Nature and Purpose of Research

What is Research?
Many definitions of research have been postulated and the term research has been conceptualised
differently by many authors, with consensus that it’s a process of inquiry and investigation, its systematic
and methodological and it increases knowledge. It therefore means that appropriate methods and
techniques have to be applied rigorously in collecting and analysing research data.

Research has been defined as a process and set of actions undertaken with the goal of identifying and
understanding something new or fresh about a given area, field, subject or discipline. Collins and Hussey
(2014) define research as a systematic and methodical process of inquiry and investigation with a view to
increasing knowledge. According to Clifford Woody research comprises defining and redefining problems,
formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organizing and evaluating data; making
deductions and reaching conclusions; and at last, carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether
they fit the formulating hypothesis. Research takes place in many different ways and using many varying
methods and methodological approaches.

Purpose of Research
From academic point of view, the general purpose of research is to investigate a research question with a
view of generating knowledge. A research question is the specific question that the research is designed to
investigate and relates to specific problem or issue being investigated. It differs with the questions a
researcher is bound to ask participants. The specific objectives of research can be summarized as follows:
 to review and synthesize existing knowledge
 to investigate some existing situation or problem
 to provide solutions to a problem
 to explore and analyse more general issues
 to construct or create a new procedure or system
 to explain a new phenomenon
 to generate new knowledge
 a combination of any of the above.

Research therefore is conducted with the purpose of achieving an outcome which may be presented
academically as a thesis or dissertation or report. In this program, you will be required to conduct a research
on a topic of your interest under supervision at the end of which you are expected to write a thesis and
publish articles in academic peer reviewed journals. A thesis is according to Waite and Hawker (2009) is a
detailed discourse involving research that is written as part of an academic degree. In this view, research
can be conducted for the purpose of publishing the study as a book or an article in an academic journal or
for consultancy purposes.

Subtopic 2: Classification of Research

Research can be classified according to the:
a) The purpose of research
b) Process of the research
c) Logic of the research
d) Outcome of the research

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Purpose of the Research
The reasons why research is conducted are many as already shown and these may form the basis for
classifying research. In this case, research can be classified as:

a) Exploratory or formulative research: Those that aim to gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to
achieve new insights into it. The aim of this type of study is to look for patterns and ideas and
develop rather than test a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a proposition that can be tested for
association or causality against empirical evidence. Techniques used in exploratory research
include case studies, observation and historical analysis, which can provide both quantitative and
qualitative data. For example, an interview survey conducted among hotel managers in a particular
region to find out how they adopt hotel IT systems to enhance their hotel performance.

b) Descriptive research: Those that aim to portray accurately the characteristics of a particular
individual, situation or a group. The researcher usually has no control over the variables and can
only report what has happened or what is happening. Its uses survey methods of all kinds,
including comparative and correlation methods. For example, a description of how the selected
hotel managers adopt hotel IT systems and what measures are used to hotel performance.

c) Explanatory research: Attempts to clarify why and how there is a relationship between two or more
aspects of a situation or phenomenon. For instance, a survey to investigate the relationship
between hotel IT systems usage and hotel performance study would explain how and why effective
use of hotel IT systems would influence hotel performance in a number of ways or not.

d) Analytical or predictive research: It involve critical evaluation of phenomena or situations and

predicting the results using existing phenomena. It requires a researcher to use facts or information
already available and analyse these to make a critical evaluation of the material.

e) Correlational research: Those that attempts to discover or establish the existence of a

relationship/interdependence between two or more aspects of a situation.

Process of the Research

Data can be collected and analysed in two main ways namely qualitative and quantitative. The way in which
the data were collected and analysed can be used to classify research as:

a) Qualitative research: Uses qualitative techniques such as and methods in data collection, such as
interview and tape recording, and analysis, such as thematic analysis. It is concerned with
qualitative phenomena.

b) Quantitative research: Uses quantitative techniques and methods in data collection such as use of
structured questionnaires and analysis such as descriptive and inferential statistics. It is based on
the measurement of quantity or amount.

c) Mixed methods research: This combines both qualitative and quantitative methods of data
collection and analysis.
Logic of the Research
This research focuses on whether the research logic moves from the general to the specific or vice versa. In
this regard, research can be classified as:

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 a) Deductive research: Its often associated with quantitative research and involves developing a
conceptual and theoretical structure then testing it and making deduction from general inferences. It
starts with a theory to set up a hypothesis. It is the theory and hypotheses that drives data.

b) Inductive research: It is often associated with qualitative research and involves data collection
through empirical observations of reality about the central research concerns and then theory
development. Here it’s the data that drives theory development. The point in inductive research is
to analyse the data by seeking recurring patterns, themes or topics in the data and to identify
generalizable, typical features and properties of the data. Once this is done the researcher can
begin to develop theory to explain these findings.

Outcome of the Research

Research is usually conducted with a view of generating a particular outcome. The expected outcome can
be a solution to a particular problem in the society or a more general contribution to knowledge,
academically. In view of this, research can be classified as either:
a) Applied research: Designed with an aim of using its findings to solve a specific, existing problem in
the society, for policy formulation, administration and understanding of a phenomenon. The major
aim of this applied research is to investigate why a problem is seen as a problem in the first place
and then to find practical solutions to it.

b) Basic or pure or research: It involves developing and testing theories and hypotheses that are
intellectually challenging to the researcher but may or may not have practical application at the
present time or in the future. The aim is purely on general knowledge development and theoretical
understanding by understanding relationship between variables. For instance, a researcher may be
interested in whether employee attitude influence hotel IT systems usage.