Lecture: SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.

RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this lecture is to introduce you to the realm where science is directly
created, where the collected facts generate ideas, and vague guesses turn into
discoveries. This is the area of scientific research. We will show how to properly
organize a scientific research, what stages a researcher must go through in the course
of performing scientific work.

In this lecture we will answer the following questions: What is scientific research? What
types of research are there? Where does unscientific work end and where does
scientific work begin? How to properly organize research activities? How to formulate
the topic and purpose of the research?

Key concepts of this lecture: scientific research, fundamental research, applied

research, empirical research, theoretical research, stages of scientific research,
research topic, applied problem, scientific problem, object and subject of research,
purpose of research.

THEORETICAL MATERIAL

1. The concept of scientific research. Stages of scientific research

Science as a system of knowledge is created and developed in the process of scientific

research. What is scientific research? In short, this is the main form of scientific activity
(along with supporting, innovative and organizational activity in science). In more detail,
scientific research is an activity aimed at studying an object in order to establish the
laws of its structure, emergence and development, as well as the further use of the
knowledge gained in the practical activities of people.

Scientific research is subdivided into fundamental and applied.

Fundamental research is a theoretical and experimental activity aimed at gaining

knowledge about the patterns of development of nature, society and humans (for
example, the study of patterns of human behavior in situations of economic decision-
making can be classified as fundamental).

Applied research is an activity aimed at obtaining and using knowledge to solve

applied problems arising in the field of practical human activity (for example, applied
research includes work on creating a tax accounting methodology in Ukraine).

In addition, theoretical and empirical scientific research is distinguished. They differ both
in the nature of the research subject and in the methods used.
Empirical research is factual research, which is aimed primarily at identifying
relationships in the object under study and is based on observational and experimental
data.
Theoretical research is a study aimed at explaining the essence of relationships in the
objects under study, at revealing the internal mechanism of phenomena. The ultimate
purpose of theoretical research is to develop concepts and theories.
Scientific research requires a scientist to carry out various types of work: studying
literary sources, conducting experiments, publishing results, etc. These types of work
form a certain sequence of stages, which obeys the rules for the formation of new
scientific knowledge (Fig. 1 and 2). Let us consider further some of the stages of
scientific research in more detail.

Formulation of the research topic

Formulation of a scientific problem,

study of its history and current state

Determination of the purpose, objectives,

object, subject of scientific research

Developing a hypothesis

Definition of research methodology

Drawing up a work plan

Creation and processing of new information

(conducting observations, experiments and their analysis)

Drawing conclusions and proposals

Literary presentation of research

materials

Brainstorming, consulting and reviewing

work

Implementation of research results

Figure: 1. Stages of scientific research

Background Scientific research New
information information
about Formation: Creating a
NEW

Drawing up a work plan

TOPICS
INFORMATION

Data processing
TOPIC 
PURPOSE CONCLUSIONS
PROBLEM 
HYPOTHESES  observation, RECOMMEN-
METHODS   experiment, DATIONS
METHODO-  analysis
LOGIES

Figure: 2. Grouping the stages of scientific research from the point of view of the
information processing process

2. Formulation of the topic, problems and purposes of scientific research

Scientific research is a process that requires a significant investment of time, intellectual

and material resources of the researcher. In order for the costs incurred to pay off, the
resulting research result must be in demand by society (industrial enterprises,
academia, the general public, etc.).

The social value of a research result is determined by its novelty, reliability and
usefulness. These requirements become especially important when conducting
scientific research in a market economy on the principles of self-financing.

The social value of a research result is determined by its novelty,

reliability and usefulness. These requirements become especially
important when conducting scientific research in a market economy on the
principles of self-financing.

The novelty, reliability and usefulness of the result are formed and strengthened at each
stage of scientific research, but their cornerstone is laid at the first stage, when the
researcher is faced with the task of rationally formulating the topic and purpose of
scientific work. Let's consider the process of forming the topic and the purpose of the
study in more detail - step by step. It should be noted that this process is iterative, so
each of the subsequent steps can lead to revision and refinement of the results of the
previous step.
Step # 1. Formulation of the research topic. There are three types of topics:
"initiative" (independently formulated by the researcher), "custom" (ordered by public or
private organizations) and "collective", that is, emerging as a result of the development
of topics of problems on which a specific research team is working.

Requirements for the formulation of the name of the research topic: the title
should reflect the SUBJECT of the research and consist of no more than 7 words.

In order to correctly formulate the initiative research topic, it is necessary to find the
intersection of the range of scientific interests of the researcher, the range of topics
provided with information, and the range of topics that are relevant.

The relevance of a topic is a concept that characterizes the public need for research
on this topic.

Relevance is where there is a need to resolve some problem that has arisen in the
theoretical or practical human activity. In order to assess the relevance of the topic, you
need to answer the question: "Who needs it?", That is, "Which industry or knowledge
needs the expected scientific results?"

The relevance of the topic is a necessary (although not sufficient) condition

for the usefulness of the research result.

Step # 2. Identification of an applied problem. As already mentioned, scientific

research is divided into fundamental and applied. Much of the technical research is of
an applied nature. The purpose of applied research is to solve applied (practical)
problems. Therefore, in order to correctly formulate the purpose of applied research, it is
necessary, within the framework of the chosen topic, to identify an applied problem,
which will become, as it were, the “center” of the research (Example 1).

An applied problem is a situation that has arisen in practice, which is characterized by

a contradiction between two states: existing and desired. Resolving a problem means
closing the gap between the two.

Example 1

Identification of an applied problem

Let us consider as an example applied scientific research devoted to the improvement

of the tax system in Ukraine. Within the framework of this topic, a number of problems
are revealed that economic entities face in their daily practice. The main problem is
related to the insufficient substantiation of the tax burden on manufacturing enterprises.
This problem can initiate scientific research, both in the field of macroeconomics and in
the field of enterprise management. As a working hypothesis, it can be assumed that
when forming the tax burden of an enterprise, one should take into account not only the
task of replenishing the state budget, but also the interests of personnel, as well as the
interests of the development of this enterprise as one of the links of the country's
production and economic system.

Step # 3. Identification of a scientific problem. In the event that the stated applied
problem is characterized by the sufficiency of scientific knowledge for its solution, it is a
scientific problem.

If there are not enough funds to solve it, it becomes a scientific problem (Example 2).

A scientific task is a contradiction characterized by the sufficiency of scientific

knowledge for its resolution.
A scientific problem is a contradiction, for the solution of which it is necessary to go
beyond the old, already attained knowledge.

Example 2

Identifying a scientific problem

Let's return to example 1. If in the case we are considering, science has already
proposed effective methods and models for determining the optimal tax burden on
business entities, taking into account the interests of the state, owners, personnel and
development prospects of enterprises, then it remains only to apply these methods -
both at the state level and and in enterprises in the process of defining a business tax
strategy. Otherwise, the applied problem provokes the emergence of a scientific
problem, the essence of which is the absence in the domestic economy of such
methods and models for determining the optimal tax burden on manufacturing
enterprises that would take into account the interests of the state, owners, personnel, as
well as the development prospects of these enterprises.

As a result of the formulation of the topic and the problem, the object and subject of the
study are determined.

The object of research is a phenomenon (object or process) that generates a problem

situation and, as a result, is chosen for study.
The subject of research is the side of the object of research that is considered in this
research work. The object and the subject of research are related to each other as
general and particular (for example, the object is an enterprise, the subject is the
accounting of the results of the investment activity of the enterprise).
Step #4. Statement of the research purpose.

The purpose of the study is the subject of the researcher's aspiration and is described
as a list of required scientific results.

The purpose statement can be obtained as a negation of the problem statement

(Example 3). At the same time, in order to concretize the purpose, it is important to find
out which aspects of the problem have already been developed by other researchers,
and which aspects have not yet been touched upon. The logical relationship between
the purpose, problem and topic of scientific research is shown in Fig. 3. and 4.

For a ship that does not know where to

sail, there is no tailwind.

Proverb

Purpose setting is one of the fundamental stages of scientific research.

Knowledgeable people say: "If you solve the problem poorly, then you will get
an ineffective solution, but if you formulated the purpose incorrectly, then you
will solve other problems altogether, and the results obtained may not be in
demand by society."

RESEARCH TOPIC
APPLIED
PROBLEM

PRACTICE

SCIENTIFIC
PROBLEM

SCIENCE

RESEARCH PURPOSE
purpose

Figure: 3. The logical relationship of the topic, problem and purpose of scientific
research
Example 3

Statement of the purpose of applied scientific research

The purpose of the research we are considering in examples 1 and 2 can be formulated
in the form of a denial of the identified scientific problem. In this case, the formulation of
the purpose will sound as follows: to develop a set of methods and models for
determining the optimal tax burden on a manufacturing enterprise in the domestic
economy based on taking into account the interests of the state, owners, personnel and
the prospects for the development of an enterprise in their relationship.

The object of our research is the tax system, in general, and the process of determining
the optimal tax burden on manufacturing enterprises, in particular.

Subject of research: methods and models for determining the optimal tax burden on
manufacturing enterprises.

Since it is advisable to reflect the subject of the research in the topic of the work, the
title of the topic will sound as follows: "Methods and models for determining the optimal
tax burden on manufacturing enterprises."

problem causing
phenomenon
Applied
problem Object

insufficient scientific investigated side of

knowledge to solve an the object
applied problem

Scientific
problem Subject

denial of problem research subject

statement formulation

Topic
Purpose name

Figure: 4. The relationship of the formulations of the problem, purpose, object, subject
and name of the research topic
Step #5. Formulation of research objectives. The stated purpose of the research is
further refined and decomposed, resulting in a list of particular tasks of scientific work.

For a correct understanding of the essence of the problem being solved and a clear
formulation of the list of tasks, it is necessary to accurately outline the subject area of
the study and identify its structure.

The subject area of research is the totality of all objects and phenomena that must be
taken into account in the process of scientific research in order to correctly understand
the problem and achieve the set purpose.
Structuring the domain means identifying the boundaries, elements of the domain,
and relationships between elements. The main form of structuring is building a structural
model of the subject area.
The structural model of the subject area is a figurative-sign model depicted in the
form of a graph, the vertices of which are objects and phenomena of the subject area,
and the edges are the relationships between them.

"The new is the well-structured old." (From

the book "Seven Notes of Management")

CONCLUSIONS

After studying lecture, you learned the following:

1. What transforms research activities into scientific research? Obtaining new,

reliable knowledge about the studied subject area.
2. How to properly organize research activities? It is necessary to follow the logical
sequence of the stages of scientific research.