Research Methods Unit 1 Revision series Q&A: What do you mean by Research? Explain its objectives

What do you mean by Research? Explain its objectives

Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Research simply seeks the answer of certain questions which have not been answered so far and the answers depend upon human efforts. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation.

Meaning of Research

·         Actually research is simply the process of arriving as dependable solution to a problem through the planned and systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data. TERM RESEARCH The term ‘Research’ consists of two words: Research = Re + Search ‘Re’ means again and again and ‘Search’ means to find out something, the following is the process: Person Observes → Again and again Phenomena Collection of data → Analysis of data ,Conclusions Therefore, research means to observe the phenomena again and again from different dimensions.

Definition of Research

·         P.M. Cook has given a very comprehensive and functional definition of the term research “Research is an honest exhaustive, intelligent searching for facts and their meanings or implications with reference to a given problem. The product or findings of a given piece of research should be an authentic, verifiable and contribution to knowledge in the field studied.”

Objectives of research

The research is being conducted with a purpose of discovering answer to the question by making an application of scientific procedures. The main object of the research work is to take out the hidden facts yet to be discovered. Every research study has its own purpose to be attended, therefore objectives of research can be broadly classified as academic and utility one. The objective of research project summarizes what is to be achieved by the study. The research objectives are the specific accomplishments the researcher hopes to achieve by the study

               The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the application of scientific procedures. Though each research study has its own specific purpose, we may think of research objectives as falling into a number of following broad groupings: 

1. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it (studies with this object in view are termed as exploratory or formulative research studies)

        Exploratory research is undertaken to explore an area where little is known or to investigate the possibilities of undertaking a particular research study (feasibility study / pilot study). Exploratory research is defined as a research used to investigate a problem which is not clearly defined. It is conducted to have a better understanding of the existing problem, but will not provide conclusive results

2. To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group (studies with this object in view are known as descriptive research studies);

     Descriptive research attempts to describe systematically a situation, problem, phenomenon, service or programme, or provides information about , say, living condition of a community, or describes attitudes towards an issue. Descriptive research is defined as a research method that describes the characteristics of the population or phenomenon that is being studied. This methodology focuses more on the “what” of the research subject rather than the “why” of the research subject

3. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated with something else (studies with this object in view are known as diagnostic research studies);

         Diagnostic research studies determine the frequency with which something occurs. The studies concerning whether certain variables are associated are examples of diagnostic research studies. For example, as with all branches of clinical epidemiology, diagnostic research involves collecting information about a large group of patients as a part of a clinical study which is then used to form evidence that can be used to help clinicians and ultimately patients in the future.

4. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables (such studies are known as hypothesis-testing research studies)

       The purpose of explanatory research is to increase the understanding of a researcher on a certain subject. Explanatory research attempts to clarify why and how there is a relationship between two or more aspects of a situation or phenomenon. Correlational research attempts to discover or establish the existence of a relationship/ interdependence between two or more aspects of a situation. In business research, from the viewpoint of objectives, a research can be classified as descriptive, correlational, explanatory and exploratory. In practice most studies are a combination of the first three categories.

(Source: Reference texts and search engines)