Research Methodology

Dr. Mahesh Endait

Department of Civil Engineering

School of Engineering and Technology
Sandip University
 Contents

 Meaning of Research

 Objectives

 Types of research

 Significance of research

 Research approaches

 Research methods v/s methodology

 Research process

 Criteria of Research

 Scientific methods
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 Introduction
Research : Search for knowledge

“a careful investigation or inquiry specially through search for new facts in

any branch of knowledge”
(The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, Oxford, 1952, p. 1069)

“systematized effort to gain new knowledge.”

(L.V. Redman and A.V.H. Mory, The Romance of Research, 1923, p.10.)

Research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis

or suggested solutions; collecting, organising and evaluating data; making
deductions and reaching conclusions; and at last carefully testing the
conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis.
Clifford Woody

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 OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH

• To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it.

(exploratory or formulative research studies)

• To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group

(descriptive research studies)

• To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is

associated with something else
(diagnostic research studies)

• To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables.

(hypothesis-testing research studies)

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 MOTIVATION

• Desire to get a research degree along with its consequential benefits

• Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved problems, i.e., concern over

practical problems initiates research;

• Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative work;

• Desire to be of service to society;

• Desire to get respectability.

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 TYPES OF RESEARCH

Descriptive vs. Analytical:

• Descriptive research : surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds.
• Purpose : description of the state of affairs as it exists at present.
• Characteristic : The researcher has no control over the variables; he can only report
what has happened or what is happening.
• Example: frequency of shopping, preferences of people, or similar data.
• The methods of research utilized in descriptive research are survey methods of all
kinds, including comparative and correlational methods

In analytical research, on the other hand, the researcher has to use facts or information
already available, and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material.

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 TYPES OF RESEARCH

Applied vs. Fundamental:

• Applied research: aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a society
or an industrial/business organisation
• Example : research aimed at certain conclusions facing a concrete social or business
problem

• Fundamental research is mainly concerned with generalisations and with the

formulation of a theory

• Research concerning some natural phenomenon or relating to pure mathematics are

examples of fundamental research

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 TYPES OF RESEARCH

Quantitative vs. Qualitative:

• Quantitative research is based on the measurement of quantity or amount. It is
applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity.

• Qualitative research: concerned with qualitative phenomenon,

• Phenomena relating to or involving quality or kind. For instance, when we are

interested in investigating the reasons for human behaviour

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 TYPES OF RESEARCH

Conceptual vs. Empirical:

• Conceptual research : related to some abstract idea(s) or theory.
• It is generally used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or to
reinterpret existing ones

• Empirical research : relies on experience or observation alone, often without due

regard for system and theory.

• It is data-based research, coming up with conclusions which are capable of being

verified by observation or experiment

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 Research Approaches

Quantitative approach:
Involves the generation of data in quantitative form which can be subjected to rigorous
quantitative analysis in a formal and rigid fashion
(a) Inferential approach to research is to form a data base from which to infer
characteristics or relationships of population
(b) Experimental approach is characterised by much greater control over the research
environment and in this case some variables are manipulated to observe their effect on
other variables.
(c) Simulation approach involves the construction of an artificial environment within
which relevant information and data can be generated.
Qualitative approach to research is concerned with subjective assessment of attitudes,
opinions and behaviour.

Research in such a situation is a function of researcher’s insights and impressions

The techniques of focus group interviews, projective techniques and depth interviews
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are used
 Significance of Research

“All progress is born of inquiry. Doubt is often better than overconfidence, for it leads to
inquiry, and inquiry leads to invention”

• Research inculcates scientific and inductive thinking and it promotes the development
of logical habits of thinking and organisation.
• Research provides the basis for nearly all government policies in our economic
system.
• Research has its special significance in solving various operational and planning
problems of business and industry.
• Research is equally important for social scientists in studying social relationships and
in seeking answers to various social problems
• To those students who are to write a master’s or Ph.D. thesis, research may mean a
• careerism or a way to attain a high position in the social structure
• To professionals in research methodology, research may mean a source of livelihood;
• To philosophers and thinkers, research may mean the outlet for new ideas and
insights;
• To literary men and women, research may mean the development of new styles and
creative work;
• To analysts and intellectuals, research may mean the generalisations of new theories.
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 Research Methods versus Methodology

Research methods may be understood as all those methods/techniques that are used
for conduction of research

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 Research Methods versus Methodology

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be

understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically

when we talk of research methodology we not only talk of the research methods but also
consider the logic behind the methods we use in the context of our research study and
explain why we are using a particular method or technique and why we are not using
others so that research results are capable of being evaluated either by the researcher
himself or by others.

For example, an architect, who designs a building, has to consciously evaluate the
basis of his decisions, i.e., he has to evaluate why and on what basis he selects
particular size, number and location of doors, windows and ventilators, uses particular
materials and not others and the like.

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Research Process

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 Research Problem

Difficulty which a researcher experiences in the context of either a theoretical or

practical situation and wants to obtain a solution for the same.

Components of a research problem

• There must be an individual or a group which has some difficulty or the problem.

• There must be some objective(s) to be attained at.

(If one wants nothing, one cannot have a problem.)

• There must be alternative means (or the courses of action) for obtaining the
objective(s)
• This means that there must be at least two means available to a researcher .
(No choice of means, no problem.)

• There must remain some doubt in the mind of a researcher with regard to the
selection of alternatives. This means that research must answer the question
concerning the relative efficiency of the possible alternatives.

• There must be some environment(s) to which the difficulty pertains.

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 SELECTING THE PROBLEM

• Subject which is overdone should not be normally chosen, for it will be a difficult task
to throw any new light in such a case.

• Controversial subject should not become the choice of an average researcher.

• Too narrow or too vague problems should be avoided.

• The subject selected for research should be familiar and feasible so that the related
research material or sources of research are within one’s reach.

• The importance of the subject, the qualifications and the training of a researcher, the
costs involved, the time factor are few other criteria that must also be considered.

• The selection of a problem must be preceded by a preliminary study.

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 TECHNIQUE INVOLVED IN DEFINING A PROBLEM

• Statement of the problem in a general way

• Understanding the nature of the problem

• Surveying the available literature

• Developing the ideas through discussions

• Rephrasing the research problem

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