Overview of research - Lecture notes 4 PDF

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What research is not •

Research is not mere information gathering- You are given work to go to the library and find out about the meru culture. That is not research it is mere information discovery

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Research is not mere transportation of facts from one location to another. A student can do literature review as long as new knowledge was not made or no interpretation of the data collected. Then it is mere transportation of facts

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Research is not merely rummaging for information. A fellow students attempts to sell you a garget you ask him to give you time to do some research on how much that garget sells at market value. This is just an exercise of more enlightenment.

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Research is not a catch word to get attention- to imply the product produced must be very good

What is Research? Research is a systematic process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting information in order to increase our understanding of the phenomenon about which we are interested or concerned. The focus is on formal research which we intentionally set out to enhance our understanding of a phenomenon and set out to communicate what we discover to the larger scientific community Characteristics of research •

Research originates from a question or a problem – The world is full of unanswered / unresolved problems – By asking questions we strike the first spike that ignite a chain reaction that leads to the research process – can be from personal experience, deduction from existing situation, Literature, formal needs assessment

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Research requires clear articulation of a goal. – Need for a clear , unambiguous statement of the problem is critical –

The ultimate goal of the research must be set forth clearly there has to be something that will be achieved at the end e.g a theory, system

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in efficiency (Time), in effectiveness (Correctness/Accuracy), Throughput

Research requires a specific plan for proceeding – It is not a blind excursion into the unknown with the hope that you will stumble on the answer – Rather it is a carefully planned attack,a search and discover mission explicitly outlined in advance.

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You need to know,:

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what data you will need?

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Does the data exist and in what format?

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Can you have access to the data?

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When you have access with the data what will you do with the data?

Research usually divides the principal problem into more manageable sub problems – It is good practice to break a big problem into smaller problems so that when we solve the small problems we will have solved the big problem •

Main problem: How do I get from town A to B

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Sub problems: •

What is the most direct route?

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How far do I travel from the highway?

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Which exit should I take to leave the highway?

Research is guided by a specific research problem, question or hypothesis – Hypothesis is a logical supposition, a reasonable guess an educated conjecture, it provides a tentative explanation for a phenomenon under investigation. – You go home switch the lamp light, alas! No light. At this point you begin to construct a series of reasonable guesses •

The bulb has burned out. (you get a new buld, the lamp fails to light thus hypothesis 1 is rejected)

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The lamp is not connected( you check and see the lamp is connected, hypothesis 2 is rejected)

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Thunderstorm interrupted the electrical service (you check neighbours home, no one has electricity, hypothesis 3 is suppported)

– Each of the hypothesis provides a direction to proceeed •

Research accepts certain critical assumptions – Assumptions are equal to axioms – Suppose you want to investigate the impact of using computer among 5 year old children. One of the assumption could be that all 5 year old have access to computers

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Research requires collection and interpretation of data in an attempt to understand/solve the problem –

you are developing a student registration system, find out the problem from students , registry depart. Understand the problem and see if there is a viable solution

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Research is by its nature cyclical or helical

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-The research problem follows a cycle •

A question/problem---Define the goals--- sub problem---Data collection---Data processing/interpretation--Conclusion

Motivation in research 

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

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Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved problems, i.e., concern over practical problems initiates research

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Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative work

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Desire to be of service to society

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Desire to get respectability. Prof. earns respect coz of what they have done

Types of research •

Basic research

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Applied research

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Exploratory research

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Descriptive research

Basic research- Basic research is intended to enhance basic knowledge about physical, biological, psychological or social world or to shed light on historical, cultural issues. •

This type of research is often purely theoretical with the intent of increasing our understanding of certain phenomena or behavior but does not seek to solve or treat these problems.

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Examples:

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How did the universe begin?

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What are protons, neutrons and electrons composed of?

Applied research- Intended to address issues that have immediate relevance to current practices, procedures and policies. They inform human decision making about practical problems.

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Examples: •

improve agricultural crop production

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Treat or cure a specific disease

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Improve the energy efficiency of homes, offices, or modes of transportation

Exploratory Research-Exploratory research might involve a literature search or conducting focus group interviews. •

The exploration of new phenomena in this way may help the researcher’s need for better understanding, may test the feasibility of a more extensive study, or determine the best methods to be used in a subsequent study.

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For these reasons, exploratory research is broad in focus and rarely provides definite answers to specific research issues

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The objective of exploratory research is to identify key issues and key variables. Examples

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What are the specific problems and characteristics of different types of stray cats (e.g.,

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farm cats, feral cats, stray cats in urban areas)? Does education play a role in defining a high school's reputation?

Descriptive Research-Seeks to provide an accurate description of observations of a phenomena •

The objective of much descriptive research is to map the terrain of a specific phenomenon.

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Such descriptive comparisons can produce useful insights and lead to hypothesisformation. Example

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The objective of the collection of census data is to accurately describe basic information about a national population at a particular point in time.

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A detailed set of data on the profile of clients. By understanding the customer better, sales and marketing management will be able to take better decisions on new product development.

Explanatory Research- Investigation into a problem or situation which provides insights to the researcher. •

The research is meant to provide details where a small amount of information exists.

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Explanatory research attempts to clarify why and how there is a relationship between two aspects of a situation or phenomenon.

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Examples

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Why stressful living results in heart attacks;

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Why a decline in mortality is followed by fertility decline

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How the home environment affects children’s level of academic achievement.

Qualitative VS Quantitative research-Research can further be classified as qualitative or quantitative research depending on the type of data to be analyzed. Qualitative research •

Qualitative research deals with phenomena that are difficult or impossible to quantify mathematically, such as beliefs, meanings, attributes, and symbols.

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Qualitative research is especially important in the behavioral sciences where the aim is to discover the underlying motives of human behavior.

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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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They ask the question of how and what. Never ask why

Examples of qualitative research questions •

What is the role of store managers in employee satisfaction of hourly workers at MUST?

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What is the process of the curriculum committee in making decisions about courses?

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How does a Vice chancellor’s leadership style impact employee engagement at MUST

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How does a students proficiency in English impact his understanding of computer programming language

Quantitative research •

Quantitative research is based on the quantitative measurements of some characteristics.

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It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of values or amounts.

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They Begin with “How”, “What”, or “Why” and can NEVER be answered by a simple Yes or No

Examples •

Why do BCT third year students outscore BCS third year students on Computer programming Exams?

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How do BCT female third year students and BIT female third year students compare in their plans for post-graduate education?

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What factors positively impact employee turnover rates of hourly workers?

Research methods verses Research methodology Research methods may be understood as all those methods/techniques that are used for conduction of research. •

They include all those methods which are used by the researcher during the course of studying his research.

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The methods are: Data collecting methods (interviews, questionnaires etc), data analysis methods (descriptive or inferential) and methods used to evaluate/ measure results in terms of efficiency (throughtput, man hours, turnover) or accuracy (confusion matrix, precision, recall, e.t.c).

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. (background study, problem definition, feasibility study, conduct literature review,) •

It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically.

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In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with the logic behind them.

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It is necessary for the researcher to know not only the research methods/techniques but also the methodology.

Criteria for good research •

The purpose of the research should be clearly defined and common concepts be used.

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The research procedure used should be described in sufficient detail to permit another researcher to repeat the research for further advancement, keeping the continuity of what has already been attained.

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The procedural design of the research should be carefully planned to yield results that are as objective as possible.

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The researcher should report with complete frankness, flaws in procedural design and estimate their effects upon the findings.

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The analysis of data should be sufficiently adequate to reveal its significance.

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Conclusions should be confined to those justified by the data of the research....