When planning a research project, it's essential to be clear about why you are doing the research. What is your primary objective? Depending on your goal, your research will fall into one of three main categories based on its purpose: exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory. Understanding these types helps you design your study effectively, choose appropriate methods, and interpret your findings correctly.
Let's dive into each type.
1. Exploratory Research: Venturing into the Unknown
As the name suggests, exploratory research is used to explore a topic, problem, or phenomenon when you have limited prior knowledge or understanding. It's often the first step in a broader research journey.
Primary Goal: To gain initial insights, generate ideas, develop hypotheses for later testing, define ambiguous problems more clearly, and assess the feasibility of a more extensive study.
Key Question(s): Often starts with "What?" (e.g., "What are the potential issues here?", "What factors might be involved?").
Characteristics: Highly flexible and unstructured. Doesn't aim for conclusive results but rather opens up avenues for further investigation. Often relies on qualitative methods and smaller sample sizes.
When to Use:
When investigating a new area with little existing research.
When the research problem itself is unclear or poorly defined.
To generate initial hypotheses or research questions.
To conduct feasibility studies before committing to a larger project.
Business Examples:
Conducting initial focus groups to understand consumer reactions to a completely new product concept.
Interviewing employees to explore potential reasons behind a recent, unexplained dip in morale.
Reviewing existing literature and case studies to understand a newly emerging market trend.
2. Descriptive Research: Painting a Picture
Descriptive research aims to accurately and systematically describe the characteristics of a population, situation, or phenomenon. It focuses on the "what," "who," "where," "when," and "how" of a research problem, but not the "why."
Primary Goal: To provide a detailed snapshot or profile of subjects, events, or situations. To measure the frequency of something occurring or identify relationships between variables (though not causal ones).
Key Question(s): "What are the characteristics of X?", "Who is involved?", "Where/when does this occur?", "How does this happen?".
Characteristics: More structured and pre-planned than exploratory research. Can use quantitative methods (surveys, observational counts) or qualitative methods (detailed case studies, observations). Requires careful definition of what is being measured or described.
When to Use:
To understand the demographics or characteristics of a target market.
To measure attitudes, opinions, or behaviors within a population.
To document a process or situation as it currently exists.
To track changes or trends over time (longitudinal descriptive studies).
Business Examples:
Conducting a survey to determine the average age, income, and education level of customers buying a specific product (market segmentation).
Observing and documenting the steps involved in a customer service interaction.
Reporting the market share of different brands in a product category over the last five years.
Describing the communication patterns within a specific department.
3. Explanatory Research: Uncovering the 'Why'
Explanatory research (often called causal research) goes beyond describing phenomena or exploring ideas; it aims to explain the relationships between variables, specifically focusing on cause-and-effect.
Primary Goal: To determine why something occurs. To test hypotheses about causal relationships between variables (i.e., does variable X cause or influence variable Y?).
Key Question(s): "Why does X happen?", "What is the impact of X on Y?", "Does X cause Y?".
Characteristics: Highly structured, often building on previous exploratory and descriptive research. Typically involves hypothesis testing using quantitative methods like experiments or advanced statistical analysis of observational data. Requires careful control or accounting for variables.
When to Use:
To test whether a specific action leads to a specific outcome.
To identify the factors that cause or influence a particular phenomenon.
To understand the reasons behind an observed correlation.
Business Examples:
Conducting an experiment to determine if a price reduction (X) causes an increase in sales volume (Y).
Analyzing data to explain why employee turnover (Y) is higher in departments with a specific management style (X).
Testing whether a new training program (X) leads to improved employee performance metrics (Y).
How They Relate
These research types often build upon one another. You might start with exploratory research to understand a vague problem, follow up with descriptive research to measure key characteristics related to it, and finally conduct explanatory research to understand the underlying causes.
Comparison Table
Conclusion
Choosing the right type of research – exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory – depends entirely on your research objectives and the current state of knowledge on your topic. Exploratory research opens the door, descriptive research paints the picture, and explanatory research seeks to understand the underlying mechanics. By identifying the primary purpose of your study upfront, you set the stage for a focused, relevant, and effective research project.
