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Descriptive research: what it is and how to use it.

8 min read Understanding the who, what and where of a situation or target group is an essential part of effective research and making informed business decisions.

For example you might want to understand what percentage of CEOs have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Or you might want to understand what percentage of low income families receive government support – or what kind of support they receive.

Descriptive research is what will be used in these types of studies.

In this guide we’ll look through the main issues relating to descriptive research to give you a better understanding of what it is, and how and why you can use it.

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What is descriptive research?

Descriptive research is a research method used to try and determine the characteristics of a population or particular phenomenon.

Using descriptive research you can identify patterns in the characteristics of a group to essentially establish everything you need to understand apart from why something has happened.

Market researchers use descriptive research for a range of commercial purposes to guide key decisions.

For example you could use descriptive research to understand fashion trends in a given city when planning your clothing collection for the year. Using descriptive research you can conduct in depth analysis on the demographic makeup of your target area and use the data analysis to establish buying patterns.

Conducting descriptive research wouldn’t, however, tell you why shoppers are buying a particular type of fashion item.

Descriptive research design

Descriptive research design uses a range of both qualitative research and quantitative data (although quantitative research is the primary research method) to gather information to make accurate predictions about a particular problem or hypothesis.

As a survey method, descriptive research designs will help researchers identify characteristics in their target market or particular population.

These characteristics in the population sample can be identified, observed and measured to guide decisions.

Descriptive research characteristics

While there are a number of descriptive research methods you can deploy for data collection, descriptive research does have a number of predictable characteristics.

Here are a few of the things to consider:

Measure data trends with statistical outcomes

Descriptive research is often popular for survey research because it generates answers in a statistical form, which makes it easy for researchers to carry out a simple statistical analysis to interpret what the data is saying.

Descriptive research design is ideal for further research

Because the data collection for descriptive research produces statistical outcomes, it can also be used as secondary data for another research study.

Plus, the data collected from descriptive research can be subjected to other types of data analysis .

Uncontrolled variables

A key component of the descriptive research method is that it uses random variables that are not controlled by the researchers. This is because descriptive research aims to understand the natural behavior of the research subject.

It’s carried out in a natural environment

Descriptive research is often carried out in a natural environment. This is because researchers aim to gather data in a natural setting to avoid swaying respondents.

Data can be gathered using survey questions or online surveys.

For example, if you want to understand the fashion trends we mentioned earlier, you would set up a study in which a researcher observes people in the respondent’s natural environment to understand their habits and preferences.

Descriptive research allows for cross sectional study

Because of the nature of descriptive research design and the randomness of the sample group being observed, descriptive research is ideal for cross sectional studies – essentially the demographics of the group can vary widely and your aim is to gain insights from within the group.

This can be highly beneficial when you’re looking to understand the behaviors or preferences of a wider population.

Descriptive research advantages

There are many advantages to using descriptive research, some of them include:

Cost effectiveness

Because the elements needed for descriptive research design are not specific or highly targeted (and occur within the respondent’s natural environment) this type of study is relatively cheap to carry out.

Multiple types of data can be collected

A big advantage of this research type, is that you can use it to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. This means you can use the stats gathered to easily identify underlying patterns in your respondents’ behavior.

Descriptive research disadvantages

Potential reliability issues.

When conducting descriptive research it’s important that the initial survey questions are properly formulated.

If not, it could make the answers unreliable and risk the credibility of your study.

Potential limitations

As we’ve mentioned, descriptive research design is ideal for understanding the what, who or where of a situation or phenomenon.

However, it can’t help you understand the cause or effect of the behavior. This means you’ll need to conduct further research to get a more complete picture of a situation.

Descriptive research methods

Because descriptive research methods include a range of quantitative and qualitative research, there are several research methods you can use.

Use case studies

Case studies in descriptive research involve conducting in-depth and detailed studies in which researchers get a specific person or case to answer questions.

Case studies shouldn’t be used to generate results, rather it should be used to build or establish hypothesis that you can expand into further market research .

For example you could gather detailed data about a specific business phenomenon, and then use this deeper understanding of that specific case.

Use observational methods

This type of study uses qualitative observations to understand human behavior within a particular group.

By understanding how the different demographics respond within your sample you can identify patterns and trends.

As an observational method, descriptive research will not tell you the cause of any particular behaviors, but that could be established with further research.

Use survey research

Surveys are one of the most cost effective ways to gather descriptive data.

An online survey or questionnaire can be used in descriptive studies to gather quantitative information about a particular problem.

Survey research is ideal if you’re using descriptive research as your primary research.

Descriptive research examples

Descriptive research is used for a number of commercial purposes or when organizations need to understand the behaviors or opinions of a population.

One of the biggest examples of descriptive research that is used in every democratic country, is during elections.

Using descriptive research, researchers will use surveys to understand who voters are more likely to choose out of the parties or candidates available.

Using the data provided, researchers can analyze the data to understand what the election result will be.

In a commercial setting, retailers often use descriptive research to figure out trends in shopping and buying decisions.

By gathering information on the habits of shoppers, retailers can get a better understanding of the purchases being made.

Another example that is widely used around the world, is the national census that takes place to understand the population.

The research will provide a more accurate picture of a population’s demographic makeup and help to understand changes over time in areas like population age, health and education level.

Where Qualtrics helps with descriptive research

Whatever type of research you want to carry out, there’s a survey type that will work.

Qualtrics can help you determine the appropriate method and ensure you design a study that will deliver the insights you need.

Our experts can help you with your market research needs , ensuring you get the most out of Qualtrics market research software to design, launch and analyze your data to guide better, more accurate decisions for your organization.

Related resources

Market intelligence 10 min read, marketing insights 11 min read, ethnographic research 11 min read, qualitative vs quantitative research 13 min read, qualitative research questions 11 min read, qualitative research design 12 min read, primary vs secondary research 14 min read, request demo.

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Home Market Research

Descriptive Research: Definition, Characteristics, Methods + Examples

Suppose an apparel brand wants to understand the fashion purchasing trends among New York’s buyers, then it must conduct a demographic survey of the specific region, gather population data, and then conduct descriptive research on this demographic segment.

The study will then uncover details on “what is the purchasing pattern of New York buyers,” but will not cover any investigative information about “ why ” the patterns exist. Because for the apparel brand trying to break into this market, understanding the nature of their market is the study’s main goal. Let’s talk about it.

What is descriptive research?

Descriptive research is a research method describing the characteristics of the population or phenomenon studied. This descriptive methodology focuses more on the “what” of the research subject than the “why” of the research subject.

The method primarily focuses on describing the nature of a demographic segment without focusing on “why” a particular phenomenon occurs. In other words, it “describes” the research subject without covering “why” it happens.

Characteristics of descriptive research

The term descriptive research then refers to research questions, the design of the study, and data analysis conducted on that topic. We call it an observational research method because none of the research study variables are influenced in any capacity.

Some distinctive characteristics of descriptive research are:

• Quantitative research: It is a quantitative research method that attempts to collect quantifiable information for statistical analysis of the population sample. It is a popular market research tool that allows us to collect and describe the demographic segment’s nature.
• Uncontrolled variables: In it, none of the variables are influenced in any way. This uses observational methods to conduct the research. Hence, the nature of the variables or their behavior is not in the hands of the researcher.
• Cross-sectional studies: It is generally a cross-sectional study where different sections belonging to the same group are studied.
• The basis for further research: Researchers further research the data collected and analyzed from descriptive research using different research techniques. The data can also help point towards the types of research methods used for the subsequent research.

Applications of descriptive research with examples

A descriptive research method can be used in multiple ways and for various reasons. Before getting into any survey , though, the survey goals and survey design are crucial. Despite following these steps, there is no way to know if one will meet the research outcome. How to use descriptive research? To understand the end objective of research goals, below are some ways organizations currently use descriptive research today:

• Define respondent characteristics: The aim of using close-ended questions is to draw concrete conclusions about the respondents. This could be the need to derive patterns, traits, and behaviors of the respondents. It could also be to understand from a respondent their attitude, or opinion about the phenomenon. For example, understand millennials and the hours per week they spend browsing the internet. All this information helps the organization researching to make informed business decisions.
• Measure data trends: Researchers measure data trends over time with a descriptive research design’s statistical capabilities. Consider if an apparel company researches different demographics like age groups from 24-35 and 36-45 on a new range launch of autumn wear. If one of those groups doesn’t take too well to the new launch, it provides insight into what clothes are like and what is not. The brand drops the clothes and apparel that customers don’t like.
• Conduct comparisons: Organizations also use a descriptive research design to understand how different groups respond to a specific product or service. For example, an apparel brand creates a survey asking general questions that measure the brand’s image. The same study also asks demographic questions like age, income, gender, geographical location, geographic segmentation , etc. This consumer research helps the organization understand what aspects of the brand appeal to the population and what aspects do not. It also helps make product or marketing fixes or even create a new product line to cater to high-growth potential groups.
• Validate existing conditions: Researchers widely use descriptive research to help ascertain the research object’s prevailing conditions and underlying patterns. Due to the non-invasive research method and the use of quantitative observation and some aspects of qualitative observation , researchers observe each variable and conduct an in-depth analysis . Researchers also use it to validate any existing conditions that may be prevalent in a population.
• Conduct research at different times: The analysis can be conducted at different periods to ascertain any similarities or differences. This also allows any number of variables to be evaluated. For verification, studies on prevailing conditions can also be repeated to draw trends.

Advantages of descriptive research

Some of the significant advantages of descriptive research are:

• Data collection: A researcher can conduct descriptive research using specific methods like observational method, case study method, and survey method. Between these three, all primary data collection methods are covered, which provides a lot of information. This can be used for future research or even for developing a hypothesis for your research object.
• Varied: Since the data collected is qualitative and quantitative, it gives a holistic understanding of a research topic. The information is varied, diverse, and thorough.
• Natural environment: Descriptive research allows for the research to be conducted in the respondent’s natural environment, which ensures that high-quality and honest data is collected.
• Quick to perform and cheap: As the sample size is generally large in descriptive research, the data collection is quick to conduct and is inexpensive.

Descriptive research methods

There are three distinctive methods to conduct descriptive research. They are:

Observational method

The observational method is the most effective method to conduct this research, and researchers make use of both quantitative and qualitative observations.

A quantitative observation is the objective collection of data primarily focused on numbers and values. It suggests “associated with, of or depicted in terms of a quantity.” Results of quantitative observation are derived using statistical and numerical analysis methods. It implies observation of any entity associated with a numeric value such as age, shape, weight, volume, scale, etc. For example, the researcher can track if current customers will refer the brand using a simple Net Promoter Score question .

Qualitative observation doesn’t involve measurements or numbers but instead just monitoring characteristics. In this case, the researcher observes the respondents from a distance. Since the respondents are in a comfortable environment, the characteristics observed are natural and effective. In a descriptive research design, the researcher can choose to be either a complete observer, an observer as a participant, a participant as an observer, or a full participant. For example, in a supermarket, a researcher can from afar monitor and track the customers’ selection and purchasing trends. This offers a more in-depth insight into the purchasing experience of the customer.

Case study method

Case studies involve in-depth research and study of individuals or groups. Case studies lead to a hypothesis and widen a further scope of studying a phenomenon. However, case studies should not be used to determine cause and effect as they can’t make accurate predictions because there could be a bias on the researcher’s part. The other reason why case studies are not a reliable way of conducting descriptive research is that there could be an atypical respondent in the survey. Describing them leads to weak generalizations and moving away from external validity.

Survey research

In survey research, respondents answer through surveys or questionnaires or polls . They are a popular market research tool to collect feedback from respondents. A study to gather useful data should have the right survey questions. It should be a balanced mix of open-ended questions and close ended-questions . The survey method can be conducted online or offline, making it the go-to option for descriptive research where the sample size is enormous.

Examples of descriptive research

Some examples of descriptive research are:

• A specialty food group launching a new range of barbecue rubs would like to understand what flavors of rubs are favored by different people. To understand the preferred flavor palette, they conduct this type of research study using various methods like observational methods in supermarkets. By also surveying while collecting in-depth demographic information, offers insights about the preference of different markets. This can also help tailor make the rubs and spreads to various preferred meats in that demographic. Conducting this type of research helps the organization tweak their business model and amplify marketing in core markets.
• Another example of where this research can be used is if a school district wishes to evaluate teachers’ attitudes about using technology in the classroom. By conducting surveys and observing their comfortableness using technology through observational methods, the researcher can gauge what they can help understand if a full-fledged implementation can face an issue. This also helps in understanding if the students are impacted in any way with this change.

Some other research problems and research questions that can lead to descriptive research are:

• Market researchers want to observe the habits of consumers.
• A company wants to evaluate the morale of its staff.
• A school district wants to understand if students will access online lessons rather than textbooks.
• To understand if its wellness questionnaire programs enhance the overall health of the employees.

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Descriptive Research – Characteristics, Methods, Examples, Advantages

June 12, 2023 | By Hitesh Bhasin | Filed Under: Marketing

Descriptive research is a type of research that provides an in-depth description of the phenomenon or population under study. Descriptive research is neither in the category of qualitative research nor in the class of quantitative research, but it uses the features of both types of research.

Descriptive research emphasizes what kind of question to be asked in the research study. The descriptive research provides the answer to the “what” part of a research and does not answer the questions why/when/how.

Descriptive research is a suitable choice if you want to learn about the trends of a particular field or the frequency of an event. This research is also an appropriate option when you do not have any information about the research problem, and primary information gathering is required to establish a hypothesis. In this article, you will learn about the characteristics, methods, examples, advantages, and disadvantages of descriptive research.

Table of Contents

Characteristics of Descriptive Research

1. Statistical Outcome

Descriptive research answers the “what” questions in statistical form. As the output is in emphasizes form, it is easy for the researcher to deduce results and implement them. Because of this characteristic of descriptive research, it is popularly used in market researches.

2. The basis for secondary research

The results obtained from descriptive research is in statistical form. Therefore, it can also be used as secondary data for similar research problems. In addition to this, different research techniques can be applied to the data for the analysis of various factors of the research problem.

3. Unrestrained variable

Random variables are used in descriptive research. Therefore, it is not in the hands of researchers to control the variables of descriptive research. In descriptive research, the natural behavior of participants is observed to learn about them.

4. Natural setting

Descriptive researches are usually conducted in natural settings. For example, you can distribute questionnaires of surveys among random people, or in an observational method, you can observe the behavior of people in a particular environment. For example, if you want to learn about the buying behavior of people, then you can go to a supermarket and observe people.

5. Cross-sectional study

In descriptive research, different aspects of a single group are studied and compared to gain a different insight into the group.

Methods of Descriptive Research

There are three methods of descriptive research

1. Case study method

The case study method refers to the in-depth and detailed study of the subject, person or case, which is to be studied. A case study involves a formal research method to carry out the research. Using the outcomes obtained from the case study research hypothesis can be established, which can be used to expand the horizons of research.

However, case study research is not suitable to determine the relationship between cause and effect as it does not provide accurate results. Moreover, the outcome of the case study method is relevant to that particular case and similar cases and can’t be generalised. Case studies are focused on interesting and unusual cases that are complex and challenging and provide additional information about a particular case.

For example, in a medical case study, researchers study a rare medical case to get more knowledge about the medical case. Similarly, case study methods are used by scientists to learn about unusual phenomenon.

2. Observational Method

Observational research is a type of non- experimental research . Observational research can be defined as a type of research where the researcher observes the ongoing behaviors of the subject being studied. Observational research is majorly used in the marketing and social science fields. In observational research, the researcher finds the actions of subjects under study in their natural setting.

Observational methods are different from experimental research methods because, in experimental research methods, an artificial environment is created for the subjects under study. An observational study can be of two types, naturalistic observation or participant observation. A naturalistic observation study means the study of subjects when they are at their natural behavior.

In participant observation, people being observed in the research study are aware of the observation. They are asked to take part in the observation study. Observational research methods are suitable for studying the behavior of subjects under the study. However, this research is incapable of providing information about the actual cause of the behaviours of subjects under study.

3. Survey Research

Survey research is one of the most popular and easy forms of research to obtain information or to collect data. A questionnaire is prepared to contain questions related to the research problem either on paper or in any digital format. These questionnaires are distributed among random people in the hope of getting their accurate opinion.

The survey research method is popularly used in University researches and business researches. Survey research is also called primary research and can be used with other research methods to obtain accurate outcomes.

Moreover, data collected from survey research can be used as secondary research data by other researchers.

Examples of descriptive research

Let us take the case of a sports clothing brand . The sports brand wants to set up a business in selling gym gears. They want to know about in detail about the kind of clothes people want to wear while exercising in the gym. To get in-depth information about the preference of people, they adopted two descriptive methods one is naturalistic observation, and the other is a survey.

In naturalistic observation, they started observing people at different gyms and silently learn about the kind of clothes they prefer to wear. To know more about their choices, they conducted a survey and distributed questionnaire containing questions like How much would they like to spend on a sports track pant?

What color of gym gear do they prefer to wear while working out? Answer to these questions will provide them the knowledge that was difficult to obtain through observing.

A restaurant planned to start to serve continental food to its customers. Therefore, to learn about the choice of people in flavor and taste, they an observation method to learn about what kind of spreads, herbs, and meat preferred by people.

Here is a video by Marketing91 on Descriptive Research.

Advantages of descriptive research

• Data collected from descriptive research is helpful in important decision-making because the data is obtained from a large population. Because using the descriptive survey method, statistical information can be obtained, and analysis of that data can be made to deduce desired results.
• A variety of data can be obtained using different descriptive research methods like surveys, observation, and vase study. These three research methods provide different type of data which can be used to analysis for a research problem. For example, using the case study research method can be used to develop a hypothesis about a research problem.
• One advantage of descriptive research over other research methods is that it is cheap and quick to conduct descriptive research. You don’t require having a great place dedicated only to research. Descriptive research like observation research can be held in natural settings, and you can distribute surveys to people online or get them answered by random people at your business place or other public places.
• Descriptive research provides both quantitative and qualitative data. The variety of data provides a holistic understanding of the research problem.
• Descriptive research can be conducted in natural settings. There is no need to have a designated space to conduct research using any of the descriptive research methods.

Disadvantages of descriptive research

• Descriptive methods only provide the answers for “what” and do not answer the why and how. Therefore, descriptive research methods are not suitable for determining cause and effect relationships.
• Descriptive methods mainly depend on the responses of people. There are chances that people might not act their true selves if they know they are being observed. In the case of the survey method, there are chances that some people don’t answer the questions honestly, which makes the output of the descriptive research study invalid. Because the results derived from this type of data will not be accurate.
• Another problem associated with descriptive research is the halo effect. A researcher might get partial if he knows the participant personally. The observations made in this way would be considered invalid.
• In descriptive research methods, participants are picked randomly. The randomness of the sample can’t represent the whole population accurately.

Liked this post? Check out the complete series on Market research

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• Field Research – Reasons And Methods
• Research Methodology – Overview, Types and Methods
• What is Research Design? Type of Research Designs
• How to Write Research Proposal? Research Proposal Format
• 7 Key Differences between Research Method and Research Methodology
• Qualitative Research: Meaning, and Features of Qualitative Research
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• What is Advertising? Advertising Methods and Advantages
• 11 Characteristics of Qualitative Research

About Hitesh Bhasin

Hitesh Bhasin is the CEO of Marketing91 and has over a decade of experience in the marketing field. He is an accomplished author of thousands of insightful articles, including in-depth analyses of brands and companies. Holding an MBA in Marketing, Hitesh manages several offline ventures, where he applies all the concepts of Marketing that he writes about.

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How to Uncover Insights: Descriptive Marketing Research

If you’re tired of shooting in the dark to understand your target audience, say goodbye to guesswork and hello to descriptive marketing research!

Picture this.

Imagine having access to a crystal-clear lens that shows you the deepest insights about your customers, their preferences, etc.

With descriptive marketing research, you can unlock the hidden treasures of insights and gain a competitive edge.

No more wasting resources on ineffective campaigns. Or even blindly chasing trends and patterns.

Descriptive marketing research empowers you to make informed decisions based on data.

By diving deep into the minds of your customers, you can tailor your marketing strategies to resonate with their needs. You’ll be able to anticipate their needs, create irresistible offers, and deliver personalized experiences.

Here’s the twist.

Descriptive marketing research isn’t just about numbers and statistics.

Yes, you read that right.

It’s about understanding the human behavior behind the data. More so, it’s about crafting compelling stories that capture hearts and forging genuine connections.

In this blog, you’ll learn the following:

What is Descriptive Marketing Research?

What are the characteristics of descriptive marketing research, what are the advantages of descriptive marketing research, methods of descriptive marketing research, how to design a survey for descriptive marketing research, how to analyze descriptive survey results.

Before diving into the blog’s core, we’ll address the following question: What is descriptive marketing research?

Have you ever wondered how businesses gather valuable insights about their customers?

This is where descriptive marketing research comes into play.

Descriptive marketing research is a powerful tool that helps you uncover the who, what, when, and where of your target consumer’s behavior .

In other words, it’s a method you can use to analyze data to gain in-depth insights into buying patterns and market trends.

By examining a large sample of people, this research approach enables you to paint a detailed picture of your target market.

With descriptive marketing research, you can explore various aspects such as demographics, psychographics, and purchasing behaviors.

It lets you identify key customer segments, understand their needs and motivations, and make data-driven decisions .

This research method relies on collecting and analyzing data from diverse sources, including surveys, interviews, observation, etc.

Through careful examination and analysis of this data, you can uncover valuable insights.

Unlike other research approaches, descriptive marketing research is purely observational.

In other words, you don’t influence variables in your study. You just watch behaviors.

Check out some of the distinctive characteristics of descriptive marketing research:

Quantitative research

Descriptive marketing research primarily focuses on collecting data for further analysis.

By gathering data from a representative sample, you can describe the nature of a specific demographic segment. This quantitative approach provides actionable numerical insights.

Uncontrolled variables

In descriptive marketing research, you maintain a hands-off approach toward the variables.

The approach relies on observational methods, allowing variables to behave naturally without any interference. And it ensures an unbiased representation of the subject under investigation.

Cross-sectional studies

It means studying different sections or segments belonging to the same group simultaneously.

It provides a snapshot of your target audience at a specific point in time.

The basis for further research

The data you collect and analyze through descriptive research becomes the foundation for further exploration.

You can use this data to delve deeper into the subject matter using various research techniques.

Let’s dive into some of the key benefits of the research method.

Provides a comprehensive understanding

Descriptive marketing research gives you a comprehensive understanding of market dynamics, consumer behavior, and preferences.

Armed with this knowledge, you can make informed decisions that align with your target audience.

Supports data-driven decision-making

With descriptive research, you can access empirical data and valuable insights.

This enables data-driven decision-making across various aspects of marketing, such as product development, pricing strategies, customer targeting, etc.

Identifies market trends and patterns

Descriptive research enables you to identify emerging market trends and patterns.

By staying ahead of the curve, you can adapt your strategies, ensuring you’re always aligned with evolving consumer behavior.

Benchmarks performance

By collecting data on customer satisfaction, brand perception, and other metrics, descriptive research allows you to benchmark your performance against competitors and industry standards.

This helps you gauge your position in the market and identify areas for improvement.

Assists in market segmentation

Descriptive research plays a crucial role in market segmentation.

By analyzing demographic, psychographic, or behavioral characteristics, you can identify and target specific market segments. This paves the way for personalized and effective marketing strategies.

Evaluates marketing campaigns

You can assess the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns using descriptive research.

It lets you measure brand awareness, evaluate customer response to promotional activities, and make data-backed adjustments to optimize your campaigns.

Provides a foundation for further research

Descriptive research provides a foundation for more in-depth and exploratory studies.

It provides initial insights and hypotheses you can test and explore further using additional research methods.

Let’s explore descriptive marketing research methods and understand their unique characteristics:

Observational Method

This is a powerful approach to conducting descriptive research

And this is because it combines both quantitative and qualitative observations .

Quantitative observation focuses on numbers and values.

It provides insights into numerical aspects, such as age, weight, volume, etc. You can analyze this data using charts like the Net Promoter Score.

Conversely, qualitative observation doesn’t involve numbers but focuses on monitoring characteristics.

It entails observing your respondents from a distance in a natural environment. This method allows for a deeper understanding of your subject’s behavior.

In a descriptive research design , you become an observer.

Case Study Method

This method entails in-depth research and study of the target individuals or groups.

Here, you form hypotheses and expand the scope for studying a phenomenon.

Survey Research

This involves gathering data through surveys, questionnaires, or polls.

Surveys are a popular market research tool for collecting feedback from your target respondents. A well-designed survey includes a balanced mix of open-ended and closed-ended questions.

You can conduct surveys online or offline, making it the go-to option for descriptive marketing research, especially when dealing with large sample sizes.

Designing a survey for descriptive marketing research requires careful planning.

To ensure the success of your survey, follow the essential steps below

Define the research goals

Clearly define the objectives of your research. Determine the specific information you aim to gather and the insights to gain.

Decide on the research method

Choose the most suitable research method for your descriptive marketing research.

This could be online surveys, paper-based questionnaires, etc, depending on the nature of your target audience.

Define the sample population

Identify your target audience. Consider demographics, such as age, gender, location, or other relevant criteria, to ensure full representation.

Design your questionnaire

Create a well-structured questionnaire that aligns with your descriptive marketing research goals.

Keep the questions clear, concise, and easy to understand.

Write specific questions

Formulate questions that reflect your overall goals.

Use a mix of closed-ended questions and open-ended questions to capture both quantitative and qualitative data.

Distribute the questionnaire

Choose the most appropriate method for distributing your descriptive marketing research survey to your target audience.

This could include email invitations, posting on social media, or distributing paper surveys in person or via mail.

Congratulations on successfully learning how to uncover insights using descriptive marketing research.

Now, it’s time to unlock the true potential of your survey data by analyzing it.

While tools like Excel help organize data, they lack consumer research survey-specific charts, like Likert Scale Chart.

Don’t worry.

There’s an exciting solution that can take your descriptive marketing research survey data analysis to a whole new level. It’s called ChartExpo.

ChartExpo is a powerful Excel add-in that will revolutionize how you analyze your best survey questions.

With its user-friendly interface and a wide range of descriptive research survey-based charts, ChartExpo effortlessly transforms survey responses into actionable insights.

You don’t need to be a programming genius to use ChartExpo’s features.

One of ChartExpo’s standout features is the Likert Scale Chart. This chart acts as a magnifying glass, allowing you to dive deep into your survey data for hidden insights.

Try ChartExpo’s free 7-day trial and experience its full potential

How to Install ChartExpo in Excel

Let’s imagine you run an online business. You want to know whether your customers are satisfied with your products.

You’ve organized a survey to gather feedback from your customers and you’ve used the sample questions below:

• To what extent do you agree that our product meets your quality expectations?
• Do you agree that our product offers value in relation to its price?
• Would you be inclined to recommend our product to others?

Let’s further imagine you’ll use the following answer options in your descriptive marketing research survey format.

• Strongly Disagree=1
• Neither agree nor disagree=3
• Strongly Agree=5

In the coming section, we’ll use ChartExpo, and sample data to demonstrate how you can leverage a Likert Scale Chart to visualize your descriptive marketing research survey data for insights.

Before we dive into this, we’ll show you how to install ChartExpo in Excel.

To get started with ChartExpo in Excel, follow the steps below:

• Open your Microsoft Excel.
• Open the worksheet and click the Insert button to access the  My Apps

• Click the Insert button to initiate the ChartExpo engine.

• Click the Search box and type “Likert Scale Chart.”

• Highlight your data and click the Create Chart From Selection button, as shown below.

• Use the multiple-choice responses you deployed in your survey to gather responses to map your Likert Scale Chart.
• In our case we’ll use the following multiple-choice responses:

• Click the Create Chart button, as shown above.

• To add the chart header, click the Edit Chart.
• Once the Chart Header Properties window shows, fill in your header in Line 1, as shown.

• Toggle the small button below Line 2 to the right side to activate the header.
• Click the Apply button, as shown above.

• To edit the legend properties, click the pencil-like icon on the X-axis.
• Once the Legend Properties window shows, fill in your legend below the Text
• Click the Apply All button, as shown above.
• Click the Save Changes button to preserve all the changes.
• Check out the final Likert Scale chart below.

• Among the customers surveyed, 50% agreed to recommend our product to others. On the other hand, 40% did not agree, and 10% remained neutral.
• When it comes to our product price, 55% of customers agreed with it. However, 25% did not agree, and 20% chose not to answer this question.
• Regarding the quality of our product, 55% of customers agreed that it meets their expectations. Surprisingly, 45% did not agree.
• When asked about their overall response to the survey questions, 53% of customers provided a positive response, 36% gave a negative response, and 10% remained neutral.

What are the different types of descriptive surveys?

The different types of descriptive surveys are, namely, cross-sectional surveys, longitudinal surveys, correlational surveys, and retrospective surveys.

Each type focuses on different aspects of data collection and analysis, allowing you to gather insights about a specific population.

What is the aim of the descriptive survey?

The aim of a descriptive survey is to gather accurate and comprehensive insights into a specific population.

It focuses on describing and documenting characteristics, behaviors, attitudes, and other relevant factors to provide a clear understanding of your target market.

In conclusion, descriptive marketing research plays a vital role in understanding your customers’ behavior, market trends, and preferences.

Through methods such as surveys, observations, and case studies, you can gather valuable insights that drive your marketing strategies and decision-making processes.

With ChartExpo, a powerful tool designed to enhance data visualization, you can take your descriptive marketing research to the next level.

By transforming complex data into visually appealing and easily understandable charts, ChartExpo empowers you to communicate your findings effectively and make impactful presentations.

The benefits of leveraging descriptive marketing research and tools like ChartExpo are immense. you gain a comprehensive understanding of your target audience, identify market trends, benchmark performance, and create personalized marketing strategies.

By utilizing the insights derived from descriptive marketing research, you can streamline your workflow, increase efficiency, and make data-driven decisions that propel them ahead of the competition.

Try ChartExpo now and unlock the potential of your data.

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Descriptive Research Design – Overview

Published 16 October, 2023

Descriptive research is an observational method that focuses on identifying patterns in data without making inferences about cause and effect relationships between variables. The purpose of this blog post is to provide a brief description of descriptive research design including its advantages and disadvantages and methods of conducting descriptive research.

What is Descriptive Research?

Descriptive research is a process of systematically describing and analyzing something’s features, properties or characteristics. Descriptive research provides numerical descriptions that identify what the thing being studied looks like in terms of its size, location, and frequency.

This type of research will help you in defining the characteristics of the population on which you have performed the study. A descriptive research design enables you to develop an in-depth understanding of the topic or subjects.  In such a type of investigation, you can’t have control over variables.

By performing descriptive research, you will be able to study participants in a natural setting. Descriptive research basically includes describing the behavior of people to whom you have select as a participant in the research process .

In addition to this , descriptive research also allows you to describe the other various aspects of your investigation.  An important feature is that you can employ different types of variables but you only need a single variable for performing the descriptive investigation. It is a type of study which includes observation as a technique for gathering facts about the study. You can perform descriptive research for analyzing the relationship between two different variables.

For example, A company whose sale of specific products such as home decor products is going down. Management, in order to analyze the reason for the same, needs to conduct descriptive research. Survey Research is the data collection technique that a research team in an organization can use for collecting the view of people about the decline in the sale of home décor products.

When to Use Descriptive Research Design

Descriptive research is suitable when the aim of the study is to identify characteristics, frequencies, trends, categories, and the behavior of people.

In addition to this, the descriptive research design is appropriate to use when you don’t have much knowledge about the research topics or problems.

This type of study can be used before you start researching why something happens so that we have an idea on how it occurs, where are most likely places this will happen at and who might experience these things more often than others.

Advantages of Descriptive Research

• One of the biggest advantages of descriptive research is that it allows you to analyze facts and helps you in developing an in-depth understanding of the research problem .
• Another benefit of descriptive research is that it enables you to determine the behavior of people in a natural setting.
• In such a type of investigation, you can utilize both qualitative and quantitative research methods for gathering facts.
• Descriptive research is cost-effective and quick. It can also be used for many different purposes, which makes it a very versatile method of gathering data.
• You need less time for performing such types of research .
• With descriptive research, you can get rich data that’s great for future studies. Use it to develop hypotheses or your research objective too!

Disadvantages of Descriptive Research

• The biggest disadvantage of descriptive research is that you cannot use statistical tools or techniques for verifying problems.
• Respondents can be affected by the presence of an observer and may engage in pretending. This is called the “observer effect.” In some cases, respondents are less likely to give accurate responses if they feel that a question will assess intimate matters.
• There are high chances of biases in the research findings .
• Due to the observational nature, it is quite difficult to repeat the research process .
• By performing descriptive research you can find the root cause of the problem.

Methods of Descriptive Research Design

You can utilize both Qualitative and Quantitative methods for performing descriptive research. It is very much essential for you to make the choice of a suitable research design for investigation as the reliability and validity of the research outcomes are completely based on it. There are three different methods that you can use in descriptive research are:

It is the method that includes a detailed description of the subject or topic. The survey is the method by utilizing which you can collect a huge volume of facts about the topic or subject.

You can use a survey technique for directly accumulating information about the perception of people about the topic. The methods which can be applied for performing a survey in descriptive research are questionnaires, telephonic and personal interviews . In descriptive studies, generally, open-ended questions are included in a questionnaire.

2. Observation

It is basically a technique that the researcher utilities for observing and recording participants. By utilizing this technique you can easily view the subject in a natural setting.

Observations are a way of gathering data that can be used to understand how people act in real-life situations. These observations give researchers the opportunity to see behaviors and phenomena without having them rely on honesty or accuracy from respondents, which is often useful for psychologists, social scientists, and market research companies. Furthermore, observations play an important role in understanding things such as physical entities before developing models hypotheses, or theories – because they provide systematic descriptions of what’s being investigated

For example, an investigation is performed for gathering information about the buying decision-making procedure by customers. The investigator for collecting the facts about the topic has observed people in shopping malls while they are making the purchase of specific products or services. By using the observation technique you can ensure the accuracy and honesty in the information provided by respondents.

3. Case study

You can use the case study methods in research for gathering an in-depth understanding of specific phenomena. It is the method that would enable you to study the situation which takes place rarely

Case studies are a great way to provide detailed information about an individual (such as yourself), group, event, or organization. Instead of gathering data across time and space in order to identify patterns, case studies gather extensive detailed data to identify the characteristics of a narrowly defined subject.

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What is Descriptive Research? Definition, Methods, Types and Examples

Descriptive research is a methodological approach that seeks to depict the characteristics of a phenomenon or subject under investigation. In scientific inquiry, it serves as a foundational tool for researchers aiming to observe, record, and analyze the intricate details of a particular topic. This method provides a rich and detailed account that aids in understanding, categorizing, and interpreting the subject matter.

Descriptive research design is widely employed across diverse fields, and its primary objective is to systematically observe and document all variables and conditions influencing the phenomenon.

After this descriptive research definition, let’s look at this example. Consider a researcher working on climate change adaptation, who wants to understand water management trends in an arid village in a specific study area. She must conduct a demographic survey of the region, gather population data, and then conduct descriptive research on this demographic segment. The study will then uncover details on “what are the water management practices and trends in village X.” Note, however, that it will not cover any investigative information about “why” the patterns exist.

Table of Contents

What is descriptive research?

If you’ve been wondering “What is descriptive research,” we’ve got you covered in this post! In a nutshell, descriptive research is an exploratory research method that helps a researcher describe a population, circumstance, or phenomenon. It can help answer what , where , when and how questions, but not why questions. In other words, it does not involve changing the study variables and does not seek to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

Importance of descriptive research

Now, let’s delve into the importance of descriptive research. This research method acts as the cornerstone for various academic and applied disciplines. Its primary significance lies in its ability to provide a comprehensive overview of a phenomenon, enabling researchers to gain a nuanced understanding of the variables at play. This method aids in forming hypotheses, generating insights, and laying the groundwork for further in-depth investigations. The following points further illustrate its importance:

Provides insights into a population or phenomenon: Descriptive research furnishes a comprehensive overview of the characteristics and behaviors of a specific population or phenomenon, thereby guiding and shaping the research project.

Offers baseline data: The data acquired through this type of research acts as a reference for subsequent investigations, laying the groundwork for further studies.

Allows validation of sampling methods: Descriptive research validates sampling methods, aiding in the selection of the most effective approach for the study.

Helps reduce time and costs: It is cost-effective and time-efficient, making this an economical means of gathering information about a specific population or phenomenon.

Ensures replicability: Descriptive research is easily replicable, ensuring a reliable way to collect and compare information from various sources.

When to use descriptive research design?

Determining when to use descriptive research depends on the nature of the research question. Before diving into the reasons behind an occurrence, understanding the how, when, and where aspects is essential. Descriptive research design is a suitable option when the research objective is to discern characteristics, frequencies, trends, and categories without manipulating variables. It is therefore often employed in the initial stages of a study before progressing to more complex research designs. To put it in another way, descriptive research precedes the hypotheses of explanatory research. It is particularly valuable when there is limited existing knowledge about the subject.

Some examples are as follows, highlighting that these questions would arise before a clear outline of the research plan is established:

• In the last two decades, what changes have occurred in patterns of urban gardening in Mumbai?
• What are the differences in climate change perceptions of farmers in coastal versus inland villages in the Philippines?

Characteristics of descriptive research

Coming to the characteristics of descriptive research, this approach is characterized by its focus on observing and documenting the features of a subject. Specific characteristics are as below.

• Quantitative nature: Some descriptive research types involve quantitative research methods to gather quantifiable information for statistical analysis of the population sample.
• Qualitative nature: Some descriptive research examples include those using the qualitative research method to describe or explain the research problem.
• Observational nature: This approach is non-invasive and observational because the study variables remain untouched. Researchers merely observe and report, without introducing interventions that could impact the subject(s).
• Cross-sectional nature: In descriptive research, different sections belonging to the same group are studied, providing a “snapshot” of sorts.
• Springboard for further research: The data collected are further studied and analyzed using different research techniques. This approach helps guide the suitable research methods to be employed.

Types of descriptive research

There are various descriptive research types, each suited to different research objectives. Take a look at the different types below.

• Surveys: This involves collecting data through questionnaires or interviews to gather qualitative and quantitative data.
• Observational studies: This involves observing and collecting data on a particular population or phenomenon without influencing the study variables or manipulating the conditions. These may be further divided into cohort studies, case studies, and cross-sectional studies:
• Cohort studies: Also known as longitudinal studies, these studies involve the collection of data over an extended period, allowing researchers to track changes and trends.
• Case studies: These deal with a single individual, group, or event, which might be rare or unusual.
• Cross-sectional studies : A researcher collects data at a single point in time, in order to obtain a snapshot of a specific moment.
• Focus groups: In this approach, a small group of people are brought together to discuss a topic. The researcher moderates and records the group discussion. This can also be considered a “participatory” observational method.
• Descriptive classification: Relevant to the biological sciences, this type of approach may be used to classify living organisms.

Descriptive research methods

Several descriptive research methods can be employed, and these are more or less similar to the types of approaches mentioned above.

• Surveys: This method involves the collection of data through questionnaires or interviews. Surveys may be done online or offline, and the target subjects might be hyper-local, regional, or global.
• Observational studies: These entail the direct observation of subjects in their natural environment. These include case studies, dealing with a single case or individual, as well as cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, for a glimpse into a population or changes in trends over time, respectively. Participatory observational studies such as focus group discussions may also fall under this method.

Researchers must carefully consider descriptive research methods, types, and examples to harness their full potential in contributing to scientific knowledge.

Examples of descriptive research

Now, let’s consider some descriptive research examples.

• In social sciences, an example could be a study analyzing the demographics of a specific community to understand its socio-economic characteristics.
• In business, a market research survey aiming to describe consumer preferences would be a descriptive study.
• In ecology, a researcher might undertake a survey of all the types of monocots naturally occurring in a region and classify them up to species level.

These examples showcase the versatility of descriptive research across diverse fields.

Advantages of descriptive research

There are several advantages to this approach, which every researcher must be aware of. These are as follows:

• Owing to the numerous descriptive research methods and types, primary data can be obtained in diverse ways and be used for developing a research hypothesis .
• It is a versatile research method and allows flexibility.
• Detailed and comprehensive information can be obtained because the data collected can be qualitative or quantitative.
• It is carried out in the natural environment, which greatly minimizes certain types of bias and ethical concerns.
• It is an inexpensive and efficient approach, even with large sample sizes

Disadvantages of descriptive research

On the other hand, this design has some drawbacks as well:

• It is limited in its scope as it does not determine cause-and-effect relationships.
• The approach does not generate new information and simply depends on existing data.
• Study variables are not manipulated or controlled, and this limits the conclusions to be drawn.
• Descriptive research findings may not be generalizable to other populations.
• Finally, it offers a preliminary understanding rather than an in-depth understanding.

To reiterate, the advantages of descriptive research lie in its ability to provide a comprehensive overview, aid hypothesis generation, and serve as a preliminary step in the research process. However, its limitations include a potential lack of depth, inability to establish cause-and-effect relationships, and susceptibility to bias.

Frequently asked questions

When should researchers conduct descriptive research.

Descriptive research is most appropriate when researchers aim to portray and understand the characteristics of a phenomenon without manipulating variables. It is particularly valuable in the early stages of a study.

What is the difference between descriptive and exploratory research?

Descriptive research focuses on providing a detailed depiction of a phenomenon, while exploratory research aims to explore and generate insights into an issue where little is known.

What is the difference between descriptive and experimental research?

Descriptive research observes and documents without manipulating variables, whereas experimental research involves intentional interventions to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

Is descriptive research only for social sciences?

No, various descriptive research types may be applicable to all fields of study, including social science, humanities, physical science, and biological science.

How important is descriptive research?

The importance of descriptive research lies in its ability to provide a glimpse of the current state of a phenomenon, offering valuable insights and establishing a basic understanding. Further, the advantages of descriptive research include its capacity to offer a straightforward depiction of a situation or phenomenon, facilitate the identification of patterns or trends, and serve as a useful starting point for more in-depth investigations. Additionally, descriptive research can contribute to the development of hypotheses and guide the formulation of research questions for subsequent studies.

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What is Descriptive Research and How is it Used?

Introduction

What does descriptive research mean, why would you use a descriptive research design, what are the characteristics of descriptive research, examples of descriptive research, what are the data collection methods in descriptive research, how do you analyze descriptive research data, ensuring validity and reliability in the findings.

Conducting descriptive research offers researchers a way to present phenomena as they naturally occur. Rooted in an open-ended and non-experimental nature, this type of research focuses on portraying the details of specific phenomena or contexts, helping readers gain a clearer understanding of topics of interest.

From businesses gauging customer satisfaction to educators assessing classroom dynamics, the data collected from descriptive research provides invaluable insights across various fields.

This article aims to illuminate the essence, utility, characteristics, and methods associated with descriptive research, guiding those who wish to harness its potential in their respective domains.

At its core, descriptive research refers to a systematic approach used by researchers to collect, analyze, and present data about real-life phenomena to describe it in its natural context. It primarily aims to describe what exists, based on empirical observations .

Unlike experimental research, where variables are manipulated to observe outcomes, descriptive research deals with the "as-is" scenario to facilitate further research by providing a framework or new insights on which continuing studies can build.

Definition of descriptive research

Descriptive research is defined as a research method that observes and describes the characteristics of a particular group, situation, or phenomenon.

The goal is not to establish cause and effect relationships but rather to provide a detailed account of the situation.

The difference between descriptive and exploratory research

While both descriptive and exploratory research seek to provide insights into a topic or phenomenon, they differ in their focus. Exploratory research is more about investigating a topic to develop preliminary insights or to identify potential areas of interest.

In contrast, descriptive research offers detailed accounts and descriptions of the observed phenomenon, seeking to paint a full picture of what's happening.

The evolution of descriptive research in academia

Historically, descriptive research has played a foundational role in numerous academic disciplines. Anthropologists, for instance, used this approach to document cultures and societies. Psychologists have employed it to capture behaviors, emotions, and reactions.

Over time, the method has evolved, incorporating technological advancements and adapting to contemporary needs, yet its essence remains rooted in describing a phenomenon or setting as it is.

Descriptive research serves as a cornerstone in the research landscape for its ability to provide a detailed snapshot of life. Its unique qualities and methods make it an invaluable method for various research purposes. Here's why:

Benefits of obtaining a clear picture

Descriptive research captures the present state of phenomena, offering researchers a detailed reflection of situations. This unaltered representation is crucial for sectors like marketing, where understanding current consumer behavior can shape future strategies.

Facilitating data interpretation

Given its straightforward nature, descriptive research can provide data that's easier to interpret, both for researchers and their audiences. Rather than analyzing complex statistical relationships among variables, researchers present detailed descriptions of their qualitative observations . Researchers can engage in in depth analysis relating to their research question , but audiences can also draw insights from their own interpretations or reflections on potential underlying patterns.

Enhancing the clarity of the research problem

By presenting things as they are, descriptive research can help elucidate ambiguous research questions. A well-executed descriptive study can shine light on overlooked aspects of a problem, paving the way for further investigative research.

Addressing practical problems

In real-world scenarios, it's not always feasible to manipulate variables or set up controlled experiments. For instance, in social sciences, understanding cultural norms without interference is paramount. Descriptive research allows for such non-intrusive insights, ensuring genuine understanding.

Building a foundation for future research

Often, descriptive studies act as stepping stones for more complex research endeavors. By establishing baseline data and highlighting patterns, they create a platform upon which more intricate hypotheses can be built and tested in subsequent studies.

Descriptive research is distinguished by a set of hallmark characteristics that set it apart from other research methodologies . Recognizing these features can help researchers effectively design, implement , and interpret descriptive studies.

Specificity in the research question

As with all research, descriptive research starts with a well-defined research question aiming to detail a particular phenomenon. The specificity ensures that the study remains focused on gathering relevant data without unnecessary deviations.

Focus on the present situation

While some research methods aim to predict future trends or uncover historical truths, descriptive research is predominantly concerned with the present. It seeks to capture the current state of affairs, such as understanding today's consumer habits or documenting a newly observed phenomenon.

Standardized and structured methodology

To ensure credibility and consistency in results, descriptive research often employs standardized methods. Whether it's using a fixed set of survey questions or adhering to specific observation protocols, this structured approach ensures that data is collected uniformly, making it easier to compare and analyze.

Non-manipulative approach in observation

One of the standout features of descriptive research is its non-invasive nature. Researchers observe and document without influencing the research subject or the environment. This passive stance ensures that the data gathered is a genuine reflection of the phenomenon under study.

Replicability and consistency in results

Due to its structured methodology, findings from descriptive research can often be replicated in different settings or with different samples. This consistency adds to the credibility of the results, reinforcing the validity of the insights drawn from the study.

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Numerous fields and sectors conduct descriptive research for its versatile and detailed nature. Through its focus on presenting things as they naturally occur, it provides insights into a myriad of scenarios. Here are some tangible examples from diverse domains:

Conducting market research

Businesses often turn to data analysis through descriptive research to understand the demographics of their target market. For instance, a company launching a new product might survey potential customers to understand their age, gender, income level, and purchasing habits, offering valuable data for targeted marketing strategies.

Evaluating employee behaviors

Organizations rely on descriptive research designs to assess the behavior and attitudes of their employees. By conducting observations or surveys , companies can gather data on workplace satisfaction, collaboration patterns, or the impact of a new office layout on productivity.

Understanding consumer preferences

Brands aiming to understand their consumers' likes and dislikes often use descriptive research. By observing shopping behaviors or conducting product feedback surveys , they can gauge preferences and adjust their offerings accordingly.

Documenting historical patterns

Historians and anthropologists employ descriptive research to identify patterns through analysis of events or cultural practices. For instance, a historian might detail the daily life in a particular era, while an anthropologist might document rituals and ceremonies of a specific tribe.

Assessing student performance

Educational researchers can utilize descriptive studies to understand the effectiveness of teaching methodologies. By observing classrooms or surveying students, they can measure data trends and gauge the impact of a new teaching technique or curriculum on student engagement and performance.

Descriptive research methods aim to authentically represent situations and phenomena. These techniques ensure the collection of comprehensive and reliable data about the subject of interest.

The most appropriate descriptive research method depends on the research question and resources available for your research study.

Surveys and questionnaires

One of the most familiar tools in the researcher's arsenal, surveys and questionnaires offer a structured means of collecting data from a vast audience. Through carefully designed questions, researchers can obtain standardized responses that lend themselves to straightforward comparison and analysis in quantitative and qualitative research .

Survey research can manifest in various formats, from face-to-face interactions and telephone conversations to digital platforms. While surveys can reach a broad audience and generate quantitative data ripe for statistical analysis, they also come with the challenge of potential biases in design and rely heavily on respondent honesty.

Observations and case studies

Direct or participant observation is a method wherein researchers actively watch and document behaviors or events. A researcher might, for instance, observe the dynamics within a classroom or the behaviors of shoppers in a market setting.

Case studies provide an even deeper dive, focusing on a thorough analysis of a specific individual, group, or event. These methods present the advantage of capturing real-time, detailed data, but they might also be time-intensive and can sometimes introduce observer bias .

Interviews and focus groups

Interviews , whether they follow a structured script or flow more organically, are a powerful means to extract detailed insights directly from participants. On the other hand, focus groups gather multiple participants for discussions, aiming to gather diverse and collective opinions on a particular topic or product.

These methods offer the benefit of deep insights and adaptability in data collection . However, they necessitate skilled interviewers, and focus group settings might see individual opinions being influenced by group dynamics.

Document and content analysis

Here, instead of generating new data, researchers examine existing documents or content . This can range from studying historical records and newspapers to analyzing media content or literature.

Analyzing existing content offers the advantage of accessibility and can provide insights over longer time frames. However, the reliability and relevance of the content are paramount, and researchers must approach this method with a discerning eye.

Descriptive research data, rich in details and insights, necessitates meticulous analysis to derive meaningful conclusions. The analysis process transforms raw data into structured findings that can be communicated and acted upon.

Qualitative content analysis

For data collected through interviews , focus groups , observations , or open-ended survey questions , qualitative content analysis is a popular choice. This involves examining non-numerical data to identify patterns, themes, or categories.

By coding responses or observations , researchers can identify recurring elements, making it easier to comprehend larger data sets and draw insights.

Using descriptive statistics

When dealing with quantitative data from surveys or experiments, descriptive statistics are invaluable. Measures such as mean, median, mode, standard deviation, and frequency distributions help summarize data sets, providing a snapshot of the overall patterns.

Graphical representations like histograms, pie charts, or bar graphs can further help in visualizing these statistics.

Coding and categorizing the data

Both qualitative and quantitative data often require coding. Coding involves assigning labels to specific responses or behaviors to group similar segments of data. This categorization aids in identifying patterns, especially in vast data sets.

For instance, responses to open-ended questions in a survey can be coded based on keywords or sentiments, allowing for a more structured analysis.

Visual representation through graphs and charts

Visual aids like graphs, charts, and plots can simplify complex data, making it more accessible and understandable. Whether it's showcasing frequency distributions through histograms or mapping out relationships with networks, visual representations can elucidate trends and patterns effectively.

In the realm of research , the credibility of findings is paramount. Without trustworthiness in the results, even the most meticulously gathered data can lose its value. Two cornerstones that bolster the credibility of research outcomes are validity and reliability .

Validity: Measuring the right thing

Validity addresses the accuracy of the research. It seeks to answer the question: Is the research genuinely measuring what it aims to measure? In descriptive research, where the objective is to paint an authentic picture of the current state of affairs, ensuring validity is crucial.

For instance, if a study aims to understand consumer preferences for a product category, the questions posed should genuinely reflect those preferences and not veer into unrelated territories. Multiple forms of validity, including content, criterion, and construct validity, can be examined to ensure that the research instruments and processes are aligned with the research goals.

Reliability: Consistency in findings

Reliability, on the other hand, pertains to the consistency of the research findings. When a study demonstrates reliability, this suggests that others could repeat the study and the outcomes would remain consistent across repetitions.

In descriptive research, factors like the clarity of survey questions , the training of observers , and the standardization of interview protocols play a role in enhancing reliability. Techniques such as test-retest and internal consistency measurements can be employed to assess and improve reliability.

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• What is descriptive research?

Last updated

5 February 2023

Reviewed by

Cathy Heath

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Descriptive research is a common investigatory model used by researchers in various fields, including social sciences, linguistics, and academia.

Read on to understand the characteristics of descriptive research and explore its underlying techniques, processes, and procedures.

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Descriptive research is an exploratory research method. It enables researchers to precisely and methodically describe a population, circumstance, or phenomenon.

As the name suggests, descriptive research describes the characteristics of the group, situation, or phenomenon being studied without manipulating variables or testing hypotheses . This can be reported using surveys , observational studies, and case studies. You can use both quantitative and qualitative methods to compile the data.

Besides making observations and then comparing and analyzing them, descriptive studies often develop knowledge concepts and provide solutions to critical issues. It always aims to answer how the event occurred, when it occurred, where it occurred, and what the problem or phenomenon is.

• Characteristics of descriptive research

The following are some of the characteristics of descriptive research:

Quantitativeness

Descriptive research can be quantitative as it gathers quantifiable data to statistically analyze a population sample. These numbers can show patterns, connections, and trends over time and can be discovered using surveys, polls, and experiments.

Qualitativeness

Descriptive research can also be qualitative. It gives meaning and context to the numbers supplied by quantitative descriptive research .

Researchers can use tools like interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic studies to illustrate why things are what they are and help characterize the research problem. This is because it’s more explanatory than exploratory or experimental research.

Uncontrolled variables

Descriptive research differs from experimental research in that researchers cannot manipulate the variables. They are recognized, scrutinized, and quantified instead. This is one of its most prominent features.

Cross-sectional studies

Descriptive research is a cross-sectional study because it examines several areas of the same group. It involves obtaining data on multiple variables at the personal level during a certain period. It’s helpful when trying to understand a larger community’s habits or preferences.

Carried out in a natural environment

Descriptive studies are usually carried out in the participants’ everyday environment, which allows researchers to avoid influencing responders by collecting data in a natural setting. You can use online surveys or survey questions to collect data or observe.

Basis for further research

You can further dissect descriptive research’s outcomes and use them for different types of investigation. The outcomes also serve as a foundation for subsequent investigations and can guide future studies. For example, you can use the data obtained in descriptive research to help determine future research designs.

• Descriptive research methods

There are three basic approaches for gathering data in descriptive research: observational, case study, and survey.

You can use surveys to gather data in descriptive research. This involves gathering information from many people using a questionnaire and interview .

Surveys remain the dominant research tool for descriptive research design. Researchers can conduct various investigations and collect multiple types of data (quantitative and qualitative) using surveys with diverse designs.

You can conduct surveys over the phone, online, or in person. Your survey might be a brief interview or conversation with a set of prepared questions intended to obtain quick information from the primary source.

Observation

This descriptive research method involves observing and gathering data on a population or phenomena without manipulating variables. It is employed in psychology, market research , and other social science studies to track and understand human behavior.

Observation is an essential component of descriptive research. It entails gathering data and analyzing it to see whether there is a relationship between the two variables in the study. This strategy usually allows for both qualitative and quantitative data analysis.

Case studies

A case study can outline a specific topic’s traits. The topic might be a person, group, event, or organization.

It involves using a subset of a larger group as a sample to characterize the features of that larger group.

You can generalize knowledge gained from studying a case study to benefit a broader audience.

This approach entails carefully examining a particular group, person, or event over time. You can learn something new about the study topic by using a small group to better understand the dynamics of the entire group.

• Types of descriptive research

There are several types of descriptive study. The most well-known include cross-sectional studies, census surveys, sample surveys, case reports, and comparison studies.

Case reports and case series

In the healthcare and medical fields, a case report is used to explain a patient’s circumstances when suffering from an uncommon illness or displaying certain symptoms. Case reports and case series are both collections of related cases. They have aided the advancement of medical knowledge on countless occasions.

The normative component is an addition to the descriptive survey. In the descriptive–normative survey, you compare the study’s results to the norm.

Descriptive survey

This descriptive type of research employs surveys to collect information on various topics. This data aims to determine the degree to which certain conditions may be attained.

You can extrapolate or generalize the information you obtain from sample surveys to the larger group being researched.

Correlative survey

Correlative surveys help establish if there is a positive, negative, or neutral connection between two variables.

Performing census surveys involves gathering relevant data on several aspects of a given population. These units include individuals, families, organizations, objects, characteristics, and properties.

During descriptive research, you gather different degrees of interest over time from a specific population. Cross-sectional studies provide a glimpse of a phenomenon’s prevalence and features in a population. There are no ethical challenges with them and they are quite simple and inexpensive to carry out.

Comparative studies

These surveys compare the two subjects’ conditions or characteristics. The subjects may include research variables, organizations, plans, and people.

Comparison points, assumption of similarities, and criteria of comparison are three important variables that affect how well and accurately comparative studies are conducted.

For instance, descriptive research can help determine how many CEOs hold a bachelor’s degree and what proportion of low-income households receive government help.

• Pros and cons

The primary advantage of descriptive research designs is that researchers can create a reliable and beneficial database for additional study. To conduct any inquiry, you need access to reliable information sources that can give you a firm understanding of a situation.

Quantitative studies are time- and resource-intensive, so knowing the hypotheses viable for testing is crucial. The basic overview of descriptive research provides helpful hints as to which variables are worth quantitatively examining. This is why it’s employed as a precursor to quantitative research designs.

Some experts view this research as untrustworthy and unscientific. However, there is no way to assess the findings because you don’t manipulate any variables statistically.

Cause-and-effect correlations also can’t be established through descriptive investigations. Additionally, observational study findings cannot be replicated, which prevents a review of the findings and their replication.

The absence of statistical and in-depth analysis and the rather superficial character of the investigative procedure are drawbacks of this research approach.

• Descriptive research examples and applications

Several descriptive research examples are emphasized based on their types, purposes, and applications. Research questions often begin with “What is …” These studies help find solutions to practical issues in social science, physical science, and education.

Here are some examples and applications of descriptive research:

Determining consumer perception and behavior

Organizations use descriptive research designs to determine how various demographic groups react to a certain product or service.

For example, a business looking to sell to its target market should research the market’s behavior first. When researching human behavior in response to a cause or event, the researcher pays attention to the traits, actions, and responses before drawing a conclusion.

Scientific classification

Scientific descriptive research enables the classification of organisms and their traits and constituents.

Measuring data trends

A descriptive study design’s statistical capabilities allow researchers to track data trends over time. It’s frequently used to determine the study target’s current circumstances and underlying patterns.

Conduct comparison

Organizations can use a descriptive research approach to learn how various demographics react to a certain product or service. For example, you can study how the target market responds to a competitor’s product and use that information to infer their behavior.

• Bottom line

A descriptive research design is suitable for exploring certain topics and serving as a prelude to larger quantitative investigations. It provides a comprehensive understanding of the “what” of the group or thing you’re investigating.

This research type acts as the cornerstone of other research methodologies . It is distinctive because it can use quantitative and qualitative research approaches at the same time.

What is descriptive research design?

Descriptive research design aims to systematically obtain information to describe a phenomenon, situation, or population. More specifically, it helps answer the what, when, where, and how questions regarding the research problem rather than the why.

How does descriptive research compare to qualitative research?

Despite certain parallels, descriptive research concentrates on describing phenomena, while qualitative research aims to understand people better.

How do you analyze descriptive research data?

Data analysis involves using various methodologies, enabling the researcher to evaluate and provide results regarding validity and reliability.

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• Descriptive Research | Definition, Types, Methods & Examples

Descriptive Research | Definition, Types, Methods & Examples

Published on May 15, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on June 22, 2023.

Descriptive research aims to accurately and systematically describe a population, situation or phenomenon. It can answer what , where , when and how   questions , but not why questions.

A descriptive research design can use a wide variety of research methods  to investigate one or more variables . Unlike in experimental research , the researcher does not control or manipulate any of the variables, but only observes and measures them.

Table of contents

When to use a descriptive research design, descriptive research methods, other interesting articles.

Descriptive research is an appropriate choice when the research aim is to identify characteristics, frequencies, trends, and categories.

It is useful when not much is known yet about the topic or problem. Before you can research why something happens, you need to understand how, when and where it happens.

Descriptive research question examples

• How has the Amsterdam housing market changed over the past 20 years?
• Do customers of company X prefer product X or product Y?
• What are the main genetic, behavioural and morphological differences between European wildcats and domestic cats?
• What are the most popular online news sources among under-18s?
• How prevalent is disease A in population B?

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Descriptive research is usually defined as a type of quantitative research , though qualitative research can also be used for descriptive purposes. The research design should be carefully developed to ensure that the results are valid and reliable .

Survey research allows you to gather large volumes of data that can be analyzed for frequencies, averages and patterns. Common uses of surveys include:

• Describing the demographics of a country or region
• Gauging public opinion on political and social topics
• Evaluating satisfaction with a company’s products or an organization’s services

Observations

Observations allow you to gather data on behaviours and phenomena without having to rely on the honesty and accuracy of respondents. This method is often used by psychological, social and market researchers to understand how people act in real-life situations.

Observation of physical entities and phenomena is also an important part of research in the natural sciences. Before you can develop testable hypotheses , models or theories, it’s necessary to observe and systematically describe the subject under investigation.

Case studies

A case study can be used to describe the characteristics of a specific subject (such as a person, group, event or organization). Instead of gathering a large volume of data to identify patterns across time or location, case studies gather detailed data to identify the characteristics of a narrowly defined subject.

Rather than aiming to describe generalizable facts, case studies often focus on unusual or interesting cases that challenge assumptions, add complexity, or reveal something new about a research problem .

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Degrees of freedom
• Null hypothesis
• Discourse analysis
• Control groups
• Mixed methods research
• Non-probability sampling
• Quantitative research
• Ecological validity

Research bias

• Rosenthal effect
• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Selection bias
• Negativity bias
• Status quo bias

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Descriptive analytics: importance, benefits, & example

Have you ever wondered how businesses make sense of the mountains of data they collect daily? The secret lies in the realm of data analytics, where one type of analytics – descriptive analytics – transforms raw data into invaluable insights.

In this article, we’ll explore the importance of descriptive analytics, examine its remarkable benefits, and showcase real-world examples of how various industries use it successfully. 

Prepare to unlock the mysterious world of descriptive analytics and explore how it could elevate your business. By the time you finish reading, you’ll be armed with the knowledge needed to harness your data and steer your organization toward greater success.

What is descriptive analytics?

• How descriptive analytics can help your business?

What are some data analysis and visualization techniques to try?

How do you apply descriptive analytics in action, how can you drive better business decisions with data.

Descriptive analytics is one of the foundational aspects of data analytics that transforms raw data into easily understood patterns, trends, and insights. It’s a prime example of data aggregation that uses business intelligence and data science. This analytics process focuses on giving decision-makers an overview of historical data and an understanding of how certain events or actions unfolded. 

Unlike predictive analytics or prescriptive analytics, descriptive analytics isn’t about predicting future outcomes or recommending a course of action. Instead, it gives you a clear snapshot of past data so you can understand the key factors that contributed to specific situations.

Now that we have a basic idea of what descriptive analytics is, let’s dive into its purpose. Imagine having a massive amount of data and trying to make the most of it – descriptive analytics works to present the data required in a more digestible format. 

Organizations can then spot important developments, challenges, and opportunities that can shape future strategies and improvements. They can also leverage these insights to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and assess how well certain initiatives are doing.

How descriptive analytics can help your business ?

Let’s go over how descriptive analytics can help your organization.

• Enhancing business performance : Descriptive analytics helps businesses identify data trends and patterns. For a simple example, let’s imagine a clothing store tracks past sales metrics to notice that jackets sell like hotcakes during the fall.

This insight offers the business an understanding of customer behavior, which ultimately helps it develop targeted marketing strategies, increase sales, and boost performance.

• Leveraging historical data: One of the most powerful things about descriptive analytics is its ability to give meaning to historical data. Businesses can use past data to gain insights into the root cause of what shaped their current situation. For example, take a company that uses AI , machine learning, and descriptive analytics to analyze historical sales data and customer demographics. 

This analysis can deliver tangible benefits for demand forecasting . By understanding patterns in previous sales, the company can better predict future product demands and adjust its inventory accordingly. This helps the company avoid excess stock, minimize waste, and improve its bottom line.

• Improving communication: Descriptive analytics can work wonders when it comes to packaging complex data into something easily digestible. Let’s say a team leader wants to share information on project progress with their team and stakeholders. 

Using descriptive analytics, they can convert that raw data into visually appealing charts or graphs. This helps ensure everyone gets the picture without swimming through a sea of numbers, making communication much more effective and enjoyable.

• Enabling data-driven decisions: Lastly, descriptive analytics empowers businesses to make well-informed decisions by providing solid data. Imagine a restaurant owner examining customer reviews to gauge a dish’s popularity. 

Descriptive analytics could highlight patterns and trends, such as a specific dish receiving rave reviews or another with less-than-stellar ratings. The owner can then decide to promote the popular dish or improve the one that’s not performing well. This data-driven approach enhances decision-making and increases the chances of achieving business goals.

Now, we’ll explore some data analysis and visualization techniques that are at your disposal thanks to descriptive analytics. These analytics tools help paint a full picture of our datasets while keeping them interesting and easy to understand. 

• Data mining : Data mining is essentially treasure hunting in the world of data analysis. As a descriptive analysis technique, it involves sifting through large data sets to identify patterns, trends, and correlations that tell an informative story behind a given situation. 

Data mining helps businesses make sense of their data by uncovering those valuable nuggets of information hidden beneath the surface.

• Charts and graphs: A picture is worth a thousand words, and that’s especially true when it comes to presenting data. Line graphs, pie charts, and bar charts all help communicate complex data in a simple, visual format. 

Charts and graphs make it easier for businesses to quickly identify trends or anomalies, so stakeholders can grasp the information and act accordingly, or get on board with new plans and proposals.

• Visualization tools: Tools like Tableau take data analysis and visualization to the next level. You can use intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces to create eye-catching visuals that really bring your data to life, even if you don’t have graphic design or coding skills. 

And the best part? These tools save you a ton of time and effort compared to wrestling with Excel. Advanced visualization capabilities let you explore data from multiple angles, identify hidden patterns, and tell a compelling narrative.

• Dashboards : The days of flipping through countless spreadsheets are behind us. In the realm of descriptive analytics, dashboards offer a one-stop shop for all your key metrics, attractively displayed in real-time. They consolidate and present important data in a way that’s engaging and easy to understand. 

Customizable dashboards tailored to specific roles or goals enable stakeholders to quickly gauge the performance of various business aspects. This accessibility supports faster decision-making and keeps everyone on the same page.

Let’s take the magic of descriptive analytics from theory to practice. We’ll explore a few real-world examples of descriptive analytics in action to help you get the hang of it. These use cases show the power of descriptive analytics and how it can help your business flourish.

Gaining customer insight

Businesses must understand customers’ preferences, habits, and behaviors to truly connect with them. Descriptive analytics lets you analyze data from sources like customer reviews, purchase history, feedback forms, and surveys. 

Identifying data trends and patterns equips you with valuable insights that enable you to tailor your products or services to customers’ needs and preferences.

Monitoring business performance

Keeping tabs on how your business is doing is essential. Descriptive analytics allows you to track various metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs), giving you a clear picture of your business’s health.  For instance, you can analyze sales trends to determine which products are most popular, or dig into website data to identify areas needing improvement. Knowledge is power, and these insights help you make data-driven decisions that can boost performance and help your business grow.

Improving marketing campaigns

Descriptive analytics can help you optimize your campaigns by analyzing data points, such as social media engagement, email open rates, or number of subscribers. By understanding what works well and what doesn’t, you can tweak your strategies and allocate resources more efficiently. 

For example, Australian-based swimming pool builder Narellan Pools experienced a decline in sales and knew they needed a targeted marketing strategy. So, the company compiled and analyzed five years of marketing data and used the insights to drive a 23% increase in sales in one year, spending only 70% of its media budget.

Supply chain management

Optimizing supply chain efficiency is a big win for businesses (think synchronized inventory control, reduced lead times, and seamless logistics). Descriptive analytics can help you achieve this by analyzing data related to supplier performance, inventory levels, and transportation.  These trends can help you identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies so you can take timely steps to improve your overall supply chain performance.

Descriptive analytics helps businesses better understand their customers, improves workflows, fine-tunes marketing campaigns, and has the power to totally transform decision-making for the better.

As we step further into the age of data-driven decision-making, businesses should make the most of descriptive analytics to stay competitive and agile amidst changing markets. Mastering these techniques can pave the way for smarter, more informed decisions, helping your business stay on top.

Enhance your digital strategy and analytical skills with IMD’s Digital Strategy, Analytics, & AI Course . You’ll improve your decision-making skills and be the change-maker your organization needs. Jump-start your journey and let data be the driving force behind your success!

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In an era where data is the new currency, mastering business analytics has become crucial for leaders aiming to steer their organizations toward unprecedented growth and success. This guide is tailored for you, the business leader, to harness the power of data science and analytics in decision-making. Here, we delve into the fundamentals of business […]

Today, data is the cornerstone of decision-making and the key to business success. This puts data science and data analytics at the heart of our data-driven world, where every click, preference, and even the temperature setting of your fridge is a valuable data point.  Target, a leading retail giant used data analytics to predict with […]

Businesses in the 21st century are navigating an ever-growing sea of data. In our digital era, data mining has become the driving force behind many of our advancements. We produce staggering volumes of data daily, surpassing amounts previously generated over entire decades within just a few years. Data science has emerged as the lighthouse in […]

Bridging the Gap: Overcome these 7 flaws in descriptive research design

Descriptive research design is a powerful tool used by scientists and researchers to gather information about a particular group or phenomenon. This type of research provides a detailed and accurate picture of the characteristics and behaviors of a particular population or subject. By observing and collecting data on a given topic, descriptive research helps researchers gain a deeper understanding of a specific issue and provides valuable insights that can inform future studies.

In this blog, we will explore the definition, characteristics, and common flaws in descriptive research design, and provide tips on how to avoid these pitfalls to produce high-quality results. Whether you are a seasoned researcher or a student just starting, understanding the fundamentals of descriptive research design is essential to conducting successful scientific studies.

Table of Contents

What Is Descriptive Research Design?

The descriptive research design involves observing and collecting data on a given topic without attempting to infer cause-and-effect relationships. The goal of descriptive research is to provide a comprehensive and accurate picture of the population or phenomenon being studied and to describe the relationships, patterns, and trends that exist within the data.

Descriptive research methods can include surveys, observational studies , and case studies, and the data collected can be qualitative or quantitative . The findings from descriptive research provide valuable insights and inform future research, but do not establish cause-and-effect relationships.

Importance of Descriptive Research in Scientific Studies

1. understanding of a population or phenomenon.

Descriptive research provides a comprehensive picture of the characteristics and behaviors of a particular population or phenomenon, allowing researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the topic.

2. Baseline Information

The information gathered through descriptive research can serve as a baseline for future research and provide a foundation for further studies.

3. Informative Data

Descriptive research can provide valuable information and insights into a particular topic, which can inform future research, policy decisions, and programs.

4. Sampling Validation

Descriptive research can be used to validate sampling methods and to help researchers determine the best approach for their study.

5. Cost Effective

Descriptive research is often less expensive and less time-consuming than other research methods , making it a cost-effective way to gather information about a particular population or phenomenon.

6. Easy to Replicate

Descriptive research is straightforward to replicate, making it a reliable way to gather and compare information from multiple sources.

Key Characteristics of Descriptive Research Design

The primary purpose of descriptive research is to describe the characteristics, behaviors, and attributes of a particular population or phenomenon.

2. Participants and Sampling

Descriptive research studies a particular population or sample that is representative of the larger population being studied. Furthermore, sampling methods can include convenience, stratified, or random sampling.

3. Data Collection Techniques

Descriptive research typically involves the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data through methods such as surveys, observational studies, case studies, or focus groups.

4. Data Analysis

Descriptive research data is analyzed to identify patterns, relationships, and trends within the data. Statistical techniques , such as frequency distributions and descriptive statistics, are commonly used to summarize and describe the data.

5. Focus on Description

Descriptive research is focused on describing and summarizing the characteristics of a particular population or phenomenon. It does not make causal inferences.

6. Non-Experimental

Descriptive research is non-experimental, meaning that the researcher does not manipulate variables or control conditions. The researcher simply observes and collects data on the population or phenomenon being studied.

When Can a Researcher Conduct Descriptive Research?

A researcher can conduct descriptive research in the following situations:

• To better understand a particular population or phenomenon
• To describe the relationships between variables
• To describe patterns and trends
• To validate sampling methods and determine the best approach for a study
• To compare data from multiple sources.

Types of Descriptive Research Design

1. survey research.

Surveys are a type of descriptive research that involves collecting data through self-administered or interviewer-administered questionnaires. Additionally, they can be administered in-person, by mail, or online, and can collect both qualitative and quantitative data.

2. Observational Research

Observational research involves observing and collecting data on a particular population or phenomenon without manipulating variables or controlling conditions. It can be conducted in naturalistic settings or controlled laboratory settings.

3. Case Study Research

Case study research is a type of descriptive research that focuses on a single individual, group, or event. It involves collecting detailed information on the subject through a variety of methods, including interviews, observations, and examination of documents.

4. Focus Group Research

Focus group research involves bringing together a small group of people to discuss a particular topic or product. Furthermore, the group is usually moderated by a researcher and the discussion is recorded for later analysis.

5. Ethnographic Research

Ethnographic research involves conducting detailed observations of a particular culture or community. It is often used to gain a deep understanding of the beliefs, behaviors, and practices of a particular group.

Advantages of Descriptive Research Design

1. provides a comprehensive understanding.

Descriptive research provides a comprehensive picture of the characteristics, behaviors, and attributes of a particular population or phenomenon, which can be useful in informing future research and policy decisions.

2. Non-invasive

Descriptive research is non-invasive and does not manipulate variables or control conditions, making it a suitable method for sensitive or ethical concerns.

3. Flexibility

Descriptive research allows for a wide range of data collection methods , including surveys, observational studies, case studies, and focus groups, making it a flexible and versatile research method.

4. Cost-effective

Descriptive research is often less expensive and less time-consuming than other research methods. Moreover, it gives a cost-effective option to many researchers.

5. Easy to Replicate

Descriptive research is easy to replicate, making it a reliable way to gather and compare information from multiple sources.

6. Informs Future Research

The insights gained from a descriptive research can inform future research and inform policy decisions and programs.

Disadvantages of Descriptive Research Design

1. limited scope.

Descriptive research only provides a snapshot of the current situation and cannot establish cause-and-effect relationships.

2. Dependence on Existing Data

Descriptive research relies on existing data, which may not always be comprehensive or accurate.

3. Lack of Control

Researchers have no control over the variables in descriptive research, which can limit the conclusions that can be drawn.

The researcher’s own biases and preconceptions can influence the interpretation of the data.

5. Lack of Generalizability

Descriptive research findings may not be applicable to other populations or situations.

6. Lack of Depth

Descriptive research provides a surface-level understanding of a phenomenon, rather than a deep understanding.

7. Time-consuming

Descriptive research often requires a large amount of data collection and analysis, which can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.

7 Ways to Avoid Common Flaws While Designing Descriptive Research

1. Clearly define the research question

A clearly defined research question is the foundation of any research study, and it is important to ensure that the question is both specific and relevant to the topic being studied.

2. Choose the appropriate research design

Choosing the appropriate research design for a study is crucial to the success of the study. Moreover, researchers should choose a design that best fits the research question and the type of data needed to answer it.

3. Select a representative sample

Selecting a representative sample is important to ensure that the findings of the study are generalizable to the population being studied. Researchers should use a sampling method that provides a random and representative sample of the population.

4. Use valid and reliable data collection methods

Using valid and reliable data collection methods is important to ensure that the data collected is accurate and can be used to answer the research question. Researchers should choose methods that are appropriate for the study and that can be administered consistently and systematically.

5. Minimize bias

Bias can significantly impact the validity and reliability of research findings.  Furthermore, it is important to minimize bias in all aspects of the study, from the selection of participants to the analysis of data.

6. Ensure adequate sample size

An adequate sample size is important to ensure that the results of the study are statistically significant and can be generalized to the population being studied.

7. Use appropriate data analysis techniques

The appropriate data analysis technique depends on the type of data collected and the research question being asked. Researchers should choose techniques that are appropriate for the data and the question being asked.

Have you worked on descriptive research designs? How was your experience creating a descriptive design? What challenges did you face? Do write to us or leave a comment below and share your insights on descriptive research designs!

extremely very educative

Indeed very educative and useful. Well explained. Thank you

Simple,easy to understand

Excellent and easy to understand queries and questions get answered easily. Its rather clear than any confusion. Thanks a million Shritika Sirisilla.

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What Is Descriptive Marketing Research?

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Examples of cognitive strategies, process analysis vs. data analysis.

• Work Measurement Methods
• What Happens If an Organization Doesn't Conduct a Job Analysis?

Conclusive research is a structured data collection technique that provides detailed, factual information that's useful in decision-making. Descriptive marketing research is a form of conclusive research used to describe both the composition of a group in such terms as income, gender, age and education and the characteristics of group members in regards to both current and future behavior. Examples of a group include a collection of customers, sales people, organizations or market segments. Surveys, case studies, job analyses, document analyses, and correlational studies are each a form of descriptive marketing research.

A survey gathers information from a sample to construct quantitative statistics that describe the size and attributes of a larger population. For example, descriptive statistics can be used to calculate the percentage of a population that supports the policies of a particular president. To conduct a survey, the researcher questions a sample of respondents from within a population. The survey or questionnaire may be a document to be completed by the person who is surveyed, an online questionnaire, a telephone interview or a face-to-face interview.

A case study draws conclusions from data collected regarding real-life events for decision-support purposes. For example, a case study may focus on a particular group behavior, a business process or a school's performance. To conduct a case study, detailed information regarding a participant or group is collected and summarized. This information is not intended to generate conclusions about a larger population, but rather to describe the event, individual or group that's the subject of the study.

Job Analysis

A job analysis describes and classifies jobs. For example, a job analysis may provide detailed information regarding the major tasks of a tax accountant, the environment in which he works and the physical, emotional and cognitive capacities required for an individual to be successful in the role. Whereas job analyses are used by corporations in hiring, training and evaluating employees, governments rely on the job descriptions to monitor workforce activity. In turn, psychologists focus on job characteristics to analyze issues of workplace behavior.

Documentary Analysis

Document analysis requires the collection and review of documents that are specific to a particular group in terms of the characteristics of the individual group members or their behavior. For example, government statistics provide information regarding the income, gender, age and education of the U. S. population. Document analysis requires that documents be selected according to predefined criteria that reflect the issues regarding which a researcher seeks evidence. Written agreements, website data, meeting agendas, reports and other publications can be used for this purpose.

Correlational Study

Correlational studies allow a researcher to identify an association between two variables as well as the degree to which the association holds true across multiple populations. For example, a study may focus on a man's age and his expenditures on sports equipment. A positive correlation suggests that a man will spend more on sports equipment as he grows older whereas a negative correlation suggests that he spends less with age.

• "A Concise Guide to Market Research: The Process, Data, and Methods Using IBM SPSS Statistics"; Sarstedt et al. ; 2011
• "Marketing Research: Methodological Foundations": Churchill et al.
• "Essentials of Marketing Research"; Zikmund et al.; 2007
• "Survey methodology"; Groves, et al.; 2009
• "International Marketing Research"; Craig, et al.; 2005

Billie Nordmeyer works as a consultant advising small businesses and Fortune 500 companies on performance improvement initiatives, as well as SAP software selection and implementation. During her career, she has published business and technology-based articles and texts. Nordmeyer holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting, a Master of Arts in international management and a Master of Business Administration in finance.

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Descriptive Research 101: Definition, Methods and Examples

Parvathi vijayamohan.

Last Updated:  

5 June 2024

Table Of Contents

• Descriptive Research 101: The Definitive Guide

What is Descriptive Research?

Key characteristics of descriptive research.

• Descriptive Research Methods: The 3 You Need to Know!

Observation

Case studies, 7 types of descriptive research, descriptive research: examples to build your next study, tips to excel at descriptive research.

Imagine you are a detective called to a crime scene. Your job is to study the scene and report whatever you find: whether that’s the half-smoked cigarette on the table or the large “RACHE” written in blood on the wall. That, in a nutshell, is  descriptive research .

Researchers often need to do descriptive research on a problem before they attempt to solve it. So in this guide, we’ll take you through:

• What is descriptive research + characteristics
• Descriptive research methods
• Types of descriptive research
• Descriptive research examples
• Tips to excel at the descriptive method

Click to jump to the section that interests you.

Definition: As its name says, descriptive research  describes  the characteristics of the problem, phenomenon, situation, or group under study.

So the goal of all descriptive studies is to  explore  the background, details, and existing patterns in the problem to fully understand it. In other words, preliminary research.

However, descriptive research can be both  preliminary and conclusive . You can use the data from a descriptive study to make reports and get insights for further planning.

What descriptive research isn’t: Descriptive research finds the  what/when/where  of a problem, not the  why/how .

Because of this, we can’t use the descriptive method to explore cause-and-effect relationships where one variable (like a person’s job role) affects another variable (like their monthly income).

• Answers the “what,” “when,” and “where”  of a research problem. For this reason, it is popularly used in  market research ,  awareness surveys , and  opinion polls .
• Sets the stage  for a research problem. As an early part of the research process, descriptive studies help you dive deeper into the topic.
• Opens the door  for further research. You can use descriptive data as the basis for more profound research, analysis and studies.
• Qualitative and quantitative . It is possible to get a balanced mix of numerical responses and open-ended answers from the descriptive method.
• No control or interference with the variables . The researcher simply observes and reports on them. However, specific research software has filters that allow her to zoom in on one variable.
• Done in natural settings . You can get the best results from descriptive research by talking to people, surveying them, or observing them in a suitable environment. For example, suppose you are a website beta testing an app feature. In that case, descriptive research invites users to try the feature, tracking their behavior and then asking their opinions .
• Can be applied to many research methods and areas. Examples include healthcare, SaaS, psychology, political studies, education, and pop culture.

Descriptive Research Methods: The Top Three You Need to Know!

In short, survey research is a brief interview or conversation with a set of prepared questions about a topic.

So you create a questionnaire, share it, and analyze the data you collect for further action. Learn about the differences between surveys and questionnaires  here .

You can access free survey templates , over 20+ question types, and pass data to 1,500+ applications with survey software, like SurveySparrow . It enables you to create surveys, share them and capture data with very little effort.

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• Surveys can be hyper-local, regional, or global, depending on your objectives.
• Share surveys in-person, offline, via SMS, email, or QR codes – so many options!
• Easy to automate if you want to conduct many surveys over a period.

The observational method is a type of descriptive research in which you, the researcher, observe ongoing behavior.

Now, there are several (non-creepy) ways you can observe someone. In fact, observational research has three main approaches:

• Covert observation: In true spy fashion, the researcher mixes in with the group undetected or observes from a distance.
• Overt observation : The researcher identifies himself as a researcher – “The name’s Bond. J. Bond.” – and explains the purpose of the study.
• Participatory observation : The researcher participates in what he is observing to understand his topic better.
• Observation is one of the most accurate ways to get data on a subject’s behavior in a natural setting.
• You don’t need to rely on people’s willingness to share information.
• Observation is a universal method that can be applied to any area of research.

In the case study method, you do a detailed study of a specific group, person, or event over a period.

This brings us to a frequently asked question: “What’s the difference between case studies and longitudinal studies?”

A case study will go  very in-depth into the subject with one-on-one interviews, observations, and archival research. They are also qualitative, though sometimes they will use numbers and stats.

An example of longitudinal research would be a study of the health of night shift employees vs. general shift employees over a decade. An example of a case study would involve in-depth interviews with Casey, an assistant director of nursing who’s handled the night shift at the hospital for ten years now.

• Due to the focus on a few people, case studies can give you a tremendous amount of information.
• Because of the time and effort involved, a case study engages both researchers and participants.
• Case studies are helpful for ethically investigating unusual, complex, or challenging subjects. An example would be a study of the habits of long-term cocaine users.

1. Case Study: Airbnb’s Growth Strategy

In an excellent case study, Tam Al Saad, Principal Consultant, Strategy + Growth at Webprofits, deep dives into how Airbnb attracted and retained 150 million users .

“What Airbnb offers isn’t a cheap place to sleep when you’re on holiday; it’s the opportunity to experience your destination as a local would. It’s the chance to meet the locals, experience the markets, and find non-touristy places.

Sure, you can visit the Louvre, see Buckingham Palace, and climb the Empire State Building, but you can do it as if it were your hometown while staying in a place that has character and feels like a home.” – Tam al Saad, Principal Consultant, Strategy + Growth at Webprofits

2. Observation – Better Tech Experiences for the Elderly

We often think that our elders are so hopeless with technology. But we’re not getting any younger either, and tech is changing at a hair trigger! This article by Annemieke Hendricks shares a wonderful example where researchers compare the levels of technological familiarity between age groups and how that influences usage.

“It is generally assumed that older adults have difficulty using modern electronic devices, such as mobile telephones or computers. Because this age group is growing in most countries, changing products and processes to adapt to their needs is increasingly more important. “ – Annemieke Hendricks, Marketing Communication Specialist, Noldus

3. Surveys – Decoding Sleep with SurveySparrow

SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute) – an independent, non-profit research center – wanted to investigate the impact of stress on an adolescent’s sleep. To get those insights, two actions were essential: tracking sleep patterns through wearable devices and sending surveys at a pre-set time –  the pre-sleep period.

“With SurveySparrow’s recurring surveys feature, SRI was able to share engaging surveys with their participants exactly at the time they wanted and at the frequency they preferred.”

Read more about this project : How SRI International decoded sleep patterns with SurveySparrow

1: Answer the six Ws –

• Who should we consider?
• What information do we need?
• When should we collect the information?
• Where should we collect the information?
• Why are we obtaining the information?
• Way to collect the information

#2: Introduce and explain your methodological approach

#3: Describe your methods of data collection and/or selection.

#4: Describe your methods of analysis.

#5: Explain the reasoning behind your choices.

#6: Collect data.

#7: Analyze the data. Use software to speed up the process and reduce overthinking and human error.

#8: Report your conclusions and how you drew the results.

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The Four Types of Research Design — Everything You Need to Know

Updated: December 11, 2023

Published: January 18, 2023

When you conduct research, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how to accomplish it. A good research design enables you to collect accurate and reliable data to draw valid conclusions.

In this blog post, we'll outline the key features of the four common types of research design with real-life examples from UnderArmor, Carmex, and more. Then, you can easily choose the right approach for your project.

Table of Contents

What is research design?

The four types of research design, research design examples.

Research design is the process of planning and executing a study to answer specific questions. This process allows you to test hypotheses in the business or scientific fields.

Research design involves choosing the right methodology, selecting the most appropriate data collection methods, and devising a plan (or framework) for analyzing the data. In short, a good research design helps us to structure our research.

Marketers use different types of research design when conducting research .

There are four common types of research design — descriptive, correlational, experimental, and diagnostic designs. Let’s take a look at each in more detail.

Researchers use different designs to accomplish different research objectives. Here, we'll discuss how to choose the right type, the benefits of each, and use cases.

Research can also be classified as quantitative or qualitative at a higher level. Some experiments exhibit both qualitative and quantitative characteristics.

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Experimental

An experimental design is used when the researcher wants to examine how variables interact with each other. The researcher manipulates one variable (the independent variable) and observes the effect on another variable (the dependent variable).

In other words, the researcher wants to test a causal relationship between two or more variables.

In marketing, an example of experimental research would be comparing the effects of a television commercial versus an online advertisement conducted in a controlled environment (e.g. a lab). The objective of the research is to test which advertisement gets more attention among people of different age groups, gender, etc.

Another example is a study of the effect of music on productivity. A researcher assigns participants to one of two groups — those who listen to music while working and those who don't — and measure their productivity.

The main benefit of an experimental design is that it allows the researcher to draw causal relationships between variables.

One limitation: This research requires a great deal of control over the environment and participants, making it difficult to replicate in the real world. In addition, it’s quite costly.

Best for: Testing a cause-and-effect relationship (i.e., the effect of an independent variable on a dependent variable).

Correlational

A correlational design examines the relationship between two or more variables without intervening in the process.

Correlational design allows the analyst to observe natural relationships between variables. This results in data being more reflective of real-world situations.

For example, marketers can use correlational design to examine the relationship between brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. In particular, the researcher would look for patterns or trends in the data to see if there is a relationship between these two entities.

Similarly, you can study the relationship between physical activity and mental health. The analyst here would ask participants to complete surveys about their physical activity levels and mental health status. Data would show how the two variables are related.

Best for: Understanding the extent to which two or more variables are associated with each other in the real world.

Descriptive

Descriptive research refers to a systematic process of observing and describing what a subject does without influencing them.

Methods include surveys, interviews, case studies, and observations. Descriptive research aims to gather an in-depth understanding of a phenomenon and answers when/what/where.

SaaS companies use descriptive design to understand how customers interact with specific features. Findings can be used to spot patterns and roadblocks.

For instance, product managers can use screen recordings by Hotjar to observe in-app user behavior. This way, the team can precisely understand what is happening at a certain stage of the user journey and act accordingly.

Brand24, a social listening tool, tripled its sign-up conversion rate from 2.56% to 7.42%, thanks to locating friction points in the sign-up form through screen recordings.

Carma Laboratories worked with research company MMR to measure customers’ reactions to the lip-care company’s packaging and product . The goal was to find the cause of low sales for a recently launched line extension in Europe.

The team moderated a live, online focus group. Participants were shown w product samples, while AI and NLP natural language processing identified key themes in customer feedback.

This helped uncover key reasons for poor performance and guided changes in packaging.

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Descriptive Research: Definition, Methods & Examples

• August 19, 2021

Voxco’s Descriptive Research guide helps uncover the how, when, what, and where questions in a research problem

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When you are a store manager in a convenience store, and you have to make a report. Any finding such as which product is selling most, what time of the day you have the most crowd, or which product customers are demanding most, all these observations and reporting is descriptive research. 

It is often the first step of any research since the data you gather sets the stage for the research question. It is used to determine the problem you want to explore before fully realizing it. The information helps you identify the problem. 

In this blog, we’ll discuss the characteristics, types, pros & cons, and three ways to conduct this research type to help you in your next market research.

What is descriptive research?

Descriptive research refers to the research method that describes the characteristics of the variables you are studying. This methodology focuses on answering questions to the “WHAT” than the “WHY” of the research question. The primary focus of this research method is to describe the nature of the demographics understudy instead of focusing on the “why”.

It is called an observational research method as none of the variables in the study are influenced during the research process.

For example, let’s assume that a UK-based brand is trying to establish itself in New York and wants to understand the demographics of the buyers who generally purchase from brands similar to it. 

In descriptive research, the information gathered from the survey will only focus on the population’s demographics. It will uncover details on the buying patterns of different age cohorts in New York. It will not study why such patterns exist because the brand is trying to establish itself in New York. 

They want to understand the buying behavior of the population, not why such associations exist. It is a part of quantitative market research or social research study, which involves conducting survey research using quantitative variables on a market research software or social research software .

Voxco’s omnichannel survey software helps you collect insights from multiple channels using a single platform.

See the true power of using an integrated survey platform to conduct online, offline, and phone surveys along with a built-in analytical suite.

What are the characteristics of descriptive research?

Among the many, the following are the main characteristics of this research type:

• Quantitative research
• Nature of variables
• Cross-sectional studies
• Directs future research

Let’s discuss these four characteristics in detail. 

1. Quantitative research:

It is quantitative as it attempts to collect and statistically analyze information. This research type is a powerful research tool that permits a researcher to collect data and describe the demographics of the same with the help of statistical analysis. Thus, it is a quantitative research method .

2. Nature of variables:

The variables included in this research are uncontrolled. They are not manipulated in any way. Descriptive research mostly uses observational methods; thus, the researcher cannot control the nature and behavior of the variables under study.

3. Cross-sectional studies:

In this research type, different sections of the same group are studied. For instance, in order to study the fashion preferences of New York, the researcher can study Gen Z as well as Millennials from the same population in New York.

4. Directs future research:

Since this research identifies the patterns between variables and describes them, researchers can further study the data collected here. It guides researchers to discover further why such patterns have been found and their association. Hence, it gives researchers a direction toward insightful market research.

What are the methods of conducting descriptive research?

Primarily, there are three descriptive research methods: 

• Observation,
• Survey, & 

We have explained how you can conduct this research type in three different ways. Each method helps gather descriptive data and sets the scene for thorough research.

1. Observational method

All research has some component of observation, this observation can be quantitative or qualitative. A quantitative observation includes objectively collecting data that is primarily in numerical form. 

The data collected should be related to or understood in terms of quantity.

Quantitative observations are analyzed with the help of survey analytics software . 

Examples of quantitative observations include observation of any variable related to a numerical value such as age, shape, weight, height, scale, etc.

For example, a researcher can understand a customer’s satisfaction with their recent purchases by asking them to rate their satisfaction on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (extremely unsatisfied) to 7 (extremely satisfied).

Qualitative observations monitor the characteristics of a phenomenon and do not involve numerical measurements.

Using this type of descriptive research, you can observe respondents in a naturalistic environment from a distance. Since the respondents are in a natural environment, the observed characteristics enrich and offer more insights. 

For instance, you can monitor and note down the observations of customers in a supermarket by observing their selection and purchasing patterns. This offers a detailed cognizance of the customer.

In any kind of research, you should ensure high survey response rates for improved quality of insights.  

2. Survey method

The survey method includes recording the answers of respondents through surveys or questionnaires. Surveys can include polls as well. They are the most common tool for collecting market research data. 

Surveys are generally used to collect feedback from the respondents. It should have a survey that taps into both open-ended and closed-ended questions .

The biggest advantage of the survey method is that it can be conducted using online or offline survey tools . One of the reasons why the survey method is the go-to option for descriptive research is that it entails the collection of large amounts of data in a limited span of time.

3. Case study method

The in-depth study of an individual or a group is known as a case study. Case studies usually lead to developing a hypothesis to explore a phenomenon further. Case studies are limited in their scope in that they don’t allow the researcher to make cause-effect conclusions or accurate predictions. 

This is because these associations could reflect the bias on the researchers’ part instead of a naturally occurring phenomenon. Another reason why case studies are limited in scope is that they could just be reflecting an atypical respondent in the survey. 

An atypical respondent refers to someone who is different from the average consumer, and if researchers make judgments about the entire target population based on this consumer, it can affect the external validity of the study.

[ Related read: Descriptive vs experimental research ]

Read how Voxco helped Brain Research improve research productivity by 60%.

“The platform extends our ability to productively manage our busy intercept survey projects, and the confidence to support major new clients.”

Laura Ruvalcaba, President & CEO, Brain Research

What are the types of descriptive research?

There are seven types of descriptive research based on when you conduct them and what type of data research you conduct. We have explained these seven types in brief with examples to help you better understand them.

1. Cross-sectional: 

A descriptive method of studying a particular section of the target population at a specific point in time. 

Example : Tracking the use of social media by Gen Z in the Netherlands. 

2. Longitudinal: 

This type of descriptive study is conducted for an extended period on a group of people. 

Example : Monitoring changes in the volume of cyber-bullying among Millenials from 2022 to 2024. 

3. Normative: 

In this descriptive method, we compare the result of a study with an existing norm. 

Example : Comparing legal verdicts in similar types of cases. 

4. Relational/Correlational:

We investigate the type of relationships (correlation) between two variables in this type of descriptive research. 

Example : Investigating the relationship between video games and mental health. 

5. Comparative: 

A descriptive study that compares two or more people, groups, or conditions based on a specific aspect. 

Example : Comparing the salary of two employees in similar job roles from two companies. 

6. Classification: 

This type of research arranges collected data into classes based on specific criteria to analyze them. 

Example : Classification of customers based on their buying behavior. 

7. Archival: 

A descriptive study where you search for past records and extract information.

Example : Tracking company’s sales data over the decade. 

We have been discussing the descriptive method with examples. So now let’s see how you can use this research type in a real-world application.

Guide to Descriptive Research

Learn the key steps of conducting descriptive research to uncover breakthrough insights into your target market.

Examples of Descriptive Research Under Market Research

This research type helps you gather the necessary information you need to understand the problem. It sets the scene to conduct further research. But how can you use this research method in the real world? 

We have explained its real-world application in three scenarios to help you determine where and where you want to use this research type. 

1. Sales Studies

You can use this research type to analyze the potential of the market, what is currently trending in the market, and which products may perform well in terms of sales. You can also study what circumstances influence the market shares and when they are likely to increase or decrease. 

This research type can help you gather the demographic data of the consumers.

2. Consumer Perception and Behavior Studies

You can use this research method to analyze what consumers think about the brand. You can evaluate their perceptions about the products sold by a particular brand and the uses of other competitive products. 

Using descriptive research, you can also analyze what advertising strategies have worked to increase the positive perceptions of the brand. You can assess consumers’ consumption behavior and how it is influenced by product pricing.

3. Market Characteristics Studies

Another way you can use this research method is by analyzing the distribution of the products in the market. You can gather contextual data on questions such as “which countries have more sales”, “which countries have fewer products but the product is sold out quickly” , etc. 

You can also analyze the brand management of competitors ; what strategy is working for them and what is not.

What are the applications of descriptive research?

This research method is used for a variety of reasons. Even after outlining survey goals, and survey designs as well as collecting information through surveys, there is no way of knowing whether or not the research you are conducting will meet the predictions that you have made. 

Here are some popular ways in which organizations use this research type:

1. Defining the characteristics of respondents

Since most descriptive research methods use close-ended questions for the collection of data, it helps in drawing objective conclusions about the respondents.

It helps in deriving patterns, traits, and behaviors of respondents. It also aims to understand respondents’ attitudes and opinions about certain phenomena.

For instance , researchers can understand how many hours young adults spend on the internet, their opinions about social media platforms, and how important they consider these platforms to be. This information will help the company make informed decisions regarding its products and brands. 

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2. Analyzing trends in data

You can use statistical data analysis to understand the trends in data over time. 

For instance, consider an apparel company that drops a new line of clothing; they may research how Gen Z and Millennials react to the new launch. If they discover that the new range of clothes has worked effectively for one group (Gen Z) but not the other, the company may stop producing clothes for the other group.

Leverage a data analysis platform that allows you to conduct advanced statistical analysis and offers a data analytics dashboard to track real-time data.

3. Comparing different groups

Something closely knit to the previous point is also comparing different groups of customers based on their demographics. With descriptive research, you can study how different groups of people respond to specific services offered by a company. 

For instance , what is the influence of income, age, gender, income, etc. influence the spending behaviors of consumers?

This research method helps companies understand what they should do to increase their brand appeal in different groups of the population. 

4. Validating existing patterns of respondents

Since it is non-invasive and makes use of quantitative data (mostly), you can make observations about why the current patterns of purchasing exist in customers. 

You can also use the findings as the basis of a more in-depth study in the future. 

5. Conducting research at different times

Descriptive research can be conducted at different periods of time in order to see whether the patterns are similar or dissimilar at different points in time. You can also replicate the studies to verify the findings of the original study to draw accurate conclusions.

6. Finding correlations among variables

This method is also used to draw correlations between variables and the degree of association between the variables. 

For instance, if the focus is on men’s age and expenditure. 

There is a possibility of finding a negative correlation between the two variables, indicating that as the age of men increases, the less they spend on sports products.

Descriptive research Examples

A descriptive method of research aims to gather answers for how, what, when, and where. 

Let’s use some examples to understand how a descriptive method of research is used. 

Before investing in housing at any location, you would want to conduct your own research to understand 

• How is the market changing?
• When or at what time of year is it changing?
• Where would you make more profit?

This type of research is an example of a descriptive study. 

A company studies the behavior of its customers to identify its target market before it launches a new product. This is another use case of how brands use descriptive research. 

The company may conduct this research by observing the customer’s reaction and behavior toward a competitor’s product. 

Or, they can also conduct surveys to ask customer opinions on the new product by the company before its launch. 

A restaurant planning to open a branch in a new locality will research to understand the behavior of the people living there. They will survey the people to know their choice of flavor, taste, foods, drinks, and more. 

Now that we’ve seen how you can use this research method for your research purpose, let’s also see the advantages & disadvantages of the research.

What Are the Advantages of Descriptive Research?

It is the preliminary research method. Most researchers use this method to discover the problem they should prioritize. Before diving into the experiments, let’s see some of the reasons why you should be conducting this research. 

1. Primary data collection

In this type of descriptive research, the data is collected through primary data collection methods such as case studies, observational methods, and surveys. This kind of data collection provides us with rich information and can be used for future research as well. It can also be used for developing hypotheses or your research objective.

2. Multiple data collection

Descriptive research can also be conducted by collecting qualitative or quantitative data . Hence, it is more varied, flexible, and diverse and tends to be thorough and elaborate.

[ Related read: Data Collection: All you need to know! ]

3. Observational behavior 

The observational method of this research allows researchers to observe the respondent’s behavior in natural settings. This also ensures that the data collected is high in quality and honest.

4. Cost-effective

It is cost-effective and the data collection of this research can be done quickly. You can conduct descriptive research using an all-in-one solution such as Voxco. Leverage a platform that gives you the capability of the best market research software to conduct customer, product, and brand research.

What Are the Disadvantages of Descriptive Research?

Descriptive research also has some disadvantages. Let’s learn about these cons so you can wisely decide when you should use this research to keep the disadvantages to a minimum. 

1. Misleading information

Respondents can give misleading or incorrect responses if they feel that the questions are assessing intimate matters. Respondents can also be affected by the observer’s presence and may engage in pretending. This is known as the observer effect.

2. Biases in studies

The researchers’ own opinions of biases may affect the results of the study. This is known as the experimenter effect.

3. Representative issue 

There is also the problem of data representativeness. It occurs when a case study or the data of a small sample does not adequately represent the whole population.

4. Limited scope

Descriptive research has limited scope, wherein it only analyzes the “what” of research, it does not evaluate the “why” or “how” questions of research.

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Wrapping up;

So that sums up our descriptive research guide. It is a wide concept that demands a conceptual framework for descriptive design and a thorough understanding of descriptive survey design . 

Naturally, it becomes essential that you adopt online survey tools that facilitates all of the above and provides ample room for insightful research.  

Voxco’s omnichannel survey software allows you to create interactive surveys, deploy them across multiple channels, and conduct data analysis in one platform.

This research method enables you to explain and describe the characteristics of a target population. The descriptive research method helps you uncover deeper insights into various aspects of the target population, such as who, what, when, where, and how. 

There are many data collection methods you can use to collect descriptive research data. For example, you can perform the research via surveys (online, phone, or offline), case studies, observations, and archival research.

Here are some key characteristics of this research methodology: 

This research type helps you describe the characteristics, behavior, opinions, and perspectives of the population or research subject. 

The data gathered from descriptive research is a reliable and comprehensive source of explanation of the research subject. 

In this methodology, the researcher focuses on observing and reporting on the natural relationship between the variables. There is no manipulation of variables or establishing a cause-and-effect relationship.

Descriptive research offers many advantages. 

Descriptive research methods are simple and easy to design and conduct. You don’t need research expertise for this research design in comparison to conducting more complex research. 

This research method is more cost-effective than other research methodologies, particularly experimental research designs. 

The descriptive research method enables you to collect qualitative and quantitative data. The research data helps extract valuable insights and supports further root-cause analysis.

Descriptive research methodology also has some limitations, here are some of those: 

Descriptive research data may generate insights specific to a population under study. This limits your ability to generalize the results to a wider population, which makes the data less representative. 

The data collection approaches and observation biases can lead to bias in the research method, which can negatively impact the accuracy and reliability of the research findings.

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• Market Research

6 types of marketing research

• March 2, 2023

Marketing research, also known as market research, involves finding out information that determines if a new product, service, or approach is viable for a business. Different types of marketing research can be conducted in-house or through a third-party outlet, and there are various methods available to gather and acquire feedback from your target market.

Marketing research is imperative for businesses of all sizes and industries. It supplies a fact-based foundation, one that helps a company to make wise decisions with any future decisions. Without this research, there is a much greater chance a business makes poor decisions, and these can lead to significant, even terminal, damage.

You know marketing research is important. However, which process is the best fit for your company? There are different types of marketing research, each with its pros and cons, and they can benefit in distinct ways.

This blog post will take a closer look at the six main types of marketing research. With the details below, you can decide on which type – or types – are best for your upcoming project, whether this is developing a new product or starting up a business.

Exploratory Research

When attempting to solve a problem that has not been clearly defined before, a company should utilize exploratory research. This involves gaining a greater understanding of the problem, although it is unlikely to supply conclusive results. What it does, however, is identify issues, and each of these can be an area of focus with future research efforts.

Researching a problem that has minimal existing information may seem difficult. Yet, various methods are available to conduct an effective exploratory research campaign, and these assist with revealing new insights and data that offer a level of resolution to the problem.

Advantages of exploratory research.

Some advantages include:

• It gives you the ability to take a challenging problem – one that has yet to be studied in any depth – and narrow it down. You can uncover valuable information that was not previously available.
• Along with being cost-effective, exploratory research is both flexible and open-ended. There are no limitations in terms of how you proceed with this method.
• For future research efforts, it provides a great framework. With a body of research already built, it makes it easier to overcome new, tricky research problems you encounter.

Disadvantages of exploratory research.

Some disadvantages include:

• Conclusive results are not usually gained through exploratory research. Furthermore, because there is minimal preexisting knowledge, results can end up being subjective or even biased.
• The research is not often generalizable or valid from an external point of view.
• No existing model is in place with exploratory research, which means it can be labor-intensive to build a suitable structure for this type of research.

Example of exploratory research in use.

The owner of an ice cream parlor believes adding extra ice cream flavors will lead to more customers. The issue: there is no conclusive proof this is the case, so further information is required. With exploratory research, the owner is able to discover if this is the key to attracting more business or if a better idea is available.

Descriptive Research

Descriptive research is a strategy that involves identifying, determining, or describing the phenomenon or population in question. Rather than focus on the “why” of the subject, descriptive research is about uncovering the “what” of the subject.

Simply put, of all the types of marketing research, this one helps to fill in the gaps about what a certain phenomenon is (rather than why it occurs) and how it affects different variables or anything beyond the surface information. Descriptive research helps to identify elements like the size, frequency, and location of the thing you are studying.

Advantages of descriptive research.

• Descriptive research allows you to collect and analyze facts, using these to produce an in-depth, precise understanding of the research-related issue you face.
• If you utilize observational data collection methods, you can receive answers in the natural environment of responders. This helps determine their behavior accurately and acquire high-quality feedback.
• It is versatile, quick, and cost-effective. Descriptive research can be utilized for a large range of purposes, and the sample size is typically large.

Disadvantages of descriptive research.

• Statistical techniques or tools cannot be used to verify problems with descriptive research.
• With an observer present, this can affect the nature of answers from respondents. They could pretend, for instance, that their responses are not entirely accurate – particularly if any questions revolve around intimate subjects.
• Repeating the descriptive research process can be tricky because of its observational nature.

Example of descriptive research in use.

An apparel design company wants to measure data trends for its latest line of clothing. The company uses descriptive research to look at two different age groups: 18-24 and 25-34. The research reveals the older age group, in general, did not take to this line of clothing. It also offers insight into what clothing they liked and disliked, giving the apparel company knowledge about what trends to follow in the future.

Causal Research

Also referred to as explanatory research, causal research is a tactic used to evaluate the cause-and-effect relationship that exists between two different situations. Cause-and-effect can be affected by a wide assortment of factors, so causal research incorporates experiments to gather statistical evidence about the relationship, if any, between the two.

Following this initial part, causal research will often take a closer look at the data to understand the development of the relationship and how it works. Furthermore, a researcher afterward could modify the circumstances of one situation, analyzing how this impacts the other situation.

Advantages of causal research.

• You are able to optimize processes and resolve issues within your business strategies. This is because causal research allows you to learn about each aspect and all nuances of your system.
• Causal research opens the door to more objective results. Outside influences are reduced as participants or subjects are usually selected by random sampling tactics.
• A repeatable, dependable process is possible with causal research, making it useful in multiple contexts.

Disadvantages of causal research.

• Within data, it can be difficult to extract the cause-and-effect relationships. This is certainly the case with complex systems and understanding how a particular variable can affect a different one.
• Due to the difficulty of controlling all variables, it is a challenge to measure the outcome when a variable is altered. Findings with causal research can then produce errors.
• It is a time-consuming process. To be able to identify and positively change relationships, multiple experiments are often required.

Example of causal research in use.

An online retailer runs an advertising campaign in one state for three months. In this same time period, the retailer experiences a 10% sales revenue increase. To see if the advertising campaign was the root cause of this increase, the exact same campaign is used in other randomly selected states. With causal research, they compare sales data for each region, analyzing if a fruitful cause-and-effect relationship has occurred between advertising and sales with the test campaign .

Predictive Research

As the name suggests, predictive research is built around trying to forecast outcomes, effects, costs, and consequences to understand how various business elements could appear in the future. Both current and historical data are combined with statistical analysis techniques, allowing researchers to predict how future actions could affect a business.

Advantages of predictive research.

• Predictive research helps to reduce risk with business decisions. You are able to analyze potential future scenarios, helping you to assess outcomes that are most likely.
• It makes it possible to optimize different aspects of a company. By analyzing data, you can spot trends and identify new opportunities.
• You can use predictive research to enhance efficiency across operations. It is possible to be proactive in making improvements, taking the appropriate steps when necessary.

Disadvantages of predictive research.

• It is still only a prediction. There is no guarantee the research will result in reality. As a result, you still have to proceed with a level of caution after using predictive research.
• The validity of a predictive research model can change over time. As certain factors become less or more important, this can impact the model and its effectiveness.
• The data used dictates how good the model is for predictive research. If trends do not change over time, for instance, there is little to go off when predicting changes for the future.

Example of predictive research in use.

A business can decide to analyze the performance of its sales team. They can take the sales for the past months and use these statistics to predict how many sales will be made in the next six months. If this number is not to a necessary standard, the business could decide to make changes, like adding a new sales member, changing their process, and so on.

Conclusive Research

A company will use conclusive research to gather information, analyze it, and use this to make decisions and reach conclusions. If a business is dealing with a certain issue, it can use conclusive research to provide them with guidance to solve this issue. This is one of the more popular types of marketing research because of the clear goal.

Advantages of conclusive research.

• It supplies a business with accurate data. This is helped by conclusive research being able to facilitate large sample sizes of data.
• Conclusive research can be beneficial when attempting to identify causality between two variables.

Disadvantages of conclusive research.

• With conclusive research, there is the possibility of response bias. This can ultimately skew the results that are gathered.
• Conclusive research is not helpful when trying to identify the causes behind a specific event, motivation, or behavior.

Example of conclusive research in use.

To prove a hypothesis about their target audience, a business sends out surveys – complete with closed-ended questions – to their customers. The information gathered with these survey responses gives them the guidance that will either prove or disprove their hypothesis.

Primary vs. Secondary Research

Primary research is one of the types of marketing research that involves the use of self-conducted research methods to learn more about a certain subject. These methods include interviews, surveys, observations, and focus groups, and they are utilized to collect data that has never been collected previously.

Secondary research, on the other hand, makes use of data that already exists. This research includes everything from studying analytics to using GapScout to pick out valuable information from reviews and social media.

Advantages of primary and secondary research:

Primary research advantages include:

• The data you gather through primary research is unique. It is not available for public consumption, and nobody else – including your competition – has access to this data.
• Primary research campaigns give you the most up-to-date information. This is not data from years ago. It is as current as it possibly can get following the conclusion of a campaign.
• Data collection can be done with speed and efficiency. This is the situation if the likes of opinion polls and on-page surveys are used.

Secondary advantages include research:

• You get instant access to a lot of different data sources. This can be used to provide your business with a lot of valuable insights and answer possible questions.
• Secondary research saves both time and resources. The data is already there for you to extract and use.
• It is possible to reanalyze old data, comparing it with any new data that has been collected, to uncover new points of view, understandings, and conclusions.

Disadvantages of primary and secondary research:

Primary research disadvantages include:

• Primary research can be a time-consuming process. This is the case when conducting the likes of experiments and face-to-face interviews. Research can take months or even years.
• It can be costly to run primary research campaigns.
• Data gathered can be biased depending on who the data was collected from and how the data was collected.

Secondary research disadvantages include:

• The data you collect could be out-of-date. The more out-of-date the data, the less effective it is for your research efforts.
• Secondary research might not be specific to your requirements. The data is not designed precisely around your business and its needs.
• There is no control over secondary research data. The quality may not be to standard, or it could be biased.

Examples of primary and secondary research in use.

A company decides to create a new product. Before going into production, they decide to run a focus group for product development. With this focus group, the company can gain feedback from potential customers, including information about the features they like, dislike, and those they would recommend.

With secondary research, a company wants to find out more about its competitors, including what pain points customers have with their products. The company uses GapScout to analyze customer reviews. By doing this, they can discover negative themes that are shared about these products. The company can then use this information when developing their own product range.

Wrapping up the types of marketing research.

There are numerous different types of marketing research available. It is important you select the right research type for your business, although this is dependent on your objective or question.

By investing in marketing research, this helps your business to make informed – and ultimately more worthwhile – decisions. Not only will you save money and time, but it also makes your business a more productive, profitable one.

You may also like:

• Marketing Research in 5 easy steps
• Market research vs. Marketing Research: What’s the Difference?

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Descriptive Research

Descriptive research can be explained as a statement of affairs as they are at present with the researcher having no control over variable. Moreover, “descriptive studies may be characterised as simply the attempt to determine, describe or identify what is, while analytical research attempts to establish why it is that way or how it came to be” [1] . Three main purposes of descriptive studies can be explained as describing, explaining and validating research findings. This type of research is popular with non-quantified topic.

Descriptive research is “aimed at casting light on current issues or problems through a process of data collection that enables them to describe the situation more completely than was possible without employing this method.” [2] To put it simply, descriptive studies are used to describe various aspects of the phenomenon. In its popular format, descriptive research is used to describe characteristics and/or behaviour of sample population. It is an effective method to get information that can be used to develop hypotheses and propose associations.

Importantly, these types of studies do not focus on reasons for the occurrence of the phenomenon. In other words, descriptive research focuses on the question “What?”, but it is not concerned with the question “Why?”

Descriptive studies have the following characteristics:

1. While descriptive research can employ a number of variables, only one variable is required to conduct a descriptive study.

2. Descriptive studies are closely associated with observational studies, but they are not limited with observation data collection method. Case studies and  surveys can also be specified as popular data collection methods used with descriptive studies.

3. Findings of descriptive researches create a scope for further research. When a descriptive study answers to the question “What?”, a further research can be conducted to find an answer to “Why?” question.

Examples of Descriptive Research

Research questions in descriptive studies typically start with ‘What is…”. Examples of research questions in descriptive studies may include the following:

• What are the most effective intangible employee motivation tools in hospitality industry in the 21 st century?
• What is the impact of viral marketing on consumer behaviour in consumer amongst university students in Canada?
• Do corporate leaders of multinational companies in the 21 st century possess moral rights to receive multi-million bonuses?
• What are the main distinctive traits of organisational culture of McDonald’s USA?
• What is the impact of the global financial crisis of 2007 – 2009 on fitness industry in the UK?

Advantages of Descriptive Research

• Effective to analyse non-quantified topics and issues
• The possibility to observe the phenomenon in a completely natural and unchanged natural environment
• The opportunity to integrate the qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. Accordingly, research findings can be comprehensive.
• Less time-consuming than quantitative experiments
• Practical use of research findings for decision-making

Disadvantages of Descriptive Research

• Descriptive studies cannot test or verify the research problem statistically
• Research results may reflect certain level of bias due to the absence of statistical tests
• The majority of descriptive studies are not ‘repeatable’ due to their observational nature
• Descriptive studies are not helpful in identifying cause behind described phenomenon

My e-book,  The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dissertation in Business Studies: a step by step assistance  contains discussions of theory and application of research designs. The e-book also explains all stages of the  research process  starting from the  selection of the research area  to writing personal reflection. Important elements of dissertations such as  research philosophy ,  research approach ,  methods of data collection ,  data analysis  and  sampling  are explained in this e-book in simple words.

John Dudovskiy

[1] Ethridge, D.E. (2004) “Research Methodology in Applied Economics” John Wiley & Sons, p.24

[2] Fox, W. & Bayat, M.S. (2007) “A Guide to Managing Research” Juta Publications, p.45

Advantages and disadvantages of descriptive research

Descriptive research

Descriptive research  is a type of research that is responsible for describing the population situation or phenomenon around which his study focuses. It seeks to provide information about the what, how, when, and where of the research problem, without giving priority to answering the “why” of the problem. As its name says, this way of investigating “describes”, it does not explain. Advantages and disadvantages of descriptive research

In addition, it obtains information on the phenomenon or situation to be studied, using techniques such as observation and survey, among others. For example, research studying the morphology and mechanism of action of SARS-CoV-2 is descriptive. Answer the “what”, not the “why”.

This type of research is very useful when conducting studies, for example, when you want to know which brand of soda is most consumed in a supermarket, where you only want to know which is the most consumed, and not why it is the most consumed. consumed.

Descriptive investigations, unlike other types of investigations, carry out their study without altering or manipulating any of the variables of the phenomenon, limiting themselves only to their measurement and description. Additionally, it is possible to make future forecasts, although they are considered premature or basic.

Descriptive research characteristics

Here are some of the most important characteristics of descriptive research :

Has no control over variables

In descriptive research, the researcher has no control over any of the variables that affect the event or problem under investigation. Advantages and disadvantages of descriptive research

Existence of variables

To carry out a descriptive research , it is necessary to know in advance the variables that will be analyzed, since this type of research is not dedicated to the search for variables, but to their study.

Although, when obtaining data on the variables , it is possible to make forecasts, these are not entirely reliable, since they are considered premature.

Quantitative information

In most cases, descriptive research gets data on quantities, not qualities . It is for this reason that it can be said that a descriptive research is quantitative. Advantages and disadvantages of descriptive research

Even so, there is also the possibility of obtaining qualitative data.

As in all types of research , the data provided by descriptive research must be both accurate and reliable.

Information classification

Descriptive research can be used to classify the data collected in the study that is being carried out, separating them into different categories of description.

Usually, the cross-sectional or transectional design is the most used to carry out this type of research , although it is also possible to use the pre-experimental design. Advantages and disadvantages of descriptive research

Descriptive research design

The research design is used to draw up the work plan to follow in the research. It is where the conceptual phase of the research, such as the statement of the problem , meets the operational phase, such as the method and instruments of the investigation.

For the case of the design of a descriptive investigation, most of the time it is necessary to obtain data that refers to the quantity. To achieve this task, the researcher can choose between two different types of research designs, which have specific characteristics that differentiate them from each other.

The two types of designs used in descriptive research are described below:

Cross-sectional or   transectional design

In cross-sectional designs, the variables are not affected by any type of process, which is why they only dedicate themselves to observing the event as it happens, limiting themselves only to analyzing them. Advantages and disadvantages of descriptive research

They basically consist of making a description of the variables to be measured in a phenomenon, and analyzing the incidence at the time that event occurs.

Pre-experimental design

There are occasions where the pre- experimental design is used as a test to get a first contact with the research problem in a real way, being used, on some occasions, as a test of experiments with a greater degree of control.

This type of design does not allow to establish causal relationships, since they do not have the possibility of controlling variables , and their internal validity is not very reliable. Furthermore, it is applied only to a group, over which it has no control whatsoever.

There are two ways to carry out a pre- experimental design, which are as follows:

• Case study with a single measurement  : in this type of design, a stimulus is applied to a group and then the data obtained from the variable or variables to be measured are taken. The simplicity of the design makes it unreliable, since there is no reference to the level of the variable (s) before the stimulus is applied, as well as no control over them.
• Test and post-test design with a single group  : for this type of design, a test is carried out before and after applying the stimulus to the group, thus allowing the visualization of the differences that may exist between the measurements of the studied variable (s) . Although, using this design it is possible to differentiate the levels of the variables , before and after the stimulus is applied, it does not allow to visualize causality, since there is no comparison group, nor is there the possibility of manipulating the variables. Advantages and disadvantages of descriptive research

Techniques used in descriptive research

In the case of descriptive research , there are three techniques to carry it out:

Observation

Observation is one of the most used information, of the quantitative or qualitative type:

• To obtain quantitative information , statistical and numerical study methodologies are used, where information about values ​​such as weight, scale and years, among others, is obtained. So it can be said that fundamentally numerical values ​​are obtained.
• On the other hand, to obtain qualitative information, the type of data obtained does not have to do with numbers or statistics , but with the dynamics that occur in the group on which the research is being developed. Advantages and disadvantages of descriptive research

Using the case study it is possible to carry out a slightly more detailed analysis of the event, as well as to study in detail groups or subjects separately.

In addition, it is possible to present a hypothesis and to expand the degree of knowledge about the event under investigation. However, due to its low precision in forecasting, it is not possible to specify the causes and effects of the phenomenon studied.

Research survey

The research survey is one of the most widely used instruments when conducting descriptive research, where the number of samples to be taken is large. Advantages and disadvantages of descriptive research

The selection of questions should include both open and closed questions, thus guaranteeing a balance between them and making it possible to collect good quality information.

Like all different types of research , descriptive research has both advantages and disadvantages. Some of the most important are listed below.

• The brevity by which descriptive investigations are carried out means that their costs are not high, compared to other types of investigations.
• It enables both the collection of quantitative data and qualitative data.
• They allow to formulate hypotheses, as well as provide a large amount of valuable data for the development of future investigations. Advantages and disadvantages of descriptive research
• By using descriptive research , the data is collected in the place where it occurs, without any type of alteration, ensuring the quality and integrity of the same.

Disadvantages

• If the questions are not well formulated, the answers obtained may not be entirely reliable, which makes it difficult to carry out a credible investigation.
• The types of variables that allow the study of descriptive investigations make it impossible to visualize the causes and effects of the event.
• The data obtained by conducting a descriptive research , being collected randomly, make it impossible to obtain valid data that represent the entire population.

Descriptive Research Examples

Some examples of descriptive investigations may be the following:

Penguin census

Studying the penguin population that exists in the South Georgia Islands is a descriptive investigation that answers the what and where. Advantages and disadvantages of descriptive research

National census

The research carried out in a national census is descriptive, since it is only interested in data such as the number of population, the salary they receive, or what class the household is, without making any kind of analogy between these. .

Carrying out a descriptive investigation that collects data about the political party that people will choose in the next elections, it is possible to predict, with a margin of error , the result that will be obtained in them.

Supermarket

Using observation, qualitative data can be collected on the habits of supermarket customers regarding the purchases they make in it. Advantages and disadvantages of descriptive research

Kids playtime

Through the resource of the survey , it is possible to carry out a descriptive investigation that yields information about the number of hours per day that children in a particular population play. Being able to make a forecast of the weather that a particular child of that city plays.

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Home » Descriptive Analytics – Methods, Tools and Examples

Descriptive Analytics – Methods, Tools and Examples

Table of Contents

Descriptive Analytics

Definition:

Descriptive analytics focused on describing or summarizing raw data and making it interpretable. This type of analytics provides insight into what has happened in the past. It involves the analysis of historical data to identify patterns, trends, and insights. Descriptive analytics often uses visualization tools to represent the data in a way that is easy to interpret.

Descriptive Analytics in Research

Descriptive analytics plays a crucial role in research, helping investigators understand and describe the data collected in their studies. Here’s how descriptive analytics is typically used in a research setting:

• Descriptive Statistics: In research, descriptive analytics often takes the form of descriptive statistics . This includes calculating measures of central tendency (like mean, median, and mode), measures of dispersion (like range, variance, and standard deviation), and measures of frequency (like count, percent, and frequency). These calculations help researchers summarize and understand their data.
• Visualizing Data: Descriptive analytics also involves creating visual representations of data to better understand and communicate research findings . This might involve creating bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts, scatter plots, box plots, and other visualizations.
• Exploratory Data Analysis: Before conducting any formal statistical tests, researchers often conduct an exploratory data analysis, which is a form of descriptive analytics. This might involve looking at distributions of variables, checking for outliers, and exploring relationships between variables.
• Initial Findings: Descriptive analytics are often reported in the results section of a research study to provide readers with an overview of the data. For example, a researcher might report average scores, demographic breakdowns, or the percentage of participants who endorsed each response on a survey.
• Establishing Patterns and Relationships: Descriptive analytics helps in identifying patterns, trends, or relationships in the data, which can guide subsequent analysis or future research. For instance, researchers might look at the correlation between variables as a part of descriptive analytics.

Descriptive Analytics Techniques

Descriptive analytics involves a variety of techniques to summarize, interpret, and visualize historical data. Some commonly used techniques include:

Statistical Analysis

This includes basic statistical methods like mean, median, mode (central tendency), standard deviation, variance (dispersion), correlation, and regression (relationships between variables).

Data Aggregation

It is the process of compiling and summarizing data to obtain a general perspective. It can involve methods like sum, count, average, min, max, etc., often applied to a group of data.

Data Mining

This involves analyzing large volumes of data to discover patterns, trends, and insights. Techniques used in data mining can include clustering (grouping similar data), classification (assigning data into categories), association rules (finding relationships between variables), and anomaly detection (identifying outliers).

Data Visualization

This involves presenting data in a graphical or pictorial format to provide clear and easy understanding of the data patterns, trends, and insights. Common data visualization methods include bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, scatter plots, histograms, and more complex forms like heat maps and interactive dashboards.

This involves organizing data into informational summaries to monitor how different areas of a business are performing. Reports can be generated manually or automatically and can be presented in tables, graphs, or dashboards.

Cross-tabulation (or Pivot Tables)

It involves displaying the relationship between two or more variables in a tabular form. It can provide a deeper understanding of the data by allowing comparisons and revealing patterns and correlations that may not be readily apparent in raw data.

Descriptive Modeling

Some techniques use complex algorithms to interpret data. Examples include decision tree analysis, which provides a graphical representation of decision-making situations, and neural networks, which are used to identify correlations and patterns in large data sets.

Descriptive Analytics Tools

Some common Descriptive Analytics Tools are as follows:

Excel: Microsoft Excel is a widely used tool that can be used for simple descriptive analytics. It has powerful statistical and data visualization capabilities. Pivot tables are a particularly useful feature for summarizing and analyzing large data sets.

Tableau: Tableau is a data visualization tool that is used to represent data in a graphical or pictorial format. It can handle large data sets and allows for real-time data analysis.

Power BI: Power BI, another product from Microsoft, is a business analytics tool that provides interactive visualizations with self-service business intelligence capabilities.

QlikView: QlikView is a data visualization and discovery tool. It allows users to analyze data and use this data to support decision-making.

SAS: SAS is a software suite that can mine, alter, manage and retrieve data from a variety of sources and perform statistical analysis on it.

SPSS: SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) is a software package used for statistical analysis. It’s widely used in social sciences research but also in other industries.

Google Analytics: For web data, Google Analytics is a popular tool. It allows businesses to analyze in-depth detail about the visitors on their website, providing valuable insights that can help shape the success strategy of a business.

R and Python: Both are programming languages that have robust capabilities for statistical analysis and data visualization. With packages like pandas, matplotlib, seaborn in Python and ggplot2, dplyr in R, these languages are powerful tools for descriptive analytics.

Looker: Looker is a modern data platform that can take data from any database and let you start exploring and visualizing.

When to use Descriptive Analytics

Descriptive analytics forms the base of the data analysis workflow and is typically the first step in understanding your business or organization’s data. Here are some situations when you might use descriptive analytics:

Understanding Past Behavior: Descriptive analytics is essential for understanding what has happened in the past. If you need to understand past sales trends, customer behavior, or operational performance, descriptive analytics is the tool you’d use.

Reporting Key Metrics: Descriptive analytics is used to establish and report key performance indicators (KPIs). It can help in tracking and presenting these KPIs in dashboards or regular reports.

Identifying Patterns and Trends: If you need to identify patterns or trends in your data, descriptive analytics can provide these insights. This might include identifying seasonality in sales data, understanding peak operational times, or spotting trends in customer behavior.

Informing Business Decisions: The insights provided by descriptive analytics can inform business strategy and decision-making. By understanding what has happened in the past, you can make more informed decisions about what steps to take in the future.

Benchmarking Performance: Descriptive analytics can be used to compare current performance against historical data. This can be used for benchmarking and setting performance goals.

Auditing and Regulatory Compliance: In sectors where compliance and auditing are essential, descriptive analytics can provide the necessary data and trends over specific periods.

Initial Data Exploration: When you first acquire a dataset, descriptive analytics is useful to understand the structure of the data, the relationships between variables, and any apparent anomalies or outliers.

Examples of Descriptive Analytics

Examples of Descriptive Analytics are as follows:

Retail Industry: A retail company might use descriptive analytics to analyze sales data from the past year. They could break down sales by month to identify any seasonality trends. For example, they might find that sales increase in November and December due to holiday shopping. They could also break down sales by product to identify which items are the most popular. This analysis could inform their purchasing and stocking decisions for the next year. Additionally, data on customer demographics could be analyzed to understand who their primary customers are, guiding their marketing strategies.

Healthcare Industry: In healthcare, descriptive analytics could be used to analyze patient data over time. For instance, a hospital might analyze data on patient admissions to identify trends in admission rates. They might find that admissions for certain conditions are higher at certain times of the year. This could help them allocate resources more effectively. Also, analyzing patient outcomes data can help identify the most effective treatments or highlight areas where improvement is needed.

Finance Industry: A financial firm might use descriptive analytics to analyze historical market data. They could look at trends in stock prices, trading volume, or economic indicators to inform their investment decisions. For example, analyzing the price-earnings ratios of stocks in a certain sector over time could reveal patterns that suggest whether the sector is currently overvalued or undervalued. Similarly, credit card companies can analyze transaction data to detect any unusual patterns, which could be signs of fraud.

Advantages of Descriptive Analytics

Descriptive analytics plays a vital role in the world of data analysis, providing numerous advantages:

• Understanding the Past: Descriptive analytics provides an understanding of what has happened in the past, offering valuable context for future decision-making.
• Data Summarization: Descriptive analytics is used to simplify and summarize complex datasets, which can make the information more understandable and accessible.
• Identifying Patterns and Trends: With descriptive analytics, organizations can identify patterns, trends, and correlations in their data, which can provide valuable insights.
• Inform Decision-Making: The insights generated through descriptive analytics can inform strategic decisions and help organizations to react more quickly to events or changes in behavior.
• Basis for Further Analysis: Descriptive analytics lays the groundwork for further analytical activities. It’s the first necessary step before moving on to more advanced forms of analytics like predictive analytics (forecasting future events) or prescriptive analytics (advising on possible outcomes).
• Performance Evaluation: It allows organizations to evaluate their performance by comparing current results with past results, enabling them to see where improvements have been made and where further improvements can be targeted.
• Enhanced Reporting and Dashboards: Through the use of visualization techniques, descriptive analytics can improve the quality of reports and dashboards, making the data more understandable and easier to interpret for stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
• Immediate Value: Unlike some other types of analytics, descriptive analytics can provide immediate insights, as it doesn’t require complex models or deep analytical capabilities to provide value.

Disadvantages of Descriptive Analytics

While descriptive analytics offers numerous benefits, it also has certain limitations or disadvantages. Here are a few to consider:

• Limited to Past Data: Descriptive analytics primarily deals with historical data and provides insights about past events. It does not predict future events or trends and can’t help you understand possible future outcomes on its own.
• Lack of Deep Insights: While descriptive analytics helps in identifying what happened, it does not answer why it happened. For deeper insights, you would need to use diagnostic analytics, which analyzes data to understand the root cause of a particular outcome.
• Can Be Misleading: If not properly executed, descriptive analytics can sometimes lead to incorrect conclusions. For example, correlation does not imply causation, but descriptive analytics might tempt one to make such an inference.
• Data Quality Issues: The accuracy and usefulness of descriptive analytics are heavily reliant on the quality of the underlying data. If the data is incomplete, incorrect, or biased, the results of the descriptive analytics will be too.
• Over-reliance on Descriptive Analytics: Businesses may rely too much on descriptive analytics and not enough on predictive and prescriptive analytics. While understanding past and present data is important, it’s equally vital to forecast future trends and make data-driven decisions based on those predictions.
• Doesn’t Provide Actionable Insights: Descriptive analytics is used to interpret historical data and identify patterns and trends, but it doesn’t provide recommendations or courses of action. For that, prescriptive analytics is needed.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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What is Descriptive Analytics? Working, Advantages, Disadvantages

• Post last modified: 19 May 2023
• Reading time: 8 mins read
• Post category: Business Analytics

• What is Descriptive Analytics?

Descriptive analytics is the analysis of past data in order to better understand company developments. The utilisation of a variety of historical data to make comparisons is referred to as descriptive analytics. Descriptive analytics is the source of the majority of widely reported financial measures.

Descriptive analytics involves “What has occurred in the corporation” and “What is going on now?” Let us consider the case of Facebook. Facebook users produce content through comments, posts and picture uploads. This information is unstructured and is produced at an extensive rate.

Table of Content

• 1 What is Descriptive Analytics?
• 2.1 Determine the business metrics and KPIs
• 2.2 Obtain the required Data
• 2.3 Data extraction and preparation
• 2.4 Analysing data
• 2.5 Presenting data
• 3 Advantages of Descriptive Analytics
• 4 Disadvantages of Descriptive Analytics

Facebook stats reveal that 2.4 million posts equivalent to around 500 TB of information are produced every minute. These jaw-dropping figures have offered popularity of another term which we know as Big Data. Comprehending the information in its raw configuration is troublesome. This information must be abridged, categorised and displayed in an easy-to-understand way to let the managers to comprehend it.

Business intelligence and data mining instruments/methods have been the accepted components of doing so for bigger organisations. Practically every association does some type of outline and MIS reporting using the information base or simply spreadsheets. There are three crucial approaches to abridge and describe the raw data:

• Dashboards and MIS reporting: This technique gives condensed data giving information on “What has happened”, “What’s been going on?” and “How can it stand with the plan?”
• Impromptu detailing: This technique supplements the past strategy in helping the administration to extract the information as required.
• Drill-down reporting: This is the most complex piece of descriptive analysis and gives the capacity to delve further into any report to comprehend the information better.

Working of Descriptive Analytics

There are five steps that describe the overall working of the descriptive analytics. These steps are as follows:

Determine the business metrics and KPIs

The organisation must choose the metrics it wishes to create based on the company’s aims and purposes or the fundamental business goals of each group inside it. For example, an organisation that prioritises growth may put an emphasis on analysing quarterly profit gains.

At the same time, the accounts receivable department of the organisation could keep track of exceptional days’ sales and other indicators that demonstrate how long it takes to recover money from clients.

Obtain the required Data

You must identify the data sources for such information once you have defined the business goals and associated KPIs. Because the essential data may be distributed over several files and apps, this process may be difficult. For the information to be accurate, it must all come together.

Data extraction and preparation

Data extraction is the most time-consuming activity in the data analytics process. It includes data transformation, duplication and cleaning, among other things. This is, nevertheless, a critical step in ensuring correctness. Additionally, data cleansing may be required to eliminate inconsistencies and errors in the data.

Advanced data analysts employ data modelling, a framework embedded in information systems that aids in the preparation, arrangement and organisation of a company’s data. Data modelling is the process of defining and formatting complicated data in order to make it useable and actionable. Besides data modelling, data automation is a great tool that is used for doing this type of work for you and saving time for your employees.

Analysing data

After the data has been properly organised, it should be analysed. Otherwise, having the data in the first place is pointless. Data analysis may integrate numbers with business KPIs to generate insight. Organisations can use a variety of tools to do descriptive analytics, including business intelligence (BI) software and spreadsheets. For example, a sales manager in an organisation could want to keep track of average sales revenue or monthly revenue gained from existing or newly acquired clients.

Presenting data

Once business analysts have completed all of the essential stages, they need to deliver the data. This data must be communicated with internal and external stakeholders. The business analyst uses data visualisation and presentation tools, such as charts and graphs, to accomplish this task.

For example, the stakeholders frequently prefer reports that are visually appealing such as bar charts, pie charts, or line graphs. Finance professionals, on the other hand, may prefer data presented in figures and tables.

Advantages of Descriptive Analytics

Some advantages of descriptive analytics are as follows:

• Descriptive analytics is thought to be helpful in discovering variables and emerging ideas that may then be investigated further through experimental and inferential investigations.
• Descriptive analytics is beneficial since the margin for error is low because the trends are extracted directly from the data attributes.
• Descriptive analysis does not necessitate a high level of statistical knowledge or experience. ‰‰ Descriptive analytics delivers the data required to efficiently answer those queries, regardless of when or how frequently they are asked.
• Descriptive analysis is thought to be more comprehensive than most other quantitative approaches. It provides a clearer picture of an event or phenomena. To do descriptive research, it can employ single variable or multiple variables.
• Descriptive analysis is said to be a superior strategy for gathering data since it portrays relationships in a natural way and shows the world as it is. As a result, this study is very genuine and near to mankind, as all of the patterns are based on research into the data’s real-life behaviour.

Disadvantages of Descriptive Analytics

Some disadvantages of descriptive analytics are as follows:

• Descriptive analytics just recounts what has occurred without attempting to understand the causes or anticipate what will occur next.
• It is also usually confined to relatively simple studies involving two or three variables.
• The focus of descriptive analytics is solely on historical performance and it makes no attempt to explore further than the data’s surface

Business Analytics Tutorial

( Click on Topic to Read )

• What is Data?
• Big Data Management

Types of Big Data Technologies

• Big Data Analytics
• What is Business Intelligence?
• Business Intelligence Challenges in Organisation

Essential Skills for Business Analytics Professionals

Data analytics challenges.

• What is Descriptive Statistics?
• What is Predictive Analytics?
• What is Predictive Modelling?
• What is Data Mining?
• What is Prescriptive Analytics?
• What is Diagnostic Analytics?
• Implementing Business Analytics in Medium Sized Organisations
• Cincinnati Zoo Used Business Analytics for Improving Performance
• Dundas Bi Solution Helped Medidata and Its Clients in Getting Better Data Visualisation
• What is Data Visualisation?
• Tools for Data Visualisation
• Open Source Data Visualisation Tools

Advantages and Disadvantages of Data Visualisation

• What is Social Media?
• What is Text Mining?
• What is Sentiment Analysis?
• What is Mobile Analytics?
• Types of Results From Mobile Analytics
• Mobile Analytics Tools
• Performing Mobile Analytics
• Financial Fraud Analytics
• What is HR Analytics?
• What is Healthcare Analytics?
• What is Supply Chain Analytics?
• What is Marketing Analytics?
• What is Web Analytics?

What is Sports Analytics?

• Data Analytics for Government and NGO
• What is E-Business?
• E-Business in India
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• What is Business Model?
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• What is SAP?
• Modules of ERP Software
• SAP Application Modules
• SAP R/3 System
• ERP Modules
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• ERP Vendors, Consultants and Users
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• Cloud Service Models
• Cloud Migration Challenges
• Security Threats Faced by Organization
• Managing Security of Information Systems
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• What is Data Management?
• What is Database?
• What is Data Warehouses?
• Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
• What is Project Management?
• Functions of Project Management
• What is Project?
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• What is Project Life Cycle?
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• Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
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• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
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• Risk Monitoring
• Allocating Scarce Resources in IT Project
• Goldratt’s Critical Chain
• Communication in Project Management | Case Study
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• IT Project Quality Plan
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• Implementation Plan of Software Project
• What is Project Implementation?
• What is Project Closure?
• What is Project Evaluation?
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• PMP Study Guide
• What Is IoT?
• IoT Design and Size & Space Considerations
• IoT Architecture
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• AR Applications
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