Research !!

 Philosophy The foundation of human knowledge A search for a general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculative rather thanobservational means The most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group Particular set or system of beliefs resulting from the search for knowledge about life and the universe

Search  To look into carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something  To investigate

Research  Careful and diligent search  Systematic investigation aimed at the discovery of and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws  Logical reasoning  Scientific process

 Knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method. Knowledge gathered by observation and experimentation, critically tested, systemized and brought under general principles  Science

Why research  We are curious by nature and want to find out the truth about the universe, humans and their lives and processes  We love to gain more and more knowledge  We do not want to believe in anything that is not logical but is told by authorities and hence we want to test and challenge the authority by research  We want to test and challenge the theories by conducting researches

Research Applicable in both  Natural sciences  Social sciences ……only methods may be different Research in natural sciences is more sensitive or social sciences??

Types of research  Basic research – concerned with basic principles  Action research – utility of basic principles in natural settings, to give solution of a problem  Evaluative research – involves decision making

Approaches to inquiry  Qualitative versus quantitative  Historical  Qualitative (ethnographic)  Descriptive  Correlational  Experimental

Research  A process……..a series of actions or operations leading to some results!!  Based on previous observations and theories  Test the theories  A theory is a set of facts in their relation to one another or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena

Process of research  Thought process concerning the topic of interest  Reading relevant literature  Agreeing or disagreeing with different theories  Making new assumptions  Testing the assumptions or challenging the theories  Deciding a method of conducting the research

Process  Conducting the research  Reaching to results  Interpretation of results and concluding the  research

Steps involved in research  Focus on the area of interest  Read the relevant material  Define the problem statement, formulate research questions  Literature review including books, journals, magazine articles, documentaries…  Formulation of hypothesis/hypotheses

Steps involved in research  Operational definitions- define the terminologies, variables  Assessing the practical feasibility of research  Decide a research design: exploratory, co relational or causal  Decide upon the method- choose the target population

…steps involved in research  Choose the sample size and sampling technique such as random, convenient or any other  Decide upon how to collect data – interviews, questionnaires or any other  Data collection-on individual basis or in group form?  Equipment/material required for research  Pilot work

…steps involved in research  Identify the statistical analysis needed  Formulating a timetable  Ethical feasibility of research  Conduct the research  Data analysis  Interpretation of results  Report writing  Dissemination

Conclusion Research is a continuous process Research tries to answer research questions and at the same time leads to new research questions Never useless even if the hypothesis is rejected, always a useful process !!