WHAT IS RESEARCH?


Research refers to creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications.

  • The research process deals with the ways and strategies used by researchers to understand the world around us. 

  • It establishes or confirms facts, reaffirms the results of previous work, solves new or existing problems, supports & develops new theories

  • A research project may also be an expansion of past work in the field.

  • To test the validity of instruments, procedures or experiments.

  •  Research may replicate elements of prior projects, or the project as a whole.

The following steps are usually part of most formal research, both basic and applied:

1.Observations and Formation of the topic: 

  • Consists of the subject area of one’s interest 

  • The subject area should not be randomly chosen

  •  A keen interest in the chosen subject area is advisable

  • The research will have to be justified by linking its importance to already existing knowledge about the topic

2. Hypothesis: A testable prediction which designates the relationship between two or more variables.

3. Conceptual definition: Description of a concept by relating it to other concepts.

4. Operational definition: Details in regards to defining the variables and how they will be measured/assessed in the study.

5. Gathering of data: Consists of identifying a population and selecting samples, gathering information from and/or about these samples by using specific research instruments. The instruments used for data collection must be valid and reliable.

6. Analysis of data: Involves breaking down the individual pieces of data in order to draw conclusions about it.

7. Data Interpretation: This can be represented through tables, figures and pictures, and then described in words.

8. Revising of hypothesis

9. Conclusion


The Scientific Method

  • The scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge.

  • To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. 

  • The scientific method involves systematic observation, measurement, experiment,  formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.

  • Scientific researchers propose hypotheses as explanations of phenomena and design experimental studies to test these hypotheses via predictions which can be derived from them. 

  • Scientific inquiry is intended to be as objective as possible in order to minimize bias.

  • It involves the documentation, archiving and sharing of all data collected or produced and of the methodologies used so that they may be verified. 


Positivism refers to a set of epistemological perspectives and philosophies of science which hold that the scientific method is the best approach to uncovering the processes by which both physical and human events occur. The concept was developed in the early 19th century by the philosopher and founding sociologist, Auguste Comte.

Antipositivism is the view in social science that academics must necessarily reject empiricism and the scientific method in the conduct of social theory and research. 

In modern practice, however, non-positivism may be equated with qualitative research methods, while positivist research is more quantitative. 

Positivists typically use research methods such as experiments and statistical surveys, while antipositivists use research methods which rely more on unstructured interviews or participant observation. Currently, positivist and non-positivist methods are often combined.

Phenomenology attempts to create conditions for the objective study of topics usually regarded as subjective. Consciousness and the content of conscious experiences such as judgments, perceptions, and emotions. Although phenomenology seeks to be scientific, it does not attempt to study consciousness from the perspective of clinical psychology or neurology. Instead, it seeks through systematic reflection to determine the essential properties and structures of consciousness and conscious experience.


References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research

https://uis.unesco.org/en/glossary-term/research-and-experimental-development-rd

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