BASIC CONCEPTS OF RESEARCH

Research - is a very general term for an activity that involves finding out, in a systematic way,
things you did not know. A more academic interpretation is that research involves finding out
about things that no-one else knew either. It is about advancing the frontiers of knowledge.

Research methods - are the techniques you use to do research. It represents the tools of the
trade, and provide you with ways to collect, sort and analyze information so that you can come
to some conclusions.

Research Issues – it comes out of your experience as you encounter or observe certain
phenomenon. It can also be derived from direct sources such as news, friend, colleagues, etc.
This can be specific or more generic.

Literature review – involves going through all previous research that has been done that is
related to your research topic. It covers both theoretical and empirical works.

Theoretical works – involve conceptual discussions of an issue, and sometimes may involve a
current stock-take of a particular research area.

Empirical works – include data to examine aspects of an issue.

Research question – is generated from your research issue. It usually consists of investigating a
concept or the relationships between two or more concepts.

Concept – is a bundle of meanings or characteristics associated with certain events, objects,

conditions, situation, and behaviors.

Propositions – are over-arching statements that provide a general direction for the study.

Hypotheses – are statements that elaborate on your research question – making is testable.

Variables - is defined as anything that has a quantity or quality that varies. The dependent
variable is the variable a researcher is interested in. An independent variable is a variable believed
to affect the dependent variable.

Direct observation – involve interviews, focus groups, and participant observation.

Indirect observation – usually involves surveys or archival data.

 WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH RESEARCH

1. Categorize - this involves forming a typology of objects, events or concepts. This can be
useful in explaining which ‘things’ belong together and how.

2. Describe - descriptive research relies on observation as a means of collecting data. It

attempts to examine situations to establish what is the norm, i.e. what can be predicted
to happen again under the same circumstances.
3. Explain - this is a descriptive type of research specifically designed to deal with complex
issues. It aims to move beyond ‘just getting the facts’ to make sense of the myriad other
elements involved, such as human, political, social, cultural and contextual.

4. Evaluate - this involves making judgements about the quality of objects or events.

Quality can be measured either in an absolute sense or on a comparative basis. To be

useful, the methods of evaluation must be relevant to the context and intentions of the
research.

5. Compare - two or more contrasting cases can be examined to highlight differences and
similarities between them, leading to a better understanding of phenomena.

6. Correlate - the relationships between two phenomena are investigated to see whether
and how they influence each other. The relationship might be just a loose link at one
extreme or a direct link when one phenomenon causes another. These are measured as
levels of association.

7. Predict - this can sometimes be done in research areas where correlations are already
known.

Predictions of possible future behavior or events are made on the basis that if there has
been a strong relationship between two or more characteristics or events in the past, then
these should exist in similar circumstances in the future, leading to predictable outcomes.

8. Control - once you understand an event or situation, you may be able to find ways to
control it. For this you need to know what the cause and effect relationships are and that
you are capable of exerting control over the vital ingredients. All of technology relies on
this ability to control.
 JUSTIFICATION FOR THE RESEARH, OBSERVATION, AND THEORY

Research justification refers to the rationale for the research, or the reason why the research
is being conducted, including an explanation for the design and methods employed in the
research.

Theory: A well-substantiated explanation acquired through the scientific method and

repeatedly tested and confirmed through observation and experimentation.

TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGN

1. Quantitative research – involves a large quantity of data whereby the researcher is

looking for patterns of behaviors. It usually starts from logically driven propositions or
hypotheses and these are tested using the empirical data collected.

Historical - this aims at a systematic and objective evaluation and synthesis of evidence to
establish facts and draw conclusions about past events. It uses primary historical data, such
as archaeological remains as well as documentary sources of the past. It is usually necessary
to carry out tests to check the authenticity of these sources.

Descriptive - this design relies on observation as a means of collecting data. It attempts to

examine situations to establish what is the norm, i.e. what can be predicted to happen again
under the same circumstances.

‘Observation’ can take many forms. Depending on the type of information sought, people can
be interviewed, questionnaires distributed, visual records made, even sounds and smells
recorded. Important is that the observations are written down or recorded in some way, in
order that they can be subsequently analyzed. The scale of the research is influenced by two
major factors: the level of complexity of the survey and the scope or extent of the survey.

Ethnological - ethnological research focuses on people. In this approach, the researcher is

interested in how the subjects of the research interpret their own behavior rather than
imposing a theory from outside. It takes place in the undisturbed natural settings of the
subjects’ environment. It regards the context to be as equally important as the actions it
studies, and attempts to represent the totality of the social, cultural and economic situation.
This is not easy as much of culture is hidden and rarely made explicit and the cultural
background and assumptions of the researcher may unduly influence the interpretations and
descriptions. Moreover, there can be confusions produced using language and the different
meanings which may be given to words by the respondents and researcher.

Archival Research – involves primary sources held in an archive, a Special Collections library,
or other repository. Archival sources can be manuscripts, documents, records (including
electronic records), objects, sound and audiovisual materials, or other materials.
2. Qualitative research – is more exploratory. A researcher using this method explores
issues by observing behaviors and seeks to find theories to explain the observed
behaviors.

Correlation - this design is used to examine a relationship between two concepts. There are
two broad classifications of relational statements: an association between two concepts –
where there is some kind of influence of one on the other; and a causal relationship – where
one causes changes to occur in the other.

Causal statements describe what is sometimes called a ‘cause and effect’ relationship. The
cause is referred to as the ‘independent variable’, the variable that is affected is referred to
as the ‘dependent variable’. The correlation between two concepts can either be none (no
correlation); positive (where an increase in one result in the increase in the other, or decrease
results in a decrease); or negative (where the increase in one results in the decrease in the
other or vice versa). The degree of association is often measurable.

Experimental - experimental research attempts to isolate and control every relevant

condition which determines the events investigated and then observes the effects when the
conditions are manipulated. At its simplest, changes are made to an independent variable
and the effects are observed on a dependent variable – i.e. cause and effect. Although
experiments can be done to explore a particular event, they usually require a hypothesis
(prediction) to be formulated first in order to determine what variables are to be tested and
how they can be controlled and measured. There are several classes of experiment – pre,
true, quasi, etc. which are characterized by the amount of checking and control involved in
the methods.

Comparative - this design is used to compare past and present or different parallel situations,
particularly when the researcher has no control over events. It can look at situations at
different scales, macro (international, national) or micro (community, individual). Analogy is
used to identify similarities in order to predict results – assuming that if two events are similar
in certain characteristics, they could well be similar in others too. In this way comparative
design is used to explore and test what conditions were necessary to cause certain events, so
that it is possible, for example, to understand the likely effects of making certain decisions.

Survey Research - a field of applied statistics of human research surveys, survey methodology
studies the sampling of individual units from a population and associated techniques of
survey data collection, such as questionnaire construction and methods for improving the
number and accuracy of responses to surveys.

Field research - the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting.
The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. Field research
involves a range of well-defined, although variable, methods: informal interviews, direct
observation, participation in the life of the group, collective discussions, analyses of personal
documents produced within the group, self-analysis, results from activities undertaken off-
or on-line, and life-histories. Although the method generally is characterized as qualitative
research, it may (and often does) include quantitative dimensions.

3. Mixed methods – involve a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods. Often used
to add rigor to a research study if the use of either quantitative or qualitative methods
turns out to be inadequate.

OTHER TYPES OF RESEARCH

Simulation - simulation involves devising a representation in a small and simplified form

(model) of a system, which can be manipulated to gauge effects. It is similar to experimental
design in the respect of this manipulation, but it provides a more artificial environment in
that it does work with original materials at the same scale. Models can be mathematical
(number crunching in a computer) or physical, working with two- or three-dimensional
materials. The performance of the model must be checked and calibrated against the real
system to check that the results are reliable. Simulation enables theoretical situations to be
tested – what if?

Evaluation - this descriptive type of research is specifically designed to deal with complex
social issues. It aims to move beyond ‘just getting the facts’, by trying to make sense of the
myriad human, political, social, cultural and contextual elements involved. There are a range
of different approaches of evaluation models, for example, systems analysis – which is a
holistic type of research looking at the complex interplay of many variables; and responsive
evaluation – which entails a series of investigative steps to evaluate how responsive a
program is to all those taking part in it. A common purpose of evaluation research is to
examine the working of projects from the point of view of levels of awareness, costs and
benefits, cost-effectiveness, attainment of objectives and quality assurance. The results are
generally used to prescribe changes to improve and develop the situation.

Action - essentially, this is an ‘on the spot’ procedure, principally designed to deal with a
specific problem found in a particular situation. There is no attempt made to separate the
problem from its context in order to study it in isolation. What are thought to be useful
changes are made and then constant monitoring and evaluation are carried out to see the
effects of the changes. The conclusions from the findings are applied immediately, and
further monitored to gauge their effectiveness. Action research depends mainly on
observation and behavioral data. Because it is so bound up in a situation, it is difficult to
generalize the results, i.e. to be confident that the action will be successful in another context.
Feminist – this is more of a perspective than a research design that involves theory and
analysis that highlight the differences between men’s and women’s lives. Researchers who
ignore these differences can come to incorrect conclusions. However, everyone is male or
female, so value neutrality is impossible as no researcher practices research outside his or
her system of values. No specific methods are seen to be particularly feminist, but the
methodology used is informed by theories of gender relations. Although feminist research is
undertaken with a political commitment to identify and transform gender relations, it is not
uniquely political, but exposes all methods of social research as being political.

Cultural – Many of the prevailing theoretical debates (e.g. postmodernism, poststructuralism

etc.) are concerned with the subjects of language and cultural interpretation. Cultural
research provides methodologies that allow a consistent analysis of cultural texts so that they
can be compared, replicated, disproved and generalized. Examples of approaches to the
interpretation of cultural texts are: content analysis, semiotics and discourse analysis. The
meaning of the term ‘cultural texts’ has been broadened from that of purely literary works to
that of the many different forms of communication, both formal such as opera, TV news
programmes, cocktail parties etc., and informal such as how people dress or converse.

MANAGEMENT RESEARCH

Management Research - Business and management research is a systematic inquiry that

helps to solve business problems and contributes to management knowledge. It Is an applied
research

Four factors (Easterby-Smith, 2008) combine to make business and management a distinctive
focus for research:

 Transdiscipline approach
 Information access is difficult since managers see information as competitive advantage
on the market
 Managers are educated and want some information produced by the classical research
method
 Finding must resolve practical management problems

Managers often need information of high quality to help them to make the right decision.