CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH

1. Empirical - based on observations and experimentation on theories.

2. Systematic - follows orderly and sequential procedure.

3. Controlled - all variables except those that are tested/experimented upon are kept constant.

4. Employs hypothesis - guides the investigation process

5. Analytical - There is critical analysis of all data used so that there is no error in their
interpretation

6. Objective, Unbiased, & Logical - all findings are logically based on empirical

7. Employs quantitative or statistical methods - data are transformed into numerical measures and
are treated statistically.

PROCESS OF RESEARCH
Step 1: Identify and develop your topic

Selecting a topic can be the most challenging part of a research assignment. Since this is the very first
step in writing a paper, it is vital that it be done correctly.

Step 2 : Do a preliminary search for information

Before beginning your research in earnest, do a preliminary search to determine whether there is
enough information out there for your needs and to set the context of your research. Look up your
keywords in the appropriate titles in the library's Reference collection (such as encyclopedias and
dictionaries) and in other sources such as our catalog of books, periodical databases, and Internet search
engines. Additional background information may be found in your lecture notes, textbooks, and reserve
readings. You may find it necessary to adjust the focus of your topic in light of the resources available to
you.

Step 3: Locate materials

With the direction of your research now clear to you, you can begin locating material on your topic.
There are a number of places you can look for information:

If you are looking for books, do a subject search in the Alephcatalog. A Keyword search can be performed
if the subject search doesn't yield enough information. Print or write down the citation information
(author, title,etc.) and the location (call number and collection) of the item(s). Note the circulation
status. When you locate the book on the shelf, look at the books located nearby; similar items are always
shelved in the same area. The Aleph catalog also indexes the library's audio-visual holdings.

Step 4: Evaluate your sources

Your instructor expects that you will provide credible, truthful, and reliable information and you have
every right to expect that the sources you use are providing the same. This step is especially important
when using Internet resources, many of which are regarded as less than reliable.

Step 5: Make notes

Consult the resources you have chosen and note the information that will be useful in your paper. Be
sure to document all the sources you consult, even if you there is a chance you may not use that
particular source. The author, title, publisher, URL, and other information will be needed later when
creating a bibliography.

Step 6: Write your paper

Begin by organizing the information you have collected. The next step is the rough draft, wherein you get
your ideas on paper in an unfinished fashion. This step will help you organize your ideas and determine
the form your final paper will take. After this, you will revise the draft as many times as you think
necessary to create a final product to turn in to your instructor.

Step 7: Cite your sources properly

Give credit where credit is due; cite your sources.

Citing or documenting the sources used in your research serves two purposes: it gives proper credit to
the authors of the materials used, and it allows those who are reading your work to duplicate your
research and locate the sources that you have listed as references. The MLA and the APA Styles are two
popular citation formats.

Failure to cite your sources properly is plagiarism. Plagiarism is avoidable!

Step 8: Proofread

The final step in the process is to proofread the paper you have created. Read through the text and
check for any errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Make sure the sources you used are cited
properly.

TYPES OF RESEARCH
1. Fundamental or basic research:
Basic research is an investigation on basic principles and reasons for occurrence of a particular event or
process or phenomenon. It is also called theoretical research. Study or investigation of some natural
phenomenon or relating to pure science are termed as basic research. Basic researches sometimes may
not lead to immediate use or application. It is not concerned with solving any practical problems of
immediate interest. But it is original or basic in character. It provides a systematic and deep insight into a
problem and facilitates extraction of scientific and logical explanation and conclusion on it. It helps build
new frontiers of knowledge

2. Applied research:

In an applied research one solves certain problems employing well known and accepted theories and
principles. Most of the experimental research, case studies and inter-disciplinary research are essentially
applied research. Applied research is helpful for basic research. A research, the outcome of which has
immediate application is also termed as applied research. Such a research is of practical use to current
activity.. The outcomes of basic research form the basis for many applied research

Basic and applied research, further divided into three types of research bearing some characteristics
feature as follows:

Quantitative research

• It is numerical, non-descriptive, applies statistics or mathematics and uses numbers.

• It is an iterative process whereby evidence is evaluated.

• The results are often presented in tables and graphs.

• It is conclusive.

• It investigates the what, where and when of decision making.

Qualitative research

• It is non-numerical, descriptive, applies reasoning and uses words.

• Its aim is to get the meaning, feeling and describe the situation.

• Qualitative data cannot be graphed.

• It is exploratory.

• It investigates the why and how of decision making.

Mixed research

Mixed research- research that involves the mixing of quantitative and qualitative methods or paradigm
characteristics. Nature of data is mixture of variables, words and images.
Other types of research

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

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

Descriptive research

The descriptive research is directed toward studying “what” and how many off this “what”. Thus, it is
directed toward answering questions such as, “What is this?”.

Explanatory research

• Its primary goal is to understand or to explain relationships.

• It uses correlations to study relationships between dimensions or characteristics off individuals,

• Explanatory research explains (How the parts of a phenomenon are related to each other).

• Explanatory research asks the “Why” question.

Longitudinal Research

Research carried out longitudinally involves data collection at multiple points in time. Longitudinal
studies may take the form of:

• Trend study- looks at population characteristics over time, e.g. organizational absenteeism rates
during the course of a year

• Cohort study- traces a sub-population over time, e.g. absenteeism rates for the sales
department;

• Panel study- traces the same sample over time, e.g. graduate career tracks over the period 1990
– 2000 for the same starting cohort.

While longitudinal studies will often be more time consuming and expensive than cross-sectional
studies, they are more likely to identify causal relationships between variables.

Cross-sectional Research
One-shot or cross-sectional studies are those in which data is gathered once, during a period of days,
weeks or months. Many cross-sectional studies are exploratory or descriptive in purpose. They are
designed to look at how things are now, without any sense of whether there is a history or trend at work.

Action research

• Fact findings to improve the quality of action in the social world

Policy-Oriented Research

• Reports employing this type of research focus on the question ‘How can problem ‘X’ be solved or
prevented ?’

Classification research

• It aims at categorization of units in to groups

• To demonstrate differences

• To explain relationships

Comparative research

• To identify similarities and differences between units at all levels

Causal research

• It aims at establishing cause and effect relationship among variable

Theory-testing research

• It aims at testing validity of a unit

Theory-building research

• To establish and formulate the theory

Difference Between Qualitative and Quantitative Research

There is a never-ending debate on, which research is better than the other, so in this article, we are going
to shed light on the difference between qualitative and quantitative research.