The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) commissioned a series of methods papers to describe and provisionally recommend methods for the Future Research Needs (FRN) projects and reports. Our paper proposes a method for composing the study design considerations portion of FRN reports; this portion discusses proposed research designs for addressing the high-priority research needs as determined by stakeholder opinion. Each proposed research design is accompanied by a discussion of advantages and disadvantages for using the approach. Here we present a framework based on a standard taxonomy for study designs and criteria for evaluating the appropriateness of a study design to address a particular research need. Criteria for evaluating each design include the advantages of the study design for producing a valid result; the resources needed and duration of the proposed study; the availability of data or ability to recruit; and ethical, legal, or social issues. The study design discussions are intended to be considerations and not prescriptive to researchers or funders. This framework is intended to help FRN project teams consistently apply criteria to determine which study design may be most appropriate for each research question, and to provide suggestions for the rationale and presentation of their design choices.