Research Main Aspects

Usama Bin Iqbal

Research Proposal – Start of Research
 It is a Road map showing clearly:
 
a. the location : the journey starts,
 
b. the destination to be reached and

c. the method/s of getting there,

Every Research is based mainly on
three questions:

 What?

 Why?


 How?
A good research design consist of the following main questions:
[Wilkinson, 1990]

 Why this study is being made?

 What the study is about?

 What are the types of data needed?

 Where the data needed can be found?

 In what area the study will be carried?

 What period of time the study will include?

 How much material or how many cases (samples) will be
needed?

 Which sampling method will be adopted if any?

 What tools/techniques for getting data will be adopted?

 What type of research will it be?

 How the data will be analyzed?

 How best can these questions be addressed to achieve the
desired results within minimum of time, expenditures and
energy.
Contents of Research
 Hypothesis Formulations
 Abstract
 Background of Research  Research Design
 Introduction of Research  Nature of Research
 Problem Statement  Population and Sampling
 Research Objective  Sampling Technique and Size
 Importance / Significance of Research  Data Collection
 Scope of Research  Data Analysis
 Limitations of Research  Hypothesis Testing with Results
 Literature review  Conclusion
 Variables of Research  Recommendation
 Theoretical Framework  Appendices
 Research Questions
 Interview Questions
Background of Research
 Why you Thought it is important?
 Why in the entire world you chose this topic?
 Any idea? / Inspiration? / Thought? / Motivation?
 Link your thoughts with literature
Introduction of Research
 Make your reader aware of the topic.
 Search relevant material from research papers
 Introduction to the topic / research / industry / phenomena
etc
 The introduction will be the first thing the reader sees. If
an introduction is poorly written or constructed, if it is
boring, if it does not tell readers what they need to know,
if it does not help readers to orient themselves to your
paper—then you have lost your readers' goodwill right
from the beginning,
An introduction should do the following:
 Alert a reader’s interest.
 Indicate the scope and direction of the paper, and act as a
navigation guide to its reading.
 Show the reader how you are interpreting and approaching
the question.
 Provide a context for the main issue.
 Indicate the focus of the paper.
 Indicate your conclusion and point of view.
Introduction Length
 A useful rule of thumb is: an introduction should be no
shorter than one-twelfth and no longer than one-tenth of
the total assignment.
 Thus a 2000-word essay would have an introduction
somewhere between 160 and 200 words;
 a 3500-word report between 290 and 350 words.
Problem Statement
 The Problem statement is the most important sentence in
your paper. If someone asked you, “What does your paper
say?” your answer would be your thesis statement.
Everything you write will support this statement.
 If your Research Problem is poorly worded, unfocused or
ambiguous, the rest of your research is likely to go off‐
track very early; you will do a great deal of unnecessary
reading and writing, losing sight of the big picture (and
probably your mind!).
A good Problem statement usually
includes
 A good thesis statement usually includes

 Main idea of the paper. ONE idea. The entire paper is based on this statement.

 Your opinion or point of view. The thesis statement is not a fact nor a question, but
your view of the topic and what you want to say about it.

 Purpose of the paper. From the thesis, it should be clear what the paper will do.

 Answer to the research question. Ask yourself the question and then answer it with
your thesis. Is it truly an answer? (if not, change the question or the answer!)

 An element of surprise. This means that the thesis is interesting, engaging, and
perhaps not so expected.

 Clarity. It should be understandable after one reading and have no mistakes.

Research Objective
 The ultimate ambition of Research.
 What you want to achieve?
 Do you wish to see the impact of one thing (variable) over
another thing (variable).
 Eg: To determine the impact of Interest Rate upon shopping
 Do you wish to see the effect of one thing (variable) over another
thing (variable).
 Eg: To evaluate if good Advertisement may leads to increase in
sales.
 Do you wish to see predict the relationship between two variables
 Eg: To predict the relationship between Employee Motivation and
Job Satisfaction.
Importance / Significance of Research
 The section on significance of the study provides
information to the reader on how the study will
contribute. 
 What are the Benefits of Research?
 Write the significance of the study by looking into the
general contribution of your study, such as its importance
to society as a whole, then proceed downwards—towards
its contribution to individuals and that may include
yourself as a researcher. 
 Write in elaborated bullet points…
Scope of Research
 It show to both the readers and writer that what is aimed at
and what is to be expected
 It is mainly based on three Main Aspects.
 First Mention Area of Research ( HR, Marketing, Finance
etc)
 Secondly mention Time Period ( Cross Sectional or
Longitudinal)
 Third Mention Which Entities would be benefited by the
Research. (Country / Industry / Organization)
Limitations of Research
 Limit act as shield of your research.
 It limit your perspective and broaden your scope.
 Limit may imposed on Industry, Time, Population, Sample
Size, Nature of Research.
Literature review
 A literature review or narrative review is a type
of review article. A literature review is a scholarly paper,
which includes the current knowledge including
substantive findings, as well as theoretical and
methodological contributions to a particular topic.
 It is basically an article that is written by you but its not
your article.
 Your Thoughts - Other Publish Material - Your
words - Logical structure.
Ways to Write Literature review
 Favor and Against
 Chronological Order
 Region Wise
 Anything Related to Topic
 Variable Based
 Strongest to Weakest
 Weakest to Strongest
Variables of Research
 All research projects are based around variables. A
variable is the characteristic or attribute of an individual,
group, educational system, or the environment that is of
interest in a research study.
 Variables can be straightforward and easy to measure,
such as gender, age, or course of study. Other variables
are more complex, such as socioeconomic status,
academic achievement, or attitude toward school.
Variable Simple Definition
 Any characteristic which is subject to change and can
have more than one value such as age, intelligence,
motivation, gender, etc.
Example:
 A researcher is interested in low levels of literacy.
Literacy itself is still a broad topic. In most instances, the
broad topic and general variables need to be specifically
identified. For example, the researcher needs to identify
specific variables that define literacy: reading fluency (the
ability to read a text out loud), reading comprehension
(understanding what is read), vocabulary, interest in
reading, etc. If a researcher is interested in motivation,
what specific motivation variables are of interest: external
motivation, goals, need for achievement, etc?
Theoretical Framework
 The theoretical framework is the structure that can hold
or support a theory of a research study. The theoretical
framework introduces and describes the theory that
explains why the research problem under study exists.
 In simple words its “Interaction of Variables”
Three Ways to Identify Variable
 Variables Based ( Most Used Variable in literature review)
 Expert Opinion
 Industry Expert
 Research Expert
 Researcher Own Judgment / Observation.
Dependent and Independent Variable
 The cause variable, or the one that identifies forces or
conditions that act on something else is the Independent
Variable.
 A variable that is the effect or is the result or outcome of
another variable is the Dependent Variable.
Dependent Variable
 Variable affected by the independent variable
 It responds to the independent variable.
Independent Variable
 Variable that is presumed to influence
 other variable
 It is the presumed cause, whereas the dependent variable
is the presumed effect.
Example
 You are interested in “How stress affects
 mental state of human beings?”
 Independent variable ----- Stress
 Dependent variable ---- mental state of human beings
 You can directly manipulate stress levels in your human
subjects and measure how those stress levels change
mental state.
Example
 Promotion affects employees’ motivation
 Independent variable ----- Promotion
 Dependent variable ----Employees motivation
Other names of Dependent and
Independent Variables
 Dependent Variable Independent
Variable
 Explained Explanatory
 Predictand Predictor
 Regressand Regressor
 Response Stimulus
 Outcome Covariate
 Controlled Control
Research Questions
 A research question can serve the following purposes in a research:
 Guide the researcher focusing on the research problem, research objective,
research approach & research delivery - at the end of the research, the
researcher needs to answer the research question asked initially.
 A research question can provide guidance how to develop a conceptual
framework / research model.
 A research question can provide guidance how to form a hypothesis or
hypotheses.
 A research question can provide cue how to operationalize the research e.g.
forming the constructs / variables operational definition, getting the right
instrument / survey questionnaire etc. to collect data.
 A research question can provide idea on what data analysis to be
conducted e.g. multiple regression, moderation, mediation, analysis of
variance etc.
Research Question Example
 Research Topic: Is it safer for women to get marry at early
age?
 Thesis: Early marriages are safe.
 Sections:
 I. Early marriages nothing harmful to health.
 II. Early marriages brings harmony women life.
 III. Myths about early marrige are wrong.
Research Question Example
 Research Topic: Why has childhood obesity increased in the
United States?
 Thesis: Childhood obesity has increased in the United States
due to the unhealthy environment in which many American
children are raised.
 Research Questions.
 I. Children eat more than in the past.
 II. Children often do not eat healthy meals.
 III. Children do not have as much physical activity as in the
past.
 IV. Parents model bad habits.
 V. Others say that food companies, advertising are responsible.
Interview Questions
 Interviews are most effective for qualitative research:
They help you explain, better understand, and
explore research subjects' opinions, behavior,
experiences, phenomenon, etc. 
 Interview questions are usually open-ended questions so
that in-depth information will be collected
 “Tell me about your experience working at [xxx].”
 “What did it feel like to work in xyz organization ?”
 “What stood out to you as the defining characteristic of
that organizational”
Hypothesis Formulation
 Hypothesis is defined as “A tentative assumption made in
order to draw out and test its logical or empirical
consequences.” ...
 Thus, every test should start with a hypothesis that you
are trying to prove or disapprove.
So formulating a hypothesis is the quicker, more
accurate and less expensive way of solving a problem
 Example: There is no significant relationship between
Training and Motivation.

Hypothesis
 A hypothesis may be defined as logically conjectured
relationship between two or more variables, expressed in
the form of testable statements.
 Relationship is proposed a single by using a strong logical
argumentation.
 The logical relationship may be a part of theoretical
framework for study.
Hypothesis Types
 Descriptive Hypothesis
 Relational Hypothesis
 Null Hypothesis
 Alternate Hypothesis
 Research Hypothesis
 Descriptive Hypothesis
 It contain only one variable therefore it is also called
univariate hypothesis.
 It typically states the existence, size, form or distribution
of some variable.
 Relational Hypothesis
 These are the proposition that describe a relationship
between two variable. The relationship may be directional
or non directional, positive or negative, causal or simple
corelational.
 Null Hypothesis
 It is used for testing the hypothesis formulated by the
researcher. Researcher treat evidence that supports a
hypothesis differently from the evidence that oppose it.
They give negative evidence more important than to the
positive one.
 EG : There is no commitment between level of Job
commitment and level of efficiency
 Alternate Hypothesis
 The alternate ( to the null) hypothesis simply states that
there is a relationship between the variable under the
study.
 EG : There is commitment between level of Job
commitment and level of efficiency
 Research Hypothesis
 This is the actual hypothesis formulated by the researcher
which may also suggest nature of relationship or direction
of relationship.
Qualitative Research Hypothesis
 In qualitative research no hypotheses or relationships of
variables are tested. ... Because the qualitative
research involves developing hypotheses after the data
are collected, it is called hypothesis-
generating research rather than hypothesis-
testing research.
Research Design
 Nature of Research ( Nature and Sub Kind)
 Population and Sampling (Decide Sensibly)
 Sampling Technique and Size
 Data Collection
 Data Analysis
Conclusion and Recommendations
 People become confused about: “Findings” and
“Conclusion”.

Finding is about: What is found out in research?

 Example:
66% respondent indicated that they preferred to receive
email messages rather than paper memos.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Conclusion is about:
What judgment has been made?

Example: Electronic forms of

communications are preferred to traditional.
Abstract
 The abstract, although it comes first logistically, always
should be written last. It needs to be written last because it
is the essence of your report, drawing information from all
of the other sections of the report. It explains why the
experiment was performed and what conclusions were
drawn from the results obtained. A general guideline for
an abstract has five sections or areas of focus
Abstract
Abstract is the most important part of Research Thesis and Paper.

It contains four parts:

 What were the research questions and why were these important?

 How did I go about answering these questions?

 What did I find in response to my research questions?

 What conclusion did I draw regarding my research questions?

[Smith, C.B. (1991) A Guide to Research, Nelson Hall, Chicago.]
Abstract Main Parts
 Despite the fact that abstracts 
vary somewhat from discipline to discipline, every abstract
should include four main types of information. 
 It should state the main objective and rationale of your
project,
 It should outline the methods you used to accomplish your
objectives,
 It should list your project’s results or product (or projected
or intended results or product, 
if your project is not yet complete),
 It should draw conclusions about the implications of your
project.         
Appendices
Any information which is not that much important and not
necessarily very directly linked to the text can be given in
appendices.

If the material is “interesting to know” rather than “essential to

know”, should be given in appendices.