Overview
Research design selection fails when researchers default to familiar methods rather than selecting the design that best answers the research question. A cross-sectional survey is chosen for a question that requires longitudinal tracking; a qualitative approach is chosen for a question that requires quantitative generalizability; a convenience sample is chosen when the research question requires a representative sample. Design-question mismatch produces studies that are technically competent but answer the wrong question.
The Research Design Framework matches the research question's structure to the appropriate design, identifies what each design can and cannot establish, and produces a design brief that justifies every major methodological choice.