One of the goals of science is description (other goals include prediction and explanation). Descriptive research methods are pretty much as they sound — they describe situations. They do not make accurate predictions, and they do not determine cause and effect.
There are three main types of descriptive methods: observational methods, case-study methods and survey methods. This article will briefly describe each of these methods, their advantages, and their drawbacks. This may help you better understand research findings, whether reported in the mainstream media, or when reading a research study on your own.
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Survey method in my view is the best method for best research.
this types of method is actually common and done in different fields so you couldn’t really say that its the best method to use.
nice information! i am going for survey method
All three methods are valid and useful in different contexts. There are situations where the survey method is less reliable than conducting a controlled observational study. And case studies are often invaluable as a foundation for, e.g., a survey-based study.
Very nice, comprehensive discussion of these three methods. I particularly applaud your inclusion of the final paragraph: not only researchers do this, but when a research project is presented in the media, the journalists very often commit the error of suggesting that an observed phenomenon can be used to draw conclusions about causes and effects. Thank you for making this very important point clear! (And may I point to another blog post here at PsychCentral where the author makes this exact error alongside a few other errors of over-generalisation – within my own field of expertise, which makes it extra annoying for me personally to read: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/04/01/6-ways-men-and-women-communicate-differently )
Good but in CASE STUDY METHOD they didn’t explained well about the issue of the problems facing the case study method and they just explain only one problem and not all problems
This article represent some good generalized research methods. It was very helpful for my purposes.