RESEARCH METHODS

LECTURE I
DEFINITION OF
RESAERCH
WHAT IS RESAERCH
 Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Once can also define
research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific
topic.
 In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
of Current English lays down the meaning of research as “a careful investigation or
inquiry specially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge.”

 Redman and Mory define research as a “systematized effort to gain new knowledge.”
 Some people consider research as a movement, a movement from the known to the
unknown. It is actually a voyage of discovery.
 We all possess the vital instinct of inquisitiveness for, when the unknown confronts
us, we wonder and our inquisitiveness makes us probe and attain full and fuller
understanding of the unknown.
 This inquisitiveness is the mother of all knowledge and the method, which man
employs for obtaining the knowledge of whatever the unknown, can be termed as
research
WHAT IS RESAERCH / PROCESS
 Research is an academic activity and as such the term should be used in a
technical sense.
 According to Clifford Woody research comprises
 defining and redefining problems,
 Formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions;
 collecting, organising and evaluating data;
 making deductions and reaching conclusions;
 and at last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they
fit the formulating hypothesis.
 Research is, thus, an original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge
making for its advancement. It is the pursuit of truth with the help of study,
 research’ refers to the systematic method consisting of enunciating the
problem, formulating a hypothesis, collecting the facts or data,
analysing the facts and reaching certain conclusions either in the
form of solutions(s) towards the concernedproblem or in certain
generalisations for some theoretical formulation.
1 The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, Oxford, 1952, p. 1069.
2 L.V. Redman and A.V.H. Mory, The Romance of Research, 1923, p.10.
3 The Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, Vol. IX, MacMillan, 1930
OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH
 The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the application of
scientific procedures.
 The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and which has not been
discovered as yet.
 Though each research study has its own specific purpose, we may think of research objectives
as falling into a number of following broad groupings:

1.To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it (studies with
this object in view are termed as exploratory or formulative research studies);
2. To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group
(studies with this object in view are known as descriptive research studies);
3. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated
with something else (studies with this object in view are known as diagnostic research
studies);
4. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables (such studies are known
as hypothesis-testing research studies).
MOTIVATION IN RESEARCH

 What makes people to undertake research? This is a question of fundamental importance.

The possible motives for doing research may be either one or more of the following:
 1. Desire to get a research degree along with its consequential benefits;
 2. Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved problems, i.e., concern over
practical
 problems initiates research;
 3. Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative work;
 4. Desire to be of service to society;
 5. Desire to get respectability.
However, this is not an exhaustive list of factors motivating people to undertake research
studies. Many more factors such as directives of government, employment conditions,
curiosity about new
things, desire to understand causal relationships, social thinking and awakening, and the like
may aswell motivate (or at times compel) people to perform research operations.
TYPES OF RESEARCH
 i) Descriptive vs. Analytical: Descriptive research includes surveys and fact-
finding enquiries of different kinds.
 The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state of
affairs as it exists at present.
 The main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has no control
over the variables; he can only report what has happened or what is
happening.
 Most ex post facto research projects are used for descriptive studies in which
the researcher seeks to measure such items as, for example, frequency of
shopping, preferences of people, or similar data
 In analytical research, on the other hand, the researcher has to use facts or
information already available, and analyse these to make a critical evaluation
of the material.
TYPES OF RESEARCH
 Applied vs. Fundamental: Research can either be applied (or action)
research or fundamental (to basic or pure) research.
 Applied research aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a
society or an industrial/business organisation, whereas fundamental research
is mainly concerned with generalisations and with the formulation of a theory.
 “Gathering knowledge for knowledge’s sake is termed ‘pure’ or ‘basic’
research. Research concerning some natural phenomenon or relating to pure
mathematics are examples of fundamental research.
 Similarly, research studies, concerning human behaviour carried on with a
view to make generalisations about human behaviour, are also examples of
fundamental research,
 but research aimed at certain conclusions (say, a solution) facing a concrete
social or business problem is an example of applied research.
 Research to identify social, economic or political trends that may affect a
particular institution or the copy research (research to find out whether certain
communications will be read and understood) or the marketing research or
evaluation research are examples of applied research.
 Thus, the central aim of applied research is to discover a solution for some
pressing practical problem, whereas basic research is directed towards finding
TYPES OF RESEARCH
 (iii) Quantitative vs. Qualitative: Quantitative research is based on the measurement
of quantity or amount. It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of
quantity.
 Qualitative research, on the other hand, is concerned with qualitative phenomenon, i.e.
Phenomena relating to or involving quality or kind. For instance, when we are interested
in investigating the reasons for human behaviour (i.e., why people think or do certain
things),
 we quite often talk of ‘Motivation Research’, an important type of qualitative research.
 This type of research aims at discovering the underlying motives and desires, using in
depth interviews for the purpose. Other techniques of such research are word association
tests, sentence completion tests, story completion tests and similar other projective
techniques.
 Attitude or opinion research i.e., research designed to find out how people feel or what
they think about a particular subject or institution is also qualitative research.
 Qualitative research is specially important in the behavioural sciences where the aim is to
discover the underlying motives of human behaviour.
 Through such research we can analyse the various factors which motivate people to
behave in a particular manner or which make people like or dislike a particular thing.
 It may be stated, however, that to apply qualitative research in practice is relatively a
difficult job and therefore, while doing such research, one should seek guidance from
experimental psychologists.
TYPES OF RESEARCH
 Conceptual vs. Empirical: Conceptual research is that related to some
abstract idea(s) or theory. It is generally used by philosophers and thinkers to
develop new concepts or to reinterpret existing ones. On the
 other hand, empirical research relies on experience or observation alone, often
without due regard for system and theory. It is data-based research, coming up
with conclusions which are capable of being verified by observation or
experiment.
 We can also call it as experimental type of research. In such a research it is
necessary to get at facts first hand, at their source, and actively to go about
doing certain things to stimulate the production of desired information.
 In such a research, the researcher must first provide himself with a working
hypothesis or guess as to the probable results. He then works to get enough
facts (data) to prove or disprove his hypothesis.
 He then sets up experimental designs which he thinks will manipulate the
persons or the materials concerned so as to bring forth the desired
information. Such research is thus characterised by the experimenter’s control
over the variables under study and his deliberate manipulation of one of them
to study its effects.
 Empirical research is appropriate when proof is sought that certain variables
affect other variables in some way. Evidence gathered through experimentsor
 Some Other Types of Research: All other types of research are variations of one or more of the
above stated approaches, based on either the purpose of research, or the time required to
accomplish research, on the environment in which research is done, or on the basis of some other
similar factor.
 Form the point of view of time, we can think of research either as one-time research or longitudinal
research. In the former case the research is confined to a single time-period, whereas in the latter
case the research is carried on over several time-periods. Research can be field-setting research or
laboratory research or simulation research, depending upon the environment in which it is to be
carried out.
 Research can as well be understood as clinical or diagnostic research. Such research follow
case-study methods or in-depth approaches to reach the basic causal relations. Such studies
usually go deep into the causes of things or events that interest us, using very small samples and
very deep probing data gathering devices.
 The research may be exploratory or it may be formalized. The objective of exploratory
research is the development of hypotheses rather than their testing, whereas formalized research
studies are those with substantial structure and with specific hypotheses to be tested.
 Historical research is that which utilizes historical sources like documents, remains, etc. to study
events or ideas of the past, including the philosophy of persons and groups at any remote point of
time.
 Research can also be classified as conclusion-oriented and decision-oriented. While doing
conclusion oriented research, a researcher is free to pick up a problem, redesign the enquiry as he
Research Approaches
 The above description of the types of research brings to light the fact that there are two
basic approaches to research, viz., quantitative approach and the qualitative approach.
 The former involves the generation of data in quantitative form which can be subjected
to rigorous quantitative analysis in a formal and rigid fashion.
 This approach can be further sub-classified into inferential, experimental and simulation
approaches to research. The purpose of inferential approach to research is to form a data
base from which to infer characteristics or relationships of population.
 This usually means survey research where a sample of population is studied (questioned
or observed) to determine its characteristics, and it is then inferred that the population
has the same characteristics.
 Experimental approach is characterised by much greater control over the research
environment and in this case some variables are manipulated to observe their effect on
other variables. Simulation approach involves the construction of an artificial
environment within which relevant information and data can be generated.
 This permits an observation of the dynamic behaviour of a system (or its sub-system)
under controlled conditions.
 The term ‘simulation’ in the context of business and social sciences applications refers to
“the operation of a numerical model that represents the structure of a dynamic process.
Given the values of initial conditions, parameters and exogenous variables, a simulation
is run to represent the behaviour of the process over time.”5 Simulation approach can
also be useful in building models for understanding future conditions.
 Qualitative approach to research is concerned with subjective assessment of
attitudes, opinions and behaviour. Research in such a situation is a function of
researcher’s insights and impressions.
 Such an approach to research generates results either in non-quantitative form
or in the form which are not subjected to rigorous quantitative analysis.
 Generally, the techniques of focus group interviews, projective techniques and
depth interviews are used. All these are explained at length in chapters
 that follow.
 Significance of Research
 The role of research in several fields of applied economics, whether related to business or to
the economy as a whole, has greatly increased in modern times
 Research provides the basis for nearly all government policies in our economic system.
 Research has its special significance in solving various operational and planning problems of
business and industry.
 Research is equally important for social scientists in studying social relationships and in seeking
answers to various social problems.
In addition to what has been stated above, the significance of research can also be understood
keeping in view the following points:
(a) To those students who are to write a master’s or Ph.D. thesis, research may mean a
careerism or a way to attain a high position in the social structure;
(b) To professionals in research methodology, research may mean a source of livelihood;
(c) To philosophers and thinkers, research may mean the outlet for new ideas and
insights;
(d) To literary men and women, research may mean the development of new styles and
creative work;
(e) To analysts and intellectuals, research may mean the generalisations of new theories.
Thus, research is the fountain of knowledge for the sake of knowledge and an important source
of providing guidelines for solving different business, governmental and social problems. It is a sort
of
formal training which enables one to understand the new developments in one’s field in a better
Difference between research methods and
research methodology

 It seems appropriate at this juncture to explain the difference between

research methods and research methodology.

 Research methods may be understood as all those methods/techniques that

are used for conduction of research. Research methods or techniques*, thus,
refer to the methods the researchers At times, a distinction is also made
between research techniques and research methods.
 Research techniques refer to the behaviour and instruments we use in
performing research operations such as making observations, recording data,
techniques of processing data and the like.
 Research methods refer to the behaviour and instruments used in selecting
and constructing research technique. For instance, the difference between
methods and techniques of data collection can better be understood from the
details given in the following chart—
Research Methods versus
Methodology
Research Methods versus
Methodology
 in other words all those methods which are used by the researcher during the
course of studying his research problem are termed as research methods.
 Since the object of research, particularly the applied research, it to arrive at a
solution for a given problem, the available data and the unknown aspects of
the problem have to be related to each other to make a solution possible.
 Keeping this in view, research methods can be put into the following three
groups:
 1. In the first group we include those methods which are concerned
with the collection of data. These methods will be used where the data
already available are not sufficient to arrive at the required solution;
 2. The second group consists of those statistical techniques which are
used for establishing relationships between the data and the
unknowns;
 3. The third group consists of those methods which are used to
evaluate the accuracy of the results obtained.
Research Methodology
 Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research
problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research
is done scientifically.
 In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a
researcher in studying his research problem along with the logic behind
them.

 Thus, when we talk of research methodology we not only talk of the

research methods but also consider the logic behind the methods we
use in the context of our research study and explain why we are using
a particular method or technique and why we are not using others so
that research results are capable of being evaluated either by the
researcher himself or by others.
Research Process
 Before embarking on the details of research methodology and techniques, it
seems appropriate to present a brief overview of the research process.
 Research process consists of series of actions or steps necessary to effectively
carry out research and the desired sequencing of these steps.
 The chart shown IS a well illustrates a research process.
 Research Process
 The chart indicates that the research process consists of a number of closely
related activities, as shown through I to VII. But such activities overlap
continuously rather than following a strictly prescribed sequence.
 However, the following order concerning various steps provides a useful
procedural guideline regarding the research process:
(1) formulating the research problem;
(2) extensive literature survey;
(3) developing the hypothesis;
(4) preparing the research design;
(5) determining sample design;
(6) collecting the data;
(7) execution of the project;
(8) analysis of data;
(9) hypothesis testing;
(10) generalisations and interpretation, and
(11) preparation of the report or presentation of the results,
i.e., formal write-up of conclusions reached.
1. Formulating the research
problem
At the very outset the researcher must single out the problem he wants to study,
 i.e., he must decide the general area of interest or aspect of a subject-matter
that he would like to inquire into. Initially the problem may be stated in a broad
general way and then the ambiguities,
 The formulation of a general topic into a specific research problem, thus,
constitutes the first step in a scientific enquiry. Essentially two steps are involved
in formulating the research problem, viz., understanding the problem thoroughly,
and rephrasing the same into meaningful terms from an analytical point of view

 The problem to be investigated must be defined unambiguously for that will help
discriminating relevant data from irrelevant ones.
 Care must, however, be taken to verify the objectivity and validityof the
background facts concerning the problem
2. Extensive literature survey
 Once the problem is formulated, a brief summary of it should be written down.
It is compulsory for a research worker writing a thesis for a Ph.D. degree to
write a synopsis of the topic and submit it to the necessary Committee or the
Research Board for approval.
 At this juncture the researcher should undertake extensive literature survey
connected with the problem.
 For this purpose, the abstracting and indexing journals and published or
unpublished bibliographies are the first place to go to.
 Academic journals, conference proceedings, government reports, books etc.,
must be tapped depending on the nature of the problem.
 In this process, it should be remembered that one source will lead to another.
The earlier studies, if any, which are similar to the study in hand should be
carefully studied.
 A good library will be a great help to the researcher at this stage
3. Development of working
hypotheses:
After extensive literature survey, researcher should state in clear terms the working hypothesis or
hypotheses.
 Working hypothesis is tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical or
empirical consequences.
 IMPORRTANCE OF WORKING HYPOTESIS
 As such the manner in which research hypotheses are developed is particularly important since they
provide the focal point for research.
 They also affect the manner in which tests must be conducted in the analysis of data and indirectly
the quality of data which is required for the analysis.
 In most types of research, the development of working hypothesis plays an important role.
Hypothesis should be very specific and limited to the piece of research in hand because it has to be
tested.

 The role of the hypothesis is to guide the researcher by delimiting the area of research and to keep
him on the right track.
 It sharpens his thinking and focuses attention on the more important facets of the problem. It also
indicates the type of data required and the type of methods of data analysis to be used.
Development of working hypotheses

 Working hypotheses are more useful when stated in precise and

clearly defined terms.
 It may as well be remembered that occasionally we may encounter a
problem where we do not need working hypotheses, specially in the
case of exploratory or formulative researches which do not aim at
testing the hypothesis.
 But as a general rule, specification of working hypotheses in another
basic step of the research process in most research problems.
4. Preparing the research
design:
The research problem having been formulated in clear cut terms, the researcher will be
required to prepare a research design,
 i.e., he will have to state the conceptual structure within which research would be conducted.
 The preparation of such a design facilitates research to be as efficient as possible yielding
maximal information. In other words, the function of research design is to provide for
the collection of relevant evidence with minimal expenditure of effort, time and
money.
 But how all these can be achieved depends mainly on the research purpose. Research
purposes may be grouped into four categories, viz.
 , (i) Exploration, (ii) Description, (iii) Diagnosis, and (iv) Experimentation.

 A flexible research design which provides opportunity for considering many different aspects
of a problem is considered appropriate if the purpose of the research study is that of
exploration.
 But when the purpose happens to be an accurate description of a situation or of an
association between variables, the suitable design will be one that minimises bias and
maximises the reliability of the data collected and analysed.
 TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGN
 There are several research designs, such as,
 experimental
 non-experimental hypothesis testing.
Experimental designs can be either informal designs (such as before-and-after
without control, after-only with control, before-and-after with control)
Or formal designs (such as completely randomized design, randomized block design,
Latin square design, simple and complex factorial designs), out of which the researcher
must select one for his own project

 The preparation of the research design, appropriate for a particular research

problem, involves usually the consideration of the following:
(i) the means of obtaining the information;
(ii) the availability and skills of the researcher and his staff (if any);
(iii) explanation of the way in which selected means of obtaining information will
be organised
and the reasoning leading to the selection;
(iv) the time available for research; and
(v) the cost factor relating to research, i.e., the finance available for the purpose.
 5. Determining sample design:
 All the items under consideration in any field of inquiry constitute a ‘universe’ or ‘population’
 . A complete enumeration of all the items in the ‘population’ is known as a census inquiry. It can be
presumed that in such an inquiry when all the items are covered no element of chance is left and
highest accuracy is obtained. But in practice this may not be true.
 Even the slightest element of bias in such an inquiry will get larger and larger as the number of
observations
increases.
 Moreover, there is no way of checking the element of bias or its extent except through a resurvey or
use of sample checks. Besides, this type of inquiry involves a great deal of time, money and energy.

 Not only this, census inquiry is not possible in practice under many circumstances. For instance,
blood testing is done only on sample basis. Hence, quite often we select only a few items from the
universe for our study purposes.
 The items so selected constitute what is technically called a sample. The researcher must decide
the way of selecting a sample or what is popularly known as the sample design.
 In other words, a sample design is a definite plan determined before any data are actually collected
for obtaining a sample from a given population.
 Thus, the plan to select 12 of a city’s 200 drugstores in a certain way constitutes a sample
design. Samples can be either
 PROBABILITY SAMPLES OR
 NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLES.

 With probability samples each element has a known probability of being included in the
sample but the non-probability samples do not allow the researcher to determine this
probability.

 PROBABILITY SAMPLES - Probability samples are those based on simple random

sampling, systematic sampling, stratified sampling, cluster/area sampling

NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLES whereas non-probability samples are those based on

convenience sampling, judgement sampling and quota sampling techniques.

A brief mention of the important sample designs is as follows:

 I want every student to develop a research topic related to
architecture the class prefect should compile these topic and the
name of students and send it to me. make sure you choice a topic
which enables you to conduct survey in your location or house