The major characteristics of any research are; Objectivity, precision, design and verifiability.
In an ideal situation, a research is beyond the subjective bias of the researcher. As a researcher, you have to make deliberate efforts to eliminate all personal preferences. You should resist the temptation to seek only such data which support your hypotheses or your line of taught. In a scientific research, emphasis is on testing the hypothesis not to prove it. You have to willingly suspend your personal judgment in order to allow the data and logic to lead independently to a sound conclusion. If you want to achieve objectivity in your investigation, you have to use standardized research instruments, choose appropriate research design and analytical tools and also ensure the dependability of data.
When you conduct a good research and write the report but your readers do not understand what you have done, you may have succeeded in wasting your time and efforts. Every research should use a technical language in order to convey the exact meaning to the readers. Such research languages include validity, reliability, random sampling variables etc.
If you want to have a good research, you must have a very good and systematic design.
This implies that every scientific inquiry will generally undergo such steps as: -
Objectivity.
In an ideal situation, a research is beyond the subjective bias of the researcher. As a researcher, you have to make deliberate efforts to eliminate all personal preferences. You should resist the temptation to seek only such data which support your hypotheses or your line of taught. In a scientific research, emphasis is on testing the hypothesis not to prove it. You have to willingly suspend your personal judgment in order to allow the data and logic to lead independently to a sound conclusion. If you want to achieve objectivity in your investigation, you have to use standardized research instruments, choose appropriate research design and analytical tools and also ensure the dependability of data.
Precision
When you conduct a good research and write the report but your readers do not understand what you have done, you may have succeeded in wasting your time and efforts. Every research should use a technical language in order to convey the exact meaning to the readers. Such research languages include validity, reliability, random sampling variables etc.
The most precise expression in quantitative research is the mathematical equation or statistical finding which explains or represents the truth. But in qualitative research, precision is achieved through words rather than numbers. So you have to use a very precise language to describe your study accurately. This is done so that the study can be replicated or the results correctly used.
Design
If you want to have a good research, you must have a very good and systematic design.
This implies that every scientific inquiry will generally undergo such steps as: -
· Definition of the problem
· Statement of the hypothesis
· Collection and analysis of data
· Testing and confirmation or rejection of hypothesis.
· Reporting of the results.
Any research, which has no orderly design, cannot be replicated for verification.
When you conduct a research, you write your report. This presents the research design and the findings to the professional community. From this point other researchers and scholars will study
the report, analyze it in order to confirm or reject the outcomes. This tells you that research is a social enterprise. Its information is open for public scrutiny. Verification is related to objectivity and precision. It is only through further investigation or replication of the study can the results of any study be confirmed, revised or rejected. It is also through this process that a body of new knowledge is developed and new questions identified. Verifiability can be achieved through two different approaches.
i. Analyzing the same data on the same sample through alternative analytical tools or statistical methods.
ii. Replicating the study on a different sample.
· Statement of the hypothesis
· Collection and analysis of data
· Testing and confirmation or rejection of hypothesis.
· Reporting of the results.
Any research, which has no orderly design, cannot be replicated for verification.
Verifiability
When you conduct a research, you write your report. This presents the research design and the findings to the professional community. From this point other researchers and scholars will study
the report, analyze it in order to confirm or reject the outcomes. This tells you that research is a social enterprise. Its information is open for public scrutiny. Verification is related to objectivity and precision. It is only through further investigation or replication of the study can the results of any study be confirmed, revised or rejected. It is also through this process that a body of new knowledge is developed and new questions identified. Verifiability can be achieved through two different approaches.
i. Analyzing the same data on the same sample through alternative analytical tools or statistical methods.
ii. Replicating the study on a different sample.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE: 1
- In your own words define the concept research.
- Discuss the characteristics of research.
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