Methods of

Research
(Res 1)
F O R. E D U A R D O G . E S P E J O N J R.
I N S T R U C T O R O F F O R E S T RY / H E A D , R E S E A RC H A N D
D E V E LO P M E N T O F F I C E – N W S S U S A N J O R G E C A M P U S
“Research is to see what
everybody else has
seen, and to think what
nobody else has
thought.”

- ALBERT SZENT- GYORGYI

Module 1: Research Theory and
Practice
1. What is Research
2. Research Theory
3. Structuring the Research Project
4. Research Ethics
What is Research?

-Research is a very general term for an activity that

involves finding out, in a more or less systematic way,
things you did not know.

-Research involves finding out about things that no-

one else knew either. It is about advancing the
frontiers of knowledge. Adding knowledge to Science.
What is Research?

-is a careful, critical inquiry or examination in seeking facts or

principles. Acc. to Crawford (1928), it is a systematic and refined
technique of thinking , employing specialized tools, instruments and
procedures to obtained a more adequate solution of a problem than
would be possible under ordinary means.

Research means to study something carefully in order to learn

something new about it. The Scientific method is a way of doing
research.
What is Science?

-is the process of building up, knowledge and understanding natural

events or observable facts.

-Science is concerned with the advancement of knowledge

(Andre,1986 as cited by Reyes, 1991).

-Science is creativity. It is a person’s intrinsic trait that can be

stimulated and developed. Scientists and engineers vary in their
degree of being creative.
What is Scientific Method?

- Principles and Procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving

the:
1. Recognition and formulation of a problem;
2. The collection of data through observation and experiments
3. The formulation and testing of hypothesis.
4. It requires that declaration of truth is supported by objective and verifiable
evidence.

Science is never final or absolute and it depends on the amount and kind of
evidence.
What is Scientific Method?

-The Scientific method is a process for experimentation

that is used to explore observations and answer
questions.
-Scientists use the scientific method to search for cause
and effect relationships in nature. In other words, they
design an experiment so that changes to one item
cause something else to vary in a predictable way.
What is Scientific Method?

Ask a Question: The scientific method starts when you ask a question about
something that you observe. How, What, When, Who, Which, Why, or Where?

And, in order for the scientific method to answer the question it must be about
something that you can measure, preferably with a number.

Do Background Research: Rather than starting from scratch in putting together

a plan for answering your question, you want to be a savvy scientist using
library and Internet research to help you find the best way to do things and
insure that you don’t repeat mistakes from the past.
What is Scientific Method?

-Construct a Hypothesis: A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things work:

If_________(I do this)______then_________(this)_______will happen”.

You must state your hypothesis in a way that you can easily measure and of course,
your hypothesis should be constructed in a way to help you answer your original
question.

Test your Hypothesis by doing an Experiment: Your experiment tests whether your
hypothesis is true or false. It is important for your experiment to be a fair test. You
conduct a fair test by making sure that you change only one factor at a time while
keeping all other conditions the same.
What is Scientific Method?

You should also repeat your experiments several times to make sure that the first
results weren’t just an accident.

Analyze your Data and Draw a Conclusion: Once your experiment is complete, you
collect your measurements and analyze them to see if your hypothesis is true or
false.

Scientists often find that their hypothesis was false, and in such cases they will
construct a new hypothesis starting the entire process of the scientific method over
again. Even if they find that their hypothesis was true, they may want to test it
again in a new way.
 Ask a
Steps in doing the Question
scientific method
Do
Background
Research

Construct Think! Try

Hypothesis Again

Test with an
experiment
Analyze
results
Draw
Conclusion Hypothesis
Hypothesis is false or
is True partially
true
Report
Results
What are Research Methods?

-are the techniques you use to do

research.
They represent the tools of the trade, and
provide you with ways to collect, sort and
analyze information so that you can come
to some conclusions.
What are Research Methods?

Why Utilize Research Methods?

To Provide VALIDITY!

-That the new knowledge you have created is

soundly based.
Doing Research

-The practice of research is closely bound with

-theoretical developments
-promoted by philosophers and key thinkers
back to the ancient Greeks
-The debate about knowledge and how we
acquire it is rooted in philosophical thought.
What can you do with Research?

1. Categorize
This involves forming a typology of objects, events
or concepts, i.e. a set of names or ‘boxes’ into which
these can
be sorted. This can be useful in explaining which ‘things’
belong
together and how.
What can you do with Research?

2. Describe
Descriptive research relies on observation as a means
of collecting data. It attempts to examine situations in
order to
establish what is the norm, i.e. what can be predicted to
happen
again under the same circumstances
What can you do with Research?

3. Explain
This is a descriptive type of research specifically designed
to deal with complex issues. It aims to move beyond ‘just
getting
the facts’ in order to make sense of the myriad other elements
involved, such as human, political, social, cultural and
contextual.
What can you do with Research?

4. Evaluate
-This involves making judgements about the quality of
objects or events. Quality can be measured either in an
absolute sense or on a comparative basis.
-To be useful, the methods of evaluation must be
relevant to the context and intentions of the research.
What can you do with Research?

5. Compare
-Two or more contrasting cases can be
examined to highlight differences and
similarities between them, leading to a
better understanding of phenomena.
What can you do with Research?

6. Correlate
-The relationships between two phenomena
are investigated to see whether and how
they influence each other.
-This is measured as levels of association.
What can you do with Research?

7. Predict
-This can sometimes be done in research areas where
correlations are already known.
-Predictions of possible future behaviour or events are
made on the basis that if there has been a strong
relationship between two or more characteristics or events
in the past, then these should exist in similar circumstances
in the future, leading to predictable outcomes.
What can you do with Research?

8. Control
- Once you understand an event or situation, you
may be able to find ways to control it. For this you
need to know what the cause and effect
relationships are and that you are capable of
exerting control over the vital ingredients. All of
technology relies on this ability to control.
RESEARCH DESIGNS
-There is no universal research design!
-There are appropriate research designs for
different research projects.
-The choice of which design to apply
depends on the nature of the problems
posed by the research objectives.
RESEARCH DESIGNS
-Each type of research design has a range
of research methods that are commonly
used to collect and analyze the type DATA
that is generated by the investigations.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
1. HISTORICAL
This aims at a systematic and objective evaluation
and synthesis of evidence in order to establish
facts and draw conclusions about past events. It
uses primary historical data, such as
archaeological remains as well as documentary
sources of the past.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
Cont. 1.HISTORICAL
Apart from informing us about what happened in
previous times and re-evaluating beliefs about the
past, historical research can be used to find
contemporary solutions based on the past and to
inform present and future trends. It stresses the
importance of interactions and their effects
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
2. DESCRIPTIVE
This design relies on observation as a means of
collecting data. It attempts to examine situations
in order to establish what is the norm, i.e. what
can be predicted to happen again under the same
circumstances. ‘Observation’ can take many
forms.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
2. DESCRIPTIVE
-Depending on the type of information sought, people can be
interviewed, questionnaires distributed, visual records made,
even sounds and smells recorded. Important is that the
observations are written down or recorded in some way, in
order that they can be subsequently analyzed. The scale of the
research is influenced by two major factors: the level of
complexity of the survey and the scope or extent of the survey.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
3. CORRELATION
-This design is used to examine a relationship between
two concepts. There are two broad classifications of
relational statements: an association between two
concepts – where there is some kind of influence of one
on the other; and a causal relationship – where one
causes changes to occur in the other.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
3. CORRELATION
-Causal statements describe what is sometimes
called a ‘cause and effect’ relationship. The
cause is referred to as the ‘independent
variable’, the variable that is affected is referred
to as the ‘dependent variable’.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
4. COMPARATIVE
-This design is used to compare past and
present or different parallel situations,
particularly when the researcher has no
control over events.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
4. COMPARATIVE
- Analogy is used to identify similarities in order to predict
results – assuming that if two events are similar in certain
characteristics, they could well be similar in others too.
In this way comparative design is used to explore and test
what conditions were necessary to cause certain events, so
that it is possible, for example, to understand the likely
effects of making certain decisions.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
5. EXPERIMENTAL
- Experimental research attempts to isolate and control
every relevant condition which determines the events
investigated and then observes the effects when the
conditions are manipulated. At its simplest, changes are
made to an independent variable and the effects are
observed on a dependent variable – i.e. cause and
effect.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
5. EXPERIMENTAL
- require a hypothesis (prediction) to be formulated
first in order to determine what variables are to be
tested and how they can be controlled and measured.
There are several classes of experiment – pre, true,
quasi, etc. which are characterized by the amount of
checking and control involved in the methods.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
6. SIMULATION
-involves devising a representation in a
small and simplified form (model) of a
system, which can be manipulated to
gauge effects.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
7. EVALUATION
-This descriptive type of research is specifically
designed to deal with complex social issues. It
aims to move beyond ‘just getting the facts’, by
trying to make sense of the myriad human,
political, social, cultural and contextual elements
involved.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
7. EVALUATION
- range of different approaches of evaluation models,
for example, systems analysis – which is a holistic
type of research looking at the complex interplay of
many variables; and responsive evaluation – which
entails a series of investigative steps to evaluate how
responsive a program is to all those taking part in it.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
7. EVALUATION
-A common purpose of evaluation research is to examine
the working of projects from the point of view of levels of
awareness, costs and benefits, cost-effectiveness,
attainment of objectives and quality assurance.
-The results are generally used to prescribe changes to
improve and develop the situation.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
8. ACTION
-Essentially, this is an ‘on the spot’
procedure, principally designed to deal
with a specific problem found in a
particular situation.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
8. ACTION
-There is no attempt made to separate the
problem from its context in order to study it in
isolation. What are thought to be useful changes
are made and then constant monitoring and
evaluation are carried out to see the effects of
the changes.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
8. ACTION
-The conclusions from the findings are applied immediately,
and further monitored to gauge their effectiveness.
-Action research depends mainly on observation and
behavioral data.
-Because it is so bound up in a particular situation, it is difficult
to generalize the results, i.e. to be confident that the action will
be successful in another context.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
9. ETHNOLOGICAL
-Ethnological research focuses on people. In
this approach, the researcher is interested in
how the subjects of the research interpret
their own behaviour rather than imposing a
theory from outside.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
10. FEMINIST
-This is more of a perspective than a research design that involves
theory and analysis that highlight the differences between men’s and
women’s lives. Researchers who ignore these differences can come
to
incorrect conclusions. However, everyone is male or female, so value
neutrality is impossible as no researcher practises research outside
his or her system of values.
COMMON RESEARCH DESIGNS
11. CULTURAL
-Many of the prevailing theoretical debates (e.g. postmodernism,
poststructuralism etc.) are concerned with the subjects of language
and cultural interpretation.
-Cultural research provides methodologies that allow a consistent
analysis of cultural texts so that they can be compared, replicated,
disproved and generalized.
-Examples of approaches to the interpretation of cultural texts are:
content analysis, semiotics and discourse analysis.
DECIDING ON YOUR TYPE OF
RESEARCH
-It is your research interest that decides the nature
of your research problem, and this will indicate the
appropriate type of research to follow.
-Once the objectives of a research project have
been established, the issue of how these objectives
can be met leads to a consideration of which
research design should be chosen.
DECIDING ON YOUR TYPE OF
RESEARCH
-The research design provides a framework for the
collection and analysis of data and subsequently
indicates which research methods are appropriate.
-You can combine two or more types of research
design, particularly when your subject combines the
study of human behavior with that of, for example,
economics, technology, legislation or organizations.
DECIDING ON YOUR TYPE OF
RESEARCH
-The different types of research design may
involve the use of their own specific types
of research methods, developed
specifically to solve the problems inherent
in that design. However, some methods are
widely used across many research types.
Module 1: Research Theory and
Practice
1. What is Research
2. Research Theory
3. Structuring the Research Project
4. Research Ethics
RESEARCH THEORY
-Research is about acquiring knowledge
and developing understanding, collecting
facts and interpreting them to build up a
picture of the world around us, and even
within us.
RESEARCH THEORY
-So why should you find it necessary to
know something about philosophy as a background to your research?
Because everyone is a philosopher – everyone has a concept of the
world. In fact, the alternative to having a philosophy is not having no
philosophy but having a bad philosophy. The ‘unphilosophical’ person
has an unconscious philosophy, which they apply in their practice –
whether of science or politics or daily life (Collier, 1994: 16)
METAPHYSICS AND
EPISTEMOLOGY
Metaphysics is concerned with questions
such as what it is to be, who we are, what
is knowledge, what are things, what is time
and space.
IDEALISM
that advocates that reality is all in the mind, that
everything that exists is in some way dependent on the activity
of
the mind. Hence, as phenomena are reliant on mental and
social
factors they are therefore in a state of constant change e.g.
music
is not just sound, it is an emotional experience.
MATERIALISM (REDUCTIONISM)
That insists that only physical things and their
interactions exist and that our minds and
consciousness are wholly due to the active
operation of materials. Hence, phenomena are
independent of social factors and are therefore
stable e.g. music is just vibrations in the air.
METAPHYSICS AND
EPISTEMOLOGY
Epistemology is the theory of knowledge,
especially about its validation and the methods
used. It deals with how we know things and what
we can regard as acceptable knowledge in a
discipline. It is concerned with the reliability of our
senses and the power of the
mind.
EMPIRICISM
knowledge gained by sensory experience
(using inductive reasoning);
RATIONALISM
knowledge gained by reasoning (using
deductive reasoning)
EMPIRICISM VS. RATIONALISM
The relative merits of these approaches
have been argued ever since the Ancient
Greeks – Aristotle advocating the first and
Plato the second.
INDUCTIVE REASONIG – THE
EMPIRICIST’S APPROACH
Inductive reasoning starts from specific observations or sensory
experiences and then develops a general conclusion from them.

This simple example gives and indication of the line of reasoning:

All the giraffes that I have seen (Repeated observations)
have very long necks.
Therefore I conclude that all (Conclusion)
giraffes have long necks.
INDUCTIVE REASONIG – THE
EMPIRICIST’S APPROACH
Induction was the earliest and, even now, the commonest
popular
form of scientific activity. We use it every day in our normal
lives as
we learn from our surroundings and experiences. We come
to conclusions from what we have experienced and then
generalize from them,
that is, set them up as a rule or belief.
INDUCTIVE REASONIG – THE
EMPIRICIST’S APPROACH
The scientific revolution in the seventeenth
century was based on this approach, led
by such scientists as Galileo and Newton
(remember the apple that fell on his head
from the tree that lead to his theory
of gravity?
INDUCTIVE REASONIG – THE
EMPIRICIST’S APPROACH
Mendel’s discovery of genetics and
Darwin’s theory of evolution are perhaps
the most famous generalizations in the
form of theories that are, even by them,
claimed to be developed through inductive
reasoning.
PROBLEMS OF INDUCTIVE
REASONING
Second is how many situations and under which
conditions should the observations be made so that true
conclusions can be reached?
These problems do not stop us from using inductive
reasoning every day quite successfully without even
thinking about it. But we should be aware that what
might at first seem obvious may not be so reliable with
making further investigations.
PROBLEMS OF INDUCTIVE
REASONING
Therefore, in order to be able to rely on the
conclusions we come to by using inductive reasoning,
we should ensure that we make a large number
of observations, we repeat them under a large
range of circumstances and conditions and that
no observations contradict the generalization
we have made from the repeated observations.