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Chapter I.
Introduction
A. Definition of Research
Research in simplified terms means searching for the facts searching for the replies to the
various queries and also for the solutions to the various problems. Research is an inquiry or an
investigation with a specific purpose to fulfill, it helps in clearing the various doubtful concepts
and tries to solve or explain the various unexplained procedures or phenomenon.
According to the encyclopedia of social science, research can be explained as the manipulation
of generalizing to extend, connect or verify knowledge.
Research is finding out what you don't know. No one knows everything, but everybody knows
something. However, to complicate matters, often what you know, or think you know, is
incorrect.
B. Purposes of Research
There are two basic purposes for research: to learn something, or to gather evidence. What
you've learned is the source of the background information you use to communicate with others.
In any conversation you talk about the things you know, the things you've learned. If you know
nothing about the subject under discussion, you can neither contribute nor understand it.
Research promotes understanding of matters that most people are either not familiar with or
dont fully comprehend. When reading a study, one seeks the knowledge that allows us to learn
something new about the topic were interested in. Some studies are conducted purely for the
purpose of gaining knowledge, but others aim to apply it in the real world.
Three Purposes of Research
Explanation--why
C. Characteristics of research
1. Research is based on the scientific method.
2. Helps in answering various pertinent questions.
3. It is an organized, planned and patient investigation or a critical enquiry.
4. It has logical roots, helping to establish facts or principles.
Reliability. Reliability is a subjective term which can not be measured precisely but today there
are instruments which can estimate the reliability of any research. Reliability is the repeatability
of any research, research instrument, tool or procedure.
Validity is the strength with which we can call a research conclusions, assumptions or
propositions true or false. Validity determines the applicability of research . Validity of the
research instrument can be defined as the suitability of the research instrument to the research
problem or how accurately the instrument measures the problem.
Accuracy is also the degree to which each research process, instrument and tool is related to
each other. Accuracy also measures whether research tools have been selected in best possible
manner and research procedures suits the research problem or not.
Credibility comes with the use of best source of information and best procedures in research. If
you are using second-hand information in your research due to any reason your research might
complete in less time but its credibility will be at stake because secondary data has been
manipulated by human beings and is therefore not very valid to use in research.
Generalizability is the extent to which a research findings can be applied to larger population.
When a researcher conducts a study he/she chooses a target population and from this population
he takes a small sample to conduct the research. This sample is representative of the whole
population so the findings should also be. If research findings can be applied to any sample from
the population, the results of the research are said to be generalizable.
Empirical nature of research means that the research has been conducted following rigorous
scientific methods and procedures. Each step in the research has been tested for accuracy and is
based on real life experiences.
Systematic approach is the only approach for research. No research can be conducted
haphazardly. Each step must follow other.
Controlled-in real life experience there are many factors that effect an outcome. A single event
is often result of several factors. When similar event is tested in research, due to the broader
nature of factors that effect that event, some factors are taken as controlled factors while others
are tested for possible effect.
In Research, you will gather data that people already gathered or somebody knows
about that topic.
1. Tradition. This is accepting superstitions are true and part of our daily lives. Even it is not
true, we are always apply this in our lives without applying a scientific investigation.
2. Authority. This is accepting anything without a question, the opinion which the person has a
big name to the authority w/o using any scientific investigation if it's true.
3. Inaccurate Observation. This is describing wrongly what is observed. For example, four
people are outside the hotel, wearing short skirts and pants. Some people will say they have no
manners. The fact is that they are attending a party.
7. Illogical Reasoning. This is attributing something to another w/o any logical basis.
8. Ego involvement in understanding. This is giving an explanation when one finds himself an
unfavorable situation.
10. To err is human. This is an attitude that admits the fallibility of man. When he made a
mistake, he will not study why he had committed this, and how he will correct it and make some
effort to avoid this mistake again.
11. Dogmatism. This is an addition. This is an unwritten policy of certain institutions and
governments prohibiting the study of topics that are believed to run counter to the established
laws.
If the experiments bear out the hypothesis it may come to be regarded as a theory or law of
nature (more on the concepts of hypothesis, model, theory and law below). If the experiments do
not bear out the hypothesis, it must be rejected or modified. What is key in the description of the
scientific method just given is the predictive power (the ability to get more out of the theory than
you put in; see Barrow, 1991) of the hypothesis or theory, as tested by experiment. It is often said
in science that theories can never be proved, only disproved. There is always the possibility that
a new observation or a new experiment will conflict with a long-standing theory.
Retrospective studies investigate a phenomenon or issue that has occurred in the past. Such
studies most often involve secondary data collection, based upon data available from previous
studies or databases. For example, a retrospective study would be needed to examine the
relationship between levels of unemployment and street crime in NYC over the past 100 years.
Prospective studies seek to estimate the likelihood of an event or problem in the future. Thus,
these studies attempt to predict what the outcome of an event is to be. General science
experiments are often classified as prospective studies because the experimenter must wait until
the experiment runs its course in order to examine the effects. Randomized controlled trials are
always prospective studies and often involve following a cohort of individuals to determine the
relationship between various variables.
Longitudinal studies follow study subjects over a long period of time with repeated data
collection throughout. Some longitudinal studies last several months, while others can last
decades. Most are observational studies that seek to identify a correlation among various factors.
Thus, longitudinal studies do not manipulate variables and are not often able to detect causal
relationships.
Sample
Once the researcher has chosen a hypothesis to test in a study, the next step is to select a pool of
participants to be in that study. However, any research project must be able to extend the
implications of the findings beyond the participants who actually participated in the study. For
obvious reasons, it is nearly impossible for a researcher to study every person in the population
of interest. In the example that we have been using thus far, the population of interest is the
developing world." The researcher must therefore make a decision to limit the research to a
subset of that population, and this has important implications for the applicability of study
results. The researcher must put some careful forethought into exactly how and why a certain
group of individuals will be studied.
Sampling Methods
Probability Sampling refers to sampling when the chance of any given individual being
selected is known and these individuals are sampled independently of each other. This is also
known as random sampling. A researcher can simply use a random number generator to choose
participants (known as simple random sampling), or every nth individual (known as systematic
sampling) can be included. Researchers also may break their target population into strata, and
then apply these techniques within each strata to ensure that they are getting enough participants
from each strata to be able to draw conclusions. For example, if there are several ethnic
communities in one geographical area that a researcher wishes to study, that researcher might
aim to have 30 participants from each group, selected randomly from within the groups, in order
to have a good representation of all the relevant groups.