Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Development Team
Dr. P. Venkatramana
Paper Coordinator
Faculty of Anthropology, School of Social Sciences,
IGNOU, Delhi
Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Research
2.1 Definition
2.2 Types of Research
3. Research Process
3.1 Methods of Data Collection
4. Research Design
4.1 Types of Research Design
Summary
Learning Objectives:
To understand the concept of research and its purpose;
To discuss the types of research;
To enlighten the process of research and
To highlight the conceptual structure of a research design.
2. Research
2.1 Definition
There are various definitions of “Research” presented by various scholars and authors. Some of the
definitions of research are given below –
(i) Clifford Woody (1927) - Research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating
hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organizing and evaluating data; making deductions and
reaching conclusions; and at last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the
formulating hypothesis.
(ii) Redman and Mory (1923) - Research is defined as a “systematized effort to gain new knowledge.”
Research is, thus, an original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge making for its
advancement.
(iii) Creswell (2002) – “Research is a process of steps used to collect and analyze information to
increase our understanding of a topic or issue”.
Research consists of three steps such as
pose a question,
collect data to answer the question, and
present an answer to the question.
Fundamental
Empirical Conceptual
Analytical Quantitative
Descriptive
3. Research Process
All the actions involved in finding solution of problem or actions involve in answering a research
question can be divided into different steps. Such systematic series of steps that are necessary for
carrying out a research effectively can be termed as “Research Process”. Hence, research process
consists of series of actions or steps necessary to effectively carry out the research. An illustration of
research process is shown in Figure 2.
4. Research Design
A research design is the set of methods and procedures used in collecting and analyzing measures of
the variables specified in the research study. It is a plan that specifies the sources and types of
information relevant to the research problem. Research design is a strategy specifying which approach
will be used for gathering and analyzing the data. It also includes the time and cost budgets since most
studies are done under these two constraints. The design of a study defines the study type such as
descriptive, co-relational, experimental, descriptive-longitudinal case study, experimental design and
so on. Moreover, research design also defines the data collection methods and a statistical analysis plan
according to the nature of the research problem or hypothesis. It is the framework or blue print for
conducting research in an efficient manner that has been created to find answers to research questions
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_design).
According to Claire Selltiz and others (1962), “A research design is the arrangement of conditions for
collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with
economy in procedure.” The function of research design is to provide the collection of relevant
evidence with minimal expenditure of effort, time and money. Some important characteristics of a
good research design are flexibility, adaptability, efficiency, appropriate, economical and so on. The
research design which minimizes bias and maximizes the accuracy and reliability of the collected data
and analyzed to have minimum errors as possible is considered a good research design. The most
important requirement of a good research design is that it should provide adequate information so that
10
Research Design
Descriptive
[Case-study, naturalistic observation, survey]
Correlation
[Case-control study, observational study]
Experimental
[Experiment with random assignment]
Semi-Experimental
[Field experiment, quasi-experiment]
Metal Analytic
[Meta analysis]
Review
[Literature Review, Systematic Review]
12
Summary
Research is a systematic scientific searching, gathering and analyzing for finding solution of a
problem. It is a movement from the known to the unknown. Actually it is a voyage of discovery. It
consists of three steps such as to pose a question, collect data to answer the question, and present an
answer to the question. 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. Research has been classified into different types based on
the nature of data as well as the research problem viz. descriptive, analytical, applied, fundamental,
quantitative, qualitative, conceptual, and empirical research. The above researches are carried out
effectively through systematic series of steps called research process. Such series of steps in research
process includes identification of problem, review of literatures, framing of objectives, formulation of
hypothesis, data collection, data analysis, hypothesis-testing, generalization and interpretation,
preparation of report and submission of report. Research needs to be plan and design before carrying
out the work. A research design is a set of methods and procedures used in collecting and analyzing
measures of the variables specified in the research problem. It constitutes the blueprint for the
collection, measurement and analysis of data. The function of a research design is to ensure that the
evidence obtained enables effectively address the research problem logically and as unambiguously as
possible.
13