Introduction to Research Methods and Report Writing

A Practical Guide for Students and Researchers in Social Sciences and the Humanities

Mligo

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781498278515
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

This book provides introductory materials on research methods and report writing that aim at guiding students and researchers towards effective research and reporting of their findings. Unlike the many volumes on research that are mostly theoretical, this book originated in the classroom and grew out of the students' own needs to design and conduct satisfactory research in order to meet academic requirements. It is also designed to help experienced researchers in their research ventures. In fulfilling this purpose, the author uses simple, straightforward language. He also provides appropriate examples and illustrations to enable the reader to grasp the basic concepts of research. The book will prove a useful guide for students and researchers in social sciences and humanities who wish to transform research theory into real and feasible research projects.

Chapter 1

MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH

“In virtually every subject area, our knowledge is incomplete and problems are waiting to be solved. We can address our incomplete knowledge and unsolved problems by asking relevant questions and then seeking answers through systematic research. We have many tools at our disposal to help us do these things—not only physical tools but also mental and social tools.”

—Leedy & Ormrod, Practical Research, 1)

Introduction

WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THERE are more questions than answers. We ask questions to almost everything around us. Some of the questions we ask are the following:

a) Why do people die due to Malaria?

b) Why are African people and nations poor?

c) Why do we go to school?

d) How can we improve the living conditions of people in villages?

e) Which is the best way to use in order to be good academicians?

f) What is technology?

g) What problems are brought by the use of telephones in schools?

h) What do people in villages know about computers?

Every question above inquires about a particular situation in the community which needs some sort of improvement. This means that people are not always without a need. People are always in need of better life, in need of knowledge, in need of good relationship, in need of good shelter, in need of advancement in technology, in need of knowledge of what goes on in other places, and in need of communication. Therefore, need is prerequisite and inherent to human life and well being.

In order to satisfy people’s needs, research is required. People’s needs raise in them curiosity, puzzle, wonder, and surprise about the existence of problems around them that ultimately push them towards an urge to know.1 In order to know why people die of malaria, why African people and states are poor, why there is a need to go to school, how we can improve the living conditions of people in villages, the best way to use in order to become good academicians, the meaning of technology, the problems caused by students’ use of telephones in schools, and what people in villages know about computers, research must be done. Hence, this chapter introduces the meaning, basic types, assumptions, characteristics, importance of research, and the research process. The aim of this chapter is to provide students and researchers with the basic ideas of research in order for them to understand the discussion in the following chapters.

What is Research?

The most convenient and simple way to understand the concept of “research” is to deduce it from its etymology. Etymologically, the word research literally comes from two syllabi: the prefix “Re–” which means again, once more, or anew, and the verb “–search” which means examine carefully, or test carefully. We can say briefly that research is “examining an issue again and carefully” through asking relevant questions about it in search for answers.2 We say that research is “examining an issue again” because the first examination was done when you encountered it for the first time; an encounter that caused you to have curiosity, puzzle, and wonder about it. In that sense, all human beings with a sound mind are researchers because they all wonder, are puzzled or surprised by their existing situations, and ask questions about those situations seeking answers for them.

Research can be formal or informal. There is a difference between informal (lay) research and formal (specialized) research. Formal research follows scientific procedures to discover answers about a problem, while informal research follows no scientific procedures.3 However, our concern in this book is formal research; and whenever we mention the term ‘research,’ it will refer to formal research.

There are several other advanced definitions of research, especially formal research. Some of these definitions are the following: first, research is the systematic search for knowledge about existing phenomena which are unknown to us. When we do not know about what causes malaria, we do research in order to learn about it. When we do not know why African people and states are poor, we do research in order to discern the reasons for the African poverty. When we do not know why people in villages have bad living conditions, we do research in order to know the reasons for their bad living conditions. Therefore, research is the systematic search for knowledge about things we do not know in order for us to know them.

Second, research is the search for answers about questions of our everyday life. Most of the questions above concern our everyday life. For an academician, there is no simplistic answer to any single question. Every question needs concrete answers that convince a person to whom it is provided. In order to have convincing answers for the question, one has to do research. This is why we say that research is the search for convincing (not satisfactory) answers to questions of our everyday life. Therefore, in doing research for answering the question we do three things: first, we pose the question itself (we determine the problem); second, we collect data in order to answer that question (we conduct research); third, we present the answer we have obtained from the collected data (we write a formal report to disseminate the findings).4 These three things are important for any research done within the social sciences and the humanities; and they summarize what it really means by “social research.”

Third, Nancy J. Vyhmeister, quoting Isaac Felipe Azofeifa provides another very comprehensive definition of research which you should strive to know. She defines research as follows: “Research is a (1) systematic search for (2) adequate information to reach (3) objective knowledge of a (4) specific topic.”5 Let us examine further some of the individual aspects of this definition.

Why is research systematic? According to the definition above, it is systematic because it needs efforts from you as researcher in order for it to be accomplished. It is rigorous in its nature. It also needs clear and logical methods or procedures in order to accomplish it. In this case, research is not easy; it is something that needs time and energy in order to accomplish it.6

What is adequate information? According to the definition above, it is the information that emanates from questions or problems existing in the community, not from knowledge emanating from what one just thinks in the mind. This assertion means that one does not need to just seat on a table, think about particular interesting questions, formulate those questions, formulate answers to those questions, and present them. That mere “table work,” though a good craft, it is not research and the information provided is not adequate in this sense.

What is objective knowledge? According to the definition above, it is the knowledge that you add to the prior existing knowledge, i.e., the knowledge that you add to what you already know. Always research looks for facts; it looks for unknown facts, not just possibilities or mere personal biases. Objective knowledge, therefore, must be that knowledge you contribute to what others have already done, not just repeating what others have just produced in their researches or reproducing your own emotional experiences. You must first know what others have done, and what you will strive to contribute to that existing knowledge without any personal bias.7 In order to know what the existing knowledge is, or what others have done and the gap needed to be filled, you have to do what we call Literature Review.8

What is a specific topic? According to the definition of research above, a specific topic is a theme with a clearly focused problem in it that you ...