THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN AFRICA

DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

LECTURE NOTES

Dr, Joseph Kavulya

LECTURE NOTES 1; INTRODUCTION TO
RESEARCH.
DEFINITION OF RESEARCH.

I. Research is a scientific investigation of a phenomenon

which includes the systematic collection, presentation,
analysis and unterpretation of date that link people’s
speculation with reality.
II. Reaserch is systematic exercise or endeavor
undertaken with thw aim of finding explanations,
clarifications or answers to problems or vague
situation. Research arises because of the existence of a
problem or a vague situan, which calls for a solution.
Therefore: if there was no problem or situation that
faced in reality then there would be no need for
reseach
N/B; also refered to as scientific reaserch.
IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING HOW RESEARCH IS
DONE.
1. Gives the student necessary reaserch methods
required for academic purposes by srudents.
2. Prepares carees of carrying out reseaech whereby
reaserch methododlogy and techniquies constitute the
tools of trede in this trade. Therefpre provides training
especcilay to new research workers and enables them
to do better reaserch by helping develop disciplined
thinking or an objective mind e.g.
 Techniquies for the colletion of data appropriate
to particular problems
 Use of statistics
 Data collections e.g. questionnaires and contolled
experimentation and in recorndingevidence
 Dsta analysis and interpretation and report
writing
3. Gives the ability to evaluate and use research results
with reasonable confidence. Therefore useful in
business administration, community development,
education etc.
4. A new intellectual tool which give a way of looking
att the world and evaluating everyday experience.
Therefore it helps us make intelligent decisions
concerning problems facing us in practical life at
different times.
5. We are consumers ofresearch results and we can judge
the methods udes and 9intelligentlly use them.
Therefre knowledge of research methods enabkes us
to take rational decisions.
 6. Research methodology is an inmportant tool for
promoting progress, an enabling human beings to
relate effectively to accomplish their purposes and
resolve conflicts.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH COMPARED TO OTHER

METHODS OF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE
Methods of acquiring knowledge.
Research is one of the many ways of knowing. The
methods we use to obtain knowledge may be classified into
the following 4 broad categories:
1. Traditional methods
2. Logical abstract reasoning
3. Empirical method
4. The scientific reaserch method.

1. TRADITIONAL METHODS
This refers to everyday methods of knowing or
understanding human and other phenomena that are based
on faith.
In most cases, the knowledge we obtain has not been
questioned or tested. Everyday methods of knowing are
authority, mystical method, tenancy and personal
experience.

a) Authirity
 This refers to situations where no sophisticated
research is carried out in order to develop some
understanding of the world around us but rather on the
knowledge and wisdom of prominent people who are
recognosed as having a better grasp of konwlege in the
immediate enviromentthen ordinary people. Thus, the
statement and knowledge of these queqlifed people
are rarely questioned or challenged. On the contrary,
the knowledge imparted by them is usually accepted
as absolute and a certain amount of faith is placed on
these authorities as soirces of knowledge.

b) Mystical methods 9insipiration)

This is a more abstract method of authority, where the
correctness of the knowledge is assumed to reside the
supernartural source. In this case the ‘knowledge
producers’ are in authority due to their abilility to
transmist the truth or knowledge imparted to them by
supernarural forces.

c) Tenancy (custom and tradition)

Tenancy redferds to situations where people tend to
hold firmly to what they reagard as the truth, even
when there are clearly conflict facts. In addition, some
people hold to certain things as true because most
people in the society assume some things to be true.
Often, traditional knowledge is handed over form one
generation to the next. Most of the knowledge wo
obtain comes from tradition, that is the culture which
we inherit and through personal experience. The
problem with this kind of knowledge is that it may be
 incomplete, incorrect, misleading and affected by our
background.

d) Personal experience
People tend to believe that what is in their mind and a
social encounter is generally true. For example, a
person who has been swindled by a policeman
believes that most policemen are dishonest. When we
understand thorugh experience, we make observations
and seek patterns of regularities in what we observe.

Weaknesses of these traditionalmethods of obtaining

knowledge.
I. Lay peope generally make no attempt to control
any external sources of influence when trying to
explain the caise of an event.
II. There is no questioning or testing of information.
People tend to accept things simply at fece value
witho8ut questioning ot testing.
III. The methods are individualistic and subjective.
Authorities can be biased due to natural
inclination to protect our self esteem.
IV. They make knoeledge static. Tradition makes it
difficukt to accept new knowledge and mitigate
our desire to uestion existing practices.
V. Personal experience depends on what we have
observed and how we have interpreted it, but we
do and can make mistakes in our observsations
nad interpretations.
 VI. Some information generated through these
methods is not verifiable e.g. some authoritative
sattements are unverifiable.

2. THE RATIONALISTIC AND LOGICAL

REASONING.
The rationaliastic method is based on human reason: human
beings have the ability to thiknk logically, of reasoning
which allows one to know what must be true by principle.
By reesoning is usally meant the ability to epound one’s
thought logically and to make conclusions. Rationalists
believe that knowledge is innate in human beings and pure
reason is sufficient ti produce verifiable.
Example; Obtaining knowledge is triugh debating whereby
people try to obtain knowledge by representing arguments
through a logical manner.
There are two major process of reasoning:
a. Inductive reasoning
This involces the formulation of generalization based on
observation of limited number of specific events.
This process of establishing general principles from
specific observation.
Example; cstholic sponsored schools in this country
perform well in examinations therefore all catholic
sponsored schools in the world perform well.

b. Deductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning involes arriving at the specific
conclusions based on an a priori orself-evident propostion.
This is the process of deriving specific expectations from
general principles. For example; catholic spomnsered
schools in this country perform well in national
examinations. School X is catholic sponsored therefore it
performs well in examinations.

LIMITATIONS OF USING RATIONALISTIC AND

LOGICAL REASON AS SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE.
However information gathred thorugh logical reasoning is
prone to various shortcoming:
i. Overgeneralization: this is predicting a general pattern
of behavior on the basis of a few obsevartions.
ii. Selective observation: this occurs when one chooses to
look at things that are in line with ones biases
iii. Illogical oobservation: making conclusions bsed on
invalis observations
iv. Resistance to change: due to socialized beliefs.

3. THE EMPIRICAL METHOD

The opposite of the ‘rationalistic method’ is empirical
method, where facts are observed in nature are only
elements on rely on. Interpretation, search for relationships
between facts are considered a distortion.
Objectivity of the observation is emphasized, and only
what is observable, what can be perceived by our senses,
constitutes knowledge.
One of the limitations of this method is that people tend to
jugde those that correspond to their own attitudes and
convictions as logical whereas they judge those that are
logical but do not correspond with their own attitudes and
convictions as illogical.
 4. SCIENTIFIC REASERCH METHOD OF
ACQURING KNOWLEDGE.
The scientific method, decribed below is rthe bzasis of
sciece and can be considered as a synthesis between the
rationalistic and the empirical methods.
Science is a common word which is familiar to everybody
which imlies different things to different people.
Howevewr it is generally agreed that science refer to form
of human enquiry which provides us with a method of
investigating the world we live in.
Definition of science; building on knowledge obtained by
use of the scientific methodology. This method is often
referred to as scientific research.
There are two pollars of sience
I. Logic or rationality
II. Observation- reliance on what we tangible evidence of
This means that in science, data are generated
logically( through logical reasoning) and through
observation.
Therefore in scientific understanding of the world must
make sense and correspond to what we observe.
Both of these elements are essential to science and relate to
three major aspects of the overall scientific enterprice:
i. Theory
ii. Research methods
iii. Statistics

NB; This course is concerned with the scientific research

methods aand their application characteristics of scientific
research method.
 1) Empirical since the aim is ti know reality- based
on the observation and experiences of thr
reasercher.
2) Systematic and logical- based on valid
procedures and principles. Prediction cannot be
made before description is given and explanation
of observed phenomenon found.
3) Cyclical- it starts with a problem and ends with a
problem.
4) Reductive and analytical- utilizes proven
analytical- utilizes proven analytical procedires in
gathering the data and analyzing it ti grasp the
relationships, events or laws. Redictive implies
reducing the complexity of reality to its details.
5) Replicable and transmittable: similarities and
differences of replicated reseachers can be
compared.
6) Critical- reseach exhibits careful and precise
judgment.

Characteriistics of the researcher

 Iterlectuall curiosity
 Predence
 Healthy critism
 Inrelectual honesty

Qualities of a good researcher

 R-esearch
 E- fficent

 S-cientific
 E-ffective
 A-ctive
 R-esourcement
 C-reative
 H-onest
 E-conomical
 R-eligious
LECTURE NOTES 2:

RESEARCH PROCESS(OVERVIEW)