the step of evaluation, author explains that the purpose of an evaluation is to assess the effects and effectiveness of something, typically some innovation, intervention, policy, practice or service. It is often referred to as program evaluation and fixed or flexible designs can be used, with either qualitative or quantitative methods, or some combination of both types.