Research Design Guidelines
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Research Design Guidelines Version 1, October 2020 [Insert cover photograph/ image here, ensuring you fill the entire space] Cover photo: REACH data collection teams in the Central African Republic (2019) © IMPACT Initiatives About IMPACT IMPACT Initiatives is a leading Geneva-based think-and-do tank that shapes humanitarian practices, influences policies and impacts the lives of humanitarian aid beneficiaries through information, partnerships and capacity building programmes. IMPACT’s teams are present in over 20 countries across the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia, and work in contexts ranging from conflict and disasters to regions affected by displacement and migration. The work of IMPACT is carried out through its two initiatives - REACH & AGORA - and through the provision of direct support to partners regarding Project Assessments and Appraisals (PANDA). For more information, visit www.impact-initiatives.org [IMPACT Research Design Guidelines, October 2020] Introduction Research design is the first stage of the IMPACT research cycle;1 the aim of this stage is to come up with a clear, achievable plan to meet the research objectives with the best possible quality given the time, access and resources at the disposal of IMPACT teams. Needless to say, it is extremely important to get this first stage right, since the eventual outcome, success or failure of any research project will depend on the design and planning that preceded implementation. Given the increasingly large number and variety of research cycles that IMPACT teams are implementing across different contexts year by year, it has become imperative to formalise organisation-wide standards on research design and strengthen existing practices for this first stage of research cycle implementation. This is essential to continue ensuring that the data we produce and share to inform planning in humanitarian and development contexts is robust, methodologically sound and of consistently high quality. The objective of this document is thus to provide a practical toolkit for research design within IMPACT and specifically; after providing an overview of the research design process and the related documentation requirements, these guidelines will provide step-by-step guidance on how IMPACT teams should go about the research design process for each of the six steps shown below (Figure 1). Figure 1: The six steps of the research design process 2. Define research 1. Identify information questions, develop needs, set research preliminary data analysis 3. Design methodology objectives plan 5. Final check to ensure 4. Develop data 6. Final steps to launch all required ethical considerations have collection tools, finalise data collection data analysis plan been mainstreamed ✔ All set to launch data collection! Finally, it should be noted that while this document is intended to serve as a practical toolkit for research design within IMPACT and is based on general social science research concepts and practice, it should not be considered as the sole resource for an academic and theoretical understanding of everything related to research design and research methodologies. Additional resources such as those outlined in Annex 1: Additional reading materials of this document should be consulted for specific details on research methodologies and practices. 1 Within IMPACT, ‘research cycle’ refers to the entire process that must be undertaken to implement any research project; all research activities implemented are grouped under and referred to as a research cycle based on common underlying features of its design i.e. shared objectives, methodology, and planned outputs. See also: IMPACT Initiatives, Research Cycle Guidelines (February 2018) 2 | P a g e [IMPACT Research Design Guidelines, October 2020] Table of Contents Introduction................................................................................................................................................... 2 Overview of research design...................................................................................................................... 8 What is research design? ................................................................................................................................ 8 Key concepts related to research design within IMPACT ............................................................................. 8 Research Terms of Reference (ToR) .......................................................................................................11 What is a research ToR? ............................................................................................................................... 11 Why do we need a research ToR? ............................................................................................................... 11 What is the difference between a ToR and a Methodology Note? ............................................................. 11 What are the key sections to be completed for each ToR and how are these related to the different steps of the research design process? ................................................................................................................... 12 List of available templates ............................................................................................................................. 14 Step 1: Identify information needs and set research objectives ........................................................15 1.1Determining information needs and research rationale.......................................................................... 15 1.1.1 Background context analysis to define the research problem ............................................ 15 1.1.2 Using existing data / literature to identify information gaps, inform research strategy...... 16 1.2 Set research objectives based on rationale and key information needs .............................................. 20 Step 2: Define research questions and develop a preliminary analysis plan ...................................24 2.1 Formulate Research Questions (RQs) ................................................................................................... 25 2.2 Develop preliminary DAP based on the RQs ......................................................................................... 28 Step 3: Design methodology ....................................................................................................................31 3.1 Select overall research method .............................................................................................................. 31 3.2 Select appropriate data collection method ............................................................................................. 37 3.3 Select sampling strategy ......................................................................................................................... 44 3.3.1 Introduction to sampling .................................................................................................... 44 3.3.2 Types of sampling.............................................................................................................. 44 3.3.3 Generalizability based on type of sampling ..................................................................... 47 3.3.4 Sampling parameters ........................................................................................................ 48 3.3.5 Types and applicability of different sampling strategies .................................................. 50 3 | P a g e [IMPACT Research Design Guidelines, October 2020] 3.3.6 Operationalising the selected sampling strategy ............................................................. 59 3.4Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Step 3 ...................................................................................... 63 3.4.1 FAQs on data collection methods ..................................................................................... 63 3.4.2 FAQs on choice of sampling strategies ............................................................................ 64 3.4.3 FAQs on operationalising sampling strategies ................................................................ 65 3.4.4 FAQs on mitigating methodological issues encountered during data collection............ 69 Step 4: Develop data collection tools and finalise DAP .......................................................................71 4.1 Types of data collection tools .................................................................................................................. 71 4.1.1 Structured data collection tools ............................................................................................ 71 4.1.2 Semi-structured data collection tools ................................................................................... 72 4.1.3 Relevance and applicability of structured vs. semi-structured tools .................................. 73 4.2 Questionnaire design checklist ............................................................................................................... 75 4.2.1 Overall .................................................................................................................................... 75 4.2.2 Structured tool design checklist ............................................................................................ 76 4.2.3 Semi-structured tool design checklist .................................................................................