The Course : Research Methodology

Level : 2nd Year (LMD)

Lecture 01: What is Research?

What is Research?

The word ‘research’ when described loosely can refer to conscious and unconscious

acts of answering questions. Continuously, people ask and inquire about various matters

throughout their daily lives. However, there is a distinction between this every day research

that we do and the real research that academia is concerned with. The latter will be

thouroughly defined in this module .

Definitions:

- Leedy and Ormond (2001) “… the systematic process of collecting and analysing
information (data) in order to increase our understanding of the phenomenon about
which we are concerned or interested”
- Slavin (2007) research is “organised and systematic inquiry that seeks to answer
well- framed questions”
- Brandtner et al. (2015) define research as a logical process of steps applied to collect
and analyse data in order to improve the knowledge and understanding of a topic or
issue respectively to solve a problem perceived.

All the previously given definitions agree that the term research refers to an

organized systematic process of inquiry that entails collection of data; documentation of

critical information; and analysis and interpretation of that data/information. In

accordance with suitable methodologies set by specific professional fields and academic

disciplines to provide new knowledge and understandings.

 Moreover, a research paper presents an original approach to some academic topic.

It is organised around a central thesis using insights based on research and citing

sources in a scholarly fashion.

What is Not Research?

Research is often taken with some misconceptions and here are few to take into account:

A research is NOT:

1. Merely Gathering and Introducing information: Gathering information from

sources such books or magazines isn’t research. Research, needs analysis,

interpretation and new conclusions to be classified as authentic and real

research.

2. Research is not transporting and rearranging facts: Merely transporting facts

from one resource to another does not constitute research.

- A person writing a report on a known subject is not research.

3. Knowing what you did not know before: If someone is in a city that he does not

belong to and he is obliged to spend the night in that city, he needs to look for

the cheapest hotel. Surfing the internet and finding out the low-priced hotel is

only something that he does not know about before and not research.

All these won’t qualify as a research.