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effectively carry out research and the desired sequencing of these steps.
The research process consists of a number of closely related activities.
But such activities overlap continuously rather than following a strictly
prescribed sequence.
At times, the first step determines the nature of the last step to be
undertaken. If subsequent procedures have not been taken into
account in the early stages, serious difficulties may arise which may
even prevent the completion of the study.
The various steps involved in a research process are not mutually
exclusive; nor they are separate and distinct. They do not necessarily
follow each other in any specific order and the researcher has to be
constantly anticipating at each step in the research process the
requirements of the subsequent steps.
Steps in Research
Research Problem
The first step of a research process is to identify a problem. The
Research Problem
There must be at least two courses of action, to be pursued. A course o
Research Problem
There must be alternative means (or the courses of action) for obtaining
the objective(s)one wishes to attain. This means that there must be at least
two means available to a researcher for if he has no choice of means, he
cannot have a problem.
There must remain some doubt in the mind of a researcher with regard to
the selection of alternatives. This means that research must answer the
question concerning the relative efficiency of the possible alternatives.
There must be some environment(s) to which the difficulty pertains.
Thus, a research problem is one which requires a researcher to find out the
best solution for the given problem, i.e., to find out by which course of action
the objective can be attained optimally in the context of a given environment.
Research Design
The formidable problem that follows the task of defining the research
Research Design
The designing decisions happen to be in respect of:
What is the study about?
Why is the study being made?
Where will the study be carried out?
What type of data is required?
Where can the required data be found?
What periods of time will the study include?
What will be the sample design?
What techniques of data collection will be used?
How will the data be analyzed?
In what style will the report be prepared?
Research Design
Keeping in view the above stated design decisions, one may split the
overall
research design into the following parts:
The Sampling Design: Deals with the method of selecting items to be
observed for the given study
The Observational Design: Relates to the conditions under which
the observations are to be made
The Statistical Design: Concerns with the question of how many
items are to be observed and how the information and data gathered
are to be analyzed;
The Operational Design: Deals with the techniques by which the
procedures specified in the sampling, statistical and observational
designs can be carried out.
Research Design
The important features of a research design are as under:
It is a plan that specifies the sources and types of information relevant
to the research problem.
It is a strategy specifying which approach will be used for gathering and
analyzing the data.
It also includes the time and cost budgets since most studies are done
under these two constraints.
In brief, research design must, at least, contain:
A clear statement of the research problem
Procedures and techniques to be used for gathering information
The population to be studied
Methods to be used in processing and analyzing data.