 Research:

Research is defined as a group of methods used to create new knowledge or use the existing
knowledge in newer creative ways in order to generate state-of-art concepts, methods, as well
as understanding the existing theories in a new light.
Research refers to the systematic inquiry for describing, explaining, predicting, as well as
controlling an observable phenomenon. Research involves the use of both inductive as well as
deductive methods.

 Research approach: type of research

 Inductive Research: -
 Inductive research methods are used to analyse observable events.
 Inductive research includes the use of qualitative research methods.
 It gives new knowledge.
 It is also called basic research.
 It is a bottomup approach
 It is less structured.
 It works from specific to general.
 Exploratory.
 Eg:
 Deductive Research:

 Deductive methods are used to verify the event that has been observed.
 deductive approach more commonly uses quantitative analysis.
 It does not give any new knowledge.
 It is also called applied research.
 It is a top down approach.
 It is highly structured.
 It works from boarder to specific.
 Explanatory & descriptive.

 Types of research / the use of research:

 Business research:
When running a business, there are many decisions to make, such as opening new
branches, developing new products, and the number employees to hire. You research
everything from vendor costs to headset. Business owners can use research to make
wise, informed decisions. When people speak of business research, they are referring
to business marketing research that helps identify the specific areas to spend money
on for development and advertising.

 Basic/fundamental/academic: inductive research

 Fundamental, also known as basic or theoretical, is a type of investigation focused on improving
the understanding of a particular phenomenon, study or law of nature. This type of research
examines data to find the unknown and fulfill a sense of curiosity. Usually, these involve "how,"
"what" and "why" questions to explain occurrences. Basic research looks at how processes or
concepts work.
Example: 
 A study looking at how alcohol consumption impacts the brain
 A study seeing what areas of the United States have the most rain
 A study examining whether a vegetarian diet is healthier than one with meat

 Applied research: Deductive

Applied research is designed to identify solutions to specific problems or find answers to
particular questions. It offers knowledge that is applicable and implementable.

Example:
 A study to find what marketing strategies to use on college campuses
 A study providing solutions for how to train dogs to stay in their yard

 Deductive reasoning:
Deductive reasoning starts with a general assumption, it applies logic, then it tests that
logic to reach a conclusion. With this type of reasoning, if the premises are true, then
the conclusion must be true.
Eg:
 All dogs have ears; golden retrievers are dogs, therefore they have ears.
 Christmas is always Dec. 25th; today is Dec. 25th, therefore it’s Christmas.
 All students attend class regularly; Mr. john is a student; Mr. john is regular stdnt

 Inductive reasoning:
Inductive reasoning starts with a specific assumption, then it broadens in scope until it
reaches a generalized conclusion. With inductive reasoning, the conclusion may be false
even if the premises are true.

Eg:
 There are a total of 20 apples and oranges in a basket. I pulled out five; four apples and one
orange, therefore there are 16 apples and four oranges in the basket.
 ali, Ahmed and kanta khan attend classes regularly
ali, Ahmed and Kanta khan received high grades.
Theory: attend cls regularly lead them got high grades.

 Qualitative:
  Observation (interviews, survey, graph, casestudy)
 Purpose of research is to gain in dept. understanding of phenomena.
 Small sample of mostly representative cases.
 Unstructured or semi structured data collection techniques.
 Use non statistical techniques.
 Often exploratory in nature.
 Not Clearly defined research questions.
 Development the theory.

 Quantitative research:

 Data given and measurable (scales)

 Purpose of research is to generalize results from sample to population.
 Large sample of representative cases.
 Standardized techniques i-e scales, questionnaires or tests etc.
 Use of statistical techniques.
 Generalization.
 Clearly defined research questions.
 Verify the theory.

 Problem statement:

o It identifies the gap between the current (problem) state and desired (goal) state of a
process or product. Focusing on the facts, the problem statement should be designed to
address the Who, What, When, Where, Why. The first condition of solving a problem is
understanding the problem, which can be done by way of a problem statement.
o The problem statement should address not only what the problem is, but why it's a
problem and why it's important to solve it. This will wrap the other 'W' questions in
most cases. For example: Why should we fix this problem?

 Literature gap / knowledge gap:

Gaps in the Literature are missing pieces or insufficient information in the

research literature. These are areas that have scope for further research
because they are unexplored, under-explored, or outdated. 
Gaps could be:
o population or sample: size, type, location etc…
o research methods: qualitative, quantitative, or mixed
o data collection or analysis
o research variables or conditions
 research methods:
Quantitative data collection methods
 Surveys: List of closed or multiple choice questions that is distributed to
a sample (online, in person, or over the phone).
 Experiments: Situation in which variables are controlled and manipulated to establish
cause-and-effect relationships.
 Observations: Observing subjects in a natural environment where variables can’t be
controlled.
Qualitative data collection methods
 Interviews: Asking open-ended questions verbally to respondents.
 Focus groups: Discussion among a group of people about a topic to gather opinions that
can be used for further research.
 Ethnography: Participating in a community or organization for an extended period of
time to closely observe culture and behavior.
 Literature review: Survey of published works by other authors.
Mixed methods approach
You conduct interviews to find out how satisfied students are with their studies. Through open-
ended questions you learn things you never thought about before and gain new insights. Later,
you use a survey to test these insights on a larger scale.
It’s also possible to start with a survey to find out the overall trends, followed by interviews to
better understand the reasons behind the trends.

 Different part of research:

 Title:
teen smoking in the high school.
 Research problem
teen smoking in the high school increase health issues.
 Research objectives: always start with TO
To investigate why teen smoking in school.
 Research questions:
Why teenage smoking in school.

 How to write statement of problem?

It should have 5 parts without giving headings
 1. Topic: start with boarder concept
2. Research problem: starts with statistical data. Write ur prob. U have to
develop a framework.
3. Justification: what is the importance of this research. Y u r doing this
research.
4. Deficiency: gap in the lit
5. Beneficiaries: who is the beneficiary of this research. Eg public, studnt,
researcher.

 Three Purposes of Research

Social research can serve a variety of purposes. Three of the most common purposes of
research are exploration, description and explanation.
1. Exploration as a purpose of research is when a research is conducted to explore/investigate
a subject or concept;
2. Description fulfils the need to provide more insight to a problem by providing more data and
analysing them according to specific needs,
3. Explanation is the use of research to give a new perspective to existing knowledge. This is the
purpose of research most students are familiar with as it is the form most undergraduate
papers come in.

What Is Hypothesis Testing?

Hypothesis testing is a systematic procedure for deciding whether the results of a research
study support a particular theory which applies to a population.
Hypothesis testing uses sample data to evaluate a hypothesis about a population.

Null and research hypotheses

Research hypothesis: this is the hypothesis that you propose, also known as the alternative
hypothesis HA. For example:
HA: There is a relationship between intelligence and academic results.
HA: First year university students obtain higher grades after an intensive Statistics course.
HA; Males and females differ in their levels of stress.
HA: advertisement does effect sale.

The null hypothesis (Ho) is the opposite of the research hypothesis and expresses that there is
no significant relationship between variables, or no differences between groups; for example:
Ho: There is no relationship between intelligence and academic results.
Ho:  First year university students do not obtain higher grades after an intensive Statistics course.
Ho: advertisement does not effect sale.
Ho: Males and females will not differ in their levels of stress.
Types of hypothesis:
Directional: show a indication of negative/ positive, less or greater of direction or r/p
e.g greater the stress experience in job lower the job satisfaction.
Non directional: no indication of direction or r/p
eg there is r/p b/w age & job.

 Research philosophy
There are five major philosophies in research:
 Positivism
 critical realism
 interpretivism,
 postmodernism
 pragmatism

 What is the difference between a conceptual framework and a

theoretical framework?
Framework:
It is logical r/p b/w different variable that guide the development of the study if
framework is drive from the related concept it called conceptual if it drive from theory
it’s called theoretical framework.
theoretical framework  conceptual framework
 Theoretical framework is based on  Conceptual framework on the other hand, is
the use of  an existing theory or the literal meaning of the concept of the
theories (for example, The Theory study using dictionary meaning and empirical
of Motivation) findings from other literatures.

 Theoretical framework looks into  Conceptual framework looks at the current

the current research problem research problem through the lens of
using the lens of past relevant existing knowledge on the topic, and what
theories from existing literatures. the researcher want us to know about that
topic.

 It is based on the research  It is developed from the basis of acceptable

paradigm. and logical findings.

 Theoretical framework is  Conceptual frameworks are commonly seen

often  used in quantitative in qualitative research works.
researches.

 Here, you have a general set of  Here you have the specific concept the
 ideas and theories researcher uses in the study.

 Theoretical framework focuses on  Conceptual framework focuses on the

the historical background and the fundamental concepts characterizing the
structure to filling the gap in study variable to give an informed
knowledge. understanding of the study.

 Types of variables:
4 variables
1. Dv: DV impact on IV or influenced by IV. It is possible 2 or many DVs
2. Iv: it shows the impact on DV + -
3. Moderator: external variable. Has a strong effect on IV & DV.it influence the
strength of r/p b/w both. It could be stronger or weaker in both directions.
4. Mediator: (bridge) explained the r/p b/w IV and DV. How the r/p will develop it’s
a mechanism IV can influence DV through mediation. It stands b/w IV & DV.