What is Research?

Gokce Hilal Sincer

Why do we need research?

• Modern society relies on research

• Research allows us to:
• Explore our universe
• Explore our environment
• Use and create new technology
• Understand ourselves
 Research Defined
A detailed study of a subject, especially in order to discover (new)
information or reach a (new) understanding

Research is a type of systematic investigation that is empirical in nature

and is designed to contribute to public knowledge

Research entails collection of data; documentation of critical information;

and analysis and interpretation of that data/information, in accordance
with suitable methodologies set by specific professional fields and
academic disciplines.
Basic & Applied Research

• Basic research
• Designed to generate discoveries and to understand how the discoveries work

• Applied research
• Tests a discovery under increasingly controlled conditions in real-world contexts
Theoretical & Empirical

• Theoretical
• Concerned with developing, exploring, or testing the theories or ideas that
social researchers have about how the world operates

• Empirical
• Based on direct observations and measurements of reality
Where research topics come from

• Practical problems in the field

• Literature reviews
• Requests for research proposals
• Generating your own research ideas
The Literature Review

• A systematic compilation and written summary of all of the literature

published in scientific journals that is related to a research topic of
interest
• The literature included should be peer reviewed
• Peer review is a system for ensuring the accuracy and methodological
integrity of published research articles
Also watch:
How To Write A Literature
Review In 3 Simple Steps
https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=lw8HPXJP1VA
Feasibility Issues

• Feasibility is the practicality of your research

project
• Considerations
• Cost
• Time investment
• Access to the population of interest
• Ethical constraints
The Language of Research
Research, like any other endeavor, has its own language and
vocabulary.

Language used in research should be:

1. concrete and specific, not vague and abstract
2. concise, not verbose
3. familiar, not obscure
4. precise and clear, not inaccurate or ambiguous
5. constructive, not destructive
6. appropriately formal
The Research Process
1. Find a Research Idea /Formulate a Research Problem
2. Conceptualize a Research Design
3. Identify Participants or Subjects
4. Select a Research Strategy
5. Select a Research Design
6. Conduct the Study
7. Evaluate the Data
8. Report the Result
9. Refine or Reformulate Your Research Idea
Step 1: Formulate a Research Problem

• Select a topic and find a hypothesis. Decide what you want to find out
about
• Typically involves two parts:
• Selecting a general topic area
• Reviewing the literature in that area to find a specific research question or
hypothesis
Step 2: Conceptualize a Research Design
• Explain how you will answer your research questions
• Choose research strategy
• Usually determined by one of two factors:
• The type of question asked
• Ethics and other constraints

Remember: The strength of what you find largely rest on how it was
found
Step 3: Identify Participants or Subjects
• The individuals who take part in research studies are called
participants if they are human and subjects if they are nonhuman

• Determine number of participants/subjects, where and how to recruit

them

• Decide whether you will place any restriction on the characteristic of

participants
Step 4: Select a Research Strategy

• Choosing research strategy involves deciding on the general approach

you will take to evaluate your research hypothesis

• Usually determined by one of two factors:

• The type of question asked
• Ethics and other constraints
 Step 5: Select a Research Design
Involves making decisions about the specific methods and procedures
you will use to conduct the research study
Step 6: Conduct the Study

• Involves collecting the data

• Laboratory or in the field (real world)?
• Individually or in groups?
Step 7: Evaluate the Data

• Once the data have been collected you

need to use various statistical methods
to examine and evaluate the data
Step 8: Report the Results

• One important aspect of research is that observations and results

must be public
• Two reasons to report results are:
• The results become part of general knowledge base that other people can use
to answer questions or to generate new research ideas
• The research procedure can be replicated or refuted by other researchers
Step 9: Refine or Reformulate your Research Idea
• Most research studies generate more questions than they answer
• If the results support the original hypothesis, it does not mean that
we have a final answer
• Results that support a hypothesis can lead to new questions.
“If we knew what we were doing, it would not be called research, would
it?”
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm

doing."
Wernher von Braun (1912-1977)

“Research is seeing what everybody else has seen and thinking what
nobody else has thought.”
Albert Szent-Györgyi (1893-1986)

“Research means that you don’t know, but are willing to find
out”
Charles F. Kettering (1876-1958)

“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.”

Arthur Conan Doyle (writing as Sherlock Holmes) (1859-1930)