Research Basics

Research Basics

Research Methods Formulating questions, collecting data, testing hypotheses

Experimental Research Setting up experiments

Research Designs Different types of designs used in research

Statistics in Research A guide to statistics in research.

What is Research?

What is Research?

Basics of the Scientific Method

What is Empirical Research?

What is the Scientific Method?

Definition of Research

Definition of the Scientific Method

Definition of Science

Steps

Steps of the Scientific Method - The scientific method has a similar structure to an hourglass - starting from general questions, narrowing down to focus on one specific aspect, then designing research where we can observe and analyze this aspect.

At last, the hourglass widens and the researcher concludes and generalizes the findings to the real world.

Aims of Research

The general aims of research are:

• Observe and Describe
• Predict
• Determination of the Causes
• Explain

Purpose of Research - Why do we conduct research? Why is it necessary?

Elements of Research

Common scientific research elements are:

Characterization - How to understand a phenomenon

• Decide what to observe about a phenomenon
• How to define the research problem
• How to measure the phenomenon

Hypothesis and Theory

• The research questions before performing research
• Almost always based on previous research

Prediction

• What answers do we expect?
• Reasoning and logic on why we expect these results

Observation or Experimentation

• Testing characterizations, hypothesis, theory and predictions
• Understanding a phenomenon better
• Drawing Conclusions

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