Significance and Importance of Research Design and Planning Phase

When you're planning about building a house you need blueprints to realize what you have envisioned. The research design and planning phase is exactly like a blueprint. In this phase, you are to select a research design suitable to the type of research you are currently studying. Research design is a broad framework that states the total pattern of conducting

a research project. It specifies objectives, data collection and analysis methods, time,

costs, responsibility, probable outcomes, and actions. A good research design

will obviously describe the strategy to be employed for choosing samples, collecting data,

managing costs along other factors which are important for conducting research.

The research methods which are employed and the purpose of the research can also be

utilized to classify the different types of research designs. You can choose from different types of research design base on the type of study you are immersing yourself in. 

During this phase, you also need to identify the population to be studied. The population does not automatically mean a group of people it can be an object or anything that is the main focus of scientific query. Since a population is a large unit of individuals which can be very costly and time-consuming, researchers from every aspect of the world rely on sampling techniques. Sampling is a technique of selecting individual members or a subset of a population to make statistical inferences from them and estimate the characteristics of the whole population. When sampling plan design is established, proceed to identify methods of data collection.

Data collection is one of the most important parts of conducting research. This will be the flesh of your research. The methods use and the instrument used for data collection plays an integral part in building recommendations and establishing conclusions for research. Without accurate research data, your research study would only amount as little to none. Methods of data collection include; interviews, observation, focus group discussion, questionnaires, and surveys. Keep in mind that a good research design will obviously describe the strategy to be employed for choosing samples, collecting data, managing costs along other factors which are important for conducting research.

Sources: 

https://explorable.com/research-population#:~:text=A%20research%20population%20is%20generally,focus%20of%20a%20scientific%20query.&text=A%20research%20population%20is%20also,known%20to%20have%20similar%20characteristics.

https://www.slideshare.net/muhammedshamaa1/research-process-42402983

https://classroom.google.com/c/MTYxNzUxMTAzNzg3/m/MjQyNTk1MTM3MjI4/details

https://www.questionpro.com/blog/types-of-sampling-for-social-research/