An Overview of Research Study Designs in Quantitative Research Methodology

The paucity of knowledge of research study design poses challenges to the approach to current research methodologies. This study aims to highlight the various types of research study designs and their suitability for quantitative research studies. This was an exploratory essay on research designs in quantitative research methodology. The study was conducted by the literature review of similar articles on research study designs using Google Scholar, African Journal Online (AJOL), PubMed, MEDLINE and CINAHL as databases. A pair of medical subject headings (Research Design and Quantitative Research Methodology) were used as a search strategy to explore the research question in the above database. There are two arms of research designs in quantitative research study namely the experimental and non-experimental study designs. The experimental arm includes prospective (i.e., clinical trial) and diagnostic studies. In contrast, the nonexperimental arm which is predominantly an observational study is subdivided into descriptive (i.e., case series, case-control) and analytical (i.e., case-control, retrospective, cross-sectional) studies. In conclusion, the research design in quantitative research methodology is broadly classified into experimental and nonexperimental study designs. It plays a significant role in the decision-making of the data collection mechanism. It is a vital tool for the verification of the credibility of a quantitative research methodology.