LESSON 4: Procedures for conducting research

 It is a procedure of multiple scientific steps in

conducting the research work.
 Each step is interlinked with other steps. The
process starts with the research problem at first.
Then it advances in the next steps sequentially.
Generally, a researcher conducts research work
within seven steps. In research work, primarily,
you require a Research Proposal. It is because the
proposal approves the research project whether
you achieve the ability to conduct research or
not. So when you write a research proposal,
present the detailed plans and specific objectives
of your research correctly.
 Research process consists of series of
actions or steps necessary to effectively carry
out research and the desired sequencing of
these steps.
 The first step in the process is to identify a
problem or develop a research question.
 The research problem may be something the
agency identifies as a problem, some
knowledge or information that is needed by
the agency or the desire to identify a
recreation trend nationally.
 However, the research problem comes up
with the ongoing phenomenon or issues.
 A research problem is a statement about an area of
concern, a condition to be improved, a difficulty to be
eliminated, or a troubling question that exists in
scholarly literature, in theory, or in practice that points
to the need for meaningful understanding and
deliberate investigation.
 A research problem does not state how to do
something, offer a vague or broad proposition, or
present a value question.
 Once the research problem is identified and defined,
the next step is to review the existing research. The
researcher must learn more about the topic under
investigation.
 To do this, the researcher must review the literature
related to the research problem. This step provides
foundational knowledge about the problem area.
 The review of literature also educates the researcher
about what studies have been conducted in the past,
how these studies were conducted, and the conclusions
in the problem area.
 In this step, the researcher makes the problem precise.

 The research work is topic focused and refined.

 Then the researcher steps forward to how the problem
would be approached? The nature of the research problem
can decide to formulate a definite hypothesis.
 A hypothesis is tested. Effective research work formulates a
hypothesis in such a way that collected factual data will
provide evidence that either supports or disproves them.
Formulation of Hypothesis in Research will make you more
expert.
 In the end, the hypothesis turns into a practical theory.
I. Discussions with colleagues and experts about the
problem, its origin and the objectives in seeking a
solution;
II. Examination of data and records, if available, concerning
the problem for possible trends, peculiarities and other
clues;
III. Review of similar studies in the area or of the studies on
similar problems; and
IV. Exploratory personal investigation which involves
original field interviews on a limited scale with interested
parties and individuals with a view to secure greater
insight into the practical aspects of the problem.
 Research design decides how the research materials
will be collected.
 One or more research methods, for example,
experiment, survey, interview, etc are chosen
depending on the research objectives.
 In some research contexts, a survey may be suitable. In
other facts, interviews or case studies or observation might
be more appropriate.
 Researcher Find the ways on How to Choose a Research
Design?
 Research Design actually provides insights into “how” to
conduct research using a particular Research Methodology.
 Basically, every researcher has a list of research questions
that need to be assessed that can be done with research
design.
 The function of research design is to provide for the
collection of relevant evidence with minimal
expenditure of effort, time and money. But how all
these can be achieved depends mainly on the research
purpose.
 Research purposes may be grouped into four
categories,
I. Exploration,
II. Description,
III. Diagnosis, and
IV. Experimentation.
 Exploratory research is the process of investigating a
problem that has not been studied or thoroughly
investigated in the past . Exploratory type of research is
usually conducted to have a better understanding of the
existing problem, but usually doesn't lead to a conclusive
result.
 Researchers use exploratory research when trying to gain
familiarity with an existing phenomenon and acquire new
insight into it to form a more precise problem. It begins
based on a general idea and the outcomes of the research
are used to find out related issues with the topic of the
research.
 Inexploratory research, the process of the research
varies according to the finding of new data or insight.
Also referred to as interpretative research or grounded
theory approach, the outcomes of this research provide
answers to questions like what, how and why.
 Descriptive research is a type of research that describes
a population, situation, or phenomenon that is being
studied.
 It focuses on answering the how, what, when, and
where questions If a research problem, rather than
the why.
 This is mainly because it is important to have a proper
understanding of what a research problem is about
before investigating why it exists in the first place.
 The researcher is looking to evaluate the
underlying cause of a specific topic or
phenomenon.
 This method helps one learn more about the
factors that create troublesome situations.
 Experimental research is a scientific approach to
research, where one or more independent variables are
manipulated and applied to one or more dependent
variables to measure their effect on the latter.
 The effect of the independent variables on the
dependent variables is usually observed and recorded
over some time, to aid researchers in drawing a
reasonable conclusion regarding the relationship
between these 2 variable types.
 The experimental research method is widely used in
physical and social sciences, psychology, and
education.
 It is based on the comparison between two or more
groups with a straightforward logic, which may,
however, be difficult to execute.
 Mostly related to a laboratory test procedure,
experimental research designs involve
collecting quantitative data and performing statistical
analysis on them during research.
 Therefore, making it an example of quantitative
research method.
 While the research design is decided, then the researcher
collects data, records information.
 The researcher proceeds with the research.
 Practical difficulties may arise in this stage. For example,
the research method may not suit properly. The interviewer
might be unwilling to let carry out the research as planned.
Moreover, a false interpretation could potentially bias the
result of the study.
 So, when you collect data, you need to know the effective
techniques of data collection in order to gather necessary
and relevant information with regard to research.
 Once the research process is completed, the actual
study begins with the collection of data.
 The collection of data is a critical step in providing the
information needed to answer the research question.
 Every study includes the collection of some type of
data—whether it is from the literature or from
subjects—to answer the research question.
 Data can be collected in the form of words on a survey,
with a questionnaire, through observations, or from the
literature.
 All the time, effort, and resources dedicated to steps 1
through 6 of the research process culminate in this step.
 The researcher finally has data to analyze so that the
research question can be answered. In the research
process, the researcher specified how the data will be
analyzed. The researcher now analyzes the data
according to the plan.
 The results of this analysis are then reviewed and
summarized in a manner directly related to the research
questions.
 The final step of the research process outline is to
report the research findings. Describe the significance
of the research study.
 Work out how do they relate to the previous research
findings.
 Usually, the research report published as a journal
article or book. This is the last stage in terms of the
individual research project.
 Mostly, a research report discusses questions that
remained unanswered & suggest further research in the
future in general.