2. Introduction to Research

Contents
• Introduction to Research:
1.1 MEANING OF RESEARCH
1.2 NEED AND OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH
1.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH
1.4 CRITERIA OF A GOOD RESEARCH
1.5 QUALITIES OF GOOD RESEARCH
1.6 RESEARCH MOTIVATIONS
1.7 TYPES OF RESEARCH
1.8 PROBLEMS IN RESEARCH
1.9 RESEARCH APPROACHES
1.10 RESEARCH PROCESS
• Plagiarism

Meaning to Research
• Research in general refers to….
• A search for knowledge.
• A scientific and systematic search for relevant information
on a specific topic.
• Research is an art of scientific investigation.
• Research is a careful investigation or inquiry especially
through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge.

Meaning to Research
• “Redman and Mory” define research as a “systematized
effort to gain new knowledge.”
• Research is a movement, a movement from the known to
the unknown.
• “Clifford Woody” defines research as “a comprises defining
and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or
suggested solutions; collecting, organizing and evaluating
data; making deductions and reaching conclusions; and at
last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether
they fit the formulating hypothesis”.

Meaning to Research
• D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson, defines research is “the
manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose
of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge,
whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in
the practice of an art.”
• Research is the systematic process of collecting and analyzing
information (data) in order to increase our understanding of
the phenomenon about which we are concerned or
interested.

OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH
• The purpose of research is to discover answers 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.

OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH
Research objectives falling into a number of following broad
groupings:
Exploratory or Formulative Research studies: To gain
familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights
into it.
Descriptive Research studies : To depict accurately the
characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a
group
Diagnostic Research studies: To determine the frequency
with which something occurs or with which it is associated
with something else.
Hypothesis-Testing Research studies: To test a hypothesis
of a causal relationship between variables.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH
• Research is directed towards the solution of a problem.
• Research is based upon observable experience or
empirical evidence.
• Research demands accurate observation and
description.
• Research involves gathering new data from primary
sources or using existing data for a new purpose.
• Research activities are characterized by carefully
designed procedures.
• Research requires expertise i.e., skill necessary to
carryout investigation, search the related literature and
to understand and analyze the data gathered.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH
• Research is objective and logical – applying every
possible test to validate the data collected and
conclusions reached.
• Research involves the quest for answers to
unsolved problems.
• Research requires courage.
• Research is characterized by patient and
unhurried activity.
• Research is carefully recorded and reported.

CRITERIA OF A GOOD RESEARCH
• Purpose clearly defined.
• Research process detailed.
• Research design thoroughly planned.
• High ethical standards applied.
• Limitations frankly revealed.
• Adequate analysis for decision maker’s needs.
• Findings presented unambiguously.
• Conclusions justified.
• Researcher’s experience reflected.

QUALITIES OF GOOD RESEARCH
• Systematic
• Logical
• Empirical
• Replicable
• Creative
• Use of multiple methods

RESEARCH MOTIVATIONS
• The possible motives for doing research are:
• Desire to get a research degree along with its consequential
benefits
• Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved
problems.
• Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative work
• Desire to be of service to society
• Desire to get respectability.
• Other motivating factors are:
– directives of government,
– employment conditions,
– curiosity about new things,
– desire to understand causal relationships,
– social thinking and awakening.

Types of Research
1. Descriptive Vs Analytical Research
2. Applied Vs. Fundamental Research
3. Quantitative Vs. Qualitative Research
4. Conceptual Vs. Empirical Research
• Other Types of Research
I. One time Research
II. Longitudinal Research
III. Historical Research
IV. Diagnostic Research
V. Experimental Research
VI. Exploratory Research

1. Descriptive Vs Analytical research
• 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.
• Researchers discover causes even when they cannot control the
variables.
• The methods of research utilized in descriptive research are survey
methods of all kinds, including comparative and co-relational
methods.
• Analytical research:
• The researcher has to use facts or information already available,
and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material.

2. Applied vs. Fundamental.
• Applied research:
• Aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a society or an
industrial/business organization.
• The central aim of applied research is to discover a solution for some pressing
practical problem.
• Example for Applied research.
• Research aimed at certain conclusions (say, a solution) facing a concrete social or
business problem.
• Research to identify social, economic or political trends that may affect a particular
institution or the copy research or the marketing research or evaluation research.
• Fundamental research:
• It is mainly concerned with generalizations and with the formulation of a theory.
• Fundamental research is directed towards finding information that has a broad
base of applications
• Examples of fundamental research:
• Research concerning some natural phenomenon or relating to pure mathematics.
• Research carried on with a view to make generalizations about human behavior.

3. Quantitative vs. Qualitative
• Quantitative research:
• It is based on the measurement of quantity or amount.
• It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of
quantity.
• Quantitative Research is used to quantify the problem by way of
generating numerical data or data that can be transformed into usable
statistics.
• It is used to quantify attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and other defined
variables – and generalize results from a larger sample population.
• Quantitative Research uses measurable data to formulate facts and
uncover patterns in research.
• Quantitative data collection methods are much more structured than
Qualitative data collection methods.
• Quantitative data collection methods include various forms of surveys –
online surveys, paper surveys, mobile surveys and kiosk surveys, face-to-
face interviews, telephone interviews, longitudinal studies, website
interceptors, online polls, and systematic observations.

3. Quantitative vs. Qualitative:
• Qualitative research:
• is concerned with qualitative phenomenon.
• Phenomena relating to or involving quality or kind.
• Qualitative Research is primarily exploratory research.
• It is used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions,
and motivations.
• It provides insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or
hypotheses for potential quantitative research.
• Qualitative Research is also used to uncover trends in thought and
opinions, and dive deeper into the problem.
• Qualitative data collection methods vary using unstructured or semi-
structured techniques.
• Some common methods include focus groups (group discussions),
individual interviews, and participation/observations.
• The sample size is typically small, and respondents are selected to
fulfill a given quota.

4. Conceptual vs. Empirical
• Conceptual research:
• It 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.

4. Conceptual vs. Empirical
• 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 firsthand, 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.
• Evidence gathered through experiments or empirical studies is today
considered to be the most powerful support possible for a given hypothesis.

5. Some other types of research
• One-time Research: Research confined to a single time period.
• Longitudinal Research: Research carried on over several time periods.
• Diagnostic Research:
• It is also called clinical research which aims at identifying the causes of a
problem, frequency with which it occur and the possible solutions for it.
• Exploratory Research: It is the preliminary study of an unfamiliar problem,
about which the researcher has little or no knowledge. It is aimed to gain
familiarity with the problem, to generate new ideas or to make a precise
formulation of the problem. Hence it is also known as formulative
research.
• Experimental Research: It is designed to assess the effect of one particular
variable on a phenomenon by keeping the other variables constant or
controlled.
• Historical Research: It is the study of past records and other information
sources, with a view to find the origin and development of a phenomenon
and to discover the trends in the past, in order to understand the present
and to anticipate the future.

PROBLEMS IN RESEARCH
• Not similar to science
• Uncontrollable variables
• Human tendencies
• Time and money
• Lack of computerization
• Lack of scientific training in the methodology of research
• Insufficient interaction between university research departments and
business establishments
• Lack of confidence on the part of business units to give information
• Lack of code of conduct
• Difficulty of adequate and timely secretarial assistance
• Poor library management and functioning
• Difficulty of timely availability of published data.
• Ignorance
• Research for the sake of research-limited practical utility though they
may use high sounding business jargon.

RESEARCH APPROACHES
There are two basic approaches to research
• Quantitative approach
• Qualitative Approach
Research
Approaches
Quantitative
approach
Inferential
approach
Experimental
Approach
Simulation
Approach
Qualitative
Approach

1. Quantitative approach
• Quantitative approach 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
1. Inferential approach
2. Experimental approach
3. Simulation approach
• 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.

1. Quantitative approach
• Experimental approach is characterized 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 behavior of a
system (or its sub-system) under controlled conditions.
• Simulation approach useful in building models for
understanding future conditions.

2. Qualitative approach
• Qualitative approach to research is concerned
with subjective assessment of attitudes, opinions
and behavior.
• 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.

• 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 in Figure well illustrates a
research process.
• The chart indicates that the research process
consists of a number of closely related activities, as
shown through I to VII.
• However, the following order concerning various
steps provides a useful procedural guideline
regarding the research process:
RESEARCH PROCESS

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) Generalizations and interpretation
• (11) Preparation of the report or presentation of the
results

What is it???
How to avoid it???
Plagiarism

• To plagiarize (verb):
to use the words or ideas of another person as
if they were your own words or ideas
to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of
another) as one's own : use (another's
production) without crediting the source
to commit literary theft : present as new and
original an idea or product derived from an
existing source
OFFICIAL DEFINITION

• WHAT DOES PLAGIARISM
LOOK LIKE?
• ▶ Copying someone’s work
• ▶ Citing a source
improperly
• ▶ Failure to cite a source
• ▶ Creation of false sources
• ▶ Turning in another
person’s work as your own

• ▶ Failure of assignment!
• ▶ It is very easy to tell if you have plagiarized!
CONSEQUENCES/PUNISHMENT

• 1. SUMMARIZE
• You must reference the original source
• Your summary should be shorter than the text
you are summarizing
• You must use your own words, usually with a
very limited use of quotations
HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM

• 2. Paraphrase
• You must reference the original source
• The text you produce may be shorter or longer
than the original text
• You must use your own words
HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM

• 3. Quote
• You must reference the original source
• The text produced is the exact length of the
original text quoted (unless ellipses are used)
• You must use the original author’s exact words
and you must put quotation marks around them
• You must include the page number of the source
from which you borrowed the author’s original
language.
HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM