Lecture 1

Introduction to Research Methods

BY

Stephen Boateng
Dpt. Of Management Studies

Contact Information: sboateng@umat.edu.gh

UNIVERSITY OF MINES AND

TECHNOLOGY

Course Code: MR/PE/ES 451

 Meaning of Research

 Most progress in life can be attribute to research. The advent

of mobile phone – from 1980 to 2021.

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 Meaning of Research

 In research, we engage in facts findings.

 The term ‘Research’ consists of two words:
Research = Re + Search
‘Re’ means again and again and ‘Search’ means to find out
something, the following is the process:

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 Definition of Research

 Burns (1997) defines research as ‘a systematic investigation to

find answers to a problem.’

 Grinnell (1993) defines research as ‘a structured inquiry that

utilises acceptable scientific methodology to solve problems and
creates new knowledge that is generally applicable.’

 Redman and Mory (1923) defines research as ‘a systematized

effort to gain new knowledge.’

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 Definition of Research Cont.

 According to C. F. Rummel “research is an endeavour to

discover, develop and verify knowledge. It is an intellectual
process that has developed over hundreds of years, ever
changing in purpose and form and always searching for truth.”

 Research is an organized and systematic way of finding

answers to questions (Boateng, 2021).

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 Key Components in The Definition of Research

 SYSTEMATIC because there is a definite set of scientific procedures and

principles which the researcher will NEED to follow in order to get reliable and
accurate results.

 ORGANIZED because there is a structure or method for doing research. The

research process has a number of steps to guide the researcher.

 QUESTIONS are central to research. If there is no question, then how do we

begin the research. Research is focused on relevant, useful, and important
questions. Without a question, research has no focus, drive, or purpose.

 FINDING ANSWERS because every research seeks to answer a question or a

number of questions. Sometimes the answer is no, but it is still an answer.

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 Objectives of Research

The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and
has not yet been discovered. Research objectives may be broadly
grouped as follows:
 To gain familiarity with new insights into a phenomenon (i.e.,
formulative research studies);
 To accurately portray the characteristics of a situation (i.e.,
descriptive research studies);
 To analyse the frequency with which something occurs (i.e.,
diagnostic research studies); and
 To examine the hypothesis of a causal relationship between two
variables (i.e., hypothesis-testing research studies).

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 Types of Research

1. Descriptive vs. Analytical:

Descriptive Research
The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state
of affairs as it exists at present. It is a type of research that is used to
describe the characteristics of a population. The main feature of this
method is that the researcher has no control over the variables; he
can only report what has happened or what is happening.

Analytical Research
The researcher has to use facts or information already available, and
analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material.

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 Types of Research Cont.

2. Applied vs. Fundamental:

Applied (Or Action) Research aims at finding a solution for an
immediate problem facing a society or an industrial/business
organization. Thus, the central aim of applied research is to discover
a solution for some pressing practical problem.

Fundamental (to basic or pure) Research

Fundamental research is mainly concerned with generalisations and
with the formulation of a theory. Basic research is directed towards
finding information that has a broad base of applications and thus,
adds to the already existing organized body of scientific knowledge.

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 Types of Research Cont.

3. Quantitative vs. Qualitative:

Quantitative Research: Quantitative research is based on the
measurement of quantity or amount. It is applicable to phenomena that
can be expressed in terms of quantity.

Qualitative Research is concerned with qualitative phenomenon, i.e.

phenomena relating to or involving quality or kind. For instance, when
we are interested in investigating the reasons for human behaviour
(i.e., why people think or do certain things), we quite often talk of
‘Motivation Research’, an important type of qualitative research.

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 Types of Research Cont.

4. Conceptual vs. Empirical:

Conceptual Research is related to some abstract idea(s) or theory. It
is generally used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new
concepts or to reinterpret existing ones.

Empirical Research relies on experience or observation alone, often

without due regard for system and theory. It is data-based research,
deriving conclusions that’s can be verified by observation or
experiment. It can be called experimental research as it characterised
by the experimenter’s control over the variables under study and his
deliberate manipulation of one of them to study its effects.

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 Class Discussion

Where will you categorize your final year project and why?

Note: A project can be a combination of the different categories.

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 5. Some Other Types of Research:

All other types of research are variations of one or more of the

above stated approaches, based on either the purpose of research,
or the time required to accomplish research, on the environment
in which research is done, or on the basis of some other similar
factor.
Laboratory research or Simulation research, depending upon
the environment in which it is to be carried out.
Historical research is that which utilizes historical sources like
documents, remains, etc. to study events or ideas of the past,
including the philosophy of persons and groups at any remote
point of time.

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 Research Methods versus Methodology

Research Methods: may be understood as all those

methods/techniques that are used for conduction of research.

Research method the methods the researchers use in performing

research operations and collecting data.

In other words, all those methods which are used by the

researcher during the course of studying his research problem are
termed as research methods. Eg. Case Study, Survey,
Ethnography, etc.

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 Research Methods versus Methodology

Research Methodology is a way to systematically solve the

research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying
how research is done scientifically.

In it, researchers study the various steps that are generally adopted
by a researcher in studying his research problem along with the
logic behind them.

Researchers not only need to know how to develop certain indices or tests,
how to calculate the mean, the mode, the median or the standard deviation or
chi-square, how to apply particular research techniques, but they also need to
know which of these methods or techniques, are relevant and which are not,
and what would they mean and indicate and why.

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 Research Methods versus Methodology

Researchers also need to understand the assumptions underlying

various techniques and they need to know the criteria by which they
can decide that certain techniques and procedures will be applicable
to certain problems and others will not.

Eg. Qualitative methodology, quantitative methodology, mixed-

methodology

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 Research Methods versus Methodology

Note:
 Research methodology has many dimensions and research methods do
constitute a part of the research methodology.
 The scope of research methodology is wider than that of research
methods.
 Thus, when we talk of research methodology we not only talk of the
research methods but also consider the logic behind the methods we use
in the context of our research study and explain why we are using a
particular method or technique and why we are not using others so that
research results are capable of being evaluated either by the researcher
himself or by others.

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 Research Methods versus Methodology

Class Exercise

Write one difference between research method

and research methodology in the chat room.

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 Research Ethics

It is a simple
matter to follow
Research, the clear Working with
however novel its guidelines in human participants
discoveries, is citation that will in your research
only of any value prevent you being always raises
accused of ethical issues about
if it is carried out how you treat
honestly. passing off other
people’s work as them.
your own – called
plagiarism.

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 Research Ethics

There are two aspects of ethical issues in research:

The individual values of the researcher relating to

honesty and frankness and personal integrity.

The researcher’s treatment of other people involved in

the research, relating to informed consent,
confidentiality, anonymity and courtesy.

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 Research Ethics

Honesty is essential, not only to enable straightforward,

above-board communication, but to engender a level of trust
and credibility in the outcomes of the research.

This applies to all researchers, no matter what subject they

are investigating.

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 Intellectual Ownership And Plagiarism

The worst offence against honesty in this respect is called

plagiarism: directly copying someone else’s work into your
report, thesis etc. and letting it be assumed that it is your
own.

Using the thoughts, ideas and works of others without

acknowledging their source, even if you paraphrased into
your own words, is unethical.

Equally serious is claiming sole authorship of work which is

in fact the result of collaboration.
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 Acknowledgement And Citation
Obviously, in no field of research can you rely entirely on your own
ideas, concepts and theories. You can avoid accusations of plagiarism
by acknowledging the sources of these features and their originators
within your own text. This is called citation.

Example:Li, Wu and Zhang (2010) applied mutilate goals vehicle

scheduling problem to investigate how time impacts product delivery
in e-commerce logistics distribution.

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 Responsibility And Accountability Of The Researcher

Apart from correct attribution, honesty is essential in the substance

of what you write. You do have responsibilities to fellow
researchers, respondents, the public and the academic community.

Accurate descriptions are required of what you have done, how

you have done it, the information you obtained, the techniques you
used, the analysis you carried out, and the results of experiments –
a myriad of details concerning every part of your work.

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 Data And Interpretations
Distorting your data or results knowingly is a serious lapse of
honesty. Scientific objectivity should be maintained as much as
possible.

If you can see any reason for a possibility of bias in any aspect of
the research, it should be acknowledged and explained. If the study
involves personal judgements and assessments, the basis for these
should be given.

Silently rejecting or ignoring evidence which happens to be

contrary to one’s beliefs, or being too selective in the data used and
in presenting the results of the analysis constitutes a breach of
integrity.
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 The Research Process Overview

Step 1: Formulating a Research Problem

*Formulating a Research Problem
*Literature Review

Step 2: Conceptualising a Research Design

*The Research Design
*Selecting a Study Design

Step 3: Construction of Instrument for Data

Collection
* Selecting a Method of Data Collection
*Experimental Method of Data Collection

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 The Research Process Overview

Step 4: Writing a Research Proposal

*How to write a research proposal

Step 5: Processing and Displaying of Data

* Processing a Data
*Displaying a Data

Step 6: Writing a Research Report

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