What is the meaning of the word research

«Researched» redirects here. For the organisation, see ResearchED.

Research is «creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge».^[1] It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to controlling sources of bias and error. These activities are characterized by accounting and controlling for biases. A research project may be an expansion on 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 primary purposes of basic research (as opposed to applied research) are documentation, discovery, interpretation, and the research and development (R&D) of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge. Approaches to research depend on epistemologies, which vary considerably both within and between humanities and sciences. There are several forms of research: scientific, humanities, artistic, economic, social, business, marketing, practitioner research, life, technological, etc. The scientific study of research practices is known as meta-research.

A researcher is a person engaged in conducting research, possibly recognized as an occupation by a formal job title. Researchers are either Social Scientist or Natural Science Scientist. In order to be social researcher or social scientist, one should have enormous knowledge of subject related to social science that they are specialized in. Similarly, in order to be natural science researcher, the person should have knowledge on field related to natural science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy, Zoology and so on).

Etymology[edit]

The word research is derived from the Middle French «recherche«, which means «to go about seeking», the term itself being derived from the Old French term «recerchier» a compound word from «re-» + «cerchier», or «sercher», meaning ‘search’.^[3] The earliest recorded use of the term was in 1577.^[3]

Definitions[edit]

Research has been defined in a number of different ways, and while there are similarities, there does not appear to be a single, all-encompassing definition that is embraced by all who engage in it.

Research in simplest terms is searching for knowledge and searching for truth. In a formal sense, it is a systematic study of a problem attacked by a deliberately chosen strategy which starts with choosing an approach to preparing a blueprint (design) and acting upon it in terms of designing research hypotheses, choosing methods and techniques, selecting or developing data collection tools, processing the data, interpretation and ends with presenting solution/s of the problem.^[4]

Another definition of research is given by John W. Creswell, who states that «research is a process of steps used to collect and analyze information to increase our understanding of a topic or issue». It consists of three steps: pose a question, collect data to answer the question, and present an answer to the question.^[5]

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines research in more detail as «studious inquiry or examination; especially: investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws»^[3]

Forms of research[edit]

Original research[edit]

«Original research» redirects here. For the Wikipedia prohibition against user-generated, unpublished research, see Wikipedia:No original research.

Original research, also called primary research, is research that is not exclusively based on a summary, review, or synthesis of earlier publications on the subject of research. This material is of a primary-source character. The purpose of the original research is to produce new knowledge, rather than to present the existing knowledge in a new form (e.g., summarized or classified).^[6][7] Original research can be in various forms, depending on the discipline it pertains to. In experimental work, it typically involves direct or indirect observation of the researched subject(s), e.g., in the laboratory or in the field, documents the methodology, results, and conclusions of an experiment or set of experiments, or offers a novel interpretation of previous results. In analytical work, there are typically some new (for example) mathematical results produced, or a new way of approaching an existing problem. In some subjects which do not typically carry out experimentation or analysis of this kind, the originality is in the particular way existing understanding is changed or re-interpreted based on the outcome of the work of the researcher.^[8]

The degree of originality of the research is among major criteria for articles to be published in academic journals and usually established by means of peer review.^[9] Graduate students are commonly required to perform original research as part of a dissertation.^[10]

Scientific research[edit]

Scientific research is a systematic way of gathering data and harnessing curiosity. This research provides scientific information and theories for the explanation of the nature and the properties of the world. It makes practical applications possible. Scientific research is funded by public authorities, by charitable organizations and by private groups, including many companies. Scientific research can be subdivided into different classifications according to their academic and application disciplines. Scientific research is a widely used criterion for judging the standing of an academic institution, but some argue that such is an inaccurate assessment of the institution, because the quality of research does not tell about the quality of teaching (these do not necessarily correlate).^[11]

Generally, research is understood to follow a certain structural process. Though step order may vary depending on the subject matter and researcher, 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 and following that subject area to conduct subject-related research. The subject area should not be randomly chosen since it requires reading a vast amount of literature on the topic to determine the gap in the literature the researcher intends to narrow. 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 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 to draw conclusions about it.
7. Data Interpretation: This can be represented through tables, figures, and pictures, and then described in words.
8. Test, revising of hypothesis
9. Conclusion, reiteration if necessary

A common misconception is that a hypothesis will be proven (see, rather, null hypothesis). Generally, a hypothesis is used to make predictions that can be tested by observing the outcome of an experiment. If the outcome is inconsistent with the hypothesis, then the hypothesis is rejected (see falsifiability). However, if the outcome is consistent with the hypothesis, the experiment is said to support the hypothesis. This careful language is used because researchers recognize that alternative hypotheses may also be consistent with the observations. In this sense, a hypothesis can never be proven, but rather only supported by surviving rounds of scientific testing and, eventually, becoming widely thought of as true.

A useful hypothesis allows prediction and within the accuracy of observation of the time, the prediction will be verified. As the accuracy of observation improves with time, the hypothesis may no longer provide an accurate prediction. In this case, a new hypothesis will arise to challenge the old, and to the extent that the new hypothesis makes more accurate predictions than the old, the new will supplant it. Researchers can also use a null hypothesis, which states no relationship or difference between the independent or dependent variables.

Research in the humanities[edit]

Research in the humanities involves different methods such as for example hermeneutics and semiotics. Humanities scholars usually do not search for the ultimate correct answer to a question, but instead, explore the issues and details that surround it. Context is always important, and context can be social, historical, political, cultural, or ethnic. An example of research in the humanities is historical research, which is embodied in historical method. Historians use primary sources and other evidence to systematically investigate a topic, and then to write histories in the form of accounts of the past. Other studies aim to merely examine the occurrence of behaviours in societies and communities, without particularly looking for reasons or motivations to explain these. These studies may be qualitative or quantitative, and can use a variety of approaches, such as queer theory or feminist theory.^[12]

Artistic research[edit]

Artistic research, also seen as ‘practice-based research’, can take form when creative works are considered both the research and the object of research itself. It is the debatable body of thought which offers an alternative to purely scientific methods in research in its search for knowledge and truth.

The controversial trend of artistic teaching becoming more academics-oriented is leading to artistic research being accepted as the primary mode of enquiry in art as in the case of other disciplines.^[13] One of the characteristics of artistic research is that it must accept subjectivity as opposed to the classical scientific methods. As such, it is similar to the social sciences in using qualitative research and intersubjectivity as tools to apply measurement and critical analysis.^[14]

Artistic research has been defined by the School of Dance and Circus (Dans och Cirkushögskolan, DOCH), Stockholm in the following manner – «Artistic research is to investigate and test with the purpose of gaining knowledge within and for our artistic disciplines. It is based on artistic practices, methods, and criticality. Through presented documentation, the insights gained shall be placed in a context.»^[15] Artistic research aims to enhance knowledge and understanding with presentation of the arts.^[16] A simpler understanding by Julian Klein defines artistic research as any kind of research employing the artistic mode of perception.^[17] For a survey of the central problematics of today’s artistic research, see Giaco Schiesser.^[18]

According to artist Hakan Topal, in artistic research, «perhaps more so than other disciplines, intuition is utilized as a method to identify a wide range of new and unexpected productive modalities».^[19] Most writers, whether of fiction or non-fiction books, also have to do research to support their creative work. This may be factual, historical, or background research. Background research could include, for example, geographical or procedural research.^[20]

The Society for Artistic Research (SAR) publishes the triannual Journal for Artistic Research (JAR),^[21][22] an international, online, open access, and peer-reviewed journal for the identification, publication, and dissemination of artistic research and its methodologies, from all arts disciplines and it runs the Research Catalogue (RC),^[23][24][25] a searchable, documentary database of artistic research, to which anyone can contribute.

Patricia Leavy addresses eight arts-based research (ABR) genres: narrative inquiry, fiction-based research, poetry, music, dance, theatre, film, and visual art.^[26]

In 2016, the European League of Institutes of the Arts launched The Florence Principles’ on the Doctorate in the Arts.^[27] The Florence Principles relating to the Salzburg Principles and the Salzburg Recommendations of the European University Association name seven points of attention to specify the Doctorate / PhD in the Arts compared to a scientific doctorate / PhD. The Florence Principles have been endorsed and are supported also by AEC, CILECT, CUMULUS and SAR.

Historical research[edit]

The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use historical sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. There are various history guidelines that are commonly used by historians in their work, under the headings of external criticism, internal criticism, and synthesis. This includes lower criticism and sensual criticism. Though items may vary depending on the subject matter and researcher, the following concepts are part of most formal historical research:^[28]

• Identification of origin date
• Evidence of localization
• Recognition of authorship
• Analysis of data
• Identification of integrity
• Attribution of credibility

Documentary research[edit]

Steps in conducting research[edit]

Research is often conducted using the hourglass model structure of research.^[29] The hourglass model starts with a broad spectrum for research, focusing in on the required information through the method of the project (like the neck of the hourglass), then expands the research in the form of discussion and results. The major steps in conducting research are:^[30]

• Identification of research problem
• Literature review
• Specifying the purpose of research
• Determining specific research questions
• Specification of a conceptual framework, sometimes including a set of hypotheses^[31]
• Choice of a methodology (for data collection)
• Data collection
• Verifying data
• Analyzing and interpreting the data
• Reporting and evaluating research
• Communicating the research findings and, possibly, recommendations

The steps generally represent the overall process; however, they should be viewed as an ever-changing iterative process rather than a fixed set of steps.^[32] Most research begins with a general statement of the problem, or rather, the purpose for engaging in the study.^[33] The literature review identifies flaws or holes in previous research which provides justification for the study. Often, a literature review is conducted in a given subject area before a research question is identified. A gap in the current literature, as identified by a researcher, then engenders a research question. The research question may be parallel to the hypothesis. The hypothesis is the supposition to be tested. The researcher(s) collects data to test the hypothesis. The researcher(s) then analyzes and interprets the data via a variety of statistical methods, engaging in what is known as empirical research. The results of the data analysis in rejecting or failing to reject the null hypothesis are then reported and evaluated. At the end, the researcher may discuss avenues for further research. However, some researchers advocate for the reverse approach: starting with articulating findings and discussion of them, moving «up» to identification of a research problem that emerges in the findings and literature review. The reverse approach is justified by the transactional nature of the research endeavor where research inquiry, research questions, research method, relevant research literature, and so on are not fully known until the findings have fully emerged and been interpreted.

Rudolph Rummel says, «… no researcher should accept any one or two tests as definitive. It is only when a range of tests are consistent over many kinds of data, researchers, and methods can one have confidence in the results.»^[34]

Plato in Meno talks about an inherent difficulty, if not a paradox, of doing research that can be paraphrased in the following way, «If you know what you’re searching for, why do you search for it?! [i.e., you have already found it] If you don’t know what you’re searching for, what are you searching for?!»^[35]

Research methods[edit]

The goal of the research process is to produce new knowledge or deepen understanding of a topic or issue. This process takes three main forms (although, as previously discussed, the boundaries between them may be obscure):

• Exploratory research, which helps to identify and define a problem or question.
• Constructive research, which tests theories and proposes solutions to a problem or question.
• Empirical research, which tests the feasibility of a solution using empirical evidence.

There are two major types of empirical research design: qualitative research and quantitative research. Researchers choose qualitative or quantitative methods according to the nature of the research topic they want to investigate and the research questions they aim to answer:

Qualitative research

Qualitative research refers to much more subjective non- quantitative, use different methods of collecting data, analyzing data, interpreting data for meanings, definitions, characteristics, symbols metaphors of things.Qualitative research further classified into following types: Ethnography: This research mainly focus on culture of group of people which includes share attributes, language, practices, structure, value, norms and material things, evaluate human lifestyle. Ethno: people, Grapho: to write, this disciple may include ethnic groups, ethno genesis, composition, resettlement and social welfare characteristics. Phenomenology: It is very powerful strategy for demonstrating methodology to health professions education as well as best suited for exploring challenging problems in health professions educations.^[37]

Quantitative research

This involves systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships, by asking a narrow question and collecting numerical data to analyze it utilizing statistical methods. The quantitative research designs are experimental, correlational, and survey (or descriptive).^[38] Statistics derived from quantitative research can be used to establish the existence of associative or causal relationships between variables. Quantitative research is linked with the philosophical and theoretical stance of positivism.

The quantitative data collection methods rely on random sampling and structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into predetermined response categories.^{[citation needed]} These methods produce results that can be summarized, compared, and generalized to larger populations if the data are collected using proper sampling and data collection strategies.^[39] Quantitative research is concerned with testing hypotheses derived from theory or being able to estimate the size of a phenomenon of interest.^[39]

If the research question is about people, participants may be randomly assigned to different treatments (this is the only way that a quantitative study can be considered a true experiment).^{[citation needed]} If this is not feasible, the researcher may collect data on participant and situational characteristics to statistically control for their influence on the dependent, or outcome, variable. If the intent is to generalize from the research participants to a larger population, the researcher will employ probability sampling to select participants.^[40]

In either qualitative or quantitative research, the researcher(s) may collect primary or secondary data.^[39] Primary data is data collected specifically for the research, such as through interviews or questionnaires. Secondary data is data that already exists, such as census data, which can be re-used for the research. It is good ethical research practice to use secondary data wherever possible.^[41]

Mixed-method research, i.e. research that includes qualitative and quantitative elements, using both primary and secondary data, is becoming more common.^[42] This method has benefits that using one method alone cannot offer. For example, a researcher may choose to conduct a qualitative study and follow it up with a quantitative study to gain additional insights.^[43]

Big data has brought big impacts on research methods so that now many researchers do not put much effort into data collection; furthermore, methods to analyze easily available huge amounts of data have also been developed.
Types of Research Method
1. Observatory Research Method
2. Correlation Research Method ^[44]

Non-empirical research

Non-empirical (theoretical) research is an approach that involves the development of theory as opposed to using observation and experimentation. As such, non-empirical research seeks solutions to problems using existing knowledge as its source. This, however, does not mean that new ideas and innovations cannot be found within the pool of existing and established knowledge. Non-empirical research is not an absolute alternative to empirical research because they may be used together to strengthen a research approach. Neither one is less effective than the other since they have their particular purpose in science. Typically empirical research produces observations that need to be explained; then theoretical research tries to explain them, and in so doing generates empirically testable hypotheses; these hypotheses are then tested empirically, giving more observations that may need further explanation; and so on. See Scientific method.

A simple example of a non-empirical task is the prototyping of a new drug using a differentiated application of existing knowledge; another is the development of a business process in the form of a flow chart and texts where all the ingredients are from established knowledge. Much of cosmological research is theoretical in nature. Mathematics research does not rely on externally available data; rather, it seeks to prove theorems about mathematical objects.

Research ethics[edit]

Research ethics is concerned with the moral issues that arise during or as a result of research activities, as well as the conduct of individual researchers, and the implications for research communities.^[45] Historically, scandals such as Nazi human experimentation and the Tuskegee syphilis experiment led to the realisation that clear measures are needed for the ethical governance of research to ensure that people, animals and environments are not unduly harmed by scientific inquiry. The management of research ethics is inconsistent across countries and there is no universally accepted approach to how it should be addressed.^[46][47][48] Research ethics committees (Institutional review board in the US) have emerged as one governance mechanism to ensure research is conducted responsibly.

When making moral judgments, we may be guided by different values. Philosophers commonly distinguish between approaches like deontology, consequentialism, Confucianism, virtue ethics, and Ubuntu ethics, to list a few. Regardless of approach, the application of ethical theory to specific contexts is known as applied ethics, and research ethics can be viewed as a subfield of applied ethics because ethical theory is applied in real-world research scenarios.

Ethical issues may arise in the design and implementation of research involving human experimentation or animal experimentation. There may also be consequences for the environment, for society or for future generations that need to be considered. Research ethics is most developed as a concept in medical research, with typically cited codes being the 1947 Nuremberg Code, the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki, and the 1978 Belmont Report. Informed consent is a key concept in research ethics thanks to these codes. Research in other fields such as social sciences, information technology, biotechnology, or engineering may generate different types of ethical concerns to those in medical research.^{[46][47][49][50][51][52]}

In countries such as Canada, mandatory research ethics training is required for students, professors and others who work in research,^[53][54] whilst the US has legislated on how institutional review boards operate since the 1974 National Research Act.

Research ethics is commonly distinguished from the promotion of academic or research integrity, which includes issues such as scientific misconduct (e.g. fraud, fabrication of data or plagiarism). Because of the close interaction with integrity, increasingly research ethics is included as part of the broader field of responsible conduct of research (RCR in North America) or Responsible Research and Innovation in Europe, and with government agencies such as the United States Office of Research Integrity or the Canadian Interagency Advisory Panel on Responsible Conduct of Research promoting or requiring interdisciplinary training for researchers.

Problems in research[edit]

Meta-research[edit]

Meta-research is the study of research through the use of research methods. Also known as «research on research», it aims to reduce waste and increase the quality of research in all fields. Meta-research concerns itself with the detection of bias, methodological flaws, and other errors and inefficiencies. Among the finding of meta-research is a low rates of reproducibility across a large number of fields. This widespread difficulty in reproducing research has been termed the «replication crisis.»^[55]

Methods of research[edit]

In many disciplines, Western methods of conducting research are predominant.^[56] Researchers are overwhelmingly taught Western methods of data collection and study. The increasing participation of indigenous peoples as researchers has brought increased attention to the scientific lacuna in culturally sensitive methods of data collection.^[57] Western methods of data collection may not be the most accurate or relevant for research on non-Western societies. For example, «Hua Oranga» was created as a criterion for psychological evaluation in Māori populations, and is based on dimensions of mental health important to the Māori people – «taha wairua (the spiritual dimension), taha hinengaro (the mental dimension), taha tinana (the physical dimension), and taha whanau (the family dimension)».^[58]

Bias[edit]

Research is often biased in the languages that are preferred (linguicism) and the geographic locations where research occurs.
Periphery scholars face the challenges of exclusion and linguicism in research and academic publication. As the great majority of mainstream academic journals are written in English, multilingual periphery scholars often must translate their work to be accepted to elite Western-dominated journals.^[59] Multilingual scholars’ influences from their native communicative styles can be assumed to be incompetence instead of difference.^[60]

For comparative politics, Western countries are over-represented in single-country studies, with heavy emphasis on Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Since 2000, Latin American countries have become more popular in single-country studies. In contrast, countries in Oceania and the Caribbean are the focus of very few studies. Patterns of geographic bias also show a relationship with linguicism: countries whose official languages are French or Arabic are far less likely to be the focus of single-country studies than countries with different official languages. Within Africa, English-speaking countries are more represented than other countries.^[61]

Generalizability[edit]

Generalization is the process of more broadly applying the valid results of one study.^[62] Studies with a narrow scope can result in a lack of generalizability, meaning that the results may not be applicable to other populations or regions. In comparative politics, this can result from using a single-country study, rather than a study design that uses data from multiple countries. Despite the issue of generalizability, single-country studies have risen in prevalence since the late 2000s.^[61]

Publication peer review[edit]

This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: This subsection’s claims are potentially outdated in the «digital age» given that near-total penetration of Web access among scholars worldwide enables any scholar[s] to submit papers to any journal anywhere. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (May 2017)

Peer review is a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards of quality, improve performance, and provide credibility. In academia, scholarly peer review is often used to determine an academic paper’s suitability for publication. Usually, the peer review process involves experts in the same field who are consulted by editors to give a review of the scholarly works produced by a colleague of theirs from an unbiased and impartial point of view, and this is usually done free of charge. The tradition of peer reviews being done for free has however brought many pitfalls which are also indicative of why most peer reviewers decline many invitations to review.^[63] It was observed that publications from periphery countries rarely rise to the same elite status as those of North America and Europe, because limitations on the availability of resources including high-quality paper and sophisticated image-rendering software and printing tools render these publications less able to satisfy standards currently carrying formal or informal authority in the publishing industry.^[60] These limitations in turn result in the under-representation of scholars from periphery nations among the set of publications holding prestige status relative to the quantity and quality of those scholars’ research efforts, and this under-representation in turn results in disproportionately reduced acceptance of the results of their efforts as contributions to the body of knowledge available worldwide.

Influence of the open-access movement[edit]

The open access movement assumes that all information generally deemed useful should be free and belongs to a «public domain», that of «humanity».^[64] This idea gained prevalence as a result of Western colonial history and ignores alternative conceptions of knowledge circulation. For instance, most indigenous communities consider that access to certain information proper to the group should be determined by relationships.^[64]

There is alleged to be a double standard in the Western knowledge system. On the one hand, «digital right management» used to restrict access to personal information on social networking platforms is celebrated as a protection of privacy, while simultaneously when similar functions are used by cultural groups (i.e. indigenous communities) this is denounced as «access control» and reprehended as censorship.^[64]

Future perspectives[edit]

Even though Western dominance seems to be prominent in research, some scholars, such as Simon Marginson, argue for «the need [for] a plural university world».^[65] Marginson argues that the East Asian Confucian model could take over the Western model.

This could be due to changes in funding for research both in the East and the West. Focused on emphasizing educational achievement, East Asian cultures, mainly in China and South Korea, have encouraged the increase of funding for research expansion.^[65] In contrast, in the Western academic world, notably in the United Kingdom as well as in some state governments in the United States, funding cuts for university research have occurred, which some^[who?] say may lead to the future decline of Western dominance in research.

Neo-colonial approaches[edit]

Professionalisation [edit]

In several national and private academic systems, the professionalisation of research has resulted in formal job titles.

In Russia[edit]

In present-day Russia, and some other countries of the former Soviet Union, the term researcher (Russian: Научный сотрудник, nauchny sotrudnik) has been used both as a generic term for a person who has been carrying out scientific research, and as a job position within the frameworks of the Academy of Sciences, universities, and in other research-oriented establishments.

The following ranks are known:

• Junior Researcher (Junior Research Associate)
• Researcher (Research Associate)
• Senior Researcher (Senior Research Associate)
• Leading Researcher (Leading Research Associate)^[77]
• Chief Researcher (Chief Research Associate)

Publishing[edit]

Academic publishing is a system that is necessary for academic scholars to peer review the work and make it available for a wider audience. The system varies widely by field and is also always changing, if often slowly. Most academic work is published in journal article or book form. There is also a large body of research that exists in either a thesis or dissertation form. These forms of research can be found in databases explicitly for theses and dissertations. In publishing, STM publishing is an abbreviation for academic publications in science, technology, and medicine.
Most established academic fields have their own scientific journals and other outlets for publication, though many academic journals are somewhat interdisciplinary, and publish work from several distinct fields or subfields. The kinds of publications that are accepted as contributions of knowledge or research vary greatly between fields, from the print to the electronic format. A study suggests that researchers should not give great consideration to findings that are not replicated frequently.^[78] It has also been suggested that all published studies should be subjected to some measure for assessing the validity or reliability of its procedures to prevent the publication of unproven findings.^[79] Business models are different in the electronic environment. Since about the early 1990s, licensing of electronic resources, particularly journals, has been very common. Presently, a major trend, particularly with respect to scholarly journals, is open access.^[80] There are two main forms of open access: open access publishing, in which the articles or the whole journal is freely available from the time of publication, and self-archiving, where the author makes a copy of their own work freely available on the web.

Research funding[edit]

This section needs expansion with: funding for research in the humanities and other areas. Presently, only scientific research is addressed. You can help by adding to it. (April 2019)

Most funding for scientific research comes from three major sources: corporate research and development departments; private foundations; and government research councils such as the National Institutes of Health in the USA^[81] and the Medical Research Council in the UK. These are managed primarily through universities and in some cases through military contractors. Many senior researchers (such as group leaders) spend a significant amount of their time applying for grants for research funds. These grants are necessary not only for researchers to carry out their research but also as a source of merit. The Social Psychology Network provides a comprehensive list of U.S. Government and private foundation funding sources.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Groh, Arnold (2018). Research Methods in Indigenous Contexts. New York: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-72774-5.
• Cohen, N.; Arieli, T. (2011). «Field research in conflict environments: Methodological challenges and snowball sampling». Journal of Peace Research. 48 (4): 423–436. doi:10.1177/0022343311405698. S2CID 145328311.
• Soeters, Joseph; Shields, Patricia and Rietjens, Sebastiaan. 2014. Handbook of Research Methods in Military Studies New York: Routledge.
• Talja, Sanna and Pamela J. Mckenzie (2007). Editor’s Introduction: Special Issue on Discursive Approaches to Information Seeking in Context, The University of Chicago Press.

External links[edit]

Research means a systematic and objective study to find facts which can be answers to questions and solutions to problems.

Social sciences Encyclopedia defines research as the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct as to verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aid in the construction of a theory or in the practice of art.

In a different way effort to reach definiteness or certainty, to collect facts and ascertain truth constitute research. In research, we examine facts for truth. When facts are repeatedly examined and tested, truth is established. This leads to certainty and incorporates a generalization which is unique.

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Types of Research

Basically, research is classified in two types.

• Basic or pure research
• Applied or practical research

Basic or pure research

Basic or pure research explores broad, inclusive laws, rules, theories and tendencies with precise causation. Pure research is an intellectual response to great questions and seemingly difficult causal complexities.

Theory of gravity (Newton), a theory of relativity (Einstein), and birth of the universe theory (Hoyle and Naralikar theory) are examples of pure research. Such pure research may or may not be practical and socially useful immediately.

Applied or practical research

Applied or practical research aims at making existing, available knowledge useful in solving present problems of the society and individuals vis-a-vis production, distribution, consumption, and minimization of pain.

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According to Pauline Young, social research is defined in the following words. “We may define social research as the systematic method of discovering new facts or verifying old facts, through sequence, interrelationship, causal explanations and the natural laws which cover them.

Prof. M. H. Copal, a senior Indian social scientist defined social research as the study of phenomena resulting from an interaction between different human groups in the process of their living together.

This study helps us in generalizing, theorizing and policy planning.

Social research is intrinsically dynamic and involves a large number of variables, some controllable some not so controllable.

As a result, social research involves a process of continuous revision of existing laws, theories, periodic refutation and/or modification of the same laws and theories. Freshly generated or collected data i.e. primary data give us new insights and evidence to arrive at new conclusions.

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Purpose of Research

Purpose and functions of social research can be enumerated as below

• Search for truth
• Application of knowledge for better human life.
• Examining phenomena or events for identifying causes and establishing generalizations, and theories about human behaviour.
• Predicting the future on the basis of existing knowledge and study methods.
• Verifying, correlating or modifying existing generalizations or theories, differences of opinion and settling debates if any.

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Characteristics of Research

Following are the essential characteristics of an ideal researcher.

• An unquenchable and strong desire to find out the truth
• Ability to identify similarity in diverse situations and diversity in similar Situations
• Curiosity, quest, doubt, patient, slow thinking, willingness to reexamine, discipline, no dogmatism are according to Francis Beacon, essential attributes of a researcher
• According to John Thompson, a researcher should have
  • insistence for data
  • caution in statements
  • clear right/understanding
  • awareness about multiplicity in varied social interrelations
• According to Carl Pearson, disciplined imagination is the distinguishable characteristics of an ideal researcher
• According to Sidney and Beatrice Web, a researcher must always avoid the influence of his personal biases
• A researcher, according to C. Luther Fry, must possess intellectual honesty and integrity
• According to Spaher and Swanson, a researcher must love his work, have abundant patience and perseverance, insist on authority and correctness of data, posses equity of consideration, thoughtfulness, and broadly responsible and always focused

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Research process

To make your research efforts successful and socially meaningful, the whole approach has to be carefully planned and executed step by step in a scientific and logical way. It is, therefore, necessary to explain and present steps and design of any research work carefully.

Following are the steps in research process:

• Explain the objectives of research, present the problem and state the hypothesis/es.
• Elaborate on the research design mainly with reference to methodology of data collection and analysis.
• System of data collection with clear understanding of sampling techniques and/or census approach.
• Description, tabulation, coding, analysis of data and statement of analytical results/findings.
• Interpretation of these findings/results and reaching objective conclusions.
• Attempting reliable prediction.

Selection of the research topic/question is the first critically important step. Practical problems, emerging needs, scientific curiosity, intellectual quest values of life, life experiences are the main sources of research topics or questions.

Secondly, formation of the hypothesis is the next step. Before we start collecting, tabulating and analyzing data, it is necessary to have ‘a priori’ causal relationship which may explain the phenomenon under study, this is known as hypothesis/es.

A hypothesis/es explain the cause-effect relationship at a logical level. The hypothesis gives us basic concepts on the basis of which we collect data generate data, for empirical evidence.

In formulation of hypothesis, we in a way, organize our research question in a scientific way. The words hypothesis and concepts are explained elaborately in subsequent units.

In formulating research question and research design it is necessary that

• the researcher has advanced in-depth reading in related literature,
• he is fully aware of the current theories and research in related area
• he has close interaction with peers in the field and
• he must possess an inquisitive imaginative scientific mindset.

Thirdly, it is necessary to have a well planned research design. It helps in focussing work, precise explanation of events / questions and most importantly a research design helps in minimization of variance in the research system.

According to R. L. Ackoff there are two types of research design- Ideal Research Design – a design without practical limitation, the other research design is practical / feasible research design. In this, we consider limitations like time, resources availability of data and intellectual skills of the researcher.

Normally a practical research design has four important constituents.

• Sampling Design
• Statistical design
• Observational Design
• Operational Design

In preparing a practical research design, the researcher has to consider following aspects,

i. What is the primary research focus?
ii. What is the data required for the research?
iii. What are the exact objectives of the research?
iv. Sources of data?
v. Places to be visited for research
vi. Time limits
vii. A number of entities to be involved in the research
viii. Criteria of sampling
ix. Methods of data collection
x. Methods of data coding classification and tabulation.
xi. Material / financial resources available for research.

Broadly, there are five types of research design, according to Mac-Grant.

i. Controlled experiment
ii. Study / case study
iii. Survey sample / census
iv. Investigation
v. Action research

According to Seltiz and others, there are basically three types of research design,

i. Exploratory or formulative
ii. Descriptive or diagnostic
iii. Studies testing causal hypothesis.

Exploratory research relies heavily on review of literature, review of experience and entities/cases encouraging intuitions or inspiration. This depends heavily on the attitude of scientist, intensity of/or depth of his study/integrative powers of the researcher normally, reaction of indifferent individuals, behaviour of marginal individuals/groups, developmental transition, isolates, deviants and pathological cases and pure cases constitute factors which induce a researcher to explore.

In the case of many social sciences, majority of researchers collect and describe information regarding various groups, communities and sets of experiences consumption patterns, saving habits, investment, likes and dislikes, work culture, price responses, management decisions and practices, entrepreneurial behaviours, business leadership etc are such areas of research.

In the case of studies testing causal hypothesis the main objective of research is to verify an assumed causation, either positively or negatively. In such researches, experimental method is more frequently used.

However, with the passage of time and revolutionary changes in technology of analysis, experimental method is now used, as in natural sciences, in social sciences also. In a very formal way experiment is a way of organizing evidence so as to reach inference about the appropriateness of a hypothesis which essentially is a statement of relationship between a cause (set of causes) and a result (set of results).

In the case of experimental design two approaches are mainly practiced

• after only experiment
• before after experiment.

WORDS ACCENTED ON THE LAST SYLLABLE: address _address’_ adept _adept’_ adult _adult’_ ally _ally’_ commandant _commandänt ‘(ä as in arm) _ contour _contour’_ dessert _dessert’_ dilate _dilate’_ excise _eksiz’_ finance _finance’_ grimace _grimace’_ importune _importune’_ occult _occult’_ pretence _pretence’_ research _research‘_ robust _robust’_ romance _romance’_ tirade _tirade’_ ❋ Thomas Wood (N/A)

The objective of this research is the development of novel approaches to creating modular computer codes which will make it much easier to develop and apply computer models to an extended range of applications in research, industry and education. ❋ Unknown (1994)

The process of self-science extends beyond restricted semantic uses of the term research; it encompasses the deepest sense of what it means to do research. ❋ Phd Gary E. Schwartz (2011)

In everyday language, the word research has a broad spectrum of applications. ❋ Phd Gary E. Schwartz (2011)

The word research has both general and specialized meanings, and it is essential that I clarify how the term is being used in this book. ❋ Phd Gary E. Schwartz (2011)

«Investing in research is like investing in better brake linings, when taking your foot off the accelerator would do just as well.» ❋ Juliet Eilperin (2010)

However, this federally restricted use of the word research does not mean that the observations from personal life (herein called Type I Investigations) or experimenter pretesting (Type II Investigations) are either unimportant or uninformative and should therefore be dismissed. ❋ Phd Gary E. Schwartz (2011)

However, sometimes the word research is by necessity employed in the general everyday context of the word because it is the clearest way to convey the fact that the scientific method can be applied in our personal lives as well as in university laboratories. ❋ Phd Gary E. Schwartz (2011)

I’ve concluded that geoengineering research – and I emphasise the term research — is, sadly, necessary. ❋ Unknown (2011)

What does become obvious in research is the huge cash cow that Guantanamo has become for these corporations and why they relentlessly enlist the likes of Cheney and John Bolton to keep the facilities there open. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Doctor, I have [eczema]. I’ve done some research and I’m sure it’s from [heavy metal] poisoning from the [mercury] in my filings. ❋ Mizanthrop (2014)

[Do your research], and you might wake up to the fact that reptilian humanoids are manufacturing genetically modified vaccines in their [FEMA] death camps and injecting aborted human fetus tissue in [Pumpkin Spice] lattes so the toxins make your brains mushier and easy to slurp through a straw. ❋ Mizta Mizta (2015)

Def 1:
Man, the mental kid has a better grade than me! He must do a lot of [research]!
Def 2:
Guy 1: Hey man, can I come over after school?
Guy 2: Naw, call me 30 minutes after. My parents aren’t home, so I’m gonna do some… research…
Guy 1: [Research]?
Guy 2: Uhh… yeah!
30 minutes later:
Guy 1: How’d your research go?
Guy 2: It started out slow, but I found a ton of information. It got a bit messy, so I jumped out at the last second and forgot to [cite] [my sources]!
Or:
Man, the mental kid has a better grade than me! He must do a lot of research! ❋ Sp0rk (2004)

I did my research by [plagiarizing]. ❋ Kwang (2003)

Hey did you do some research on that [essay]?
[Ya man], I found a [website] with all the essay topics! ❋ Skippyloverboy (2012)

Recent research indicates that [Barack Obama’s] ties to [Al Qaeda] have been corroborated. ([Stephen Colbert]) ❋ Shuzuluza (2007)

When [Kieran] was caught setting a trap for young players he claimed that he was doing ‘research‘.
[Slevboy]: What are you doing?
Kieran: Setting up a trap for young players for ‘research‘ purposes.
Slevboy: I wouldn’t do that or I shall be forced to [sewell slap] you! ❋ Slevboy (2004)

I researched [flat earth] enough to know it is true [and you’re not] going to convince me otherwise.
Look, bro, all I’m asking is that you do [the research] yourself. I’ll send you some youtube vids. ❋ ClearZ (2020)

What’s her [name]?
[Need it] for some [research]. ❋ Dean Incestor (2014)

«What’s her [name]… for research?» ❋ ParaplegicPotato (2016)

Some people consider research as a voyage of discovery of new knowledge.

It comprises the creation of ideas and the generation of new knowledge that leads to new and improved insights and the development of new materials, devices, products, and processes.

It should have the potential to produce sufficiently relevant results to increase and synthesize existing knowledge or correct and integrate previous knowledge.

Good reflective research produces theories and hypotheses and benefits any intellectual attempt to analyze facts and phenomena.

Where did the word Research Came from?

The word ‘research’ perhaps originates from the old French word “recerchier” which meant to ‘search again.’ It implicitly assumes that the earlier search was not exhaustive and complete; hence, a repeated search is called for.

In practice, ‘research’ refers to a scientific process of generating an unexplored horizon of knowledge, aiming at discovering or establishing facts, solving a problem, and reaching a decision. Keeping the above points in view, we arrive at the following definition of research:

Research Definition

Research is a scientific approach to answering a research question, solving a research problem, or generating new knowledge through a systematic and orderly collection, organization, and analysis of data to make research findings useful in decision-making.

When do we call research scientific? Any research endeavor is said to be scientific if

• It is based on empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning;
• It consists of systematic observations, measurement, and experimentation;
• It relies on the application of scientific methods and harnessing of curiosity;
• It provides scientific information and theories for the explanation of nature;
• It makes practical applications possible; and
• It ensures adequate analysis of data employing rigorous statistical techniques.

The chief characteristic which distinguishes the scientific method from other methods of acquiring knowledge is that scientists seek to let reality speak for itself, supporting a theory when a theory’s predictions are confirmed and challenging a theory when its predictions prove false.

Scientific research has multidimensional functions, characteristics, and objectives.

Keeping these issues in view, we assert that research in any field or discipline:

• Attempts to solve a research problem;
• Involves gathering new data from primary or first-hand sources or using existing data for a new purpose;
• is based upon observable experiences or empirical evidence;
• Demands accurate observation and description;
• Employs carefully designed procedures and rigorous analysis;
• attempts to find an objective, unbiased solution to the problem and takes great pains to validate the methods employed;
• is a deliberate and unhurried activity that is directional but often refines the problem or questions as the research progresses.

Characteristics of Research

Keeping this in mind that research in any field of inquiry is undertaken to provide information to support decision-making in its respective area, we summarize some desirable characteristics of research:

1. The research should focus on priority problems.
2. The research should be systematic. It emphasizes that a researcher should employ a structured procedure.
3. The research should be logical. Without manipulating ideas logically, the scientific researcher cannot make much progress in any investigation.
4. The research should be reductive. This means that one researcher’s findings should be made available to other researchers to prevent them from repeating the same research.
5. The research should be replicable. This asserts that there should be scope to confirm previous research findings in a new environment and different settings with a new group of subjects or at a different point in time.
6. The research should be generative. This is one of the valuable characteristics of research because answering one question leads to generating many other new questions.
7. The research should be action-oriented. In other words, it should be aimed at solving to implement its findings.
8. The research should follow an integrated multidisciplinary approach, i.e., research approaches from more than one discipline are needed.
9. The research should be participatory, involving all parties concerned (from policymakers down to community members) at all stages of the study.
10. The research must be relatively simple, timely, and time-bound, employing a comparatively simple design.
11. The research must be as much cost-effective as possible.
12. The research results should be presented in formats most useful for administrators, decision-makers, business managers, or community members.

3 Basic Operations of Research

Scientific research in any field of inquiry involves three basic operations:

1. Data collection;
2. Data analysis;
3. Report writing.

1. Data collection refers to observing, measuring, and recording data or information.
2. Data analysis, on the other hand, refers to arranging and organizing the collected data so that we may be able to find out what their significance is and generalize about them.
3. Report writing is the ultimate step of the study. Its purpose is to convey the information contained in it to the readers or audience.

If you note down, for example, the reading habit of newspapers of a group of residents in a community, that would be your data collection.

If you then divide these residents into three categories, ‘regular,’ ‘occasional,’ and ‘never,’ you have performed a simple data analysis. Your findings may now be presented in a report form.

A reader of your report knows what percentage of the community people never read any newspaper and so on.

Here are some examples that demonstrate what research is:

• A farmer is planting two varieties of jute side by side to compare yields;
• A sociologist examines the causes and consequences of divorce;
• An economist is looking at the interdependence of inflation and foreign direct investment;
• A physician is experimenting with the effects of multiple uses of disposable insulin syringes in a hospital;
• A business enterprise is examining the effects of advertisement of their products on the volume of sales;
• An economist is doing a cost-benefit analysis of reducing the sales tax on essential commodities;
• The Bangladesh Bank is closely observing and monitoring the performance of nationalized and private banks;
• Based on some prior information, Bank Management plans to open new counters for female customers.
• Supermarket Management is assessing the satisfaction level of the customers with their products.

The above examples are all researching whether the instrument is an electronic microscope, hospital records, a microcomputer, a questionnaire, or a checklist.

Research Motivation – What makes one motivated to do research?

A person may be motivated to undertake research activities because

• He might have genuine interest and curiosity in the existing body of knowledge and understanding of the problem;
• He is looking for answers to questions which remained unanswered so far and trying to unfold the truth;
• The existing tools and techniques are accessible to him, and others may need modification and change to suit the current needs.

One might research ensuring.

• Better livelihood;
• Better career development;
• Higher position, prestige, and dignity in society;
• Academic achievement leading to higher degrees;
• Self-gratification.

At the individual level, the results of the research are used by many:

• A villager is drinking water from an arsenic-free tube well;
• A rural woman is giving more green vegetables to her child than before;
• A cigarette smoker is actively considering quitting smoking;
• An old man is jogging for cardiovascular fitness;
• A sociologist is using newly suggested tools and techniques in poverty measurement.

The above activities are all outcomes of the research.

All involved in the above processes will benefit from the research results. There is hardly any action in everyday life that does not depend upon previous research.

Research in any field of inquiry provides us with the knowledge and skills to solve problems and meet the challenges of a fast-paced decision-making environment.

9 Qualities of Research

Good research generates dependable data. It is conducted by professionals and can be used reliably for decision-making.

It is thus of crucial importance that research should be made acceptable to the audience for which research should possess some desirable qualities in terms of its;

We enumerate below a few qualities that good research should possess.

Purpose clearly defined

Good research must have its purposes clearly and unambiguously defined.

The problem involved or the decision to be made should be sharply delineated as clearly as possible to demonstrate the credibility of the research.

Research process detailed

The research procedures should be described in sufficient detail to permit other researchers to repeat the research later.

Failure to do so makes it difficult or impossible to estimate the validity and reliability of the results. This weakens the confidence of the readers.

Any recommendations from such research justifiably get little attention from the policymakers and implementation.

Research design planner

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

In doing so, care must be taken so that the sample’s representativeness is ensured, relevant literature has been thoroughly searched, experimental controls, whenever necessary, have been followed, and the personal bias in selecting and recording data have been minimized.

Ethical issues considered

A research design should always safeguard against causing mental and physical harm not only to the participants but also those who belong to their organizations.

Careful consideration must also be given to research situations when there is a possibility for exploitation, invasion of privacy, and loss of dignity of all those involved in the study.

Limitations revealed

The researcher should report with complete honesty and frankness any flaws in procedural design; he followed and provided estimates of their effects on the findings.

This enhances the readers’ confidence and makes the report acceptable to the audience. One can legitimately question the value of research where no limitations are reported.

Adequate analysis ensured

Adequate analysis reveals the significance of the data and helps the researcher to check the reliability and validity of his estimates.

Data should, therefore, be analyzed with proper statistical rigor to assist the researcher in reaching firm conclusions.

When statistical methods have been employed, the probability of error should be estimated, and criteria of statistical significance applied.

Findings unambiguously presented

The presentation of the results should be comprehensive, easily understood by the readers, and organized so that the readers can readily locate the critical and central findings.

Conclusions and recommendations justified.

Proper research always specifies the conditions under which the research conclusions seem valid.

Therefore, it is important that any conclusions drawn and recommendations made should be solely based on the findings of the study.

No inferences or generalizations should be made beyond the data. If this were not followed, the objectivity of the research would tend to decrease, resulting in confidence in the findings.

The researcher’s experiences were reflected.

The research report should contain information about the qualification of the researchers.

If the researcher is experienced, has a good reputation in research, and is a person of integrity, his report is likely to be highly valued. The policymakers feel confident in implementing the recommendation made in such reports.

Goals of Research

The primary goal or purpose of research in any field of inquiry; is to add to what is known about the phenomenon under investigation by applying scientific methods.

The link between the 4 goals of research and the questions raised in reaching these goals.

Goals/Purposes of Research	Types of Questions in Research
Exploration	What is the full nature of the problem or phenomenon? What is going on? What factors are related to the problem?
Description	How prevalent is the problem? What are the characteristics of the problem? What is the process by which the problem is experienced?
Explanation	What are the underlying causes of the problem? What do the occurrences of the problem mean? Why does the problem exist?
Prediction	If problem X occurs, will problem K follow? Can the occurrence of the problem be controlled? Does an intervention result in the intended effect?

Let’s try to understand the 4 goals of the research.

1. Exploration and Explorative Research

Exploration is finding out about some previously unexamined phenomenon. In other words, an explorative study structures and identifies new problems.

The explorative study aims to gain familiarity with a phenomenon or gain new insights into it.

Exploration is particularly useful when researchers lack a clear idea of the problems they meet during their study.

Through exploration, researchers attempt to

• Develop concepts more clearly;
• Establish priorities among several alternatives;
• Develop operational definitions of variables;
• Formulate research hypotheses and sharpen research objectives;
• Improve the methodology and modify (if needed) the research design.

Exploration is achieved through what we call exploratory research.

The end of an explorative study comes when the researchers are convinced that they have established the major dimensions of the research task.

2. Description and Descriptive Research

Many research activities consist of gathering information on some topic of interest. The description refers to these data-based information-gathering activities. Descriptive studies portray precisely the characteristics of a particular individual, situation, or group.

Here we attempt to describe situations and events through studies, which we refer to as descriptive research.

Such research is undertaken when much is known about the problem under investigation.

Descriptive studies try to discover answers to the questions of who, what, when, where, and sometimes how.

Such research studies may involve the collection of data and the creation of distribution of the number of times the researcher observes a single event or characteristic, known as a research variable.

A descriptive study may also involve the interaction of two or more variables and attempts to observe if there is any relationship between the variables under investigation.

Research that examines such a relationship is sometimes called a correlational study. It is correlational because it attempts to relate (i.e., co-relate) two or more variables.

A descriptive study may be feasible to answer the questions of the following types:

• What are the characteristics of the people who are involved in city crime? Are they young? Middle-aged? Poor? Muslim? Educated?
• Who are the potential buyers of the new product? Men or women? Urban people or rural people?
• Are rural women more likely to marry earlier than their urban counterparts?
• Does previous experience help an employee to get a higher initial salary?

Although the data description in descriptive research is factual, accurate, and systematic, the research cannot describe what caused a situation.

Thus, descriptive research cannot be used to create a causal relationship where one variable affects another.

In other words, descriptive research can be said to have a low requirement for internal validity. In sum, descriptive research deals with everything that can be counted and studied.

But there are always restrictions on that. All research must impact the lives of the people around us.

For example, finding the most frequent disease that affects the people of a community falls under descriptive research.

But the research readers will have the hunch to know why this has happened and what to do to prevent that disease so that more people will live healthy life.

It dictates that we need a causal explanation of the situation under reference and a causal study vis-a-vis causal research.

3. Causal Explanation and Causal Research

Explanation reveals why and how something happens.

An explanatory study goes beyond description and attempts to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between variables. It explains the reason for the phenomenon that the descriptive study observed.

Thus if a researcher finds that communities having larger family sizes have higher child death or that smoking is correlated with lung cancer, he is performing a descriptive study.

If he explains why it is so and tries to establish a cause-and-effect relationship, he is performing explanatory or causal research. The researcher uses theories or at-least hypotheses to account for the factors that caused a certain phenomenon.

Look at the following examples that fit causal studies:

• Why are people involved in crime? Can we explain this as a consequence of the present job market crisis or lack of parental care?
• Will the buyers be motivated to purchase the new product in a new container? Can an attractive advertisement motivate them to buy a new product?
• Why has the share market shown the steepest ever fall in stock prices? Is it because of IMF’s warnings and prescriptions on the commercial banks’ exposure to the stock market or because of an abundant increase in the supply of new shares?

4. Prediction and Predictive Research

Prediction seeks to answer: when and in what situations will occur if we can provide a plausible explanation for the event in question.

However, the precise nature of the relationship between explanation and prediction has been a subject of debate.

One view is that explanation and prediction are the same phenomena, except that prediction precedes the event while the explanation takes place after the event has occurred.

Another view is that explanation and prediction are fundamentally different processes.

We need not be concerned with this debate here but can simply state that in addition to being able to explain an event after it has occurred, we would also be able to predict when it will occur.

Research Approaches

There are two main approaches to doing research.

The first is the basic approach, which mostly pertains to academic research. Many people view this as pure research or fundamental research.

The research implemented through the second approach is variously known as applied research, action research, operations research, or contract research.

Also, the third category of research, evaluative research, is important in many applications. All these approaches have different purposes influencing the nature of the respective research.

Lastly, precautions in research are required for thorough research.

So, 4 research approaches are;

1. Basic Research.
2. Applied Research.
3. Evaluative Research.
4. Precautions in Research.

Areas of Research

The most important fields or areas of research, among others, are;

1. Social Research.
2. Health Research.
3. Population Research.
4. Business Research.
5. Marketing Research.
6. Agricultural Research.
7. Biomedical Research.
8. Clinical Research.
9. Outcomes Research.
10. Internet Research.
11. Archival Research.
12. Empirical Research.
13. Legal Research.
14. Education Research.
15. Engineering Research.
16. Historical Research.

Check out our article describing all 16 areas of research.

Precautions in Research

Whether a researcher is doing applied or basic research or research of any other form, he or she must take necessary precautions to ensure that the research he or she is doing is relevant, timely, efficient, accurate, and ethical.

The research is considered relevant if it anticipates the kinds of information that decision-makers, scientists, or policymakers will require.

Timely research is completed in time to influence decisions.

• Research is efficient when it is of the best quality for the minimum expenditure, and the study is appropriate to the research context.
• Research is considered accurate or valid when the interpretation can account for both consistencies and inconsistencies in the data.
• Research is ethical when it can promote trust, exercise care, ensure standards, and protect the rights of the participants in the research process.