Types of Research

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BASIC RESEARCH
Continued from: Method of Business Research
Research can be classified by purpose or by method. If we categorise it by purpose, it would fall into two major categories: Basic
Research and Applied Research, while in case of method, it would be deductive research and inductive research.

BASIC RESEARCH
Also called Pure or fundamental Research, it is undertaken for increase in knowledge. There is no direct benefit as it is a research for
the sake of research. It is conducted to satisfy any curiosity such as: (a) what makes things happen, (b) why society changes and (c)
why social relations are in a certain way. In fact, it is the source of most new theories, principles and ideas. Basic research rarely
helps anyone directly. It only stimulates new ways of thinking. The main motivation is to expand man's knowledge. There is
absolutely no commercial value to the discoveries resulting from such research.
However, in the long run, it forms the basis of applied research or development commercial products. If basic work is done first, then
applied spin-offs often eventually result from this research. As Dr. George Smoot of LBNL says, "People cannot foresee the future
well enough to predict what's going to develop from basic research. If we only did "applied research", we would still be making better
spears."
To sum up, basic research is purely theoretical to increase our understanding of certain phenomena or behavior but does not seek to
solve any existing problem.

APPLIED RESEARACH
Applied research
It is use of basic research or past theories, knowledge and methods for solving an existing problem. It deals with practical problems.
It is opposed to pure research which is not problem-oriented but for the increase in knowledge which may or may not be used in
future.

In the present world situation, more emphasis is being given to applied research to solve problems arising out of overpopulation and
scarcity of natural resources.

Applied research should not be treated the same as Research & Development (R&D) which is involved in developing products
demanded by the existing clients. Applied Research, on the other hand, focuses on uncovering what needs are not being met and
use that information in designing products or services that would create their own demand. Thus, applied research brings in new
customers and also provides better products and services to the existing customers. In old days, the mobile phone was expensive,
bulky and had a short range. Applied Research foresaw that this product would have a limited market and stressed on cost-cutting,
reduced weight and long-distance communication. Such measures caused a heavy demand.

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METHODS or APPROACHES
In research, conclusions are based two methods known as the deductionand induction. Both are widely used in research projects.
This helps the researchers to understand, explain, or predict business phenomena.
Deduction follows an approach which is “top-down” or “from general to specific.” On the other hand, induction is “bottom-up” in nature
or from specific to general. In deduction, we start from a theory and try to prove it right with the help of available information. In
induction, we observe some happening, deduct a pattern and draw conclusion.

EXAMPLE OF DEDUCTION
1. All men are mortal. (General and no specific to one man)
2. Socrates is a man
3. (Therefore,) Socrates is mortal ( specific)
EXAMPLE OF INDUCTION
This ice is cold. (Specific, based on a direct observation.)
All ice is cold. (General, can be applied to any ice)

Take another example:  3 + 5 = 8 and eight is an even number. Therefore, an odd number added to another odd number will result in
an even number.

EXAMPLE OF BOTH DEDUCTION AND INDUCTION

1 You push the light switch and find no light

2 You ask the question, Why no light? (induction)

3 You infer a conclusion (hypotheses) to answer the question and explain the fact that the bulb is burned out. (deduction)

4 You use this hypothesis to conclude (deduce) that the light will not go on when we push the switch. We know from experience that
burned-out bulb will not light.

DEDUCTIVE APPROACH
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DEDUCTIVE METHOD
Like Sherlock Holmes, the starting point is a given situation and moving to a specific conclusion. All relevant information is
assembled, studies to solve the mystery. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, described deduction as "drawing conclusions by applying
rules or principles; logically moving from a general rule or principle to a specific solution". It is the process of reaching a conclusion
that is guaranteed to follow, if the evidence provided is true and the reasoning used to reach the conclusion is correct.
An investigator is distracted with the noise and thinks that “noise adversely affects mental problem solving.” It can be turned into a
research question like “would it be more conducive to solve mental puzzle when there is no noise.”
In order to test it, two puzzles are given to the same group, one in noise-less conditions and other in a blaring noise. If the results of
test conducted under noisy-enironment are poor it can be deduced or concluded that controlling the aversive noise is helpful in
solving mental puzzles. (Someone may say “why research, it is apparent?” It is logical to say it but it had been previously proved and
awareness has been created of the noise pollution. In fact, noise can be measure in term of decibel (dB) and by research, it has
been established how much noise is tolerable under what conditions. Zero dB describes perfect silence while 140 dB would reflect a
gunshot.
In deductive method, the premises (basis or evidence) provide a guarantee of the true conclusion. Consider the following example:

1. There are 32 books on the top-shelf of the book case,

2. There are 12 books on the lower-shelf of the book case.

3. There are no books anywhere on the bookcase

From the above, it can be concluded there are 44 books in the bookcase.

INDUCTIVE APPROACH

INDUCTIVE METHOD
Also known as Inductive reasoning or logic, this methods involves moving from a specific situation to a general conclusion This is a
way of “theory-building”, whereby “specific facts are used to create a theory that explains relationships between the facts and allows
prediction of future knowledge”. This method is more open-ended and exploratory. This does not give 100% guarantee of truth but
probability of being true.

Here is an example:

1. Socrates was Greek. (premise)

2. Most Greeks eat fish. (premise)
3. Socrates ate fish. (conclusion)
While the premises were true, it is possible that conclusion was false. Maybe Socrates was allergic to fish, for example. It can be said
that inductive approach is weaker than deductive approach as there is possibility of arriving at false conclusion. However, it is not
entirely true.

Conclusion
This hub states categories of research. If one wants to classify the research by purpose, it would be basic research and applied
research. While basic research is done for the sake of gaining knowledge or exploration or invention, the applied research uses the
knowledge gained through basic research for solving problem. While discovery of laser was through basic research, its subsequent
use in remote-control pointer or surgery is a result of applied research.

Another classification is deductive research and inductive research. In deduction, we move from general to specific while in induction,
it is the other way round. Both methods are used in research.