Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Research is important when conducted correctly because it helps us to understand and possibly even solve existing or possible problems in the world. This could be anything from social issues to medical breakthroughs. Governments carry out research all of the time in order to come to conclusions about policies and strategies. They will often choose experts in the particular field to go out and carry out indepth research to help them out. Without this research and knowledge, it would be difficult to make a change in the world. It would also mean that changes wouldn't be fully considered which could result in bigger problems in the long run. If a problem is evident, for example gun crime, it is essential to understand what has caused the problem and why people continue to take part in such illegal activity even though they know it is fundamentally wrong. Research will aim to answer these questions so that informed decisions can be made about what strategies will help. In order for research to be valid a lot of time, effort and money have to be injected into the project. The problem is that most people aren't patient or willing enough to put in the effort. Without taking research seriously, results can be hugely flawed resulting in a worse scenario than the original problem. Even huge global companies with massive budgets do not put enough effort into their research. One example of this is a company specializing in beauty products who use a sample of less than 100 (which isn't enough to be globally representative) and advertise for people to test their product in places like fashion magazines (resulting in a sample of a very similar demographic). These results are flawed due to them not taking the research seriously enough
What is research? Research is simply the act of taking action to find out information.
What are research methods? A research method is one particular way in which you can verify or discover a set of data.
What ways are there to conduct research? Ultimately there are two forms of research; qualitative and quantitative, all types of research can be categorized under these headings. Qualitative research will yield more specific and in-depth results while quantitative research will give a more general picture, but perhaps on a larger scale. The answer is in
their names, quantitative deals with numbers, while qualitative refers to the quality of data.
Can you give an example of qualitative and quantitative research? Surveys are commonly used in quantitative research, this is where a sample of people are asked their age, gender and any other relevant demographic information, along with a series of questions. It can then be determined what age groups answered which questions and whether there is any pattern. An example of qualitative research could be interviewing an expert in a particular field of study. The information garnered from the expert is likely to feature more in-depth information than you would get by simply asking them to fill out a questionnaire.
Which is best? It all depends on the task at hand, and that is the point of establishing the best and most relevant research methodology. Most disciplines will use a mixture of both methods, for instance, market researchers will use surveys and focus groups to determine demand for a product or service.
Though hypotheses are essential during the research process, it can produce complications with regards to probability, significance and Type I -Type II errors. A Type I error occurs when p value is too large and the null hypothesis is falsely rejected and the research hypothesis is falsely accepted. A Type II error occurs when the researcher falsely accepts the null hypothesis and falsely rejects the research hypothesis as p value is too small. To confirm, a null hypothesis is only used with statistics and claims there is no variation or difference between variables.
Why are statistics used? Statistics are most often used in research as they tend to prove or give information on the subject being researched. The statistical evidence in research is key to making a conclusion of proving a theory. Without proven statistical evidence it is hard for research to be more than just a list of theories - statistics provide evidence that back up the subject and conclusion of the research, therefore making the research more important and poignant.
Examples of statistical research A survey could be a good example of research that is done to gain statistics on a subject. For example, if a theory or statement is made that says 'more people buy apple than oranges' then a survey could be conducted to find out if this statement is true or not. By asking people questions, and recording their answers, you will then be left with statistical evidence that will either support or deny the statement made. In this example, if you asked 100 people whether they would rather buy an apple or an orange and 70 people said that they would rather buy an apple, then you have proved the statement to be true. The statistics would tell you that 70%, or seven out of 10 people, would rather buy an apple than an orange, making the above statement correct. Without these statistics you would not be able to prove the statement and it would be difficult to argue the truth of the statement. Statistics bring proof and clarity to research.
There are many advantages and disadvantages of experimental research. The advantages and disadvantages in any research are usually subjective as one cannot claim that an advantage in one experiment will also be an advantage in another experiment. Experimental research is seen as true research by many scientists. This is where there are different versions of the same situation and each time the experiment is done, one variable is different. This will show what the differences are in the reactions of the subjects and also allow the scientist to work out what they feel is the best and therefore the deciding factor in the experiment results. There are some people who feel that the human input is a disadvantage in these studies as humans do always have their own thoughts and can manipulate the results. There is also another thought that testing on humans is also a disadvantage as you cannot tell whether their answers or reactions are true or a show for the experiment. Advantages of experimental research.
Researcher has control and ability to change experiment if the answers are inconclusive, this allows for less time wasting in experiments.
Humans perform other kinds of experiments anyway so the human input should not be an issue. Disadvantages of experimental research.
Scientist manipulates values so they may not be making a completely objective experiment.
People can be influenced by what they see around them and may give answers that they think the researcher wants to hear rather than how they think and feel on a subject.
Although there are many different ways that experimental research can be looked at, the subjects should not show any difference in reactions as they do in other kinds of research and many scientists see this as something that should not be classed as an advantage or a disadvantage
Describe The Role Of Statistics In The Research Process Using The Wheel Of Science As A Framework Explain How Statistics Link Theory With Research?
The wheel of science maintains that a theory lead to a hypothesis which in turn leads to a series of observations, which allow an empirical generalization to be made, which in turn alters the hypothesis, therefore 'turning' the wheel once more. The wheel stands between induction and deduction and is what statistics are all about. Statistics is the organizing and interpretation of data. If this is derived from a scientific experiment, it can be shown to fit within the wheel of science in the following ways: Theory. All theories will be untested or tested. Where they are tested, the statistical results of the theory can be evaluated to see if the results will fall within the expected range. Hypothesis. Any hypothesis can be supported by statistical analysis of previously tested hypotheses that will bear out the results of the experiment. This can be helpful if you consider an ancient hypothesis that gold can be created from lead. Statistically, the hypothesis has never stood up to examination. Observations. Statistics can, to some degree, predict what may or may not be happening in any given experiment. As such, careful statistical analysis of what is happening in the experiment can support the observations by providing a guide as to what is occurring. Empirical Deduction. Once the data from the experiment has been assembled, it can be analyzed statistically to help produce the necessary deduction. Since an experiment should be graduated in its results, the statistical deduction can be examined in detail with the various statistical models.
Advantages of correlation research method There are two ways that correlation research can be carried out. These are using experiments and completing surveys. The advantages of these methods are many and include the fact that a large number of individuals can be researched. Whether carrying out an experiment or completing surveys the number of individuals that can be researched is practically endless. The situation can be artificial and the answers provided will still be relevant using this type of research as the answers given in surveys will simply be the opinions of those surveyed. A survey is easy to complete and many people will take a few minutes out of
Disadvantages of correlation research method The main danger of this type of research is that the answers may be biased if a particular set of people is surveyed. This can lead to unbalanced answers and results, and the sample may not be a true representation. People who are being surveyed can only answer the questions that are on the survey and they cannot ask any questions about the cause and effect of the subjects being researched. People do not always answer questions truthfully on questionnaires and surveys; they sometimes answer the question in such a way as they feel might be required. All forms of research have advantages and disadvantages, and one is normally as useful as the others.
What Are The Major Differences Between Experimental Research And Co-relational Research?
In the general scenario, there exist a host of differences between the theory and implementation of experimental research and correlational research, which could be classified under the dimensions of general process, intended results and their respective sub-categories. In the case of general process, correlational research involves the observation of a researcher of a previously present situation nevertheless there is no intervention from the researcher. While in experimental research, the researcher manipulates the situation and checks the result of the initial manipulation. As for intended result, correlation research is concerned with the identification of associations between two or more factors while experimental research deals with the learning of how changes in one factor affect the other one. Correlational research has four types namely archival research, naturalistic observation, survey research and case study. As for experimental research, its only and exclusive type is experiment, which forms the entire gist of experimental research.
if it will compare to existing competitive products in-store? Is the packaging working? Is the price right? This type of customer research almost always throws up one or two important issues that can then be ironed out before you launch your product.
A farmer decides to try out a new fertilizer on a test plot containing 10 stalks of corn. Before applying the fertilizer, he measures the height of each stalk. Two weeks later, he measures the stalks again, being careful to match each stalk's new height to its previous one. The stalks would have grown an average of 6 inches during that time even without the fertilizer. Did the fertilizer help? Use a significance level of 0.05. null hypothesis: H0: = 6 alternative hypothesis: Ha : > 6 Stalk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Before height 35.5 31.7 31.2 36.3 22.8 28.0 24.6 26.1 34.5 27.7 After height 45.3 36.0 38.6 44.7 31.4 33.5 28.8 35.8 42.9 35.0
Subtract each stalk's before height from its after height to get the change score for each stalk; then compute the mean and standard deviation of the change scores and insert these into the formula. The problem has n 1, or 10 1 = 9 degrees of freedom. The test is onetailed because you are asking only whether the fertilizer increases growth, not reduces it. The critical value from the t-table for t.05,9 is 1.833. Because the computed t-value of 2.098 is larger than 1.833, the null hypothesis can be rejected. The test has provided evidence that the fertilizer caused the corn to grow more than if it had not been fertilized. The amount of actual increase was not large (1.36 inches over normal growth), but it was statistically significant.
All data gathered will be compiled and tabularized to organize the Pre Intervention Blood glucose and Post Intervention Blood glucose of the ten female participants out of the regular faculty and staff of Western Mindano State University.
The statistic used were the mean (X), standard deviation (SD), and the T-test of difference.
A set of paired observations from a normal population This t-test compares one set of measurements with a second set from the same sample. It is often used to compare before and after scores in experiments to determine whether significant change has occurred.