See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/350810802

ELEMENTS OF A GOOD RESEARCH

Article · January 2021

CITATIONS READS
0 14,038

1 author:

Ahmed Gadalla
Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation
7 PUBLICATIONS 2 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Ahmed Gadalla on 12 April 2021.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

ELEMENTS OF A GOOD
RESEARCH
By Ahmed Gadalla

FEBRUARY 12, 2021

AHMED GADALLA
[email protected]
Table of Contents

Research Concepts .......................................................................................................................... 2

The independent and dependent variables .................................................................................. 2
The concept of reliability and validity ........................................................................................ 2
The characteristic of a good research .......................................................................................... 3
Definition of research problem ................................................................................................... 4
Literature review ......................................................................................................................... 4
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 5
References ....................................................................................................................................... 6

1
 Research Concepts

The independent and dependent variables

In research, variables are any characteristics that could be measured or could take
on different values, such as temperature, time, score, or exam marks. Scientific research
often studies the impact of one variable on another one. For example, a study might be
looking to test whether students who study more are able to score better on exams. In a
simpler way, the relationship between the independent and dependent variables is like
the cause and effect, which means the changes on the characteristics of the independent
variables effects the characteristics of the dependent variables. Researchers mostly are
not able to directly change or manipulate the independent variables which they are
interested in, the must as well find an existing sample of the variable and investigate how
manipulating this variable could affect the dependent variable. Non experimental
research might make it difficult to find a certain cause and effect relationship between
variables, since other variables which have not been measured might as well influence
the changes. In the types of research where it is not clear wither the relationship between
the variables is cause and effect, other terms could be used such as, predictor, explanatory
or right-hand side variables for the independent variables and response, outcome or left-
hand side variables for dependent variables.

The concept of reliability and validity

Researchers refers to reliability as the consistency of a measure. When a construct

is measured which assumed to be constant with respect to time, then the measurement
obtained should be constant across time as well. Intelligence could be an example for

2
 that, where an intelligent person today would remain intelligent in a month. That means
any intelligence measure should show almost the same results for a person after a week
as it is today. Reliability could be the consistency of people’s responses about some
multiple measures. To make it simpler, on the self-esteem scale, people who believes
that they are people of worth should as well believe that they have multiple good
qualities. In case people’s responses are not correlated with each other’s to the different
items, then it would not make since to claim they are all measuring the same underlying
construct. Where researchers refer to validity to be the characteristics the test measures
and how well does the test measures those characteristics. Validity tells as well if the
characteristics measured by a test are related to the research requirement. It describes as
well the degree to which a specific conclusion could be made or predicted of the
usefulness of a test. It is important to understand the difference between reliability and
validity. Reliability is the situation where the concepts and methods of measurement are
the same, and validity is the situation where concepts and methods of measurement are
different.

The characteristic of a good research

A researcher should understand and have a clear understanding of the different

types of research design and select the type which apply best for the study and should
keep in mind that a proper research design could lead your study to success and make it
more accurate. While doing a research, a survey that meets all the main characteristics
of a design should be made. There are four main characteristics of research design. The
first one is neutrality, which is state of not supporting or helping any side in a conflict,
and that applies on studies by keeping the data collected on the research free from bias
and neutral by understanding the opinions from multiple people and their evaluated
scores. The second one is reliability, which is the probability of expecting the same
results or data from a previously conducted study. The design must indicate how to make
a research questions to make sure of the standard of the results since only the reliable

3
 designs are expected to reach the results. The third one results or data from a previously
conducted study. The design must indicate how to make a research questions to make
sure of the standard of the results since only the reliable designs are expected to reach
the results. The third one is validity, which is the choosing the right measuring tools from
the many available to help the researcher measure the results according to the objectives
of the research. The fourth one is generalization, which means that, the outcomes of the
design should apply to a population and not just a specific sample, since a generalized
design shows that the survey made could be conducted on any part of the population with
the same accuracy.

Definition of research problem

A research problem is a gap in knowledge which the researcher aims to address,

specific issue, contradiction or a difficulty. The research problem might be for a practical
problem focused at contributing to change, or a theoretical problem which focuses at
expending knowledge. The research problem is the first step towards knowing what to
do and either it has been done before or not, and know the purpose and justification of
the research. While making the research problem, the researcher should go through some
sources to get to understand the problem better and to get the point to focus on, and these
sources could be as journals, books, published researches.

Literature review

Researchers must make a literature review to gather information from a selected

list of academic resources like journals and articles related to the research topic. The
information at the literature review should be directly relevant to addressing of the topic
researched. It should as well focus on a particular area of the research or a question and

4
 the information must be truly narrowed to only the truly related information. It is not just
a summary of the reviewed materials; it should make a case for farther investigation and
research and highlight gaps. The evaluation of each work should include this information
from the previous researches, provenance, methodology objectives, value. In the
quantitative research usually gathered from a structured research instruments and the
results of it should be based on a large sample of the population. The quantitative research
recognizes and isolate specific variables within the study framework.

Conclusion

At the end, a good research should be conducted using the techniques mentioned,
by starting with the research problem, to the finding the independent and dependent
variables then applying the characteristics of the good design. The researcher should be
able to differentiate between validity and reliability and their concepts to be able to
conduct the tests required to reach the research goals. A literature review is an important
part of the research since it the part where the researcher will narrow down the ideas and
specify the points of the research where there might be a gap or a problem which requires
fixing or farther study.

5
 References

Helmenstine, T., 2018. What Is the difference between independent and dependent
variables. Independent vs Dependent Variables.

Miller, M.J., 2012. Reliability and validity. Western International University, pp.1-3.

Mitchell, M.L. and Jolley, J.M., 2012. Research design explained. Nelson Education.

O'Leary, Z., 2017. The essential guide to doing your research project. Sage.

Rocco, T.S. and Plakhotnik, M.S., 2009. Literature reviews, conceptual frameworks, and
theoretical frameworks: Terms, functions, and distinctions. Human Resource
Development Review, 8(1), pp.120-130.

View publication stats