Understanding Research

Research

• Derived from the old French term "recerchier," signifying "to search and search again."
• Commonly, it involves searching for knowledge.
• Research is defined as a systematic and scientific search for relevant information on a specific subject area.
• Some view it as the science of investigation, which involves a movement from the known facts to unknown facts.
• It employs a scientific method to address questions, solve problems, or create new knowledge in a structured way.
• Its goal is to gather, organize, and analyze data to facilitate decision-making.
• It also is an academic study using technical language to describe its components.

Key Points on Research

• The term originates from the French "recerchier," which means to search again.
• In common terms, it's a search for knowledge.
• It can be described as a systematic and scientific search for relevant material on a specific subject.
• It is a scientific investigation.
• It is a method for answering questions, solving problems, or producing new knowledge.
• It's an academic field that relies on terminology.

Definition of Research

• It is a scientific and systematic method that compiles, collects, analyzes, interprets, and considers data for a problem.

Importance of Research

• Research can inform actions.
• Research is used to prove a theory.
• Research contributes to the expansion of knowledge.

Research Examples

• Research
• Thesis
• Dissertation
• Case study

Research Title

• It is a subject or topic which a researcher finds of interest.
• It is a narrowed idea which can be used as the focus for the research to discover something new.

Abstract

• Summarizes all major components and sections.
• Helps readers decide if they wish to read the study in its entirety.

Introduction

• Provides background information on the topic.
• Establishes the scope.
• Presents the focus of the research paper.

Literature Review

• Offers a review of already published works or research on the chosen subject.
• Includes research reports, idea literature, research literature, theoretical framework, conceptual framework, research hypothesis, and variable definitions.

Methodology

• It explains how the research was done.
• Encompasses the research design, population, sampling procedure, the instrument, the procedure of gathering data, and data analysis techniques.

Discussion

• Presents information gathered through research.

Conclusion

• Provides a summary of the entire research study.
• It brings the study to a close.

Results

• Contain related information like graphs, lists, charts, or tables.

Technical Terms

• Concept: is something that abstractly describes and names an object, a phenomenon, or an idea.
  • Income is P5,000 - P8,000
  • Age is 18 - 20 years old
  • Educational level is high school graduate, college graduate, or post graduate
  • Number of siblings is 3 in the family or 4 or more in the family
• Theory: is an organized collection of concepts and ideas that are used to explain a phenomenon.
  • Theory of relativity
  • Atomic theory
  • Theory of evolution
  • Quantum theory

Quantitative Method

• Focuses on numbers and objective hard data.
• Proves scientific hypothesis by statistical analysis and scientific method.
• A systematic process in which numerical data is used to obtain information about the world to describe variables and examine the relationship among variables.
• An example is a drug abuser telling you how many pills they consume per week.
• The term used is: respondents

Qualitative Method

• It uses words to display data instead of numbers.
• An emphasis on feelings and qualitative data.
• A smaller quantity of participants.
• This research method utilizes interviews, observations, and archived written information to measure the significance of a relationship between variables.
• An example of this is when a drug abuser tells you how they feel about abusing drugs.
• The term used is: participants

Variables

• Variables are qualities or attributes of an event, condition, person, group, or situation that change or have various values.
• Examples include age, income, and capital expenditure.
• A dependent variable is the outcome, or the effect.
• An independent variable is the cause.
• Extraneous variables are not the independent variable, but could impact the result.
• A demographic is a variable to describe nature and distribution of a sample used with inferential statistics like age, gender, ethnicity, level of socioeconomic status, and group membership.

Hypothesis

• A logical educated guess.
• Provides a tentative explanation of a phenomenon under investigation.
• An example is that a researcher might be interested in the relationship between study habits and test anxiety and would propose a hypothesis about how these two impact each other.

Sampling

• The practice of choosing participants who are a portion of the population for better understanding.
• An example is drawing 25 names out of 250 from a hat.

Research Problem

• Something giving a person a feeling of discomfort.
• A situation needing change, or something not operating as expected.
• Must be relevant, clear, feasible, and ethical.

Research Framework

• Explains the problem's/variable existence.
• Shows the connections between variables.

Research Objectives

• Give direction to the study.
• Specify variables to be measured.
• They indicate what researchers should do and discover.

Types of Variables

• The basic elements measured in a study.
• Those are: independent, dependent, and interfering variables.

Review of Related Literature

• Information about the problem and related concepts theories that explain the existence of the problem are collected in RRL.
• It is collected information related to the research problem.

Research Design

• The blueprint of the study.
• The research follows a plan to answer questions or solve the problem.

Research Statistics

• The science of collecting, presenting, analyzing, and interpreting data.

Population

• A statistical pool from which a statistical sample is drawn.
• May refer to a group of people, objects, events, or measurement, with a feature in common.

Sample

• A manageable version of a larger test group that helps characterize a population.
• Used for testing when it is impossible to include every member of a population.

Major Sampling Methods

• Probability Sampling is when a researcher sets a selection of a few criteria choosing members of a population randomly; all of the members have an equal part.
• Non-probability Sampling is when the researcher chooses members at random; this is not a fixed selection process making it difficult for all to have equal opportunity.

Data

• Information collected, printed or recorded, should be used for the purposes of analysis.

Research Question

• Provides a focus for investigation, grounds the study, determine the method the study will be conducted in, and guide all stages of the the project.

Cultural Mapping

• Refers to a research tool to holistically understand the cultural assets of a place based on local knowledge.

Interview

• It is a conversation between an interviewer and interviewees where knowledge is produced between them.

Interview Guide

• It summarizes the content researchers want to cover during all interactions.
• It may provide minimal directions or "less structured" questions.

Tips to Ask Questions

• Pose open questions rather than multiple choice questions.
• Enquire from broad to narrow.
• Avoid pre-informed answers.
• Ask one question at a time.
• Avoid posing multi-part questions.

Questionnaire

• A set of questions within a survey meant to gather data.
• These questions may be open, multiple-choice, or checklist based.

Tips for Questionnaire

• Focus on closed questions only.
• Keep questions neutral.
• Ensure answers are balanced.
• Do not ask about two things at once.
• Ensure questions are all different.
• Let most answers stay as an option.

Surveys

• A statistical analysis of a sample population which can determine knowledge or opinions.

Plagiarism

• Using an idea without the proper acknowledgement, providing proper citation is a surefire way to avoid this.

Reference

• A list of all sources used in a project.

Appendix

• Contains related information such as graphs, charts, tablesListsL