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Understanding Research Methodology vs. Research Design

When conducting research, it's important to distinguish between research methodology and research design, as they serve different but complementary purposes.

🧭 Research Methodology

Research methodology refers to the overall approach and reasoning behind how a study is conducted. It includes the research philosophy (e.g., qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods), the rationale for choosing certain methods, and the procedures used for collecting and analyzing data.
In short, it answers the question:
👉 "Why and how am I conducting this research?"

For example, my project followed a mixed-methods methodology to combine both numerical data and personal insights, helping me better understand how parents interacted with the training materials and how effective the tools were.

🗂️ Research Design

Research design is the structured plan that guides the actual steps of the research. It outlines the type of study (e.g., experimental, descriptive, or correlational), how participants are selected, and how data will be collected and measured.
It answers the question:
👉 "What type of study am I conducting, and how will I carry it out?"

In my case, I used a quasi-experimental design, comparing parent outcomes before and after interacting with the online training site, without randomly assigning participants.