Topic 3

STEPS OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS

Albert Einstein said that, ‘If we knew what it was were doing, then it would not be called
Research.’

What is Scientific Research?

Science refers to a method for generating a body of knowledge. Christensen (2004) defines
Science as representing logic of inquiry or a specific method to be followed in solving problems
thus acquiring a body of knowledge.

Scientific research involves an orderly and systematic process that focuses on being objective
and gathering a multitude of information for analysis so that a researcher can come to a
conclusion. This process is used in all research and evaluation projects, regardless of the research
method that is used. The process consists of a number of steps: Recognition and definition of a
problem, formulating research objectives and questions, literature review, formulation of
hypotheses, research design, data collection, analysis of data, interpretation of data and reporting.

Characteristics of Scientific Research

Horton and Hunt (1984) identified nine characteristics of Scientific Research as follows:

 Precision- It has to be as exact as possible, providing exact numbers or measurement and

not use colorful literature or vague language. e.g. instead of saying that ‘I interviewed so
many people’ one should say that ‘ I interviewed fifty persons’.
 Accuracy- It must portray truth or correctness representing things exactly as they are.
There must be no exaggeration, fantasizing or unwarranted conclusions.
 Verifiable evidence- There must be factual observations which can be ascertained on the
ground.
 Systematization- The research must attempt to find all relevant data in a systematic and
organized way in order to get reliable conclusions.
 Objectivity-It should be free from all biases and vested interests. A researcher must
disassociate his/her personal values, beliefs and preferences and instead should accept
facts as they are. The findings may not necessarily in agreement to his/her expectations.
 Recording- All data collected must be recorded or documented
 Controlling conditions- This is the basic technique used in scientific experimentation
whereby all variables are controlled and one is held constant. The constant is then varied
to see what happens. It works on the principle of eliminating the influence of extraneous
variables so that an unambiguous claim about cause and effect can be made. This is in
order to determine which variable has produced the observed results.
  Training investigators- this involves imparting necessary knowledge to investigators so
that they are able to produce authentic reports.

Three of the most important characteristics of Scientific Research are Control, Operationalism
and Replication.

 Control is explained above.

 Operationalism- Early scholars like Bridgman (1927), argued that science must be
specific and precise and that each concept must be defined by the steps or operations used
to measure them. Example is that if length was measured with a ruler or tape measure
graded in centimeters, length would be defined as a specific number of centimeters etc.
 Replication- This refers to reproduction of the results obtained from one study in
additional studies.

Research Process steps:

Step 1: Identify/ Define the Problem

The first step in the process is to identify a problem or question to be answered through research.
For example, we know that plants require nitrogen fertilizer. If a crop is not growing very well,
we might wonder if the lack of growth is due to inadequate nitrogen. Or, the crop may be
growing, but we might wonder if we can stimulate the crop to growth even better if we try a new
type of nitrogen fertilizer.

Step 2: Literature Review

In literature Review, one has to get as much information about the topic as possible from
empirical or theoretical studies that have already been conducted. Are there published studies
that have investigated the same or similar topic? You do not want to conduct a research project
that has already been done. You want to add to the current body of knowledge. The best
approach is to conduct an exhaustive review of the scientific literature.

Step 3: Formulate the hypotheses

A hypothesis is a statement that the experiment will attempt to prove. An example of a

hypothesis would be: Integrating information systems will improve the organizations’
productivity. The purpose of the experimentation would be to prove the hypothesis. Sometimes
one develops a null hypothesis. A null hypothesis is a statement that the experiment will attempt
to disprove. Sometimes one can never prove a hypothesis, so one attempts to disapprove all
possible null hypotheses. An example of a null hypothesis would be: Information systems do not
improve organizations’ efficiency.

Step 4: Plan the research design

This entails outlining the process of how, what and where the data is to be collected, processed
and analysed. An experiment is designed to test the hypothesis, null hypothesis or satisfy the
research objective. This is the critical component of the scientific method. The design of the
experiment is what separates the scientific method from testimonials, general observations and
assumptions.

Step 5: Data Collection- This involves actual collection of facts and information in accordance
with the research design. Sometimes it may become necessary to change the design to meet some
unforeseen difficulty. The experimental units must be measured in order to determine the effect
of the treatments. For plants, measurements may be of growth rate, size, color, flowering, yield,
internal physiological factors or constituents, or whatever is needed to determine the response to
the treatments.

Step 6: Data Analysis- Involves classifying, tabulating and comparing the data, making
whatever tests are necessary to get the results. The data must be organized into lists, tables,
figures and/or graphs.

Step 7: Data Interpretation and Conclusions- This is the point at which it is established
whether the original hypothesis is found true or false and is confirmed or rejected, or are the
results inconclusive? What has the research added to our knowledge? What implications does it
have it for sociological theory? What new questions have been posed for further research?

Step 8: Report Writing: This is the most important part of the research. The research has no
value if the results are not communicated with the scientific community, one’s colleagues,
students and/or the public. The research becomes credible only if it is reviewed by and accepted
by one’s scientific peers in the form of a refereed publication. A refereed publication is a
scientific article that is submitted for publication in a refereed scientific journal. The article is
sent to several scientists (the referees) for an anonymous review, and they recommend whether
or not the article should be published in the refereed journal. If accepted for publication, the
results and conclusions from the study have withstood the highest level of scientific scrutiny and
are deemed acceptable by the scientific community. After the results are published in the
refereed journal, then it is desirable to publish the findings in popular articles, industry journal,
etc.