Research Basics and Methods

Research Basics

• Research is a systematic process of discovering new knowledge or understanding things in greater depth.
• The aim of research is to expand human understanding of the physical, biological, or social world beyond existing knowledge.
• Understanding research methods is essential for solving real-world problems effectively and applying academic knowledge.
• Research methods are the tools and techniques used to gather, analyze, and interpret data.

Types of Research

• Qualitative research uses individuals' voices to gain insight into why things happen.
• Qualitative research typically involves a small group of people, aiming to acquire in-depth knowledge of a problem or an individual's experiences.
• Quantitative research transforms data into numbers or patterns to address specific issues
• Quantitative research usually involves many participants, with the objective of making broad generalizations or conclusions about a larger population.

Developing a Research Question

• A research question is a valuable tool for guiding research papers, projects, or theses.
• A good research question should be focused on a single issue, specific enough to be answered thoroughly, feasible to answer within the paper's length, researchable using available resources, relevant to your field of study or society as a whole, and the answer should develop into your thesis statement.

Research Applications

• Categorize: Organize concepts, events, or objects into defined groups to clarify relationships and patterns.
• Describe: Observe and document what typically happens under certain circumstances, such as work patterns or production processes.
• Explain: Uncover causes and deeper meanings beyond simply describing events, particularly relevant for understanding human behavior in workplaces.
• Evaluate: Assess the quality or effectiveness of systems, processes, or objects.
• Compare: Identify differences or similarities between cases, such as comparing production techniques or business models.
• Correlate: Study the relationship between two variables, for example, work conditions and productivity.
• Predict: Make predictions about future events or characteristics if strong correlations exist in the past.
• Control: Influence or manage an event or situation by understanding the cause-and-effect relationship and controlling key factors.

Research Designs

• Historical Design: Systematically evaluate past events to understand their impact on the present and future.
• Descriptive Design: Observe and document what naturally occurs in real-world settings, often used in engineering to establish norms through data collection.
• Correlation Design: Analyze the relationships between different variables, such as the link between equipment upgrades and worker productivity.
• Comparative Design: Compare different time periods, events, or places to understand the causes of specific outcomes.
• Experimental Design: Involves manipulating variables to observe cause and effect, such as testing new materials in product designs.
• Simulation Design: Creates simplified models of real-world processes to predict outcomes and test hypotheses.
• Evaluation Design: Assess complex social or organizational systems, focusing on multiple variables like human, cultural, and economic factors.
• Action Research: A hands-on, real-time approach to solving specific problems in a particular context, using continuous feedback to refine processes.
• Ethnological Design: Focus on understanding people's behaviors within their natural environment, such as observing worker interactions or ergonomics.
• Feminist Design: Analyzes how gender affects workplace dynamics and research outcomes, emphasizing the role of perspective in research.
• Cultural Design: Utilizes methodologies that allow consistent analysis of cultural texts, enabling comparison, replication, disproving, and generalization.

Choosing Research Design

• Identify the Research Problem: Clearly define the issue you want to solve or the question you want to answer.
• Align Design with Goals: Choose a design that aligns with your research objectives and the type of data you need.
• Combination: Sometimes, combining designs, such as using descriptive for gathering initial data followed by experimental methods to test hypotheses.