the eight steps of the research process

8/9/2019 The Eight Steps of the Research Process

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The Eight Steps of the Research Process

Scientifc research involves a systematic process that ocuses on being

objective and gathering a multitude o inormation or analysis so that the

researcher can come to a conclusion. This process is used in all research and

evaluation projects, regardless o the research method (scientifc method o inquiry,evaluation research, or action research). The process ocuses on testing hunches or

ideas in a park and recreation setting through a systematic process. n this process,

the study is documented in such a !ay that another individual can conduct the

same study again. This is reerred to as replicating the study. "ny research done

!ithout documenting the study so that others can revie! the process and results is

not an investigation using the scientifc research process. The scientifc research

process is a multiple#step process !here the steps are interlinked !ith the other

steps in the process. changes are made in one step o the process, the researcher

must revie! all the other steps to ensure that the changes are re$ected throughout

the process. %arks and recreation proessionals are oten involved in conducting

research or evaluation projects !ithin the agency. These proessionals need to

understand the eight steps o the research process as they apply to conducting a

study. Table &.' lists the steps o the research process and provides an eample o

each step or a sample research study.

Step 1: Identify the Problem

The frst step in the process is to identiy a problem or develop a research

question. The research problem may be something the agency identifes as a

problem, some kno!ledge or inormation that is needed by the agency, or the

desire to identiy a recreation trend nationally. n the eample in table &.', theproblem that the agency has identifed is childhood obesity, !hich is a local problem

and concern !ithin the community. This serves as the ocus o the study.

Step 2: Review the Literatre

o! that the problem has been identifed, the researcher must learn more

about the topic under investigation. To do this, the researcher must revie! the

literature related to the research problem. This step provides oundational

kno!ledge about the problem area. The revie! o literature also educates the

researcher about !hat studies have been conducted in the past, ho! these studies

!ere conducted, and the conclusions in the problem area. n the obesity study, therevie! o literature enables the programmer to discover horriying statistics related

to the long#term e*ects o childhood obesity in terms o health issues, death rates,

and projected medical costs. n addition, the programmer fnds several articles and

inormation rom the +enters or isease +ontrol and %revention that describe the

benefts o !alking -, steps a day. The inormation discovered during this step

helps the programmer ully understand the magnitude o the problem, recogni/e


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the uture consequences o obesity, and identiy a strategy to combat obesity (i.e.,

!alking).

Step !: "larify the Problem

0any times the initial problem identifed in the frst step o the process is too

large or broad in scope. n step 1 o the process, the researcher clarifes the

problem and narro!s the scope o the study. This can only be done ater the

literature has been revie!ed. The kno!ledge gained through the revie! o literature

guides the researcher in clariying and narro!ing the research project. n the

eample, the programmer has identifed childhood obesity as the problem and the

purpose o the study. This topic is very broad and could be studied based on

genetics, amily environment, diet, eercise, sel#confdence, leisure activities, or

health issues. "ll o these areas cannot be investigated in a single study2 thereore,

the problem and purpose o the study must be more clearly defned. The

programmer has decided that the purpose o the study is to determine i !alking

-, steps a day or three days a !eek !ill improve the individual3s health. Thispurpose is more narro!ly ocused and researchable than the original problem.

Step #: "learly $e%ne Terms and "oncepts

Terms and concepts are !ords or phrases used in the purpose statement o

the study or the description o the study. These items need to be specifcally defned

as they apply to the study. Terms or concepts oten have di*erent defnitions

depending on !ho is reading the study. To minimi/e conusion about !hat the terms

and phrases mean, the researcher must specifcally defne them or the study. n the

obesity study, the concept o 4individual3s health5 can be defned in hundreds o

!ays, such as physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual health. 6or this study, the

individual3s health is defned as physical health. The concept o physical health may

also be defned and measured in many !ays. n this case, the programmer decides

to more narro!ly defne 4individual health5 to reer to the areas o !eight,

percentage o body at, and cholesterol. 7y defning the terms or concepts more

narro!ly, the scope o the study is more manageable or the programmer, making it

easier to collect the necessary data or the study. This also makes the concepts

more understandable to the reader.

Step &: $e%ne the Poplation

8esearch projects can ocus on a specifc group o people, acilities, park

development, employee evaluations, programs, fnancial status, marketing e*orts,

or the integration o technology into the operations. 6or eample, i a researcher

!ants to eamine a specifc group o people in the community, the study could

eamine a specifc age group, males or emales, people living in a specifc

geographic area, or a specifc ethnic group. 9iterally thousands o options are

available to the researcher to specifcally identiy the group to study. The research


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problem and the purpose o the study assist the researcher in identiying the group

to involve in the study. n research terms, the group to involve in the study is al!ays

called the population. efning the population assists the researcher in several

!ays. 6irst, it narro!s the scope o the study rom a very large population to one

that is manageable. Second, the population identifes the group that the

researcher3s e*orts !ill be ocused on !ithin the study. This helps ensure that theresearcher stays on the right path during the study. 6inally, by defning the

population, the researcher identifes the group that the results !ill apply to at the

conclusion o the study. n the eample in table &.', the programmer has identifed

the population o the study as children ages - to -& years. This narro!er

population makes the study more manageable in terms o time and resources.

Step ': $evelop the Instrmentation Plan

The plan or the study is reerred to as the instrumentation plan. The

instrumentation plan serves as the road map or the entire study, speciying !ho

!ill participate in the study2 ho!, !hen, and !here data !ill be collected2 and thecontent o the program. This plan is composed o numerous decisions and

considerations that are addressed in chapter : o this tet. n the obesity study, the

researcher has decided to have the children participate in a !alking program or si

months. The group o participants is called the sample, !hich is a smaller group

selected rom the population specifed or the study. The study cannot possibly

include every -# to -year#old child in the community, so a smaller group is used

to represent the population. The researcher develops the plan or the !alking

program, indicating !hat data !ill be collected, !hen and ho! the data !ill be

collected, !ho !ill collect the data, and ho! the data !ill be analy/ed. The

instrumentation plan specifes all the steps that must be completed or the study.This ensures that the programmer has careully thought through all these decisions

and that she provides a step#by#step plan to be ollo!ed in the study.

Step (: "ollect $ata

;nce the instrumentation plan is completed, the actual study begins !ith the

collection o data. The collection o data is a critical step in providing the

inormation needed to ans!er the research question.

!eight, percentage o body at, cholesterol levels, and the number o days the

person !alked a total o -, steps during the class.

The researcher collects these data at the frst session and at the last session

o the program. These t!o sets o data are necessary to determine the e*ect o the

!alking program on !eight, body at, and cholesterol level. ;nce the data are


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collected on the variables, the researcher is ready to move to the fnal step o the

process, !hich is the data analysis.

Step ): *naly+e the $ata

"ll the time, e*ort, and resources dedicated to steps - through ? o the

research process culminate in this fnal step. The researcher fnally has data to

analy/e so that the research question can be ans!ered. n the instrumentation plan,

the researcher specifed ho! the data !ill be analy/ed. The researcher no!

analy/es the data according to the plan. The results o this analysis are then

revie!ed and summari/ed in a manner directly related to the research questions. n

the obesity study, the researcher compares the measurements o !eight,

percentage o body at, and cholesterol that !ere taken at the frst meeting o the

subjects to the measurements o the same variables at the fnal program session.

These t!o sets o data !ill be analy/ed to determine i there !as a di*erence

bet!een the frst measurement and the second measurement or each individual in

the program. Then, the data !ill be analy/ed to determine i the di*erences arestatistically signifcant. the di*erences are statistically signifcant, the study

validates the theory that !as the ocus o the study. The results o the study also

provide valuable inormation about one strategy to combat childhood obesity in the

community.

the eight steps of the research process

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