Research
The systematic, rigorous investigation of a situation
or problem in order to generate new knowledge or validate existing knowledge.
Type of research
Applied research refers to
scientific study and research that seeks to solve practical problems. Applied
research is used to find solutions to everyday problems, cure illness, and
develop innovative technologies, rather than to acquire knowledge for
knowledge's sake.
For example, applied researchers may investigate ways
to:
•
Improve agricultural crop production
•
Treat or cure a specific disease
• Improve
the energy efficiency of homes, offices, or modes of transportation
Basic
(aka fundamental or pure ) research is driven by a
scientist's curiosity or interest in a scientific question. The main
motivation is to expand man's knowledge, not to create or invent
something. There is no obvious commercial value to the discoveries that result
from basic research.
For example, basic science investigations probe for
answers to questions such as:
•
How did the universe begin?
•
What are protons, neutrons, and electrons composed of?
•
How do slime molds reproduce?
•
What is the specific genetic code of the fruit fly?
Correlational research refers to
the systematic investigation or statistical study of relationships among two or
more variables, without necessarily determining cause and effect.
It Seeks to establish a
relation/association/correlation between two or more variables that do not
readily lend themselves to experimental manipulation.
For example, to
test the hypothesis “ Listening to music lowers blood pressure levels” there
are 2 ways of conducting research
•
Experimental
– group samples and make one group listen to music and then compare the bp
levels
•
Survey
– ask people how they feel ? How often they listen? And then compare
Advantages:
1) Can collect much
information from many subjects at one time.
2) Can study a wide
range of variables and their interrelations.
3) Study variables that
are not easily produced in the laboratory.
Disadvantages:
1)
Correlation
does not indicate causation( cause and effect).
2)
Problems with self-report method .
Descriptive research refers
to research that provides an accurate portrayal of characteristics of a
particular individual, situation, or group. Descriptive research, also known
as statistical research.
These studies are a means of discovering new meaning,
describing what exists, determining the frequency with which something occurs,
and categorizing information.
In short descriptive research deals with
everything that can be counted and studied, which has an impact of the lives of
the people it deals with.
For example,
•
finding the most frequent disease that affects the
children of a town. The reader of the research will know what to do to prevent
that disease thus, more people will live a healthy life.
Advantages:
•
The people individual studied are unaware so they act
naturally or as they usually do in everyday situation;
•
It is less expensive and time consuming than
quantitative experiments;
•
Collects a large amount of notes for detailed
studying;
•
As it is used to describe and not make any conclusions
it is to start the research with it;
Disadvantages
•
Descriptive research requires more skills.
•
Does
not identify cause behind a phenomenon
•
Response rate is low in this research.
•
Results of this research can change over the period of
time.
Ethnographic research refer to
the investigation of a culture through an in-depth study of the members of the
culture; it involves the systematic collection, description, and analysis of
data for development of theories of cultural behaviour.
•
It studies
people, ethnic groups and other ethnic formations, their ethno genesis,
composition, resettlement, social welfare characteristics, as well as their
material and spiritual culture.
•
Data collection is often done through participant
observation, interviews, questionnaires, etc.
•
The purpose of
ethnographic research is to attempt to understand what is happening naturally
in the setting and to interpret the data gathered to see what implications
could be formed from the data.
Experimental research is an
objective, systematic, controlled investigation for the purpose of predicting
and controlling phenomena and examining probability and causality among
selected variables.
Advantages
•
Best establishes cause-and-effect relationships
Disadvantages
•
Artificiality
•
Feasibility
•
Unethical
The simplest experimental design includes two
variables and two groups of participants.
The two variables(Independent versus Dependent
variables).
•
The IV is the predictor variable whereas the DV is the
outcome variable.
•
Researchers manipulate and control the IV to study
it's effect on the DV.
The two groups
of participants (Control versus Experimental group).
•
Before beginning the experiment, the researcher
(randomly) assigns his/her sample to two different groups: the control group and
the experimental (treatment group or clinical group).
•
The control group receives no manipulation of the IV
(no treatment), whereas the experimental group receives the manipulation of the
IV
Exploratory research is
a type of research conducted for a problem that has not been clearly
defined. Exploratory research helps determine the
best research design, data collection method and selection
of subjects.
•
The results of exploratory research are not usually
useful for decision-making by themselves, but they can provide significant
insight into a given situation
•
Exploratory research is not typically generalizable to
the population at large.
•
Exploratory research can be quite informal, relying
on secondary research such as reviewing available literature
and/or data, or qualitative approaches such as informal discussions
with consumers, employees, management or competitors, and more formal
approaches through in-depth interviews, focus groups, projective methods, case
studies or pilot studies.
Grounded theory is a research method that
operates almost in a reverse fashion from traditional research and at
first may appear to be in contradiction to the scientific method.
Four stages:
- Codes-Identifying anchors that allow the key points of the data to be
gathered
- Concepts-Collections
of codes of similar content that allows the data to be grouped
- Categories-Broad groups of similar concepts that are used to
generate a theory
- Theory-A collection of explanations that explain the subject of the
research (hypotheses)
Historical research is
research involving analysis of events that occurred in the remote or recent
past
Application
•
Historical research can show patterns that occurred in
the past and over time which can help us to see where we came from and what
kinds of solutions we have used in the past.
•
Understanding this can add perspective on how we
examine current events and educational practices.
The steps involved in the conduct of historical
research
Here are the five steps:
1. Identification of the research topic and
formulation of the research problem or question.
2. Data collection or literature review
3. Evaluation of materials
4. Data synthesis
5. Report preparation or preparation of the narrative
exposition
Historical research gives a social scientist a
better context for making realistic decisions.
Strengths
•
Provides a comprehensive picture of historical trends
•
Uses existing information
•
Provides evidence of on-going trends and problems
Limitations
•
Time-consuming
•
Resources may be hard to locate
•
Resources may be conflicting
•
May not identify cause of a problem
•
Information may be incomplete, obsolete, inconclusive,
or inaccurate
•
Data restricted to what already exists
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
On a broader perspective, all researches can be
classified into two groups:
•
Qualitative
Research
•
Quantitative
Research
Qualitative research is
research dealing with phenomena that are difficult or impossible to quantify
mathematically, such as beliefs, meanings, attributes, and symbols
Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth
understanding of human behaviour and the reasons that govern such behaviour.
The qualitative method investigates the why and how of decision making, not
just what, where, when.
Advantages
•
It enables more complex aspects of a persons
experience to be studied
•
Fewer restriction or assumptions are placed on the
data to be collected.
•
Not everything can be quantified, or quantified
easily, Individuals can be studied in more depth
•
Good for
exploratory research and hypothesis generation
•
The participants are able to provide data in their own
words and in their own way
Disadvantages
•
It
is more difficult to determine the validity and reliability of linguistic data
•
there is more subjectivity involved in analysing the
data.
•
“Data overload” – open-ended questions can sometimes
create lots of data, which can take along time to analyse!
•
Time consuming
Quantitative research refers
to the systematic empirical investigation of any phenomena via statistical,
mathematical or computational techniques. The objective of quantitative
research is to develop and employ mathematical
models, theories and/or hypotheses pertaining to phenomena
Quantitative research is generally made
using scientific methods, which can include:
•
The generation of models, theories and hypotheses
•
The development of instruments and methods for
measurement
•
Experimental control and manipulation
of variables
•
Collection of empirical data
•
Modelling and analysis of data
•
Evaluation of results
Advantages
•
Quantitative research allows the researcher to measure
and analyse data.
•
The researcher is more objective about the findings of
the research.
•
Quantitative research can be used to test hypotheses
in experiments because of its ability to measure data using statistics.
Disadvantages
•
The
main disadvantage of quantitative research is the context of the study or
experiment is ignored.
•
Quantitative research does not study things in a
natural setting or discuss the meaning things have for different people.
•
A large sample of the population must be studied for
more accurate results
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