2. WHAT IS RESEARCH?
Any honest attempt to study a problem systematically or to
add to man’s knowledge of a problem may be regarded as
research. (Theodorson and Theodorson 1969 cited in
Reber 1995, p.663)
The aim, as far as I can see, is the same in all sciences. Put
simply and cursorily, the aim is to make known something
previously unknown to human beings. It is to advance
human knowledge, to make it more certain or better fitting
. . . the aim is, as I have said, discovery. (Elias 1986, p.20)
3. 3
What is research?
• Research is what we do when we have a
question or a problem we want to resolve
• We may already think we know the answer to
our question already
• We may think the answer is obvious, common
sense even
• But until we have subjected our problem to
rigorous scientific scrutiny, our 'knowledge'
remains little more than guesswork or at best,
intuition.
4. 4
What is research?
• First priority is to formulate your question
• Then figure out how you are going to
answer it
– How have others answered it?
– How does your proposal fit in with what others
have done?
– How will you know when you have answered
it?
• Then you can present your answer
5. Definition of research
• research.
a)the systematic investigation into and
study of materials, sources, etc, in order to
establish facts and reach new conclusions.
b)an endeavour to discover new or collate
old facts etc by the scientific study of a
subject or by a course of critical
investigation.
[Oxford Concise Dictionary]
6. WHY UNDERTAKE RESEARCH?
• To investigate some existing situation or problem.
• To provide solutions to a problem.
• To explore and analyse more general issues.
• To construct or create a new procedure or system.
• To explain a new phenomenon.
• To generate new knowledge.
• A combination of two or more of any of the above.
(Hussey and Hussey 1997)
7. Quality research is the lifeblood of any scientific
discipline. Without it, disciplines would stagnate,
failing to advance past their current limits and
understanding.
(Wann 1997 p.17)
8. TYPES OF RESEARCH
Exploratory research
Takes place where there is little or no prior knowledge of a
phenomenon.
This type of research attempts to gain some familiarity with
the appropriate concepts and looks for patterns or ideas
without any preconceived ideas or explanation.
9. Descriptive research
Describes a particular phenomenon, focusing upon the
issue of what is happening, or how much of it has
happened, rather than why it is happening.
10. Explanatory research
This type of research is involved in explaining why
something happens, and assessing causal relationships
between variables.
12. PURE AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Pure research takes place to explore a particular
concept, or issue, without regard for a specific problem,
and may be carried out to simply gain a better
understanding of the overall concepts.
Applied research is undertaken to solve a specific
problem or provide a solution to a practical question.
13. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY RESEARCH
Primary research
Refers to research that has involved the collection of original
data specific to that particular research project, for example
through using research methods such as questionnaires or
interviews.
Secondary research
Refers to research where no such original data is collected,
but the research project uses existing (or secondary)
sources of data, for example census or archive data.
14. THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
Theoretical research generally uses the findings from
existing works to develop new ideas through analysing
existing theory and explanations. These new ideas are not
tested through collecting evidence in the form of primary
data.
Empirical research supports the development of new
ideas through the collection of data (empirical =
observation or measurement rather than theoretical
reasoning).
15. HOW TO READ RESEARCH
1. Locate and read a few articles from within a field you are
comfortable with.
2. Read studies that are of interest to you.
3. Read the abstract first.
4. Identify the research question and objectives.
5. Why did the researcher(s) choose a particular setting or
sample?
6. What were the methods chosen to collect data?
7. What were the most important findings?
8. Do not be over-concerned with statistical analysis.
9. Be critical but objective.
16. WHAT IS RESEARCH - SUMMARY
1. There are a number of definitions of research. Defining
research is less important than understanding its nature.
2. Research is important for the advancement of any
academic field or discipline.
3. Research can be classified as exploratory, descriptive,
explanatory or predictive depending upon its purpose. It can
also be classified as either theoretical or applied depending
upon the level of application of the findings to ‘real life’
situations.
17. SUMMARY II
4. Research may involve the collection of new data (primary
research) or the use of existing data (secondary research).
5. The best way to begin to develop your understanding of
research, its role, and the types of research is to undertake
some reading. Choose some appropriate articles, and begin
to read!
19. The research process
Factors to consider
The impact of your personal feelings and beliefs
Access to data
Time and other resources
Validity and reliability of the data
Ethical issues
20. Problems with Research Today
Contradictory or indefinite findings
Questionable data
Unclear statements about the purpose of
the study
Lack of full explanation of the data
collection procedure
Inarticulate rendering of the research
problem
22. The Process of Research
Review the
Literature
Identify the
Research Problem
Report
and
Evaluate Research
Specify a
Research
Purpose
Collect Data
Analyze and
Interpret
Data
23. The Process of Research:
Identify the Research
Problem
Specify a problem
Suggest a need to study the problem for
audiences
24. The Process of Research:
Review the Literature
Locate resources
Books
Journals
Electronic resources
Select resources
Determine the relevant resources for the topic
Organize the resources by developing a “Literature
Map”
Summarize the resources in a literature review
25. Literature review example
• One of the most influential empirical papers ever
published to date is a paper by Kydland and Prescott
(1990). In this well known article they displayed the
stylized facts of business cycle fluctuations in USA. In
this study following the Lucas’s definition, business
cycle is defined as the deviations of aggregate real
output from its trend.
• Plosser (1989) investigates real business cycle
fluctuations in USA between 1954-1985. For analyzing
the properties of the business cycle, he used the
moments of the sample and found out that the growth
rate of investments is the most volatile process.
Output, wages and consumption follow this.
26. The Process of Research:
Specify a Research
Purpose
Identify the purpose statement
The major intent of the study
The participants in the study
Narrow the purpose statement
Quantitative: Write research questions and/or
hypothesis
Qualitative: Identify a central phenomenon
and write subquestions
27. The Research Process:
Collect Data
Determine the data collection method
Select the individuals to study
Design data collection instruments and
outline data collection procedures
Obtain permissions
Gather data
28. The Research Process:
Analyze and Interpret Data
Take the data apart to look at individual
responses
Represent the data in tables, figures, and
pictures
Explain conclusions from the data that address
the research questions
29. The Research Process:
Report and Evaluate
Research
Report research
Determine the audience for the report
Structure the report
Write the report sensitively and accurately
30. Ethical Considerations in
Research
Respect the rights of the participants
Honour the requests and restrictions of the
research site
Report the research fully and honestly
31. Skills Needed for Research
Curiosity to solve puzzles
Long attention span
Library and computer resource skills
Writing and editing skills
33. Where to Begin? At the Beginning!
Let’s say you need some research resources for a paper
you’re writing for a class. You have a general topic –
process safety – and you know you need resources, but you
aren’t sure how to get started.
Your impulse would be to start with the Internet, but instead,
first consider what you need to find:
quality, credible resources
about or related to process safety
34. Narrowing What You Need
“process safety” is a very, very broad
topic, and trying to research a very, very
broad topic is very, very difficult.
You need to narrow the topic down to
something more specific – you can narrow
the topic by asking yourself questions
about the topic, such as…
35. Need to Narrow? Ask These…
What do I find interesting about the topic?
What might I find useful to learn?
What personal experiences have I had that
relate to some aspect of the topic?
What misconceptions do people have about
the topic that I’d like to clarify?
What myths exist about the topic that I’d like
to dispel?
What would I like to learn more about with
regard to this topic?
36. Asking the questions leads to…
• The narrowing and focusing of the topic
• The creation of a thesis statement, which
becomes the backbone of your paper
• From the thesis statement, you can generate
keywords
• Keywords are the most important parts of
your thesis statement and are what you use
to conduct searches when looking for
resources (but we’ll talk more about
keywords and keyword searching later)
37. A review of chemical process safety practices in a liquid soap factory
• process
• safety
• chemicals
• practice
• liquid
• soap
• liquid soap
• factory
• review
• law
• accidents
• carelessness
• human errors
•
What is the current practice of process safety in a liquid soap factory?
Effective? Ineffective? Are there room for improvements?
I strongly advocate keeping a list of keywords – it can help
you focus and organize!
38. More on Keywords
• Keyword searching is how you’re going to be
conducting most of your searching. Keyword
searching is the combination of key words (get it?)
with operators (AND, OR, and NOT) to produce
search strings
• Remember, keywords will come from your thesis
statement, but you ought to include related words
and concepts as well
• When using phrases – like couple conflict – you
need to put the phrase in quotation marks:
“process safety”
39. Search string: examples
• “process safety” and liquid soap
• “process safety” and liquid soap factory
• Chemical process safety and practice and liquid soap
• safety and practice and liquid or soap
• safety and liquid soap NOT “bar soap”
* Use AND not + or &. Pay attention to
number (singular vs. plural) and spelling.
40. Brainstorming
• Generating a list of keywords is also a
means of brainstorming about topics
• There are different ways one can
brainstorm, though; these other ways
can also generate keywords for you to
use in your search
• If you’re more visually-oriented, don’t be
afraid to draw or use more visual
methods of brainstorming
• You can use research diaries or logs to
help you organize your thoughts
41. This form of brainstorming is
sometimes called a circle map.
42. NEXT STEP: *NOT* Searching YET
That’s right – we’re not searching yet. Hold your
horses! There’s something you need to know.
Know how most professors (and librarians)
cringe when you use Google and other search
engines and rely too heavily on websites for
your research?
The reason for this is that the Internet is NOT
moderated or quality-controlled, and there’s a
lot of GARBAGE and RUMOR and outright
MISINFORMATION floating around.
43. *NOT* Searching YET
You don’t want to write a paper or conduct
research with GARBAGE, RUMOR, or
MISINFORMATION, do you? OF COURSE
NOT!
You wouldn’t feed a baby GARBAGE, would
you? OF COURSE NOT!
You would feed a baby healthy, safe, clean
food, right? RIGHT!
Think of your paper like a baby – you want to
fill it with healthy, safe, clean things!
44. *NOT* Searching YET
“healthy, safe, clean things” = scholarly, peer-
reviewed, research-oriented resources
There ARE scholarly, peer-reviewed, research-
oriented resources on the Internet – but it
usually takes extra effort and time to find them
However, starting with the Library’s resources
means that you’re heading straight for those
resources right out of the gate – the Library is
CHOCK-FULL of scholarly, peer-reviewed
resources!
45. So…what are scholarly resources?
Written by experts
Focus on a particular field, topic, or
discipline
Intended for others in that field or career
“Proper” language, technical vocabulary
No ads
RESEARCH ORIENTED
* Journals are scholarly
46. POPULAR resources are the opposite
Written by journalists
Usually cover broad topics, fields, issues, or
disciplines
Usually appeal to a wide audience
Everyday language, slang, even profanity
LOTS of ads
NOT RESEARCH ORIENTED
* Magazines and newspapers are popular
47. Using the Internet for Research
• So, I mentioned earlier how your first impulse
might be to go the Internet, but how that’s not
a great idea?
• And remember what I said, too: The reason
for this is that the Internet is NOT moderated
or quality-controlled, and there’s a lot of
GARBAGE and RUMOR and outright
MISINFORMATION floating around.
• Let me qualify that: the Internet does have a
LOT of GOOD information, too, BUT…
48. Using the Internet for Research
• …sometimes it’s not so easy to tell if a
website is appropriate for research or not,
because remember: not everything is
appropriate for research
• But there are ways to tell if a website is
appropriate for research or not
• When using the Internet for research, use
the following criteria to determine if a
website is good for research or not –
taking the time to evaluate websites will
help you obtain GOOD resources
49. Evaluating Websites for
Research
• Authority--who created the web page? Are they experts? What
are their credentials? Do they provide contact information?
• Accuracy--where did they get their information? Are the facts
verifiable through another source? Do they list a bibliography
of citations from where they obtained their information?
• Objectivity--does the site have biases? Is the information
presented in such a way to allow the viewer to make his/her
own judgment, or does the site try to persuade you to adopt its
viewpoint? What is the purpose of the site? ***
• Currency--when was the site last updated? Are the facts on
the site up-to-date? Is the information current?
• Coverage--how much of the topic does the resource cover?
Does it attempt to cover all or most of the aspects, or is it
vague?
50. During the Search
• Organization is very important – keeping your
resources organized means you can lay hands
on what you need in an efficient way
– Invest in some folders – pocket folders,
manila folders, 3-ring binders, whatever you
like!
– Where possible, email yourself copies of the
things you print off
– Where possible, save copies of the things
you print off to a jump drive or a cloud
service (like Google Drive)
• That research diary sheet we saw earlier would
be appropriate at this stage
51. After the Searching’s Done…
• You have the resources you need, either
digitally or physically, if you’ve printed them
out
• This is when underlining and/or highlighting
come into play, as well as notes and sticky
notes
• Documentation is also important, in order to
avoid plagiarism – several of our databases
(like Mendeley or Endnote) will generate
citations for you
52. After the Searching’s Done…
• Note-taking on your resources can help you
focus on the important parts of the resource
and exclude or ignore the stuff that’s not
relevant – it’s filtering
• It’ll save you time, too – making note of what’s
useful or relevant can save you from having to
read the article again and again to find the
good bits
• Note-taking can also help you begin to
formulate how to express or include
information from the resource in your own
writing
54. RECAP
• DO create a list of keywords
• DO underline/highlight/bookmark
• DO take notes/sticky notes
• DO get organized
• DON’T multitask
• DON’T procrastinate
• DON’T plagiarize
