Research Methods

Introduction

03/13/21 Ali Yassin Sheikh, PhD 1

 Outline
• Introduction
– Nature and Meaning of Research
– Objectives and Motivation of Research
– Characteristics and Criteria of Good Research
– Role of Research in Decision Making

03/13/21 Ali Yassin Sheikh, PhD 2

 Introduction
• What is research and what is not?
– Walliman (2005) argues that
research could not have the
following characteristics:
• Just collecting facts or information
with no clear purpose
• Reassembling and reordering
facts or information without
interpretation.
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 Introduction Cont..
– Research should have the following
characteristics:
• Data are collected systematically.
• Data are interpreted systematically.
• There is a clear purpose: to find
things out.

03/13/21 Ali Yassin Sheikh, PhD 4

 Nature & Meaning of Research
• Research … refers to a search of knowledge
• Research as a systematic search … for
information on a specific topic.
• Research is an art of scientific investigation.
• It is actually a journey of discovery.
• Research is considered an original contribution
to the existing stock of knowledge.

(Kothari, 2004)

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 Objectives of Research
• The purpose is to discover answers to
questions through the application of
scientific procedures:
– To gain familiarity with a fact or to achieve
new insights into it (exploratory study)
– To describe the characteristics of a particular
individual, situation or a group (descriptive
study)

03/13/21 Ali Yassin Sheikh, PhD 6

 Objectives of Research cont..
– To determine the frequency with which
something occurs or with which it is
associated with something else (diagnostic
study)
– To test a hypotheses of a causal relationship
between variable (hypothesis testing study)

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 Motivation in Research
• What makes people to undertake
research?
– Desire to get a research degree along with its
consequential benefits
– Desire to face the challenge in solving the
unsolved problem
– Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some
creative work.

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 Motivation in Research
cont..

– Desire to be of service to society.

– Desire to get respectability.
– Employment conditions and
requirements.

03/13/21 Ali Yassin Sheikh, PhD 9

 Characteristics & Criteria of Good
Research
• One may expect that scientific research to satisfy the
following characteristics:
– The purpose of the research should be clearly
defined.
– The research procedures used should be described in
sufficient detail to permit another researcher to
replicate for further advancement.
– The procedural design of the research should be
clearly planned.
– The researcher should report with complete
frankness.

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Characteristics & Criteria of Good Research
Cont..
– The analysis of data should be sufficiently
adequate to reveal it significance and the
method of analysis used should be
appropriate
– Conclusions should be confined to those of
justified by the data of the research
– Greater confidence in research is warranted
(experienced, good reputation and integrity in
research)

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 Role of Research in Decision
Making
• The following are the major areas in which
research plays a key role in making effective
decisions:
– Public openion
– Public Production
– Finance and Banking
– Government Materials
– Human personnel development
– Governmental regulations
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 Discussions

Q&A

03/13/21 Ali Yassin Sheikh, PhD 13