UNIT 1:

RESEARCH: A WAY OF
THINKING

RVT

GETTING TO KNOW RESEARCH

What is research?
What is not research?
Why research is needed?
How is research conducted?

WHAT IS NOT RESEARCH?

Research is not mere information

gathering.
Research is not mere transportation
of facts from on location to another.
Research is not merely rummaging
through information.

WHAT IS RESEARCH?

Research is one of the ways to finds

answers to your questions.
Research is the process that is:
being taken within framework of a set of
philosophies;
uses procedures, method, and techniques
that have been tested for their validity and
reliability;
Is designed to be unbiased and objective.
4

WHAT IS RESEARCH?

The word research is composed of two

syllables, re and search. The dictionary
defines the former as a prefix meaning
again, anew or over again, and the latter
as a verb meaning to examine closely
and carefully, to test and try, or to
probe. Together they form a noun
describing a careful, systematic, patient
study and investigation in some field of
knowledge, undertaken to establish
facts or principles (Grinnell, 1993).
5

WHAT IS RESEARCH
Scientific methods consist of systematic
observation, classification and
interpretation of data. Now, obviously, this
process is one in which nearly all people
engage in the course of their daily lives.
The main difference between our day-today generalization and the conclusions
usually recognized as scientific method
lies in the degree of formality,
rigorousness, verifiability, generally
validity of the latter. (Lundberg, 1942)
6

WHAT IS RESEARCH?

A systematic investigation to find

answers to a problem (Burns,1994).

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH

Controlled
Rigorous
Systematic
Valid and verifiable
Empirical
Critical
8

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH

Research originates with a question or

problem.
Research requires clear articulation of a
goal.
Research requires a specific plan for
proceeding.
Research usually divides the principal
problem into more manageable subproblems.
9

CHARACTERIZES OF RESEARCH

Research is guided by the specific

research problem, question or
hypothesis.
Research accepts certain critical
assumptions.
Research requires the collection and
interpretation of data in an attempt
to resolve the problem that initiated
the research.
10

CHARACTERIZES OF RESEARCH

Research is, by nature, cyclical or,

more exactly, helical.

11

HYPOTHESES OF THE LAMPS FAILURE

1. The bulb has burned out.

2. The lamp is not plugged into the wall
outlet.
3. At late afternoon thunderstorm
interrupted the electrical service.
4. The wire from the lamp to the wall
outlet is defective.
5. You forgot to pay the electric bil.
12

RESEARCH ACCEPTS CERTAIN CRITICAL

ASSUMPTIONS

Do students learn the unique

grammatical structures of a language
more quickly by studying only one
foreign language at a time or by
studying two foreign languages
concurrently?

13

WHAT ARE THE ASSUMPTIONS?

The teachers used in the study are

competent to teach the language or
languages in question and have
mastered the grammatical
knowledge they are teaching
The students are capable of
mastering grammatical structures of
any languages they are stuyding.
14

TYPES OF RESEARCH
Application
Pure research
Applied research

Objective
Descriptive research
Correlational research
Explanatory research
Exploratory research

Inquiry mode
Qualitative
Quantitative
15

PURE OR APPLIED ?

Research to satisfy intellectual

curiosity
Research on a problem in need of
improvement
Research on whom citizens decide to
vote for
Research for theoretical purposes
16

PURE OR APPLIED ?
A comparison of the effectiveness of
different strategies for training future
nurses
Determination of the effect of a new
mathematics curriculum on students
math achievement
A study of adolescents cognitive
processes
Examination of the effect of nutrients on
the growth of fish in lakes within five
watersheds
17

DESCRIPTIVE OR CORRELATIONAL OR
EXPLANATORY ?

Impact of incentives on productivity

of workers
Problems faced by new immigrants
Relationship between stressful living
and incidence of heart attacks
Why do some people adopt a
program while others do not?
18

DESCRIPTIVE OR CORRELATIONAL OR
EXPLANATORY ?

Attitudes of workers towards

management
How does technology create
unemployment?
Effectiveness of an immunization
program in controlling disease
Socioeconomic characteristics of
residents
19

QUANTITATIVE OR QUALITATIVE ?

Qualitative research explores attitudes,

behaviour and experiences through
such methods as interviews or focus
groups. It attempts to get an in-depth
opinion from participants. As it is
attitudes, behaviour and experiences
which are important, fewer people take
part in the research, but the contact
with these people tends to last a lot
longer.
20

QUANTITATIVE OR QUALITATIVE ?
Quantitative research generates statistics
through the use of large-scale survey
research, using methods such as
questionnaires or structured interviews. If
a market researcher has stopped you on
the streets, or you have filled in a
questionnaire which has arrived through
the post, this falls under the umbrella of
quantitative research. This type of
research reaches many more people, but
the contact with those people is much
quicker than it is in qualitative research.
21

QUANTITATIVE OR QUALITATIVE ?

22

QUANTITATIVE OR QUALITATIVE ?

23

QUANTITATIVE OR QUALITATIVE ?
IFL want to conduct a survey about summer
courses they are about to launch on Y2 and Y3
students. 150 students were selected to respond to
a questionnaire.
Mr. A is just named the most outstanding student in
his generation at IFL. A researcher, thus, wants to
conduct a research study on him to find out about
his quality, habits, and study skills so that other
students can learn from.
A researcher selects 9 HIV/AIDS patients from 3
different hospitals in Phnom Penh to study about
their feelings or perceptions towards being
HIV/AIDS patients in order to find commonality
between them.
24

REFERENCES
Dawson, C. (2002). Practical research methods: A userfriendly guide to mastering research. Oxford:
British Library.
Kumar, R. (2005). Research methodology: A step-by-step
guide for beginners (2nd ed.). London: SAGE
Publications.

Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2005). Practical research:

Planning and design (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson Education.
25