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Chapter One

The document discusses research and experimentation. It defines an experiment as a test or series of runs used to observe changes made to input variables of a process or system to identify reasons for changes in output responses. The objectives of research are to discover answers to questions through applying scientific procedures, such as gaining insights into phenomena, accurately portraying characteristics of situations, and determining associations between variables. The document outlines different types of research including descriptive research, which reports on what has happened or is happening, and analytical research, which analyzes available information to critically evaluate it.

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34 views4 pages

Chapter One

The document discusses research and experimentation. It defines an experiment as a test or series of runs used to observe changes made to input variables of a process or system to identify reasons for changes in output responses. The objectives of research are to discover answers to questions through applying scientific procedures, such as gaining insights into phenomena, accurately portraying characteristics of situations, and determining associations between variables. The document outlines different types of research including descriptive research, which reports on what has happened or is happening, and analytical research, which analyzes available information to critically evaluate it.

Uploaded by

fanta tasfaye
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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1.

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1. What is Research and Experiment


Experiment: Observing a system or process while it is in operation is an important part of the
learning process, and is an integral part of understanding and learning about how systems and
processes work. Observations on a system or process can lead to theories or hypotheses about
what makes the system work, but experiments are required to demonstrate that these theories are
correct. Investigators perform experiments in virtually all fields of inquiry, usually to discover
something about a particular process or system. Each experimental run is a test. Therefore,
experiment can be defined as a test or series of runs in which purposeful changes are made to the
input variables of a process or system so that we may observe and identify the reasons for
changes that may be observed in the output response. We may want to determine which input
variables are responsible for the observed changes in the response, develop a model relating the
response to the important input variables and to use this model for process or system
improvement or other decision-making.

The process of examining the truth of a statistical hypothesis, relating to some research problem,
is known as an experiment. For example, we can conduct an experiment to examine the
usefulness of a certain newly developed drug. Experiments can be of two types viz., absolute
experiment and comparative experiment. If we want to determine the impact of a fertilizer on
the yield of a crop, it is a case of absolute experiment; but if we want to determine the impact of
one fertilizer as compared to the impact of some other fertilizer, our experiment then will be
termed as a comparative experiment.

An experiment is characterized by the treatments and experimental units to be used, the way
treatments are assigned to units, and the responses that are measured. Experiments help us
answer questions, but there are also non-experimental techniques (observational study).
Experimentation plays an important role in technology, commercialization and product
realization activities, which consist of new product design and formulation, manufacturing
process development, and process improvement. The objective in many cases may be to develop
a robust process, that is, a process affected minimally by external sources of variability. There
are also many applications of designed experiments in a nonmanufacturing or non-product-
development setting, such as marketing, service operations, and general business operations.

Advantages of experiments:

1. Experiments allow us to set up a direct comparison between the treatments of interest.


2. We can design experiments to minimize any bias in the comparison.
3. We can design experiments so that the error in the comparison is small.
4. Most important, we are in control of experiments, and having that control allows us to make
stronger inferences about the nature of differences that we see in the experiment.
Specifically, we may make inferences about causation.

Research: In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation and in common parlance refers to
a search for knowledge. Also, it is defined as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent
information on a specific topic. The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English lays
down the meaning of research as “a careful investigation or inquiry especially through search for
new facts in any branch of knowledge. Redman and Mory define research as a “systematized
effort to gain new knowledge. Some people consider research as a movement, a movement from
the known to the unknown. It is actually a voyage of discovery.

Research is an academic activity and as such the term should be used in a technical sense.
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. D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the Encyclopaedia of Social
Sciences define research as “the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of
generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction
of theory or in the practice of an art. Research is, thus, an original contribution to the existing
stock of knowledge making for its advancement. It is the pursuit of truth with the help of study,
observation, comparison and experiment. In short, the search for knowledge through objective
and systematic method of finding solution to a problem is research. The systematic approach
concerning generalization and the formulation of a theory is also research. As such the term
‘research’ refers to the systematic method consisting of enunciating the problem, formulating a
hypothesis, collecting the facts or data, analyzing the facts and reaching certain conclusions
either in the form of solutions(s) towards the concerned problem or in certain generalizations for
some theoretical formulation.

Objectives of research: The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the
application of scientific procedures. The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is
hidden and which has not been discovered as yet. Though each research study has its own
specific purpose, research objectives falls into a number of following broad groupings:

1. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it (studies with this
object in view are termed as exploratory or formulative research studies);
2. To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group
(studies with this object in view are known as descriptive research studies);
3. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated with
something else (studies with this object in view are known as diagnostic research studies);
4. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables (such studies are known as
hypothesis-testing research studies).

Motivation in research

1. Desire to get a research degree along with its consequential benefits;


2. Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved problems, i.e., concern over practical
problems initiates research;
3. Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative work;
4. Desire to be of service to society;
5. Desire to get respectability.
6. Also directives of government, employment conditions, curiosity about new things, desire to
understand causal relationships, social thinking and awakening.

Types of research

The basic types of research are:


i. Descriptive vs. Analytical: Descriptive research includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries of
different kinds. The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state of affairs
as it exists at present. In social science and business research we quite often use the term Ex
post facto research for descriptive research studies. The main characteristic of this method is
that the researcher has no control over the variables; he can only report what has happened or
what is happening. Most ex post facto research projects are used for descriptive studies in
which the researcher seeks to measure such items as, for example, frequency of shopping,
preferences of people, or similar data. Ex post facto studies also include attempts by
researchers to discover causes even when they cannot control the variables. The methods of
research utilized in descriptive research are survey methods of all kinds, including comparative
and correlational methods. In analytical research, on the other hand, the researcher has to use
facts or information already available, and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the
material.

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