Plan your Research Design

Choosing the appropriate research design

Research design is a plan for your entire research process that defines the research topic, purpose and scope as well as the type of study best suited to answer your research question. It also incorporates the most suited research methods and procedures.

An overview

Quantitative design

Recommended

Qualitative design

Recommended

• Book Chapter:  Creswell, J. W. (2007). Five qualitative approaches to inquiry. In J. W. Creswell (Eds.) Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (pp. 53-84). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
  • To borrow a copy of this book, contact Neha Arora
• Presentation:  Introduction to Qualitative Research – Dr. Meredith Vanstone, Spring Retreat
• Presentation: Overview of Qualitative Methods – Dr. Meredith Vanstone, Research Knowledge and Skill Builder [Video | Slides]
• Book: Giacomini M. Theory matters in qualitative health research. The SAGE handbook of qualitative methods in health research. 2010 Aug 19:125-56.
• Presentation: Grounded Theory, Phenomenology & Narrative Methodologies: Designing methodologically rigorous qualitative studies – Dr. Meredith Vanstone,  Research Knowledge and Skill Builder [Video | Slides]

Additional resources about some specific qualitative methods

Content Analysis

• Journal article: Elo, S., & Kyngäs, H. (2008). The qualitative content analysis process. Journal of advanced nursing, 62(1), 107-115.
• Journal article: Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative health research, 15(9), 1277-1288.   
• Journal article: Assarroudi, A., Heshmati Nabavi, F., Armat, M. R., Ebadi, A., & Vaismoradi, M. (2018). Directed qualitative content analysis: the description and elaboration of its underpinning methods and data analysis process. Journal of Research in Nursing, 23(1), 42-55.

Reflexivity and rigour in qualitative research

• Journal article: Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2020). One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis?. Qualitative research in psychology, 1-25.
• Journal article: Schwandt, T. A., Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (2007). Judging interpretations: But is it rigorous? Trustworthiness and authenticity in naturalistic evaluation. New directions for evaluation, 114, 11-25.
• Journal article: Hamberg, K., Johansson, E., Lindgren, G., & Westman, G. (1994). Scientific rigour in qualitative research—examples from a study of women’s health in family practice. Family Practice, 11(2), 176-181.

Mixed methods design

Recommended

• Journal article: Creswell, J. W., Fetters, M. D., & Ivankova, N. V. (2004). Designing a mixed methods study in primary care. The Annals of Family Medicine, 2(1), 7-12.
• Journal article: Borkan, J. M. (2004). Mixed methods studies: a foundation for primary care research. The Annals of Family Medicine, 2(1), 4-6.

Additional

• Journal article: Sandelowski, M. (2000). Combining qualitative and quantitative sampling, data collection, and analysis techniques in mixed‐method studies. Research in nursing & health, 23(3), 246-255.

Ethical Considerations

This section includes information about the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board (HiREB) and different types of HiREB applications and processes to apply for them. It also includes resources related to research involving Indigenous communities and data ownership.

Recommended

• Tip sheet: DFM HiREB Application Review Process
• Presentation: HiREB Applications and Resubmissions Presenter – Janice Sancan, Research Ethics Officer at the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board, Research Knowledge and Skill Builder [Video | Slides]
• Presentation: Research Agreements – Caroline Woods, Senior Agreements Officer, Health Research Services [Video | Slides]
• Journal article: Emanuel, E. J., Wendler, D., & Grady, C. (2000). What makes clinical research ethical?. Jama, 283(20), 2701-2711.*

Additional – Working with specific populations

• Presentation: Indigenous Data Ownership – Research Data Canada Webinar
• Presentation: Research involving Indigenous Communities – Renee Corbiere, Research Huddle [Video | Slides]

Population and Sample Considerations

This section provides guidance on sample size calculation, sampling techniques and participant recruitment.

Sample size

Quantitative

• Learning module: Sample Size Considerations Module – University of British Columbia
• Learning module: R LeFebvre (2011). P Values, Statistical Significance & Clinical Significance – University of Western States

Qualitative

• Journal article: Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). To saturate or not to saturate? Questioning data saturation as a useful concept for thematic analysis and sample-size rationales. Qualitative research in sport, exercise and health, 13(2), 201-216.*
• Journal article: Saunders, B., Sim, J., Kingstone, T., Baker, S., Waterfield, J., Bartlam, B., … & Jinks, C. (2018). Saturation in qualitative research: exploring its conceptualization and operationalization. Quality & quantity, 52(4), 1893-1907.
• Journal article: Malterud, K., Siersma, V. D., & Guassora, A. D. (2016). Sample size in qualitative interview studies: guided by information power. Qualitative health research, 26(13), 1753-1760.*

Sampling techniques

Quantitative

• Journal article: Sharma, G. (2017). Pros and cons of different sampling techniques. International journal of applied research, 3(7), 749-752.
• Journal article: Campbell, M. K., Mollison, J., Steen, N., Grimshaw, J. M., & Eccles, M. (2000). Analysis of cluster randomized trials in primary care: a practical approach. Family practice, 17(2), 192-196.
• Journal article: Moberg, J., & Kramer, M. (2015). A brief history of the cluster randomised trial design. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 108(5), 192-198.
• Toolkit: Cluster Randomized Trials. NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory

Qualitative

• Journal article: Robinson, O. C. (2014). Sampling in interview-based qualitative research: A theoretical and practical guide. Qualitative research in psychology, 11(1), 25-41.*

Recruitment

• Journal article: Bower, P., Wallace, P., Ward, E., Graffy, J., Miller, J., Delaney, B., & Kinmonth, A. L. (2009). Improving recruitment to health research in primary care. Family practice, 26(5), 391-397.
• Journal article: Stuardi, T., Cox, H., & Torgerson, D. J. (2011). Database recruitment: a solution to poor recruitment in randomized trials?. Family practice, 28(3), 329-333.
• Journal article: Wilson, S., Draper, H., & Ives, J. (2008). Ethical issues regarding recruitment to research studies within the primary care consultation. Family practice, 25(6), 456-461.
• Journal article: Patel, M. X., Doku, V., & Tennakoon, L. (2003). Challenges in recruitment of research participants. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 9(3), 229-238
• Journal article: Page, S. J., & Persch, A. C. (2013). Recruitment, retention, and blinding in clinical trials. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 67(2), 154-161.*
• Presentation: Responding to Sensitive Health & Social Issues – Laura Cleghorn & Jessica Gaber, Research Knowledge and Skill Builder
• Journal article: Dunn, D. S., & Andrews, E. E. (2015). Person-first and identity-first language: Developing psychologists’ cultural competence using disability language. American Psychologist, 70(3), 255.*
• Journal article: Katz, A. S., Hardy, B. J., Firestone, M., Lofters, A., & Morton-Ninomiya, M. E. (2020). Vagueness, power and public health: use of ‘vulnerable ‘in public health literature. Critical Public Health, 30(5), 601-611.*

Specialized Methodologies

Decolonizing Research Methodologies

Decolonizing research is a process of conducting research with Indigenous communities that places Indigenous voices and epistemologies in the center of the research process. There is no fixed path for decolonizing research methodologies, publications in the section provide a broad framework for decolonizing methodologies and research paradigms

• Book: Potts, K. & Brown, L. (2015). Becoming an anti-oppressive researcher. In S Strega and L Brown, Research as resistance: Revisiting critical, Indigenous, and anti-oppressive approaches (2^nd Ed.). pp. 255-286. Canadian Scholars’ Press.
• Journal Article: Held, M. B. (2019). Decolonizing research paradigms in the context of settler colonialism: An unsettling, mutual, and collaborative effort. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18, 1609406918821574.
• Journal Article: Gerlach, A. (2018). Thinking and researching relationally: Enacting decolonizing methodologies with an indigenous early childhood program in Canada. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17(1), 1609406918776075.
• Presentation: Indigenous Ways of Knowing: How should we conduct research together? – Dr. Amy Montour, Research Knowledge  and Skill Builder [Video | Slides]

Community-Engaged Research

Type of partnership approach where individuals as patients or communities are engaged in research as members of the research team to help shape the research priorities, scope, implementation and outcomes.

• Guide: PERC Advisory Board (October 2017). Building Patient Engagement in Research: A Guide for Research Teams. A product of the INSPIRE-PHC Patient Engagement Resource Centre (PERC)
• Presentation: Principled Community Engaged Research at McMaster by C. A. Klassen, Research Knowledge and Skill Builder [Video | Slides]
• Journal Article: Israel, B. A., Schulz, A. J., Parker, E. A., & Becker, A. B. (1998). Review of community-based research: assessing partnership approaches to improve public health. Annual review of public health, 19(1), 173-202.
• Presentation: Working with the experts – involving people with lived and living experience in research by Dr. Claire Bodkin and Jammy Pierre, Research Knowledge and Skill Builder [Slides | Video | Resources]

Quality Improvement

• Presentation: QI in Primary Care — When, how, and how is it different from research? by Drs. Dale Guenter and Kathryn Cottrell [Video | Slides]

Implementation and Evaluation

• Presentation: Implementation Science in Family Medicine by Drs. Henry Siu and Dee Mangin [Video]
• Presentation: Exploring Evaluation by Ms. Rachel Harris [Slides]