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.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Beiske, B. (2007). Research methods: Uses and limitations of questionnaires, interviews and case studies. GRIN Verlag.
Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social science research: Principles, methods, and practices (2nd ed.). Global Text Project.
Brewer, J., & Hunter, A. (1989). Multi method research: A synthesis of styles. Sage Publications Ltd.
Burns, N., & Grove, S. K. (2003). Understanding nursing research (3rd ed.). Saunders.
Cambridge Dictionary. (2016a). Hypothesis. In Dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved October, 15, 2016, from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hypothesis.
Corbin, J. M., & Strauss, A. (1990). Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria. Qualitative Sociology, 13, 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988593
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2017). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). Sage Publications Inc.
Crowther, D., & Lancaster, G. (2009). Research methods: A concise introduction to research in management and business. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R., & Lowe, A. (2002). Management research: An introduction. Sage Publications Ltd.
Engel, R. J., & Schutt, R. K. (2005). The practice of research in social work. Sage Publications Inc.
Gill, J., & Johnson, P. (2010). Research Methods for Managers (4th ed.). Sage Publications Ltd.
Goddard, W., & Melville, S. (2004). Research methodology: An introduction (2nd ed.). Blackwell Publishing.
Godfrey, J., Hodgson, A., Tarca, A., Hamilton, J., & Holmes, S. (2010). Accounting theory (7th ed). Wiley. ISBN: 978-0-470-81815-2.
Gray, D. E. (2004). Doing research in the real world. Sage Publications Ltd.
Hackley, C. (2003). Doing research projects in marketing, management and consumer research. Routledge.
Lodico, M. G., Spaulding, D. T., & Voegtle, K. H. (2006). Methods in educational research: From theory to practice. John Wiley & Sons.
Merriam-Webster. (2016a). Inductive. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved October 12, 2016a, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inductive.
Merriam-Webster. (2016b). Deductive. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved October 12, 2016b, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deductive.
Morgan, D. L. (2014). Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods: A Pragmatic Approach. SAGE Publications, Inc. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781544304533
Neuman, W. L. (2003). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Allyn and Bacon.
Oxford Dictionary. (2016a). Inductive. In Oxford online dictionary. Retrieved October 15, 2016a, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/inductive.
Oxford Dictionary. (2016b). Deductive. In Oxford online dictionary. Retrieved October 15, 2016b, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/deductive.
Oxford Dictionary. (2016c). Theory. In Oxford online dictionary. Retrieved October 15, 2016c, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/theory.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2007). Research methods for business students (5th ed.). Prentice Hall.
Sherman, L. W., & Berk, R. A. (1984). The specific deterrent effects of arrest for domestic assault. American Sociological Review, 49(2), 261–272.
Singh, K. (2006). Fundamental of research methodology and statistics. New Age International (P) Limited.
Snieder, R., & Larner, K. (2009). The art of being a scientist: A guide for graduate students and their mentors. Cambridge University Press.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research (2nd ed.). Sage Publications Ltd.
Thomas, D. R. (2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. American Journal of Evaluation, 27(2), 237–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214005283748
Trochim, W. M. K. (2006). Research methods knowledge base. Retrieved on October 12, 2016, from http://www.socialresearchmethods.net.
Wilson, J. (2010). Essentials of business research: A guide to doing your research project. Sage Publishers Ltd.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
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
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5441-2_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-5219-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-5441-2
eBook Packages: Social Sciences