Nepotism is liked if the society likes parents to interfere By Prof Dr Sohail Ansari

  Hadith 16, Whoever is responsible for anything from the Muslims' issues, and then appoints over them a person due to his love of them, then the curse of Allah is upon him, Allah will not accept from him aversion nor correction until He enters him into the Hellfire (Hakim/ Ahmed)

Nepotism is not frowned upon

·       Nepotism is not bad in a society if it approves entitlement by birth.

 

Quote:

I don't believe in nepotism. I don't much like the idea of parents who interfere. Anthony Hopkins

WHAT IS RESEARCH DESIGN?

 What is research design? How is the term `research design' to be used? An analogy might help.

When constructing a building there is no point ordering materials or setting critical dates for completion of project stages until we know what sort of building is being constructed. The right decision is whether we need a high rise of the building, a factory for manufacturing machinery, a school, a residential home or an apartment block. Until this is done we cannot sketch a plan, obtain permits, work out a work schedule or order materials.

WHAT IS RESEARCH DESIGN?

Similarly, social research needs a design or a structure before data collection or analysis can commence. A research design is not just a work plan. A work plan details what has to be done to complete the project but the work plan will be from the project's research design. The function of a research design is to ensure that the evidence obtained enables us to answer the initial question as unambiguously as possible. Obtaining relevant evidence entails specifying the type of evidence needed to answer the research question, to test a theory, to evaluate a programme or to accurately describe some phenomenon. In other words, when designing research we need to ask: given this research question (or theory), what type of evidence is needed to answer the question (or test the theory) in a convincing way?

Research design `deals with a logical problem and not a logistical problem' (Yin, 1989: 29).

Logistic or logistical means relating to the organization of something complicated.Logistical problems may be causing the delay. She described the distribution of food and medical supplies as a logistical nightmare.

logical problem : Each problem consists of three statements. Based on the first two statements, the third statement may be true, false, or uncertain.

1.	Tanya is older than Eric. Cliff is older than Tanya. Eric is older than Cliff. If the first two statements are true, the third statement is
	A. true B. false C. uncertain Answer: Option B Explanation: Because the first two statements are true, Eric is the youngest of the three, so the third statement must be false.

Before a builder or architect can develop a work plan or order materials they must establish the type of building required, its uses and the needs of the occupants. The work plan owes from this.

Similarly, in social research the issues of sampling, method of data collection (e.g. questionnaire, observation, document analysis), design of questions are all subsidiary to the matter of `What evidence do I need to collect?' Too often researchers design questionnaires or begin interviewing far too early before thinking through what information they require to answer their research questions. Without attending to these research design matters at the beginning, the conclusions drawn will normally be weak and unconvincing and fail to answer the research question.

Design versus method Research design

There is a significant difference between research methodology and research design.

Quantitative Methods, Qualitative Methods and mixed method(Quantitative and qualitative both). Each Method have many tools and techniques to handle the research. Quantitativemethods are used to collect, organize and analyze numerical data. ... ON THE OTHER HAND, Research design is a specific framework for your research.

Design versus method Research design is different from the method by which data are collected. Many research methods texts confuse research designs with methods. It is not uncommon to see research design treated as a mode of data collection rather than as a logical structure of the inquiry. But there is nothing intrinsic about any research design that requires a particular method of data collection. Although cross-sectional surveys are frequently equated with questionnaires and case studies are often equated with participant observation (e.g. Whyte's Street Corner Society, 1943), data for any design can be collected with any data collection method.

 How the data are collected is irrelevant to the logic of the design. Failing to distinguish between design and method leads to poor evaluation of designs. Equating cross-sectional designs with questionnaires, or case studies with participant observation, means that the designs are often evaluated against the strengths and weaknesses of the method rather than their ability to draw relatively unambiguous conclusions or to select between rival plausible hypotheses.

Summary:  The purpose of research design in both descriptive and explanatory research.

In explanatory research the purpose is to develop and evaluate causal theories. The probabilistic nature of causation in social sciences, as opposed to deterministic causation, was discussed. Research design is not related to any particular method of collecting data or any particular type of data. Any research design can, in principle, use any type of data collection method and can use either quantitative or qualitative data. Research design refers to the structure of an enquiry: it is a logical matter rather than a logistical one. It has been argued that the central role of research design is to minimize the chance of drawing incorrect causal inferences from data.

Design is a logical task undertaken to ensure that the evidence collected enables us to answer questions or to test theories as unambiguously as possible. When designing research it is essential that we identify the type of evidence required to answer the research question in a convincing way. This means that we must not simply collect evidence that is consistent with a particular theory or explanation. Research needs to be structured in such a way that the evidence also bears on alternative rival explanations and enables us to identify which of the competing explanations is most compelling empirically. It also means that we must not simply look for evidence that supports our favourite theory: we should also look for evidence that has the potential to disprove our preferred explanations.