BASIC CONCEPTS

Social Science Research

-is the activity of gathering, analyzing
and interpreting information for a
variety of social, economic, educational
and political purposes.
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) research refers to experiments conducted to
address problems in those fields that can be tested
using the scientific method.
-The scientific method is an inquiry process used to
systematically study, investigate, and to provide
explanations for observed phenomenon in the natural
world.
Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken
to increase knowledge of humans, culture and society,
and the use of this knowledge to devise new
applications. It involves the collection, organization, and
analysis of information to increase our understanding of
a topic or issue.
 
Types of Research (Kumar, 2011)
Purpose
-Pure Research
-Applied Research
-Action Research
-Evaluation Research
-InterDisciplinary Research
Objectives of the study
Descriptive: A research study classified as a descriptive study attempts to
describe systematically a situation, problem, phenomenon, service or
programme, or provide information about the living conditions of a community,
or describe attitudes towards an issue.
Correlational research: The main emphasis in a correlational study is to discover
or establish the existence of a relationship/ association/ interdependence
between two or more variables or more aspects of a situation.
Explanatory research: this kind of research attempts to clarify why and how
there is a relationship between two aspects of a situation or phenomenon.
Exploratory research: it is a study which is undertaken to explore an area where
little is known or to investigate the possibilities of undertaking a particular
research study. It is flexible and can answer what, who and why questions.
Mode of enquiry used in conducting the study
Quantitative research (structured research): The main
objectives of this research is to quantify the variation and
diversity in a phenomenon, situation or attitude.
Qualitative research (unstructured): A qualitative study
describes the variation and diversity in a phenomenon,
situation or attitude with a flexible approach so as to
identify as much variation and diversity as possible.