Describe different types of research by method. Why and where do we use these types (Descriptive, historical, and co-relational research to discuss the educational phenomena?
Course: : Research Methods in Education
Course Code 8604
Level: B.Ed Solved Assignment
ANSWER
Research Methods/Types of Research:
Research can be classified in many different ways based on the methodology of research, the knowledge it creates, the user group, the research problem it investigates, etc.
Basic research
This research is conducted largely for the enhancement of knowledge and is research that does not have immediate commercial potential. The research is done for human welfare, animal welfare, and plant kingdom welfare. It is called basic, pure, fundamental research. The main motivation here is to expand man's knowledge, not to create or invent something. According to Travers, “Basic Research is designed to organize the body of scientific knowledge and does not necessarily produce results of immediate practical value.”
Such research is time and cost-intensive (Example: An experimental research that may not be or will be helpful in human progress). It is used to solve a problem by adding to the field of application of a discipline.Applied Research
Applied research is designed to solve practical problems of the modern world, rather than to acquire knowledge for knowledge's sake. The goal of applied research is to improve the human condition. It focuses on analysis and solving social and real-life problems. This research is generally conducted on a large-scale basis and is expensive. As such, it is often conducted with the support of some financing agency like the national government, public corporation, World Bank, UNICEF, UGC, Etc. According to Hunt, “applied research is an investigation for ways of using scientific knowledge to solve practical problems” for example:- improving agriculture crop production, treating or curing a specific disease, improving the energy efficiency of homes, and offices, how communication among workers in large companies be improved.Problem-oriented research
Research is done by the industry apex body to sort out problems faced by all the companies. Eg:- WTO does problem-oriented research for developing countries, and India's Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) conducts regular research for the benefit of the agri-industry.• As the name indicates, Problem-identifying researches are undertaken to know the exact nature of the problem that is required to be solved.
• Here, one clarification is needed when we use the term ‘Problem’, it is not a problem in true sense. It is usually a decision-making dilemma or it is a need to tackle a particular business situation.
• It could be a difficulty or an opportunity. For e.g.:-Revenue of the Mobile company has decreased by 25% in the last year. The cause of the problem can be any one of the following:
• Poor quality of the product.
• Lack of continuous availability.
• Not so effective advertising campaign.
• High price.
• Poor caliber/lack of motivation in salespeople/marketing team.
• Tough competition from imported brands.
• Depressed economic conditions
• In the same case, suppose the prime cause of the problem is a poor advertising campaign & secondary cause is higher pricing.
• To tackle the problem of poor advertising, we have to answer questions like, what can be the new advertising campaign, who can be the brand ambassador, which media, which channel, at what time & during which program advertisements will be broadcast.
Problem-solving
This type of research is done by an individual company for the problem faced by it. Marketing research and market research are applied research. For eg:- Videocon International conducts research to study customer satisfaction levels, it will be problem-solving research. In short, the main aim of problem-solving research is to discover some solution for some pressing practical problem.
Quantitative Research
This research is based on numeric figures or numbers. Quantitative research aims to measure the quantity or amount compares it with past records and tries to project for future periods. In social sciences, “quantitative research refers to the systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships”. The objective of quantitative research is to develop and employ mathematical models, theories, or hypotheses about phenomena. The process of measurement is central to quantitative research because it provides a fundamental connection between empirical observation and the mathematical expression of quantitative relationships. Statistics is the most widely used branch of mathematics in quantitative research. Statistical methods are used extensively within fields such as economics and commerce.Descriptive research
It is defined as a research method that describes the characteristics of the population or phenomenon that is being studied. This methodology focuses more on the “what” of the research subject rather than the “why” of the research subject. In other words, descriptive research primarily focuses on describing the nature of a demographic segment, without focusing on “why” a certain phenomenon occurs. In other words, it “describes” the subject of the research, without covering “why” it happens. For example, an apparel brand that wants to understand the fashion purchasing trends among New York buyers will conduct a demographic survey of this region, gather population data, and then conduct descriptive research on this demographic segment. The research will then cover details on “what is the purchasing pattern of New York buyers”, but not cover any investigative details on “why” the patterns exist. Because for the apparel brand trying to break into this market, understanding the nature of their market is the objective of the study.
Characteristics of Descriptive Research:
The term descriptive research then, refers to research questions, design of the research, and data analysis that would be conducted on that topic. It is called an observational research method because none of the variables that are part of the research study are influenced in any capacity.
Some distinctive characteristics of descriptive research are:
Quantitative research:
Descriptive research is a quantitative research method that attempts to collect quantifiable information to be used for statistical analysis of the population sample. It is a popular market research tool that allows one to collect and describe the nature of the demographic segment.
Uncontrolled variables:
In descriptive research, none of the variables are influenced in any way. This uses observational methods to conduct the research. Hence, the nature of the variables or their behavior is not in the hands of the researcher.
Cross-sectional studies:
Descriptive research is generally a cross-sectional study where different sections belonging to the same group are studied.
The basis for further research:
The data collected and analyzed from descriptive research can then be further researched using different research techniques. The data also can help point towards the types of research methods to be used for the subsequent research.
The 3 Basic Types of Descriptive Research Methods
One of the goals of science is description (other goals include prediction and explanation). Descriptive research methods are pretty much as they sound — they describe situations. They do not make accurate predictions, and they do not determine cause and effect.
There are three main types of descriptive methods: observational methods, case-study methods, and survey methods. This article will briefly describe each of these methods, their advantages, and their drawbacks. This may help you better understand research findings, whether reported in the mainstream media or when reading a research study on your own.
Observational Method
With the observational method animal and human behavior is closely observed. There are two main categories of the observational method — naturalistic observation and laboratory observation.
The biggest advantage of the naturalistic method of research is that researchers view participants in their natural environments. This leads to greater ecological validity than laboratory observation, proponents say. Ecological validity refers to the extent to which research can be used in real-life situations.
Proponents of laboratory observation often suggest that due to more control in the laboratory, the results found when using laboratory observation are more meaningful than those obtained with naturalistic observation
.
Laboratory observations
These are usually less time-consuming and cheaper than naturalistic observations. Of course, both naturalistic and laboratory observation are important regarding the advancement of scientific knowledge.
Case Study Method
Case study research involves an in-depth study of an individual or group of individuals. Case studies often lead to testable hypotheses and allow us to study rare phenomena. Case studies should not be used to determine cause and effect, and they have limited use for making accurate predictions.
There are two serious problems with case studies — expectancy effects and atypical individuals. Expectancy effects include the experimenter’s underlying biases that might affect the actions taken while conducting research. These biases can lead to misrepresenting participants’ descriptions. Describing atypical individuals may lead to poor generalizations and detract from external validity.
Survey MethodIn survey method research, participants answer questions administered through interviews or questionnaires. After participants answer the questions, researchers describe the responses given. For the survey to be both reliable and valid the questions must be constructed properly.
Questions should be written so they are clear and easy to comprehend. Another consideration when designing questions is whether to include open-ended, closed-ended, partially open-ended, or rating-scale questions. Advantages and disadvantages can be found with each type: Open-ended questions allow for a greater variety of responses from participants but are difficult to analyze statistically because the data must be coded or reduced in some manner. Closed-ended questions are easy to
analyze statistically, but they seriously limit theresponses that participants can give. Many researchers prefer to use a Likert-type scale because it’s very easy to analyze statistically.
In addition to the methods listed above some individuals also include qualitative (as a distinct method) and archival methods when discussing descriptive research methods.
It is important to emphasize that descriptive research methods can only describe a set of observations or the data collected. It cannot draw conclusions from that data about which way the relationship goes — Does A cause B, or does B cause A? Unfortunately, in many studies published today, researchers forget this fundamental limitation of their research and suggest their data can actually demonstrate or “suggest” causal relationships. Nothing could be further from
the truth
Historical Research
The searches were carried out next step was to build up a picture of the situation in each region for each of the three years using the “6 - I” model as a framework. This was done by combining the results of the searches ordered by category, sub-category, and year for each of the two regions and the national situation. This data was used as a basis to describe developments in that region from 1985 to 2005. As with the first round of data collection further refinement took place during the writing-up process, duplications and overlaps were identified and articles were reassigned to different categories as appropriate. The data collection process is summarised in Table 5. Stage Method Analysis First Round Interviews with significant Data coded using NVivo with figures working in each region. 6-I model used as an overall conceptual framework. Second Round Regional newspapers scanned Data coded using Access for relevant articles for years database with 6-I model
used as 1985, 1995, and 2005.
An example of this type of focusing question can be found in Jaana Porra, Rudy Hirschheim, and Michael S. Parks (2006): " What significant changes did the Texaco IT function face over its existence? " However, these types of open-ended questions often provide descriptions only and, ultimately, do not satisfy the historian, whose main task is to explain past events and development and whose main focus is the question of Why (see alsoHepsø et al. 2009; Toland and Yoong 2013; Bryant et al. 2013). The historian looks after the causes of events, the change that occurred, and the many consequences, both intended and unintended. Toland and Yoong (2013) comment that an important technique of historical research is to " listen for silences, " but, as a matter of fact, an argument from silence—argumentum ex silentio—is generally regarded as unreliable by historians. IS historians need to be aware of the questionable credibility of some sources.
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