ACROSS FAMILIES/ Research design
Explanatory design
Account for why and how outcomes arise
Explanatory design investigates why outcomes occur or how a process operates. It may examine causal effects through an identified comparison, mechanisms through within-case evidence, or contextual explanations through qualitative enquiry. The explanatory aim does not itself create causal identification: the study must specify which kind of explanation it seeks and the evidence needed.
WHEN IT FITS
Use when there are explicit candidate explanations and access to observations or comparisons that can discriminate among them, with a clear account of temporal order and alternative causes.
Strengths
- Connects observations to testable explanations
- Can distinguish effect estimation from mechanism investigation
Limitations
- Unobserved causes can undermine causal accounts
- Rich narratives can appear explanatory without discriminating evidence
Know the boundary
Explanatory design is not the same as explanatory sequential mixed methods, which describes the ordering and connection of strands.
USED ACROSS
Banking & financeBusiness & MBAPsychologyComputer scienceEducation