Methods Toolbox > Designing research

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Designing research

The research design process

The research design process can be summarised by this diagram.

In this section of the Toolbox:

Types of research

Within the development field, practitioners and policy-makers draw upon many different kinds of research in order to better inform their understanding of development processes and intervention design.

Selecting a unit of analysis

Should analysis take place at the level of the individual, household, community, organisation or a combination of these?

The qualitative/quantitative distinction

Whether to take a qualitative or quantitative approach to research is often presented as an either-or debate. In reality, the approaches are not only complementary, but are often two sides of the same coin.

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