Design research is a stepwise approach for designing, testing and refining concrete solutions for policy and management in the public domain. It is based upon the principles of (rapid) prototyping, co-creation, abduction and learning-by-doing.

Action research is an interactive inquiry process that balances problem-solving actions implemented with data-driven collaborative analysis. It enables one to reflect on the effect of an intervention on a problem situation in a real-life setting.

Experiment research is a way to test in a controlled environment the influence of an intervention (treatment) on a dependent variable. Doing so, enables one to measure in a valid way how variables are related and affecting each other.