what is the difference between exploratory, descriptive, and causal research course hero

by Robb West 6 min read

An exploratory research approach entails the use of surveys, case studies, information from other studies, and qualitative analyses. In contrast, a descriptive research approach uses information from other studies, panels, analyses, and observation. Causal research design strictly uses experiments.

Full Answer

What is the difference between exploratory and descriptive research?

How is descriptive research different from exploratory research?

Why is it important to analyze select cases?

Why is flexibility important in exploratory research?

What is the best way to start a research project?

What are the different types of research designs?

What is research in science?

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What is the difference between exploratory and causal research in the research approach?

Causal research is used to identify the cause-and-effect relationship between variables and provides conclusive results that can answer the research problem. Descriptive research and exploratory research don't answer a research problem and are instead used to gain a deeper understanding of the problem itself.

What is the difference between causal research and explanatory research?

Causal research, also known as explanatory research is conducted in order to identify the extent and nature of cause-and-effect relationships. Causal research can be conducted in order to assess impacts of specific changes on existing norms, various processes etc.

What is the difference between exploratory and descriptive research?

Exploratory research is usually conducted when a researcher has just begun an investigation and wishes to understand the topic generally. Descriptive research aims to describe or define the topic at hand. Explanatory research is aims to explain why particular phenomena work in the way that they do.

What are some example of exploratory and descriptive research?

Data from exploratory studies tends to be qualitative. Examples include brain- storming sessions, interviews with experts, and posting a short survey to a social networking website. Descriptive studies have more guidelines. They describe people, prod- ucts, and situations.

What is the difference between descriptive exploratory and causal research design?

The major objective of exploratory research design is to discover ideas and insights where as in descriptive research design involves describing market aspects and functions. Nevertheless, causal research design tries to determine the cause-effect relationships in the research one is conducting.

What is exploratory descriptive research?

Exploratory-Descriptive designs. Exploratory-descriptive designs, usually field studies in natural settings, provide the least control over variables. The data collected either contribute to the development of theory or explain phenomena from the perspective of the persons being studied.

What is the difference between exploratory and explanatory research with example?

For example, exploratory research will explore the general phenomenon of students failing an exam; descriptive research will describe how many students have failed the exam, while explanatory research will analyze why students failed the exam.

What do you mean by causal research?

Causal research, also known as explanatory research or causal-comparative research, identifies the extent and nature of cause-and-effect relationships between two or more variables. It's often used by companies to determine the impact of changes in products, features, or services process on critical company metrics.

What are the 3 types of research?

Most research can be divided into three different categories: exploratory, descriptive and causal. Each serves a different end purpose and can only be used in certain ways.

What is example of descriptive research?

Descriptive-status For example, a researcher researching the income of the employees in a company, and the relationship with their performance. A survey will be carried out to gather enough data about the income of the employees, then their performance will be evaluated and compared to their income.

What is the objective of causal research?

The goal of causal research is to prove the cause-and-effect relationship between two variables.

What is explanatory research with example?

Purpose of Explanatory Research Explanatory research seeks neither to generate new knowledge nor solve a specific problem; rather it seeks to understand why something happens. For example, imagine that you would like to know whether one's age affects his or her ability to use a particular type of computer software.

What is explanatory research?

Explanatory research is a research method that explores why something occurs when limited information is available. It can help you increase your understanding of a given topic, ascertain how or why a particular phenomenon is occurring, and predict future occurrences.

What is the meaning of causal research?

Causal research, also known as explanatory research or causal-comparative research, identifies the extent and nature of cause-and-effect relationships between two or more variables. It's often used by companies to determine the impact of changes in products, features, or services process on critical company metrics.

What are the two types of research data?

Types of Research DataObservational Data. Observational data are captured through observation of a behavior or activity. ... Experimental Data. ... Simulation Data. ... Derived / Compiled Data.

What are the main characteristics of causal research?

Here are some key terms people use for conducting causal research: Hypothesis: A testable prediction that describes the outcome an individual expects to occur during certain experiments or situations. In causal research, the hypothesis uses variables to understand if one variable is causing a change in another.

When is exploratory research used?

It is used in the situation when you must define the problem correctly, identify alternative courses of actions, develop a hypothesis, gain additional insights before the development of an approach, set priorities for further examination. The following methods are used for conducting exploratory research

Why is exploratory research important?

Therefore exploratory research results in insights or hypothesis, regardless of the method adopted, the most important thing is that it should remain flexible so that all the facets of the problem can be studied, as and when they arise.

What is conclusive research?

Conclusive research is further subdivided into descriptive and casual research. The people often juxtapose exploratory research and descriptive research, but the fact is that they are different. Take a read of this article to understand the differences between exploratory and descriptive research.

Why should the overall design of exploratory research be flexible?

The overall design of the exploratory research should be flexible enough so that it provides an opportunity to consider various aspects of the problem. On the contrary, in descriptive research, the overall design should be rigid which protects against bias and also maximise reliability. The research process is unstructured in exploratory research.

What is research design?

The research design is defined as a framework for carrying out research activities in different fields of study. The research design is classified into two important categories i.e. exploratory and conclusive research. Conclusive research is further subdivided into descriptive and casual research.

Is exploratory research structured?

The research process is unstructured in exploratory research. However, it is structured in the case of descriptive research.

What is exploratory research?

Exploratory research is "the preliminary research to clarify the exact nature of the problem to be solved." Wikipedia

What is causal research?

Causal research. is the investigation of cause-relationships. To determine causality, Variation in the variable presumed to influence the difference in another variable must be detected, and then the variations from the other variable must be calculated

What is the hypothesis behind the advertising of chicory?

The researchers found that virtually no one had heard about chicory. It wasn’t being used, and no-one seemed to know how to put it to use. This resulted in the hypothesis that the advertising could depict the chicory ingredient in whatever way the customer desired.

Why are exploratory studies important?

Although exploratory studies aren’t meant to offer exact estimates of the prevalence of a problem or to test specific theories, they can be very helpful in mapping domains of study

What are some examples of research design?

1. The favorite crime investigation TV programs (e.g., Crime Patrol, Arjun, Savdhaan India, etc) give a pretty good example of the research design. These shows typically start with a crime that needs to be investigated. The initial step is to look for hints which can help establish what has happened (exploratory). The clues found in the exploratory phase of the research usually point in the direction of a specific hypothesis or explanation of the events which happened, and investigators start focusing their efforts in this direction, performing interviews with witnesses and suspects (descriptive).

Why is qualitative research important?

In qualitative research this is of utmost importance as there are many different methodologies, tools and techniques that could be incorporated in order to get better insights depending on the problem that is being solved.

What is the methodology of conducting research?

The methodology of conducting this research is called the research design. Research design helps us to determine the kind of questions that need to be asked, to what consumers (or other stakeholders involved in a situation).

What is the difference between exploratory and descriptive research?

The main difference between exploratory and descriptive research is that the first does not follow standardized methods but the second does. So, de scriptive research does the task of putting the picture created by exploratory research into the frame.

How is descriptive research different from exploratory research?

Exploratory research often forms the basis for descriptive research and the knowledge acquires through exploratory research is used to select respondents, setting priority issues, framing and asking questions as well as setting the time and place for the respondents like when and where to ask questions. While exploratory research can provide the hypotheses, you need to conduct descriptive research to prove the hypotheses. Exploratory research will answer the basic questions related to who, where, what when, why and how if descriptive research but then descriptive research will answer the final questions related to the market. The main difference between exploratory and descriptive research is that the first does not follow standardized methods but the second does.

Why is it important to analyze select cases?

Analysing select cases also helps achieve the objectives of exploratory research. By doing an in-depth analysis of elect cases related to the topic one can reach his objectives. This approach is suitable when there are complex variables at work and to understand these complexities one may need to conduct intensive study. For example you want to know the reason or traits related to his level performance among your sales managers. You compare the top performers and bottom performers to check out which traits are common to the best performing salespeople.

Why is flexibility important in exploratory research?

Flexibility is important in exploratory research and it is bound to result in new ideas, revelations and insights. These are some of the objectives that warrant the need for exploratory research: – To define an ambiguous problem more precisely like why sales of a specific product are declining.

What is the best way to start a research project?

Most often the best point to start research from is to study the previous research conducted in this area. If you study what others have found out, it will help you generate ideas, hypotheses and gain insights. For example if you are trying to conduct research to create an instrument that helps you measure customer satisfaction from your product or services then studying others’ research will help you reach your objectives quicker. Literature reviews most often are a great tool to conduct exploratory research.

What are the different types of research designs?

Research designs in marketing research and their types: Exploratory, descriptive and causal. A common definition of research is gathering and analysing information systematically. After having set the objectives of research, next step is to decide the research design which best suits the research objectives. It is on the basis of the research ...

What is research in science?

A common definition of research is gathering and analysing information systematically. After having set the objectives of research, next step is to decide the research design which best suits the research objectives. It is on the basis of the research design that the research methodology and sampling procedure are selected. Then lay out the structure and sequence of the overall research project. Finally, the research design is implemented and this implementation begins with the design of the data gathering instruments. After that follows, data collection, manipulation and analysis and at last the data is interpreted to know the results.

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