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Inductive and/or Deductive Research Designs

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Principles of Social Research Methodology

Abstract

This chapter aims to introduce the readers, especially the Bangladeshi undergraduate and postgraduate students to some fundamental considerations of inductive and deductive research designs. The deductive approach refers to testing a theory, where the researcher builds up a theory or hypotheses and plans a research stratagem to examine the formulated theory. On the contrary, the inductive approach intends to construct a theory, where the researcher begins by gathering data to establish a theory. In the beginning, a researcher must clarify which approach he/she will follow in his/her research work. The chapter discusses basic concepts, characteristics, steps and examples of inductive and deductive research designs. Here, also a comparison between inductive and deductive research designs is shown. It concludes with a look at how both inductive and deductive designs are used comprehensively to constitute a clearer image of research work.

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Correspondence to Md. Shahidul Haque .

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Haque, M.S. (2022). Inductive and/or Deductive Research Designs. In: Islam, M.R., Khan, N.A., Baikady, R. (eds) Principles of Social Research Methodology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5441-2_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5441-2_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-19-5219-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-19-5441-2

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