Paper Example on Descriptive Survey Design: A Cross-Sectional Snapshot

For this study, the researcher sought to use a cross-sectional 'snapshot' descriptive survey design. The choice of the research design was conceived because the study was conducted at a particular time rather than over a period of time. According to Allen (2017), cross-sectional design is used to survey a population at one point in time and relied upon to describe its characteristics. The role of a research design is derived from the ability to connect theories and arguments to inform research and collected empirical data (Zefeiti & Mohamad, 2015).

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A descriptive research design is used by researchers to depict the respondents in an accurate way without altering the study environment (Edgar & Manz, 2017). Other alternative research designs which could have been adopted included case study and experimental. However, descriptive design was adopted because it easily allows for a collection of quantitative data which can be relied upon since no adjustments are made to the environment. Hence, the design ensures high level of confidentiality, objectivity and a good description of the expected error margins.

The descriptive research design was chosen because it answers five key questions namely how, when, who, where, and what linked to the research problem under study (Edgar & Manz, 2017). Under the how question, the design intends to understand the process the lead to the occurrence of the event. For instance, in this study where the study is about students' affairs management in various institutions of higher learning, the question how was intended to understand how the management system creates an improved or a deteriorating affair for the students.

In seeking to answer the question on when, the study sought to understand the time when the students' affairs are delivered optimally to the students (Schrier & Shaenfield, 2016). Besides, the time the affairs are catered for was of interest to the researcher. The time when the students' affairs are poorly managed was also of interests to the researcher since it aided in knowing whether there are factors that trigger the occurrence of either the peak or the recession.

Conversely, the question on where is of critical important and hence the researcher sought to understand the if the students' affairs are effectively and successfully implemented and administered to the students or to someone else. It is an often practice to find some activities diverted to other activities not meant for the real intention, hence, the question of where is important in understanding where the efforts are channeled to in a bid to improve the affairs of the students in the higher learning institutions. Besides, the affairs of the students can be concentrated in various areas since the topic is a wide topic. The students are engaged in various activities such as co-curricular activities like sports, and curricular activities such as academics and research. Hence, the question where aids in understanding the areas to which the management of the students' affairs are more concentrated and less concentrated.

The what questions are comparative in nature and since this study involved comparison of the students' affairs management between China and Malaysia, it was the most ideal question for the study. It helped in elucidating the differences between the way students' affairs are managed in the two countries in various higher learning institutions. In such questions, the researcher is able to quantify the particular variable and hence made an excellent statistical analysis that gives a perfect comparison (Schrier & Shaenfield, 2016). Possible questions that makes descriptive research design ideal for this study include what is the difference in the student affairs management between higher learning institutions in China and Malaysia? Under this question, the student affairs are the variable since it is the one that changes from one country to another and hence bringing the disparities.

Other what questions that enabled the researcher understand the student's affairs in China and Malaysian institutions is, what is the differences in cultural impacts towards the students' affairs in Malaysian and Chinese learning institutions? Under this question the variable is culture and the demographic is the students and the administration who are directly involved in the management of the affairs. In various studies it has established that culture affects the way students are treated and this raises the question on whether the cultural difference in the two countries is a factor that brings about the difference between the countries (English et al., 2016).

The who question in a descriptive study seeks to understand the parties involved in the entire process of the management of affairs of the students (English et al., 2016). In this regard, the students are the first persons involved since they are the ones being managed. Secondly, the university entities managing the affairs of the students are also a point of concern for this study. for instance, the students' affairs entail the academic, finances, accommodation, fees payment which lies under the finance, the hospitality, the health and other issues. Hence, the people involved in these departments form part and a great concern for the researcher. All the involved parties are critical in shedding important information that leads to good answers that enable the researcher make deductions and make draw conclusions. Besides, they lead to the answers that the research study seeks to unravel. Hence, the question of who is very important for this study and this is why the researcher was keen to use the descriptive research design to ensure that all the relevant and critical issues are all covered.

The beauty of the descriptive research design questions, what, who, what, how and where helps to quantify responses making it possible to analyze the collected data statistically (English et al., 2016). Besides, the descriptive research design aligns well with either the qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques. Descriptive research design uses the visual aids like charts and graphs to enable the researcher understand the distribution of the data collected (Tedesco & Tranquada, 2014). Also, the design allows the research to draw meaning from a large mass of raw data by reducing it into a manageable form. For this reason, it was preferred by the researcher.

The descriptive research design aims are understanding the studies and events that discover the inferences or causal relationships. As such, studies using the design finds out "what is" (Borg and Gall, 1989). For this study the statement can be completed as follows, what is the comparison between the students' affairs management in higher learning institutions in Malaysia and China. While most other designs require the use of only one variable, the descriptive design allows the use of two or more variables for analysis (Tedesco & Tranquada, 2014). This makes it suitable for a number of studies that do not entail the use of one variable but many of them.

Every design has shortcomings and it is not possible to rely on a single design and perceive that not errors and biases will occur. Conscious of the biases that exists in a research study, the researcher seeks to minimize but not to eliminate. The elimination of the biases is targeted at ensuring that the effects of such biases is minimal and does not affect the outcome of the study. in this regard, the descriptive research design is not devoid of biases and shortcomings but with careful study and design of the study, it minimizes them to a great extent. In this regard the design does not guarantee answers to the research questions but allows the researchers to suitably gather data on the phenomenon being studied. Also, it offers a description of the way the phenomenon affects and influences the variables of the study. For instance, in this study, the way culture affects the management of the students' affairs program is a factor that the design allows the researcher to understand better.

Descriptive research design suits this study because the study area is an environment that does not change but exists naturally. In a natural unchangeable environment study becomes easy since the factors that affect and alter the findings of the study are minimal. However, this is challenging since the design cannot be used in other studies whose environment is unnatural and changes often. In such a study, the changes affect the findings of the study and may lead to erroneous results.

As reiterated earlier, this study was a cross-sectional snapshot of descriptive survey. A cross-sectional snapshot of descriptive research design differs from other research designs in several ways. First id because it is based on the noticeable differences in a group forming the sample population rather than the selection of groups selected randomly. Secondly. Since the design depends on the existing differences, it does not hence depend on the change that precede an intervention. Lastly, the design has distinctive feature where it lacks time dimension since as pointed earlier it is independent on the time but natural environment. Based on the three characteristic features of the research design, the design is preferred over other research designs.

The cross-sectional research design, a snapshot of descriptive survey was adopted because the study is associated with deductive approach. According to Silverman (2013), a deductive approach relies on the already existing theories to design a hypothesis and consequently formulate an approach to test it. The researcher further decided on the use of deductive approach because the study utilized a positivist approach. According to the research onion developed by Saunders et al. (2016), the positivism allows the researcher to formulate hypothesis and test the obtained results statistically within an accepted level of probability. In the literature review, the general theory underpinning the research concept is first established. The hypothesis was then tested against the general theory specifically the student development theory for this study.

Although a deductive approach is suitable with a questionnaire and other quantitative research techniques, it can also be used with qualitative research techniques such as interviews. Hence, this broad aspect of the research approach compelled the researcher to embrace...