What are the things one should know before starting a research process- Don't want you to know?

Dear friends,

This article is written to understand “What are the things one should know before starting a research work”. It is necessary for all the research aspirants to know what is a research, what are its purpose, and why it is significant and how it is going to play a major role in the research study. Come on let’s talk about each of these niches in detail.

Flow diagram of a research process

What is a Research-

To describe research in a simple way, it is a process of identifying /discovering a novel idea/knowledge. This idea/knowledge can be either an advancement of the existing ones or leading to a new concept which was not existing previously.

However, the most formal common definition of a research is titled as “Research is a systematic, formal, rigorous and precise process employed to gain solutions to issues or to invent and interpret new facts and relationships”.

Objectives of a research:

The objective of research is to find out what is familiar, what is not and what one can develop further to it. In the same way, scientists are comping up with new concepts, ideas, knowledge which helps to shape the identity of our society as well as our everybody lives.

The purpose of conducting a research is to understand the world in a better aspect and also to acquire how this knowledge can be imposed in our day-to-day life. The research is being already existing in many forms, however depending on the purpose, the research is grouped as below-

1.Primary /Exploratory Research

2.Secondary/Descriptive Research

3.Tertiary Research/ Explanatory Research

Primary or Exploratory Research:

The primary research is usually conducted at the initial stage of any kind of research work or operation. This research is also known as exploratory as it is carried out to examine the topic of the study. This research is recognized to be the base for all the further stages of works involved and however this type of research doesn’t survive to be a conclusion of the research work (i.e., it just helps to guide and elaborate how the rest of the stages are going to be)

Secondary or Descriptive Research:

This research is normally conducted in the middle stages of an investigation or research process. The secondary research is also said to be descriptive Research as this helps to describe the issue or problem close to hand. as it helps to describe the problem at hand. It spreads light on the issues faced. With help of both quantitative and qualitative methods, this research implies the calculation and analysis of the collected data.

Tertiary or Explanatory Research:

The tertiary research is the final and last stage of research which is conducted at the conclusion stage of the research study. This research is also called as explanatory research as it describes the complete results of the research study or analysis.

Categorization of researches:

The research can be divided into two types which are as under-

1.Basic Research

2.Applied Research

Basic Research:

The basic research is also termed as a pure research as this is a true and original examination of a specific process/event/phenomenon. In general, this research concentrates on providing knowledge around the already existing theories/concepts. This research is recognized to be non-commercial research as this doesn’t provide an immediate solution to a problem and has no quick profit at any circumstance.

Applied Research:

This applied research is quite opposite to the basic research as this examines the familiar concepts and principles to improve a quick knowledge around a realistic objective. Due to these reasons, this research is applied to real time problems which in turn provides an immediate solution as well as profit.

Classification of Research Methods:

The research methods are divided into groups which are as under-

(a). Quantitative

(b). Qualitative

If we go into deep analysis on these both methods, they found to have different properties and data collection methods. Both the methods are been detailed below

Qualitative methods:

In the Qualitative research the data is collected using conversational methods, which are usually open-ended questions. And the responses collected are fundamentally non-numerical. This method basically helps a researcher to understand what will the contributor think and why they think in a specific way.

The qualitative methods types are as follows:

1.One-to-one Interview

2.Text Analysis

3.Case Study

4.Focus Groups

5.Ethnographic studies

Quantitative methods-

The quantitative research is a method which will consists of numbers and measurable forms. This method uses a systematic way of approach in exploring data or events. This method will answer to the questions in order to justify or prove the relationships with quantifiable variables to either predict, explain or control an event.

The quantitative methods types are as follows:

1.Descriptive research

2.Survey research

3.Correlational research

The main important point to be noted is that, the research will be valuable and useful to a researcher one and only if it is being validated, reliable and accurate. Incorrect results can lead to customer churn and a decrease in sales.

It is also mandatory to ensure that the data collected is holding the below properties:

Valid – The data collected must be logical, rigorous and impartial founded.

Reliable – Other research people who examine in the same way can produce related results.

Timely – Current and collected data within a suitable time frame.

Complete – Includes all the data you need to support your business decisions.

Accurate – The data collected should be free of errors and including required details.

Key points to be remembered:

1. The research area should be precise and specific.

2. Identify the research study nature

3. Setting of objectives based on the identified study

4. Validate the study

5. Conducting of analysis

Hope this article helped you all in providing clarity about distinguishing various types of researches and preforming your research more efficiently.