Research Basics

PE 357

What is Research?

• Can be diverse

• General definition is “finding answers to questions in an organized and logical and systematic fashion”

How Have We Searched for Truth?

• 1) tradition or custom

• 2) authority

• 3) personal experience

• 4) deductive reasoning

• 5) scientific inquiry (research)

Nature of Research

• Systematic – ordered structure of inquiry

• Logical – process to evaluate conclusions drawn

• Empirical -collection of data (facts, experience, etc.) on which to base decisions

• Reductive – individual events (data) are used to establish general relationships

• Replicable – process is recorded so findings and procedures can be tested again

Deduction and Induction

• Deductive– using logic from general to specific – often used for generating our hypotheses in research

• Inductive – from specific to general– general conclusions based on many specific

observations

• Integration of these forms the scientific method

Deductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

Basic Scientific Method

• Identify the problem – central to beginning the method of actually solving the problem

• Formulate the hypothesis – outcome statement to test

• Develop the plan of research – what do you need to do to test this hypothesis? (Methodology, participants, data gathering, analysis)

• Collecting and analyzing the data

• Interpreting the results and forming conclusions-does the evidence support the hypothesis

Basic Research Plan

Types of Research Questions

• 1) descriptive

• 2) difference questions

• 3) relationships

Theory

• Theories provide order to facts and a framework of generalization

• Theory – belief or assumption about how things relate to each other – often used for cause and effect statements

• Often have not relied on theory and instead used empiricism

Basic Research Concepts

• Variables -any characteristic that varies (i.e., more than one value)

• Can be:

• Categorical or numerical

• Discrete or continuous

Types of Variables in Research

• Independent (IV)

• Dependent (DV)

• Extraneous (EV)

Types of Research Problems

• Basic Research– essential for the development of theory– motivated by intellectual curiosity– no immediate practical utility

• Applied Research– answer an immediate practical problem– often apply the findings of basic research

Types of Research

• Quantitative – THE truth is out there

• Qualitative – multiple truths