UNIT - 1

RESEARCH, RESEARCH PROCESS, ETHICS IN RESEARCH

OBJECTIVES:
After going through this Unit, you will be able to

STRUCTURE:
1.1 Introduction to research
1.2 Definition
1.3 Objectives of research
1.4 Importance of research
1.5 Significance of research
1.6 Types/methods of research
1.7 Research process
1.8 Ethics in research
1.9 Summary.
1.10 Review Questions
1.11 Further Readings

1.1. INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH:

Re - means again or over again or new. Search - means examine closely and carefully or to test and try.
Research is the Systematic Approach towards purposeful investigation through formulation of Hypothesis,
Collection of data on relevant variables, Analysis and Interpretation of Results and reaching conclusion
either in the form of a solution or generalization. Research is not a collection of techniques which already
exist but provides a structure for decision making. Whenever questions on ourselves, our institutions, our
environment, our Universe etc arise we seek to answer them. Whenever we encounter problems we try to
find solutions for them. Seeking answers to questions and finding solutions to problems in a systematic
way can be called as research.

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1.2. DEFINITION:

meaning is same.

of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge,

According to Clifford Woody, research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis
or suggested solutions; connecting, organizing and evaluating data; making deductions and reaching
conclusions; and at last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating
hypothesis.
Research is defined as search for knowledge. It is having an in depth knowledge or having an insight of
known or unknown fact, theory or problem.
Research is defined as search for knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding solution
to a problem.
Research is defined as a movement, from the known to the unknown. It is an effort to discover something.

Research is a scientific inquiry aimed at learning new facts, testing ideas, etc. It is the systematic collection,
analysis and interpretation of data to generate new knowledge and answer a certain question or solve a
problem.
Research can be defined as an academic activity with a set of objectives to explain or analyze or understand
a problem or finding solution(s) for the problem(s) by adopting a systematic approach in collecting,
organizing and analyzing the information relating to the problem.
The major aim of research is discovery of new facts, verification and testing of old facts, analysis of
interrelationships among variables and analysis of casual relationships among attributes and development
of new tools, concepts and theories.
Methodology is the method or technique which is used for analyzing the data. Methodology is the analysis
of principles, rules & postulates employed & applied with discipline.
Methodology is a systematic, theoretical analysis of the methods applied to a field of study. It comprises
the theoretical analysis of the body of methods and principles associated with a branch of knowledge.
In research methodology, one talk of research methods as well as the logic behind the methods one will
use in the contest of their research study and explain why they are using a particular method or technique
and why they are not using other methods or techniques so that research results are capable of being
evaluated either by the researcher himself or by others. It is a way to systematically solve the research
problem.
Examples of research: Most of the companies and other organizations want to find out what customers
think and what they want about their products. Using marketing research, they can manage the risks
associated with existing products as well as while offering new products and services.
The survey is a direct way of collecting quantitative or numerical information and qualitative or descriptive
information. When there are errors in the survey design, research problems can surface. For example, a
company might use a method that is designed to collect a random sample from the target consumer
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population, but the method is not really random. Therefore, the organization cannot generalize its survey
results to represent the target population.

1.3. OBJECTIVES OFRESEARCH:

course of life.

something else.

1.4. IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH:

It is a known fact that Knowledge is a tool to solve the problems of individuals, institutions and society at
large. The main and inherent aim of research is gaining Knowledge. Hence Research is important and

program needs, preparing the most effective outreach messages etc. Importance of research can be written
in nutshell as 1. It will add addition to the existing knowledge 2. It will be a Scientific invention, 3.It is for

mind.

1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH:

Generally, the researcher tries to convince the audience that the research is worth doing. It should establish
why the audience should want to read on. It could also persuade someone of why he or she would want to
support, or fund, a research project. One way to do this is by describing how the results may be used.
Why is this work important? What are the implications of doing it? How does it link to another knowledge?

What new perspective will bring to the topic? What use might the final research paper have for others in
this field or in the general public? Who might share the findings of the research, once the project is
completed?
Answering all these gives the significance of the research.

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1.6. TYPES / METHODS OF RESEARCH:
There is no water tight demarcation of classification of research. For the betterment and simplicity for the
reader following brief classification was presented. However, it is not exhaustive.

1.6.1. Pure/ fundamental research:

Pure research is known as fundamental or basic research. It is done with curiosity or inquisitiveness. It is
primarily intended to find out certain basic principles. It is concerned with generalization or formulation
of theory or discovery of new theory or refinement of existing theory and with some natural phenomenon
relating to pure mathematics.
Eg: Research concerning human behavior carried out with a view to make generalization about human
behavior.
1.6.2. Applied research:
Applied research aims in finding solutions for immediate problems faced by a society or an industry or
business organization. It discovers solutions to some practical problems. It is an application of scientific
method which helps to contradict or modify existing theory or theories. It helps to formulate the policy. It
suggests remedial measures to alleviate social problems. Eg: Applied research might involve a decision

quizzes, or whether participants should be brought to corporate headquarters to be classroom trained.

1.6.3. Experimental/ Empirical research:
Empirical research relies on experience or observation alone, often without due regard for system and
theory. It is a data based research which comes up with conclusions that are verified by observation or
experiment. It assesses the effects of a particular phenomenon by keeping the other variables constant or
controlled. It is an experiment to investigate the relation between two or more variables by making changes
in independent variable and observing the effects of change on the dependent variable. Evidences from
empirical studies are considered to be the most powerful support possible for testing a give hypothesis.
Eg: Researcher selects 50 students from a group of students who require a course in management. 25
students are kept in group A, a student programme is conducted. For the remaining 25 students who are
kept in group B, a special student programme is conducted. At the end a test is conducted to each group to
judge the effectiveness of training programme.
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1.6.4. Non-Experimental/ Conceptual Research:
Conceptual research is that related to some abstract idea(s) or theory. Research in which independent
variable is not manipulated is called non - experimental research. This can be broadly classified into three
categories namely Exploratory/ formalative, Descriptive and Casual.
Eg: Researcher wants to study whether intelligence affects reading ability for group of students. He
randomly selects the students and tests their intelligence and reading ability by calculating coefficient of
correlation between two sets of scores.
1.6.4.1. Exploratory Research:
Exploratory research is conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover potential business
opportunities. It is not intended to provide conclusive evidence from which to determine a particular
course of action. Exploratory research is based on development of hypothesis. It is a study of unfamiliar
problem about which the researcher has little or no knowledge. According to Daniel Katz it attempts to
see what is there rather than to predict the relationships that will be founded. It gives insight for the
problems for the purpose of formulating the Hypothesis for more precise investigation.
Eg: Doctors initial investigation of a patient suffering from an unfamiliar disease to clarify and define the
nature of a problem.
1.6.4.2. Descriptive research:
Descriptive research describes the characteristics of objects, people, groups, organizations or environments
or state of affairs as it exists at present. This research is concerned with conditions, practices, structures,
differences or relationship that exists, opinions held, processes that are going on or trends that are evident.
This research involves with fact finding enquiries of different kinds and has no control over the variables.
They can only report who, what, when, where and how regarding the current economic and employment
situation. Descriptive research can be further classified into two broad categories namely (i) Historical
(Static) and (ii) Dynamic.
Eg: Studies concerned with age, sex, educational level, occupation or income. Studies concerned with
narration of facts and characteristics concerning individual. Problems of individual relations in India with
inter-disciplinary approach.
1.6.4.2.1. Historical/ Static research:
It is a study of past records and other information sources with a view to reconstructing the origin &
development of institution or a system & discovering the trends in the past, including the philosophy of
persons or groups at any remote point of time. Main sources are books, documents, newspapers, magazines,
statistical material etc. It involves a single measurement of the phenomena in question.
Eg: Averages, Dispersion, Skewness etc.
1.6.4.2.2. Dynamic research:
Dynamic research goes beyond the single measurement of variable & examines the relationship among
variables. Dynamic research is broadly classified into two namely (i) Cross Sectional or One-time research
and (ii) Longitudinal.
Eg: Correlation, Regression etc.

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1.6.4.2.2.1: Cross Sectional research:
The research is confined to single time-period and do not account for changes over a period of time.
Collects data about various variables such as households, dealers, retail stores, others entities etc. of
sample at one point of time in order to examine the relationship between them.
Eg: To examine the relationship between job satisfaction and style of leadership. Relation between similarity
of automobile preference between husband and wife.
1.6.4.2.2.2 Longitudinal research:
The research is carried on over several time periods. A sample or set of samples of population is measured
repeatedly on the same variable over several time periods to find relationships among variables and
examine the changes that take place during the time.
Eg.Consumer behavior over duration of time.
1.6.4.3. Causal Research:
This research is to identify the cause and effect relationship between two or more variables. Causality is

for causality. 1. Covariation, 2. Time order of occurrence of variable, 3. Systematic elimination of other
causal variable and 4. Experimental design.

1.7. RESEARCH PROCESS:

material, sometimes one may narrow down the topic or even change the topic completely, depending on
what is discovered during your research or when sufficient information is not available. Research process
consists of series of action or steps necessary to carryout research effectively.
The process mainly involves identifying, locating, assessing, analyzing, and then developing and expressing

The process focuses on testing hunches or ideas and recreating and documenting in such a way that
another individual can review/conduct the same study again.
The steps are interlinked with one another. If changes are made in one step of the process, the researcher
must review all the other steps to ensure that the changes are reflected throughout the process. Chart 1.1
will illustrate steps that are to be followed in research press generally.

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Steps in Research Process:

Chart 1.1
These steps were further explained in Unit-II briefly.

1.8. ETHICS IN RESEARCH:

method,
procedure, or perspective for deciding how to act and for analyzing complex problems and issues.
disciplines that study standards of conduct, such as
Medicine, Philosophy, Theology, Law, Psychology, or Sociology. It is the norms which distinguish between
acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Ethics in research promotes moral values, such as social
responsibility, human rights and compliance with the law. Ethics is required at each and every step of
research starting from problem definition to report writing. Ethical Considerations can be specified as one
of the most important parts of the research. When most people think of ethics (or morals), they think of

studies ethical standards in medicine. For instance, in considering a complex issue like global warming,
one may take an economic, ecological, political, or ethical perspective on the problem. While an economist
might examine the cost and benefits of various policies related to global warming, an environmental
ethicist could examine the ethical values and principles at stake.Many different disciplines, institutions,
and professions have standards for behavior that suit their particular aims and goals. These standards also

the discipline. For instance, ethical standards govern conduct research in medicine, law, engineering, and
business. Ethical norms also serve the aims or goals of research and apply to people who conduct scientific
research or other scholarly or creative activities. There is even a specialized discipline, research ethics,
which studies these norms.
There are several reasons why it is important to adhere to ethical norms in research. First, norms promote
the aims of research, such as knowledge, truth, and avoidance of error. For example, prohibitions against
fabricating, falsifying, or misrepresenting research data promote the truth and minimize error. Second,
since research often involves a great deal of cooperation and coordination among many different people
in different disciplines and institutions, ethical standards promote the values that are essential to
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