RResaR

Research Skills
Research Skills Assignment Help

/2016
HND Assignment Help
Emma Zoe

HHN

Research Skill

Introduction
According to some people research is somewhat related to the skill set of a person which he
uses to find and validate any topic of interest and continues his journey on the path of
searching the desired knowledge. These definitions describe research as an art but research
is also a scientific phenomenon where search for knowledge is done using the
more scientific research methods instead of just going through the data present on the topic
of interest. These scientific methods are used to convert data into useful information which
may provide the answer to the research question. A research always look for new facts
which are not known to world yet and focus on how these new facts are going to change
the existing perception of the people about the research topic. Thus, research is a kind of
new discovery where every time a new fact turns out into the long journey of research.
As said above research is all about redefining the existing definitions but sometimes it
could also define an entirely new phenomenon. This is the point where research is known
for the search of knowledge. When a research defines or redefines a problem, a hypothesis
is formed which leads to collecting the data on that hypothesis, evaluating that data,
converting that data into information and a conclusion is provided. At the end of the
research these conclusions are tested to validate the hypothesis.

Types of Research Methodologies

The basic type of research methodologies could be defined as below:
1. Descriptive vs. Analytical: Descriptive research is also known as Survey Research.
In Descriptive research, researcher looks into the description of the project research
topic in its current state. In Descriptive research, researcher knows the variables
present but he cannot control these and only able to know the past of the research
topic and the current state or what is happening now. For this kind of research, most
of the researcher uses comparative analysis of the topic and includes these facts in
his report. In descriptive or survey research, researcher collects the data based upon
the surveys, while in Analytical Research, researcher uses the data which is already
present and does not go for any kind of survey.
2. Applied vs. Fundamental: Applied research is always aimed towards finding a
solution to a problem. On the other hand Fundamental or basic research is always
about setting a general idea.
3. Quantitative vs. Qualitative: Quantitative research is always about measuring the
quantity of the research topic or materialistic attributes while Qualitative Research
is all about the quality. Organizations behavior research is a good example of
Qualitative research where motives or desires of the people are studied.

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Research Skill

4. Conceptual vs. Empirical: Conceptual Research is always about defining the new
ideas, new concepts or redefining the existing ones. Empirical Research, also
known as Observational Research is based upon the observations or Experiments.
That is why Empirical research is also known as Experimental Research. In this
type of research, researcher forms a hypothesis and then works on finding the facts
which supports his hypothesis. Some of these facts are generated by the different
kind of experiments.

Primary
Secondary
Collection

and
Data

In research methodologies,
there are two types of data
used Primary data and
Secondary data. Primary data
is the data which researcher collects himself during the analysis of any research proposal
while secondary data is the data which is already collected by some other person though the
purpose of this data collection might not be same as your research. But still this data is
useful in the research and could be used as it is. This secondary data could be used in three
different parts of the research proposal:
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Findings
Though using the secondary data is very useful and quite right, most people do not include
secondary data in their research proposal but if used it could support the very arguments
and help in analysis.

Qualitative
Analysis)

and

Quantitative

Research

(Statistical

When we talk about Quantitative Research, it is always associated by the numbers which
plays very important role in the research. Also the result of any kind of Quantitative
research always comes in the form of a number or numbers. Sometimes these numbers
define the ratio of the variables of the question in consideration. To analyse these numbers
most of the researchers use Statistics. Researcher collects the data for analysis and put that
data into statistics formulae and validates the variables. Some interesting features of
Statistical Analysis could be summarized as:
1. The results of statistical analysis are always conclusive and confirmed.

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Research Skill

2. Statistical analysis is usually non-descriptive.

3. The outcomes of any statistical analysis are mostly in the form of different types of
graphs and tables.
4. The results of statistical analysis are decision making.
On the other hand Qualitative Research is a quality based research methodology, which is
descriptive and non-numeric. Qualitative Research is mainly based upon the study of
patterns, not on the measures or quantity. During the research when data randomness is
checked, there is always two types first is the reason of randomness and second is how
much data is random. The first one comes into the category of Qualitative Research while
the second one is Quantitative Research. Main features of Qualitative Research are:
1. It works on reasonable doubt and most of the time it is descriptive.
2. The results of Qualitative Research do not come in the form of tables or graphs.
3. It basically works on the Why keyword.

Problems in Research
Conducting a research itself is a very tedious work and more complex than it seems. A
researcher has to face many issues while conducting a research and the most challenging is
finding the correct information. There might be many sources available for the research but
to validate them for authenticity is a big issue. Other than this data dependency is also a
critical problem when there are many interrelated variables. During a research following
the pre-planned strategies could also become an issue due to the frequently changing
environment surrounding the research.
Another issue a researcher faces during a research is The question of Bias, which is
caused by the self-created assumptions. In this case researcher might not be able to do the
justice. Sometimes peer review helps in this kind of problem.

Hawthorne and Halo effects

Hawthorne effect defines The question of Bias. According to Hawthorne effect,
Changing the behaviour or attitude by the subjects of any human development research or
experiment might be caused because of their knowledge of being studied. Although there
are many conflicts about the authenticity of Hawthorne effect but sometimes people do
change their attitude during research which could affect the conclusion of the research.
Halo effect is another evidence of cognitive biasedness. According to this effect, a
researchers judgment about the subject under research could be affected by the
researchers fondness of the subject and could affect the end result of the research.

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Research Skill

Literature Review on Social Media

The social media is a gift to the young new world but along with the young minds it has
also attracted the older people also. According to a survey, more than 30% people on social
media are above 35 years of age. These people might be there for different purposes but yet
they are contributing to these social sites and empowering the social media. Boyd and
Ellison has described the effects of social media in their work and according to them these
effects are mainly positive. They defined social media as a semi private space for the
people who might not be able to share their thoughts in public, but on social media these
people may explore the world and talk on the topics of mutual interest. The popularity of
social media could be imagined by the increasing number of followers. As surveyed by
Boyd and Ellison, Facebook and Twitter are going through an exponential growth phase
and more than 28% users of Facebook are only in United States.
Most of the research data available on Social Media could be found in the form of
Secondary Data Collection. Some of this data is published by the social sites itself and rest
is available from the Internet Service Providers and freelance survey companies. The data
published by the social sites is trustworthy because they are in the open market and any
false data provided could be easily validated by the authorities. Another data source is
Internet Service Providers (ISP) who keeps track of the data flow and bandwidth etc. and
could provide the exact data. Most of the authors have used the data provided by the ISPs.
Further research on social media could be done using the Triangulation of Sources
method which supports the use of more than one theories or studies to validate the data. If
this method validates the data then it could be used in the research. Another type of
Triangulation of sources is Analysis Triangulation where the same data is used for
validation in different methods.

Key Works on Social Networking Sites and Triangulation

of Data

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Research Skill

Tapscott and Williams has described social media essential in the current times and said,
The world of marketing has been changed by the emergence of Social Media and the kind
of transparency it provides, makes the marketing strategy trusty for the end user. The way
social media has been communicating directly with users and getting the feedback is really
a new thing. Charlene and Bernoff went a little more ahead in the research on social media
and presented more than 23 real world scenarios where social media has proved to be
extremely good for the growth of business. But along with this, they also researched the
effects of social media on individuals and families. Bernoff mentioned in research that
people are being addictive to these social networking sites and might be losing the control
of their family life because of this.
Young recognized the negative effects of social media in the early days and said, It is not
necessary that people become addicted of social networking sites as a whole, but they
might be addictive to different kind of activities on social media. He divided these
activities in the following five categories:
1. Addiction to the games on social networking sites.
2. Addiction to data and other information found on these sites and internet browsing.
3. Addiction to the porn content available on social networking sites.
4. Addiction to the products and services offered and marketing
5. Addiction to the online and offline relationships.

Observatory Research Sources

Observatory research sources are also very useful while doing a research. These sources
mainly observe the patterns in a study and provide the results on that basis. Cohen did this
kind of study on the effects of social media on families. Cohen quoted, Social media
might be a very good tool for social relationships or marketing but it is destroying the
families. He gave an example of a lady who herself accepted that she has become a social
media addict and not fulfilling her duties towards her children and the family. Webley also
recognized a pattern in the decreasing mental health of the people due to spending
excessive time on social networking sites.
As discussed above there are many researches which have shown that social networking is
slowly becoming a menace to the society and if not controlled could be dangerous for the
society. Webley observed 200 students of a college and found that most of them remain
closed in their rooms after the study hours are over. Instead of going for outdoor games or
other activities, they were spending their time browsing the social networking sites

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Research Skill

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