Science and Research

What is Research

Research is defined as careful consideration of study regarding a particular concern or a problem using scientific methods. "Research is a systematic inquiry to describe, explain, predict and control the observed phenomenon. Research involves inductive and deductive methods."

Inductive research methods are used to analyze the observed phenomenon whereas, deductive methods are used to verify the observed phenomenon. Inductive approaches are associated with qualitative research and deductive methods are more commonly associated with quantitative research.

One of the most important aspects of research is the statistics associated with it, conclusion, or result. It is about the "thought" that goes behind the research. Research is conducted with a purpose to understand:

• What do organizations or businesses want to find out?
• What are the processes that need to be followed to chase the idea?
• What are the arguments that need to be built around a concept?
• What is the evidence that will be required that people believe in the idea or concept?

Characteristics of Research

1. A systematic approach is followed in research. Rules and procedures are an integral part of research that set the objective of a research process. Researchers need to practice ethics and code of conduct while making observations or drawing conclusions.

2. Research is based on logical reasoning and involves both inductive and deductive methods.

3. The data or knowledge that is derived is in real-time, actual observations in the natural settings.

4. There is an in-depth analysis of all the data collected from research so that there are no anomalies associated with it.

5. Research creates a path for generating new questions. More research opportunities can be generated from existing research.

6. Research is analytical in nature. It makes use of all the available data so that there is no ambiguity in inference.

7. Accuracy is one of the important characters of research, the information that is obtained while conducting the research should be accurate and true to its nature. For example, research conducted in a controlled environment like a laboratory. Here accuracy is measured of instruments used, calibrations, and the final result of the experiment.

What Are the Types of Research?

According to the purpose of the study, types of research methods can be divided into two categories: Applied research and Fundamental research. Applied research is also referred to as action research, and fundamental research is sometimes called basic or pure research. Following are the types of research:

Basic Research: Basic research is mostly conducted to enhance knowledge. It covers fundamental aspects of research. The main motivation for this research is knowledge expansion. It is non-commercial research and doesn't facilitate creating or inventing anything. For example, an experiment is a good example of basic research.

Applied Research: Applied research focuses on analyzing and solving real-life problems. This type of research refers to the study that helps solve practical problems using scientific methods. This research plays an important role in solving issues that impact the overall well-being of humans. For example, finding a specific cure for a disease.

Problem-Oriented Research: As the name suggests, problem-oriented research is conducted to understand the exact nature of the problem to find out relevant solutions. The term "problem" refers to having issues or two thoughts while making any decisions.

Problem Solving Research: This type of research is conducted by companies to understand and resolve their problems. Problem-Solving research uses applied research to find solutions to existing problems.

Qualitative Research: Qualitative research is a process that is about inquiry, that helps in-depth understanding of the problems or issues in their natural settings. This is a non- statistical research method.

Qualitative research is heavily dependent on the experience of the researchers and the questions used to probe the sample. The sample size is usually restricted to 6-10 people in a sample. Open-ended questions are asked in a manner that one question leads to another. The purpose of asking open-ended questions is to gather as much information as possible from the sample.

Quantitative Research:;Quantitative research is a structured way of collecting data and analyzing it to conclude. Unlike qualitative research, this research method uses a computational, statistical, and similar method to collect and analyze data. Quantitative data is all about numbers.

Quantitative research involves a larger population as a greater number of people means more data. In this manner, more data can be analyzed to obtain accurate results. This type of research method uses closed-ended questions because, in quantitative research, the researchers are typically looking at measuring the extent and gathering foolproof statistical data.

Online surveys, questionnaires, and polls are preferable data collection tools used in quantitative research. There are various methods of deploying surveys or questionnaires. In recent times online surveys and questionnaires have gained popularity. Survey respondents can receive these surveys on mobile phones, emails or can simply use the internet to access surveys or questionnaires.