Good Essay On Selecting A Research Design For Your Study

Research Design

The most appropriate study design for the doctoral proposal is the qualitative research design. Firstly, the respondents chosen for the doctoral study were very few, two to be precise. The qualitative research design allows the researcher to study the few respondents in an in-depth manner. The central research question in the doctoral study assumes a narrow scope. However, in-depth inquisition into the targeted concepts is required in order to sufficiently answer the central research question. It is precisely why the qualitative research design is the most appropriate (Vogt, Gardner & Haeffele, 2012). The doctoral study aims to understand how some small businesses are able to succeed past the initial five years. In this regard, the respondents for the doctoral study were operators of businesses that had succeeded past the initial five years. Using the qualitative research design is appropriate because it allows the researcher to explore emic perspectives. More precisely, the qualitative research design allows the researcher to explore insider perspectives by way of capturing and understanding the personal experiences of the business owners, experiences that are vital in explaining the success of small businesses past the first five years (Vogt, Gardner & Haeffele, 2012). In using the qualitative research design, the researcher will use a case study as the traditional method. The use of the case study as the traditional method is appropriate in this doctoral study because it allows the researcher to collect detailed information that may not be possible using other traditional methods. The qualitative data collected is rich, detailed and in greater depth compared to data collected using other traditional methods. This will enable the exploration of the targeted concepts in the study (George & Bennett, 2005).

References

George, A. L., & Bennett, A. (2005). Case studies and theory development in the social sciences. Cambridge, Mass. MIT Press.
Vogt, W. P., Gardner, D. C., & Haeffele, L. M. (2012). When to use what research design. New York: Guilford Press.