Research Preliminaries Essay

This course is a brief overview about look for design that is intended to cover the basics of designing and implementing a scientific study. Although this course will dispense every step of the look into process, it is by no means exhaustive and is no substitute for a college level course in explore methodology, nor is it a substitute for an experienced research advisor.Choosing a baseFor a tec to choose a topic for a project, it is heavy to consider a considerable atomic number 18a of inquiry and interest. This may be as broad as global nitty-gritty wellness or personality psychology, but it should be an area that is of interest to the police detective. However, a broad area is useful only at the beginning of a research plan. Within a broader topic of inquiry, each researcher must begin narrowing the field into a few subtopics that are of greater specificity and detail. For example, a researcher may be interested in global eye wellness, but could focus more than specific ally on proper eye care and how it affects individuals. Although this topic is still too broad for a research project, it is more focused and can be further specified into a coherent project.Literature reappraisalThe literary works review should be conducted early in the research process, directly after you choose a topic. A literature review can bring clarity and focus to your research enigma and prolong your knowledge base in your research area. The literature review is crucial because an important responsibility in research is to add to a body of knowledge and to compare your dislodgeings with former(a)s. The procedure is simple search the literature in your area of interest, review the selected studies, and develop a theoretical framework for your own study What makes a well-behaved research uncertainty?Not all research questions are good unrivalledsin other words, not all questions can be answered through soft and vicenary research methodology. A good research questio n needs to1. Make sense In other words, you must clearly arrange your terms employ known definitions outlined in the literature. For example, a poor research question would be How do peoples lives improve after surgery? Not only does this research question fail to specify the study universe of discourse, it contains the vague term improve. The researcher must specify what he/she means by this termdoes it involve a physical procession or rather an improvement in mental state? The more specific your research question, the better.2. Address an important and relevant turn up Scientific research is done to increase knowledge, not simply for a single researchers personal satisfaction. Whatever question the researcher sets out to solve must have some honorable implications. A good research question will also always have relevance to the time, place, and population of the study. Not already have been done A good research study will be novel. This means that there will be some new aspe ct of the study that has never forwards been examined. In fact, not only is replication a good way to get a research methodology, it is how science is supposed to advance knowledge. When replicating a pervious study, it is best to add or change one or two things to increase the novelty of the research.3. Be operationalizable Oftentimes, beginning researchers pose questions that cannot be operationalized, or assessed methodologically with research instruments. From the example above, the idea of life improvement could be operationalized by a Quality of support surveya well known and validated research tool. In general, the more abstract the idea, the harder it is to operationalize.4. Be within a reasonable scope A good research project will be manageable in depth and breadth. The scope will depend on the amount of time and the availableness of resources you have for your study. In general, the more focused the research question the more likely it will be a successful project. For e xample, a study that seeks to identify the prevalence eye disease in a specific village is more likely to succeed than a comparable study that seeks to identify eye disease prevalence in the world population. qualitative and Quantitative StudiesNot all research projects deal study measures. Some research simply involves observing the results of events in the field and drawing conclusions based on a theoretical framework. Others may involve analyzing data from clinics or other institutions, using statistics and reasoning to find patterns that may have important implications. However, many projects involve direct contact with participants, using an operationalized definition of a phenomenon. These projects require well-designed measures in order to be considered valid.There are two broad categories of research quantitative and qualitative. A study is class as qualitative if the purpose is primarily to describe a situation, phenomenon, problem or event the information is gathered thr ough the use of uncertains or measured on qualitative measurement scales, and if analysis is done to establish the variation in the situation or problem without quantifying it. Qualitative studies tend to be more in-depth, focusing on a smaller population but inquisitory deeper into a given problem. This research is often associated with focus groups, interviews or surveys and seeks to answer open-ended questions.Thematic and subject field analysis are two methods used to analyze qualitative data. Disciplines such as anthropology, history, and sociology are more inclined towards a qualitative approach. On the other hand, quantitative studies often use standardized measures, numeric values, have larger sample sizes, and analyze data using statistical programs. A study is classified as quantitative if the researcher seeks to quantify the variation in a phenomenon and if information is gathered using quantitative variables. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches have their str engths and weaknesses, and advantages and disadvantages. Disciplines such as epidemiology, economics and public health are more inclined towards quantitative research.HypothesisA scheme is a suggested explanation for an ascertained relationship or a causal prediction about a relationship among several variables. all(prenominal) research project is based on a hypothesis, which generally begins with a specific question. A hypothesis takes the operationalized definition of the factors to produce a clear prediction of the causal relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable in the statement. The independent variable is a factor that the researcher can fake or manipulate (whether or not a person receives basic eye care services), and a dependent variable is a factor that the researcher cannot manipulate, but instead varies in relation to the independent variable (the economic productivity of the individual).For example, a hypothesis might be We predict that if nearsighted participants are provided with corrective lenses that bring their vision to 20/20, they will earn more money per week on average over the course of three months than nearsighted participants who did not receive corrective lenses. When formulating a hypothesis, it is important not to try to prove that the hypothesis is true. Instead, one should seek to find evidence that it is not true.