LECTURE 2

RESEARCH PROCESS, CRITICAL THINKING AND

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

DMS 411: COURSE CONTENT

1. Introduction
2. Research Process and the Scientific Research Method
3. Study Background and Problem Formulation
4. Literature Review
5. Designing Research
6. Data Collection Methods
7. Data Analysis
8. Conclusions and Recommendations
9. Research Proposal and Research Report Writing
10. Ethics In Research.
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THE RESEARCH PROCESS

• Accumulation and application of knowledge to come
up with conclusions, understanding, and prediction
• Can be seen as a sequential process involving several
clearly defined steps designed to achieve the following:
• Problem Identification and Definition
• Research planning
• Data Collection and Analysis
• Drawing conclusions and reporting
• The idea of a sequence is useful for developing a
project and for keeping the project orderly as it unfolds
• The Research Process demands a Critical Thinking
Approach
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1
 RESEARCH AND
CRITICAL
THINKING
• What Connection?

WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING?

1. examining, questioning, evaluating, and
challenging taken-for-granted assumptions
about issues and practices
2. the objective analysis of facts to form a
judgment
3. the rational, skeptical, unbiased analysis, or
evaluation of factual evidence

OBSERVATIONS
ü Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the
following:
§ ability to engage in reflective and independent
thinking
§ understand the logical connections between ideas
§ ability to analyze information objectively and make a
reasoned judgment
§ Ability to think clearly and rationally about what to
do or what to believe
§ Ability to generate innovative solutions(out of the
box)
ü Thinking that is rational, open-minded, analytical, and
supported by evidence
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2
SCIENTIFIC METHOD & CRITICAL
THINKING…..THE LINK
qScientific Method is the Systematic way of
approaching scientific questions by constructing
theories that organize, test, and summarize
empirical evidence
qEspoused on the basis of Critical Thinking
qCritical thinking involves constantly asking
questions, examining information and evidence, and
figuring out conclusions
qCritical Thinking provides the basis for the scientific
method, which then gives good evidence on which to
base conclusions
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SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
• A systematic, controlled, rigorous,
empirical, and critical investigation of
phenomena guided by theory and
hypotheses about the presumed relations
among such phenomena
• Has the focused goal of problem solving
• Pursues a step-by-step logical, organized
and rigorous method

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
• Can be seen to consist of the following steps:
– Problem identification
– Collection of facts relevant to the problem
– Formulation of hypotheses
– Testing the hypotheses
– Selection of the most likely solution to the problem

3
 STEPS IN THE RESEARCH PROCESS

ESTABLISH THE NEED FOR INFORMATION

SPECIFY RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND INFORMATION NEEDS

DETERMINE RESEARCH DESIGN AND SOURCES OF DATA

DEVELOP THE DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE

DESIGN THE SAMPLE

COLLECT THE DATA

PROCESS THE DATA

ANALYZE THE DATA

PRESENT RESEARCH RSULTS 10