Research methodology

Introduction

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 Introduction #1
• Research is a logical and systematic search for
new and useful information on a particular
topic
• It is an investigation of finding solutions to
scientific and social problems through
objective and systematic analysis

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 Introduction #2
• It is a search for knowledge, that is, a
discovery of hidden truths
• Here knowledge means information about
matters
• The information might be collected from
different sources like experience, human
beings, books, written documents, journals,
nature, etc. A research can lead to new
contributions to the existing knowledge
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 Introduction #3
• Research is indeed civilization and determines
the economic, social, and political
development of a nation
• One can also define research as a scientific
and systematic search for pertinent
information on a specific topic

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 Introduction #4
• Research is in fact ubiquitous
 For example, we know that cigarette smoking
is injurious to health; heroine is addictive;
malaria is due to the protozoan plasmodium;
AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome)
is due to the virus HIV (Human Immuno
Deficiency Virus)
 How did we know all these? We became aware
of all this information only through research
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 Introduction #5
• The advanced learner’s dictionary of current English
 A careful investigation or inquiry especially through search
for new facts in any branch of knowledge
• Redman and Mory
 Systematized effort to gain new knowledge.”
• Some other people
 Consider research as a movement, a movement from the
known to the unknown
• In short, research is the systematic collection, analysis and
interpretation of data to generate new knowledge and
answer a certain question or solve a problem
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 Objectives of research #1
• 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, we may think of research objectives as
falling into several broad groupings
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 Objectives of research #2
1. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve
new insights into it (exploratory or formulative
research studies)
2. To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular
individual, situation or a group (descriptive research
studies)
3. To determine the frequency with which something
occurs or with which it is associated with something
else (diagnostic research studies)
4. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between
variables (hypothesis-testing research studies)
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 Motivation in research #1
• What makes people to undertake research? This is a
question of fundamental importance
• The possible motives for doing research may be either one
or more of the following
1. Desire to get a research degree along with its consequential
benefits
2. Desire to face the challenge of solving the unsolved
problems
3. Desire to get the intellectual joy of doing some creative work
4. Desire to be of service to society
5. Desire to get respectability
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 Motivation in research #2
• However, this is not an exhaustive list of factors
motivating people to undertake research
studies
• Many more factors such as directives of
government, employment conditions, curiosity
about new things, desire to understand causal
relationships, social thinking and awakening,
and the like may as well motivate people to
perform research operations
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 Types of research

Basic types of research

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 Descriptive vs. Analytical #1
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
 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
 The methods of research utilized in descriptive research
are survey methods of all kinds, including comparative and
correlational methods
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 Descriptive vs. Analytical #2
Analytical research
 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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 Applied vs. Fundamental #1
• Applied research aims at finding a solution for
an immediate problem facing a society or an
industrial/business organization
• Whereas, fundamental or basic research is
mainly concerned with generalizations and
with the formulation of a theory

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 Applied vs. Fundamental #2
• The central aim of applied research is to
discover a solution for some pressing practical
problem
• Whereas, basic research is directed towards
finding information that has a broad base of
applications and thus, adds to the already
existing organized body of scientific
knowledge

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 Applied vs. Fundamental #3
Basic research
 It provides a systematic and deep insight into
a problem and facilitates extraction of
scientific and logical explanations and
conclusions on it
 It helps build new frontiers of knowledge
The outcomes of basic research form the basis
for many applied research.

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 Applied vs. Fundamental #4
Applied research
 Solves certain problems employing well-known and
accepted theories and principles
 Most of the experimental research, case studies, and
inter-disciplinary research are essentially applied research
 Applied research is helpful for basic research
 A research, the outcome of which has immediate
application is also termed as applied research
 Concerned with actual life research such as preparing
vaccination for a disease, research on increasing the
efficiency of a vaccine, pollution control, etc.
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 Quantitative vs. Qualitative #1
• Quantitative research is based on the
measurement of quantity or amount
• It is applicable to phenomena that can be
expressed in terms of quantity
• Qualitative research, on the other hand, is
concerned with qualitative phenomenon, i.e.,
phenomena relating to or involving quality or
kind

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 Quantitative vs. Qualitative #2
• Qualitative research is especially important in
the behavioral sciences where the aim is to
discover the underlying motives of human
behaviour
• Through such research we can analyze the
various factors which motivate people to
behave in a particular manner or which make
people like or dislike a particular thing

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 Conceptual vs. Empirical #1
Conceptual research
 Is that related to some abstract idea(s) or
theory.
It is generally used by philosophers and
thinkers to develop new concepts or to
reinterpret existing ones

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 Conceptual vs. Empirical #2
Empirical research
 Relies on experience or observation alone,
often without due regard for system and theory
 It is data-based research, coming up with
conclusions that are capable of being verified
by observation or experiment
 We can also call it an experimental type of
research

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 Conceptual vs. Empirical #3
Empirical research
 In such a research it is necessary to get at facts
firsthand, at their source, and actively to go about
doing certain things to stimulate the production of
desired information
 In such a research, the researcher must first
provide himself with a working hypothesis or guess
as to the probable results
 He then works to get enough facts (data) to prove
or disprove his hypothesis.
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 Some other types of research #1
• From the point of view of time, we can think
of research either as one-time research or
longitudinal research.
• In the former case the research is confined to
a single time-period, whereas in the latter
case the research is carried on over several
time-periods

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 Some other types of research #2
• Research can be clinical or diagnostic research
or field setting research or laboratory research
or simulation research, depending upon the
environment in which it is to be carried out

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 Thanks!

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