Introduction to Research

Jayadeva Uyangoda
Postgraduate Diploma in IR
BCIS, Colombo
February 19, 2023
What is Research
• Let us begin by understanding what is research and why we do research.
• Research is an intellectual/academic exercise aimed at producing new
knowledge.
• Students/scholars engage in research for diverse objectives:
i. To gain a degree by fulfilling a partial requirement by writing a
thesis/dissertation
ii. To write an an academic book.
iii. To write an academic paper for publication.
iv. To write an academic paper for a conference.
v. For intellectual satisfaction.
Research as Knowledge Creation
• Doing research to fulfill any of those purposes, research entails
creation/production of
i. New Knowledge.
ii. Methodically and systematically, and
iii. In accordance with methods and principles accepted by the
academic community.
`Academic’ means, accoding to Cambridge English Dictionary, ’relating
to schools, colleges, and universities or connected with studying and
thinking.”
Academic Research
The word ‘Academy’ refers to a centre of learning.
Thus, ‘academic’ also means relating to learning, relating to institutions
of learning, connected with traditions of learning, or traditions
belonging to centres of learning.
Thus, ‘academic research’ should mean the following:
i. Creating knowledge that is valid according to academic standards.
ii. Creating knowledge that is carried out in accordance with methods
and principles availble within the academic traditions.
iii. Creating knowledge that is acceptable to the academic community.
Research as ‘New Knowledge’
• There is a principle in the academic traditions that research should
yield ‘new knowledge.’
• Newness of knowledge produced through research can be in the form
of
i. Discovery of new facts, evidence and information.
ii. Presenting new arguments and analysis.
iii. Building new theories
iv. Arriving at new conclusions
Why New Knowledge’?
• Why should research produce ‘new knowledge’?
• It is the only way to advance knowledge in any field.
• Producing new knowledge help scholars to re-new the existing
knowledge.
• It prevents stagnation of existing knowledge.
• As diploma students, you are not expected to produce new
knolwedge through research in the same way as the experienced
researchers do.
• You are beginners. Therefore, you are expected to learn the basics of
research and then apply that basic knowledge and skills to write an
‘academic thesis/dissertation.’
• Thus, your diploma dissertation is to be seen as the beginning of a
process of learning and practicing the art and science of research and
academic writing.
‘Research for Beginners’
• Thus, this short course is a ‘beginners course in research.’
• You will learn the basics of research that will be useful for you to write
your diploma dissertation.
Two Research Traditions
• There are two main research traditions.
i. Natural Science tradiation
ii. Social science and humanities tradition.
 Both have originated from one classical tradition of knowledge creation.
• Modern natural sciece research tradition originated in Europe during the
16-17 centuries.
• Modern Social Science and Humanities originated in Europe during the
late 19th century.
• Both have common as well as different approaches, assumptions, and
philosophical arguments about knowledge creation.
• In this course, we will focus on social science research. IR is a social science
discipline.
Natural and Social Sciences
• Narural sciences study the natural world which exists independent of
human mind.
• Social sciences study the social world that humans create and change.
• The word ‘Science’ has two basic meanings – pre-modern and modern.
• In the pre-modern world, science’ (vidya, episteme, scientia) meant
‘correct, logical knowledge’.
• The modern meaning of science, originated since the 16th century, is
knowledge created by means of the ‘scientific method.’ This is the natural
science meaning of science.
• Social sciences also acquired the natural science meaning dusring the 19th
century.
Natural and Social Sciences
• There are similarties and differences in the natural and social science research.
• Similarities:
i. Both produce knowledge through data, evidence and logical reasoning.
ii. Both reject the validity of speculative, or metaphysical, knowledge not
supported by evidence.
iii. Both consider valid knowledge is open, and open to critique and refutation.
iv. Both accept that there are no permanent truths in knowledge. Knowledge
claims are subject to revision, challenge and rejection.
v. Both value the ‘method’ of producing knowledge. It is the method that
validates knowledge claims. Therefore, ‘method’ has to be an open process.
Natural and Social Sciences
• Differences
i. Site of research for natural science is the laboratary under controlled
conditions whereas for social sciences it is society which is always open.
ii. In natural sciences, experimentation is an essential part of the research
process. In social sciences, experimentation is not the rule.
iii. In natural sciences, research seeks to discover stable, permanent laws and
patterns that govern the behaviour of naturel objects and processes. In the
social world, there are no such permanent and unchanging laws. Laws, if there
are laws at all, are contextual and variable.
iv. Nartural science methods are ‘empirical’, based on evidence obtained as
observation and observable/quuantifiable,varifiable data. In the social
sciences, both empirical evidence and normative/subjective data are
important. Evidence is a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative data.
Research Process
• Research in any of the above traditions is a ‘process’ – series of events and
activities going through different stages.
• There are six stages in research:
i. Preparing for research by thinking about a research project
ii. Writing a Research Proposal
iii. Conducting research
iv. Anlaysing data and evidence
v. Writing up the thesis/paper/book
vi. Dissemination of knowedge produced through research by presenting it
before the academic community at conferences or through publication.
Stage 1-Research Idea
• Stage 1 in your Research process is ‘thinking about’ the research project. That is where you find
yourselves at present.
• Initially you will have to think , and make up your mind, about a research idea.
• It is a broad idea that will enable you to think concretely about a topic.
• Research idea: examples:
i. Recent trends in India-Nepal relations.
ii. Sri Lanka’s economic relations with China.
iii. New trends in global politics.
iv. Environmental activism in South Asia.
v. What is happeniong to non-aligned movement?
vi. Will there be a China-US war in Asia?
• As you can see, these are broad, sometimes even vague, thematic ideas.
• It is always useful to have several thematic ideas from which you can choose one later.
Research Topic
• Research ideas can be gathered from what you have (a) learned in the
class, (b) read in the literature, (c) observed in the real world, or (d)
got from another scholar as advise.
• It is often a good thematic idea that gets itself transformed into a
dissertation topic.
• Next step is to work out a research topic based on your thematic idea.
• Research topic is narrower than the thematic idea. It should be
focussed on a researchable sub-theme of the broad thematic idea.
From Research idea to Research Topic
• Research Idea: Sri Lanka’s economic relations with China.
• Research Topics:
i. Impact of Sri Lanka’s economic rrelations with China on Sri Lanka’s
India policy.
ii. Sri Lanka’s economic relations with China and the recent debt crisis.
iii. Sri Lanka’s econonic relations with China and domestic politics.
iv. Sri Lanka’s foreign debt to China and negotiations wth the IMF.

As you can see, a broad research theme can be broken down to several
research topics. Then decide on the topic which attracts you.
Stage II Research proposal
• Writing the research proposal allows you to think seriously about
your evolving research project.
• This is the most important step in the research process. It compells
you to think about, and make important decisions how to
operationalise your research.
• Thus, Research Proposal can be defined as the ‘road map’ to your
research.
Main component of a research proposal
• A research proposal has different levels of depth and detail, depending on the level of
degree propgramme for which research is conducted.
• At the post-graduate diploma level, a basic proposal would be sufficient, with the
following components:
i. Background and context (of research theme)
ii. Significance (of proposed research. Why it is important?)
iii. Objectives
iv. Disciplinary Relevance (how it is relevant to your academic field of IR)
v. A brief literature Review ( a brief surery of relevant, existing academic literature on
the topic)
vi. Research problem and questions
vii. Theoretical approach
viii. Data collection methods
Research Outline
• Before writing the Research Proposal, it is helpful to write a brief ‘Research
Outline’, preferably two pages in length.
• It will enable you to clarify the key themes of the research project.
• Research outline can have the following components:
i. Introduction
ii. Importance of your research
iii. Disciplinary relavance of your research
iv. Thematic breakdown of the topic
v. Nature and sources of data
vi. Tentative chapter headings
This outline can be the basis on which you develop the research proposal later.