Hello friend how are you? Today with the help of this blog I am going to put some light on a very interesting and mind-boggling part of academics writing. I am talking about Types of research. You read it right. Today we are going to discuss more on this topic in a detailed manner. Research is a familiar word for the students who are doing post-graduation or PhD. Also to all my science-loving friends, you must be familiar with this word from a long time.
Research and science especially go hand in hand. When we talk about science, the other word which comes in our mind is research. Research helps in scientific discoveries. Every new medicine is a product of long research. But the word research is now not limited to the field of science only. In almost every discipline different types of research are present currently. Research is a vital part of the development and discoveries of new things in all academic subjects. From science to psychology every subject now has some and some kind of research work in it.
So today with the help of this blog I am going to talk about:
- What Research is?
- Two main types of research
- Difference types of research and a thin line of demarcation in them
- What research is not?
- Why is research helpful to students?
What Research is?
Research is a systematic inquiry on a specific topic. When you want to get the information on a particular topic, you take a process to enhance your knowledge. There are different types of research out there. But it depends on you what type you prefer.
A lot of casual researches these days begins with a Google query (“Who, what, how?”) and you will end on a Wiki page. Getting informative data is comparatively easy. The knowledge already exists. You just have to search a trustworthy source for it. Assessing credibility is the hard part.
Why is research helpful to students?
This question may come to your psyche while you are in your academic career. You often think that what is a need of doing a research work? Why universities want us to carry out research. Then read below to find your answer.
Answer of the question raised above
- It teaches them to inquire about things that are said and done, rather than accepting or rejecting them at face value;
- It teaches them to gather evidence for things that are said and done, before making decisions;
- Research teaches them how to gather that evidence, in ways that minimize bias;
- It teaches them to consider alternatives before making decisions;
- in the process, they learn to evaluate things that are said and done from the weaknesses and strengths of those arguments or events;
- therefore it increases the chances that their decisions are going to be helpful/realistic ones;
- It increases the chances that any advice that the student gives will be well-judged;
- It demonstrates that the experience of doing real-world research is different from the idea of how that research will go into the researcher’s imagination, and this insight is valuable. Humans are very prone to constructing ideas from nothing other than what is in their heads, and being able to compare that to reality is important for living a coping life.
So I hope you got your answer to the question of why you need to carry out research. Lots of students find research work difficult. They often get puzzled in this and end up in vain. Some students face selecting research approach from different types of research. To all those students I would suggest to look out for online assignment help websites. These websites are beneficial for students in several ways. They will provide you a well-researched research work in quick time. Moreover, your research paper is from the hands of the expert writer, so you do not need to think twice for it before submission.
Two main types of Research
Pure research is carried out to generate new human knowledge. To uncover new facts or fundamental principles you need pure research. The researcher wants to advance in a specific field, for example, neuroscience, by answering a specific question, such as “Why do humans sleep?” Pure research is based on experimentation and observation. The results of your research are published in peer-reviewed journals. This is science. Rigorous standards and methodologies exist to preserve objectivity and ensure the credibility of conclusions. (Things get squishy when corporations fund ostensibly pure research, as they frequently do.)
Applied research borrows ideas and techniques from pure research to serve a specific real-world goal. Goals are like creating a super soldier or improving the quality of hospital care or finding new ways to market any product. While ethics are as important, and methods can be more relaxed. By this, I meant changing the questions you ask while doing a study, or making the most of an imperfect sample group because you’re tight on time. Your research is successful only to the extent that it adds to the stated goal. As with pure research, sometimes you accidentally discover something valuable you weren’t even looking for, and that’s a fantastic bonus.
Different types of research and a thin line of demarcation in them
So now you have understood about two main types of research in the above paragraph. But that is not enough. There are further types of research presentations. You may say these are the subdivision of above-mentioned types. Now you will learn about different types of research and basic difference in them.
Generative vs. exploratory research
This is the research you do before you know what you’re doing. This research leads to ideas and helps in defining the problem. Don’t think of this as just the earliest research. Even if you’re working on a current product or service, you might be looking for ideas. You need ideas for additional features. Generative research includes interviews, reviewing existing literature, and field observation,
Exploratory research, as the name says, intends to explore the research questions. It does not make to give conclusive or final solutions for the existing problems. Exploratory research is conducted with an aim to study a problem that does not have any solution yet.
The research is done in order to understand the nature of the problem. It is not done to provide conclusive evidence. But it helps in the better understanding of the problem. When a researcher conducts exploratory research, he/she should be willing to change his/her direction when new data reveals.
Exploratory research never gives you the final or conclusive answers to your research questions. But it explores the research topic on different levels. It has been seen that exploratory research is an initial stage of research. Exploratory research provides a basis of conclusive research. It will help in making of research design, sampling methodology and data collection method. Exploratory research tackles new problems on which no research has been done.
Descriptive vs. Analytical
Descriptive research consists of surveys and fact-finding inquiries of various kinds. The major reason to carry out descriptive research is describing the state of affairs as it exists at present. When we do descriptive result in social science and business research, we use the term Ex post facto research for descriptive research work. The main feature of this method is that the researcher doesn’t have control over the variables; he can only report things like what has happened or what is happening.
Most of the ex post facto research projects are made for descriptive studies. In these studies, the researcher seeks to measure items. Examples are; frequency of shopping, preferences of people, or similar data. Ex post facto studies also count attempts by researchers to discover causes, even when controlling variables is out of their hands. The methods of research use for descriptive research are survey methods of every kind. It includes comparative and co-relational methods. Whereas, in analytical research, Research use facts or already available information. He critically evaluates and analyzes the material.
Applied vs. Fundamental
Research can be of two types. One is applied (or action) research. Second is fundamental (to basic or pure) research. Applied research works by finding a solution for an immediate problem. These problems are faced by society or by industry whereas fundamental research is primarily concerned with the formulation of a theory. “Gathering knowledge for knowledge’s sake is termed ‘pure’ or ‘basic’ research.” Research which is more concerned with a natural phenomenon or relating to pure mathematics is fundamental research. Those research studies which are based on human behavior are also examples of fundamental research.
But applied research is based at conclusions. These conclusions are facing a concrete social or business problem. Applied research is to identify social, economic or political trends. These trends may affect a particular institution or copy research or marketing research. Thus, the basic aim of applied research is to find a solution to practical problems. Fundamental research is for finding information that has a broad base of applications. It is an add-on to the already existing scientific knowledge.
Quantitative vs. Qualitative
Quantitative research is recognized by its name. It is the measurement of quantity or amount. It is applicable to all things which we can measure in terms of quantity. Qualitative research is simply means quality. Something related to or involving quality or kind is qualitative research. For example, when we investigate the reason behind human behavior. This type of research is to discover underlying motives and desires, using in-depth interviews for the purpose. Other techniques of such research are sentence completion tests, word association tests, story completion tests.
Attitude or opinion research is also an example of kinds of qualitative research. Other examples are how people feel about a particular institution. Behavioral science has an important place for qualitative research. The aim of this research type is to discover the motives of human behavior. Through these researches, we can analyze the factors affecting behavior. This will further help in to motivate people to behave in a proper manner.
Conceptual research vs. Empirical research
Conceptual research is related to some abstract ideas or theory. It is mostly used by thinkers and philosophers to develop new concepts or to reinterpret existing ones. On the other hand, empirical research relies on experience or observation alone, often without due regard for system and theory. It is data-based research, coming up with conclusions which are capable of being verified by observation or experiment.
We can also call it as an experimental type of research; in such research, it is necessary to get the facts first, at their source, and actively to go about doing certain things to stimulate the production of desired information. In such research, the researcher must first provide himself with a working hypothesis or guess as to the probable results. He then works to get enough facts (data) to prove or disprove his hypothesis. He then sets up experimental designs which he thinks will manipulate the persons or the materials concerned so as to bring forth the desired information.
Such research is thus characterized by the experimenter’s control over the variables under study and his deliberate manipulation of one of them to study its effects. Empirical research is appropriate when the proof is sought that certain variables affect other variables in some way. Evidence that is gathered through empirical studies or experiments, is today considered to be the most powerful support possible for a given hypothesis.
When a student begins his research work, he often does not pay attention to different types of research. In my opinion, selecting a particular research type from types mentioned above of research is of vital importance. You cannot neglect your research work and get away with it. If you find difficulty in doing research, you can get in touch with our Australian assignment experts for academic writing.
What research is not?
Research work is not about asking people what they like and what not
When you begin interviewing people involved in business decisions, you will hear them saying what they like and don’t like. “Like” word doesn’t suits a critical thinker. On subconscious level, we all wish that things we do to be liked. So it’s easy to treat likability as a leading success indicator. But the concept of “liking” is as subjective as it is empty. Getting a like is a superficial mental state unmoored from any specific behavior. This means you can’t get any useful insights from any given individual reporting that they like or hate a particular thing.
Research is not a political tool
Don’t let your methods come out of a fake desire. By this, I meant to show yourself a smart or conform with other person’s picture of research. Often clients will argue for doing interviews in a usability lab even when it isn’t appropriate, just because it feels research. You’ll need to explain and brief them why interviews with method and purpose are more valuable and correct than having a social conversation with a random person.
In the best possibilities, you can bring up the real-world facts and insights you collect to bring an other’s perspective to internal debates and power struggles that threaten your ability to get good work done. At the very least, it’s up to everyone participating in the research to hold the line and not let interpersonal dynamics influence your findings. Watch out for those who would use information gathering for political purposes or as a popularity contest.
It is not a defense of opinions
Research is also not a defense of opinions. The aim of research work is to reveal and bring out the facts and truth on papers. You have to avoid a different situation with the opposite party’s opinions (unless you need to write a persuasive research paper).
Conclusion
So I hope after reading the above information, you may get a good hand over types of research. Let’s have quick recall of the things we have discussed in the blog. Firstly I have discussed the purpose of research for students. What importance does a research work held in a students life? After that, I have explained you the two basic types of research, i.e., applied research and pure research. Moving on further I have explained you the further types of research with a small comparison. In the end, I discussed what research is not. I hope this blog fulfilled the purpose and looking for your feedback. Kindly provide your feedback and help me to improve. Thank you for reading.
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