TYPES OF RESEARCH

UNIT – 2
Quote of the Day

“The common facts of today are the products

of yesterday’s research

-Unknown
Objectives of Todays Session

• What are the types of research

• Basic research and applied research

• Action research and its implications

• Classification of research methods

• Qualitative and quantitative research

• Historical, descriptive and experimental research

Research / Educational Research

• The systematic investigation into and study of materials and

sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.
• Educational research refers to the systematic collection and
analysis of data related to the field of education
• Research may involve a variety of methods and various aspects
of education including student learning, teaching methods,
teacher training, and classroom dynamics
Breakdown of various research terms

• Type of research by purpose

• Basic research
• Applied research
• Action research
• These are further divided into..
• Quantitative research
• Qualitative research
• Type of research by methods
• Historical research
• Experimental research
• Descriptive research
Basic Research

• It seeks generalization and may not lead to immediate application

• Aims at basic processes
• Attempts to explain why things happen in depth
• Tries to get all the facts
• Reports in technical terms of language
• It is conducted for the development of theory
• Examples can be learning by trial / error doing and by doing
Applied Research

• Studies individual or specific cases without the objective to

generalize them
• Aims at any variable which makes the desired difference
• Tries to say how things can be changed
• Tries to correct the facts which are problematic
• Reports in common language
• Basic and applied research, further divided into three types
Quantitative Research

• It is numerical, non-descriptive, applies statistics or mathematics

and uses numbers
• It is an iterative (improvement) process whereby evidence is
evaluated
• The results are often presented in tables and graphs
• It is conclusive
• It investigates the what, where and when of decision making
• Sample size is larger
• Specific objectives, questions / hypothesis
Qualitative Research

• It is non-numerical, descriptive, applies reasoning and uses words

• Its aim is to get the meaning, feeling and describe the situation
• Qualitative data cannot be graphed but can be quantified
• It is exploratory
• It investigates the why and how of decision making
• Can highlight some phenomena
• Sample is smaller
• Contextual studies with only question and no hypothesis
• Examples are grounded theory, biography, case studies, historical
Mixed Method Research

Mixed research- research that involves the mixing of

quantitative and qualitative methods or paradigm
characteristics. Nature of data is mixture of variables,
words and images.
Some Other Types of Researches
Exploratory Research

• Might involve a literature search or conducting focus group

interviews / Discussion
• Exploring a phenomena prevailing in a society
• May test the feasibility of a more extensive study
• Determine the best methods to be used in a subsequent study
• Exploratory research is broad in focus and rarely provides definite
answers to specific research issues
• The objective of exploratory research is to identify key issues and
key variables
Descriptive Research

The descriptive research is directed toward studying

“what” and how many off this “what”. Thus, it is directed
toward answering questions such as, “What is this?”.
Explanatory Research

• Its primary goal is to understand or to explain relationships

• It uses correlations to study relationships between dimensions or
characteristics off individuals, groups, situations, or events
• Explanatory research explains (How the parts of a phenomenon are
related to each other)
• Explanatory research asks the “Why” question
Longitudinal Research

• Involves data collection at multiple points in time

• Trend study- looks at population characteristics over time, e.g.
organizational absenteeism rates during the course of a year
• Cohort study- traces a sub-population over time, e.g. absenteeism
rates for the sales department
• Panel study- traces the same sample over time, e.g. graduate
career tracks over the period 1990 – 2000 for the same starting
cohort
Cross Sectional Research

One-shot or cross-sectional studies are those in which data

is gathered once, during a period of days, weeks or
months. Many cross-sectional studies are exploratory or
descriptive in purpose. They are designed to look at how
things are now, without any sense of whether there is a
history or trend at work
Some Other Types

• Comparative Research. To identify similarities and differences

between units at all levels
• Causal Research. It aims at establishing cause and effect
relationship among variable
Action Research

• Stephen Corey defines the action research as

• “it’s a process in which teachers try to identify the problems being
faced by students in classroom and solve them in a scientific way
for the betterment of learners” (Corey, 1953).

• Calhoun defines action research as “a systematic process to know

what is happening in the school and take actions to make it better
place to learn” (E.F, 1994)
Purpose of Action Research

• For the improvement of teachers practices

• For enabling students to learn more by problem solving
• Helps teachers to evaluate and improve teaching techniques
• Helps teachers to acquire more knowledge, skills and qualities for
their professional development to fulfill their responsibilities
• It tries to make the school environment more comfortable
• A personal analysis and self-evaluation look for teacher’s own
improvement.
Characteristics of Action Research

• Action research does not concern in building theories but focus on

the solution of problems
• Immediate solution of problems within specific time
• Helpful for teachers to improve their teaching methodology and
improvement
• Gives the teachers a systematic way to identify the problems and
take actions
• To make classroom environment conducive in learning
• Improves conditions and build cooperative attitude in teachers
Limitations of Action Research

• It might be time consuming as actions take time

• It is conducted in single context, results cannot be generalized
• Findings of action research are on typically in specific classroom
condition
• Result could be different in different classroom
• It is more localized, so cannot be generalized
• Teachers are already overburdened. They have heavy scheme of
studies, so could be difficult for teachers to focus on
Historical Research

• Historical research justifies itself when used to find out the

solutions of the present day problems on the basis of the
experiences of the past
• It analyze the past events and develops present concept and
conclusion
• It describe what occurs in the past
Characteristics of Historical Research

• Careful study and analysis of data about past events

• Investigation of events, development, experiences of past
• The purpose is to gain a clearer understanding of the impact of
past on present and future events related to life process
• Involves the review of written materials but may include oral
documentation as well
• Relies on available data like diaries, letters, newspapers
• Hospital researches, disease analysis etc.
Experimental Research

Experimentation is the name given to the type of educational

research in which the investigator controls the educative factors to
which a child or group of children is subjected during the period of
inquiry, and observes the resulting achievements
Method Involves in any Research

• Identify the problem

• Review literature
• Select participants and instruments
• Collect valid and reliable data
• Data analysis
• Report writing
Thank You Very Much