Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Basic Fundamentals of Research


basic fundamentals of research
Meaning of Research:
            Research is not an existing bag of technique. Research is not a fishing expedition or an encyclopedic gathering of assorted facts. Research is purposeful investigation. It provides a structure of decision making. There are three part involved in any investigation: (1) The implicit question posed. (2) The explicit answer proposed. (3) Collection, analysis, and interpretation of the information leading from the question to the answer. This third part is the defense that justifies the recommendation and is viewed as research.
            The Advance Learner’s Dictionary of Current English lays down the meaning of research as “A careful investigation or inquiry specially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge”
            Redman and Mory define research as “systematized effort to gain new knowledge.”
            Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. One can also define research as a scientific search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation.
            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 problem, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organizing and evaluating data; making deductions and reaching conclusions; and last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis.
CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH:
1.      Research is process
2.      Research is scientific process
3.      Research is systematic process
4.      Research is search for knowledge
5.      Research is movement
6.      Research is an academic activity
7.      Research is helpful in decision making
8.      Research is a search for new fact
9.      Research is voyage of discovery
1.  Research is systematic method of finding solution of a problem.

NEED OF RESEARCH:
            The purpose of research is to discover answer the 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 for research need by following points.
1.      To get a research degree along with its consequential benefits.
2.      To face the challenge in solving the unsolved problems. i.e., concern over practical problems initiates research;
3.      To get intellectual joy of doing some creative work.
4.      To provided service to  the society
5.      To get respectability.
6.      To overcome the problem arises in any area
7.      To provided services to the nation
            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 casual relationships, social thinking and awakening, and the like may as well motivate (or at times compel) people to perform research operations.

TYPES OF RESEARCH:

1.    
1. Applied Research: Applied research aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a society or an industrial/business organization. Research aimed at certain conclusions (say, a solution) facing a concrete social or business problem is an example of applied research. Research to identify social economic or political trends that may affect a particular institution or the copy research (research to find out whether certain communications will be read and understood) or the marketing research or evaluation research are examples of applied research. Thus, the central aim of applied research is to discover a solution for some pressing practical problem. This research is also known as action research.

3. Fundamental (Basic Research): Fundamental research is mainly concerned with generalizations and with the formulation of a theory.  “Gathering knowledge for knowledge’s sake is termed ‘pure’ or ‘basic’ research.” Research concerning some natural phenomenon or relating to pure mathematics are examples of fundamental research. Similarly, research studies, concerning human behavior carried on with a view to make generalization about human behavior, are also examples of fundamental research. Basic research is directed towards finding information that has broad base of application and thus, adds to the already existing organized body of scientific knowledge.
3. Quantitative Research: Quantitative research is based on the measurement of quantity or amount. It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity. It involves the generation of data in quantitative form which can be subjected to rigorous quantitative analysis in a formal and rigid fashion. This research is also known as inferential, experimental and simulation research.
4. Qualitative Research: Qualitative research is concerned with qualitative phenomenon i.e., phenomena relating to or involving qualitative or kind. For instance, when we are interested in investigating the reasons for human behavior (i.e., why people think or do certain things,), we quite often talk of ‘motivation Research’, an important type of qualitative research. This type of research is aims at discovering the underlying motives and desires, using in depth interviews for the purpose. Other techniques of such research are worked association tests, sentence completion tests, story completion tests and similar other projective techniques. Attitude or opinion research i.e., research designed to find out how people feel or what they think about a particular subject or institution is also qualitative research. Qualitative research is specially important in the behavioral sciences where the aim is to discover the underlying motives of human behavior. 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. It may be stated, however, that to apply qualitative research in practice is relatively a difficult job and therefore, while doing research, one should seek guidance from experienced psychologists.
5. Conceptual Research: 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.
6.  Empirical Research: 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 which are capable of being verified by observation or experiment. We can also call it as experimental type of 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 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. He then sets up experimental designs which he thinks will manipulate the persons or the material concerned so as to bring forth the desired information. Such research thus characterized by the experimenter’s control over the variables under study and his deliberate manipulation of one of them to study its effect. An empirical study is today considered to be the most powerful support possible for a given hypothesis.
7. Exploratory Research: Many times a decision maker is grappling with broad and poorly defined problems. Attempts to secure better definitions by analytic thinking may be the wrong approach and may even be counter productive – counter productive in the sense that this approach may lead to a definitive answer to the wrong question. Exploratory research uses a less formal approach. It pursues several possibilities simultaneously, and in a sense it is not quite sure of its objective. Exploratory research is designed to provide a background, to familiarize and, as the word implies, just “explore” the general subject. A part of exploratory research is the investigation of relationships among variables without knowing why they are studied. It borders on an idle curiosity approach, different from it only in that the investigator thinks there may be a payoff in application somewhere in the forest of questions. The typical approaches in exploratory research are (1) The literature survey, (2) The experience survey, and (3) The analysis of “insights-stimulating” examples.
8. Conclusive research: Exploratory research gives rise to several hypotheses which will have to be tested for drawing definite conclusions. These conclusions when tested for validity lay the structure for decision making. Conclusive research is used for this purpose of testing the hypotheses generated by exploratory research. Conclusive research can be classified as either descriptive or experimental (analytical) research.
9. Descriptive Research: 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 co relational methods.
10.  Analytical Research: In this kind of research the researcher has to use facts or information already available, and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material. This research is based on secondary data. Analytical Research is also known as Experimental Research. Experimentation will refer to that process of research in which one or more variables are manipulated under conditions which permit the collection of data which show the effects. Experiments will create artificial situation so that the researcher can obtain the particular data needed and can measure the accurately. Experiments are artificial in the sense that the situations are usually created for testing purposes. This artificiality is the essence of the experimental method, since it gives researchers more control over the factors they are studying. If they can control the factors which are present in a given situation, they can obtain more conclusive evidence of cause and effect relationships between any two of them. Thus the ability to set up a situation for the express purpose of observing and recording accurately the effect on one factor when another is deliberately changed permits researchers to accept or reject hypothesis beyond reasonable doubt. It the objective is to validate in a resounding manner the cause and effect relationship among variables, and then undoubtedly experiments are much more effective than descriptive techniques.
11. Action Research: Applied research is action research, applied research aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a society or an industrial/business organization.
12. Survey Research: Descriptive research is survey research.
13. Library Research: A research based on historical records and analysis of documents is known as Library Research. Recording of notes, content analysis, tape and film listening and analysis, statistical compilations and manipulation, reference and abstract guides, content analysis etc. are the techniques used in this kind of research.
14. Laboratory research: Laboratory research may be known as field research or simulation research, depending upon the environment in which it is to be carried out. Research can as be understood as clinical or diagnostic research. Such research follows case study methods or in-depth approaches to reach the basic causal relations. Such studies are usually go deep into the causes of things or events that interest us, using very small samples and very deep probing data gathering devices.

FACTORS HINDERING RESEARCH

  1.  The lack of a scientific training in the methodology of research
  2.  Insufficient interaction
  3.  Business units faith in researcher
  4. Duplication of work
  5. Code of conduct
  6. Time limit
  7. Library management and functioning is not satisfactory
  8. Libraries are not up-to-date
  9. Non availability of data from government on time
  10. Problem of conceptualization                                                                

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