MODULE 1: RESEARCH and ITS BASIC CONCEPTS

LESSON 2
PURPOSE and RELEVANCE of RESEARCH

Research as a Requirement
Why do you need to conduct research in your undergraduate course? For one thing, it
is part of the curriculum and without it, you would not graduate without its completion and
thus, you are compelled to do so. Well, you should look beyond the requirement and instead
focus on the merits of conducting a research paper in your undergraduate course.
There are many benefits you can get in conducting a research study. It exercises your
critical thinking as you learn to read, analyze and synthesize literature on a subject matter
and decide which ones are related and not related to the subject matter as well as reason
why it is relevant and how a text is related.
Research allows you to exercise freedom to choose. As student researchers, you are
free to decide on a topic, the research problems you want to seek answers for and the
methodology you wish to conduct in order to answer the research problems. Also, research
allows you to apply the skills their communicative skills in the gathering of data, in the
composition of the research paper and in the dissemination of the results of the study.
If you would only look past the requirement, you will come to view research as an
adventure where you plow read through the vast literature and discover things unknown to
you before. Yes, you will discover possibilities of your potential. All students who had
diligently worked on and completed their research projects attest of the self-fulfillment they
experienced. In the beginning, they thought that it was impossible for them to go through
the challenge. But with determination and diligence, they were able to accomplish the
study.
Finally, going through the rigorous process of research allows you to exercise and
develop your patience and diligence in gathering data; thoroughness as you make sure you
have every information collected, properly documented, analyzed and verified; courage as
you face your fear or overcome your shyness to approach people in authority or even
strangers in the gathering of data for your research; humility as you accept your need for
more knowledge; honesty and integrity as you observe ethical standards in the conduct of
your research; objectivity as you overcome your personal prejudices and biases to accept the
results of your study as is; critical thinking skills as you put them to good use in all the phases
of the study; and finally, research develops your time management skills as you balance your
time among your social, home and school activities.

Quest for Knowledge

No matter what purpose researchers would claim in the conduct of their research, it
would all boil down to knowledge. Research is geared towards finding answers to questions
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which shall add to the Body of Knowledge on the subject matter. At this point, let us take a
look on the different types of knowledge that we might not be aware of.
Traditional Knowledge. This is knowledge that we have come to believe in as we
grew up in the society. It is part of our cultural inheritance. This includes everything we
were taught and have become a part of our identity and behavior. Traditional knowledge
would include our belief systems. Just as cultural heritage is unique from one society to
another, this type of knowledge cannot be used as universal or absolute. This type of
knowledge may be used to explain some behavior but cannot be taken as empirical evidence.
It can be a source of investigation though and social experimentation. Most of our
assumptions or what we think about things come from traditional knowledge.
Knowledge from Authority. This is knowledge that we believe to be true because its
source is authoritative or it comes from someone considered to be an authority on the subject
matter. For instance, you believed you needed to take antibiotics because it is what the
doctor prescribed for your persistent dry cough. You did not believe the blog you read about
taking in boiled ginger juice as remedy for dry cough. You would of course believe a doctor
when it comes to knowledge of curing ailments of their specialization. Authoritative figures
who have achieved a reputation and whose opinion on a phenomenon or subject matter is
accepted either as proven facts or as educated judgments. This kind of knowledge is used as
bases for theories and assumptions. Knowledge from authority however cannot be taken as
absolutely accurate. This knowledge is often tested and verified in research.
In research, particularly in writing theories and principles, you have to make sure you
are citing the proper authority on the subject matter. Authoritative sources should come
from reputable published journals and texts.
Experiential Knowledge. As the term suggests, this is knowledge from experience.
Knowledge from experience is our first source of knowledge while growing up. For instance,
you know you should not touch fire because you will get burned like when you first put your
finger on the fire of the burning candle. As you grow older, you accumulate different
learning experiences whether positive or negative, painful or joyful all throughout life. These
experiences however, would only be taken as accurate as experienced by the individual
because there might be a different experience for an individual despite of being in the same
circumstance. For instance, all children are born in a family, but each child gets a different
experience in their families.
Empirical Knowledge. We come to this knowledge through the processes of
observation and/or by experimentation. Empirical knowledge is obtained by interacting with
the real world, observing phenomena, and drawing conclusions from experience.
A priori knowledge. This type of knowledge is arrived at by looking into some
previous systematic empirical work or observation. Usually, these are already things known
to the researcher based on theories , principles and sound arguments which they will refer to
in the investigation of a research problem. For instance, one a priori knowledge is that
teacher input affects the learning process of the students as stated in theories of classroom
practice such as that of John Dewy. You may use this a priori to investigate the strategies
used by the teacher in teaching language or mathematics.
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Scientific Knowledge. In a nutshell, this is empirical knowledge that is based on

studies conducted by researchers. It is through systematic research that we produce
scientific knowledge and in the academe, it is this knowledge that we can trust.

Purpose of Research
The purpose of a research study depends upon the type of the research being
conducted. Among the purposes of a research paper includes the following:
1. To understand a phenomenon. Research is undertaken to understand better a certain
phenomenon. This includes the causes, effects, sources, and other variables
connected with it. Why do we need to understand the phenomenon? This is because
the more we know about it the better we can deal with it. For instance in the field of
science, as scientists learn more about energy, its sources and power, the more they
can produce ways to harness the energy and even work on its conservation and wise
utilization. Another example would be human behavior, the more we understand
language learning, the more well informed would be our methods of teaching language
for the benefit of the learners. In medicine, research in cancer lead to better
understanding as to its causes, symptoms, diagnosis etc. The more they can work
better in developing better treatments for the patients.

2. To formulate or test a theory or hypothesis. Some studies are conducted in order to

come up with a generalization that would lead to the formulation of a theory on that
subject matter. For instance, in mathematics, a study can be undertaken to produce
a mathematical model or a mathematical formula. Some studies are undertaken to
prove a theory to be correct or in some cases, wrong. For instance, a researcher had
the hypothesis that there is a significant relationship between a student’s English
language vocabulary to their academic performance with the assumption that the
higher the English vocabulary size the higher the performance. So the research was
conducted to test whether the hypothesis is correct. Other purposes that relate to
this is to confirm, prove, verify a theory, assumption or hypothesis.

3. To develop or improve something. Research is also geared towards development or

improvement of products, machines, and even ways of doing things. For instance,
many teaching methodologies came about because educators wanted to find ways that
are more effective in teaching a particular subject. They wanted to improve student
performance and so it goes on saying, they have to improve their methods of teaching
too. Instructional materials are being developed every now and then to improve
teaching strategies. Meanwhile, in the field of technology and industries, many
product development studies sought to improve current products for better buyer
consumption.

4. To serve as tool for success. Many business companies, educational institutions, and
other institutions in different sectors of society like local government units and even
in the national government conduct research to improve their service performances.
In the business and trades sector, this purpose of research is geared towards increasing
sales and consequently increasing income for the company or industry.
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5. To prove lies and support truths. In these times where we rely on social media and
mass media for information. Not everything we read or watched online is true. Much
like research is not all about experiments and surveys, research is also conducted in
verifying the truth of things especially when these involve national security and
historical facts. This is also the reason why professional and credible journalists
undertake thorough investigation (research) on the facts of their stories.

6. To test validity and reliability. Scientists also do research not just to develop or
invent something; but, sometimes scientists do research to test the validity and
reliability of their claims or those of other scientists. Other researchers conduct the
study with a different population or conditions so as to test the validity of earlier
findings and results of a previously conducted research.

BTW
Let’s pause to take note of the following terms:

Validity refers to the accuracy of a method or an

instrument is measuring what it intends to measure. If a
research is valid, it means that it produced results that
corresponded to the purpose of the research.
Let me illustrate: for instance, you wanted to measure
the effectiveness of a teaching strategy. Is the instrument you
are using measures effectiveness? How do you measure
effectiveness? Is it with the use of a proficiency test or with a
survey questionnaire where the respondents are asked to rate
the effectiveness of the teaching strategy according to their
perception? Which of these do you think is a valid instrument?
The proficiency test or the survey questionnaire?
In this situation, a proficiency test is the valid instrument to use
in measuring effectiveness of a teaching strategy. Consider this: a
teacher used the drill method in teaching math. A proficiency test in
math is the valid instrument rather than a survey questionnaire that
asks the student to rate the math teacher poor, satisfactory, moderate,
good, or very good in terms of the indicators describing the
effectiveness of the teacher such as explaining the lesson well, giving
results and feedback on time , and the like.
Reliability refers to the consistency of the results of a study.
For instance, if the instrument is used with another set of population,
in another geographical area or another place, in another time, it
would produce the same result. This is the case of entrance
examination instruments. The instrument has been found reliable to
measure what it intends to measure even when administered to
different students from different backgrounds and from different
schools.
We will have more and in depth discussion of validity and
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7. To measure, assess or evaluate. The terms measurement, assessment and evaluation

will be further discussed in the Methodology lessons later. For now, this topic refers
to the purpose of research that intends to measure or evaluate performance or
acceptability such as the following:
 Measure intelligence, aptitude, anxiety level, personality tests
(psychometrics) like determining whether you are socially adaptable or not;
 Evaluate teacher performance, evaluate effectiveness of teaching strategy;
 Determine acceptability of a developed product or machine, or
acceptability of a program among others.

8. To study, control, measure and predict variables. There are types of research that
studies the nature of certain variables and how these variables may affect another
variable. Other studies delve into manipulating variables in order to produce desired
results. Others study variables that may predict future outcomes. A classic example
here is the social surveys done during elections to predict who will be the most likely
winner of the polls.

9. To fill the gaps in the Body of Knowledge. The word research is etymologically
broken to mean research or search again. The reason why a review of literature is
needed in a research is because of the probability that the problems of the study were
not answered or the results posed another problem. Also, it may be that the studies
already conducted on the subject matter have not been exhaustively done that there
are gaps in the research such as unanswered problems, insufficient data, lacking of
tests of validity or reliability of instruments that further studies are needed.

10. To find solutions. Research is also conducted to study present conditions in order to
find solutions to certain problems. This is particularly applicable in action researches.
For instance, a high school teacher notices her attendance record that there is an
increase of students dropping their classes. By investigation she found that one of the
causes of drop out is poverty - that the students needed to help out in the farm and
thus needed to miss out their classes. The teacher then proposes a program to solve
this problem. The implementation of the program will later be evaluated if it has
been effective in reducing or even eliminating the problem on student dropouts.

Learning Task

Instruction : Search for studies that illustrate each purpose. One study for each
purpose. There are a plethora of researches done since the 1900s so no two people should
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have or cite the same research. Where to look? You can browse research abstracts from
different journals along your field of specialization. Now is the time to put your web surfing
skills to good use. Follow the given example below:
1. Title: Support of workplace diversity policies: The role of race, gender, and
beliefs about inequality
Researcher/s: Scarborough, W.J., Lambouths III, D.L. & Holbrook, A.L.
Source: Social Science Research, vol.79 (March 2019), pages 194-210; Retrieved from

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X17310360
Abstract:
Workplace diversity policies are more effective when they are supported by
managers and workers, but there is little direct evidence on how people feel
about these policies or why they hold certain opinions. In this study, we
analyze data from a survey experiment designed to assess public opinion about
a range of workplace diversity policies. We examine how support for these
policies among employed respondents varies by race, gender, and by the
targeted population (i.e. whether the policies aim to improve the workplace
representation of women or racial minorities). Using OLS regression models to
analyze a diverse sample of employed persons participating in the survey, we
find that women, blacks, and Latina/os are more supportive of diversity
policies than men and whites, and a substantial portion of these gender/race
differences can be explained by group-differences in the belief that
discrimination causes inequality. In addition, we find that respondents report
lower levels of support for workplace policies when these policies are framed
as a mechanism to increase diversity than when they are framed as being
needed to address discrimination or if no justification is given for the policy.
Our findings highlight the role of inequality beliefs in shaping worker support
for diversity policies, suggesting directions for future research on how such
beliefs are developed.

Purpose of the Study: To measure, assess or evaluate.

The study sought to find out about how people feel regarding the policies in
the workplace. This study exemplifies an acceptability study where the
opinions of the workers regarding the policies are exemplified.

 Good luck!!!