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Introduction to Research:

Two most common types of research are: 1. Correlational Research and 2. Experimental Research.

1. Correlational Research: In this research, the goal is to determine whether two or more variables are related. (A ‘variable’ is anything that can take on different values, such as weight, time, height etc). If correlation between two variables is strong enough, knowing about one variable allows researcher to predict about another variable. There are several types of correlation.

PS: A correlation between two things doesn’t necessarily mean that one thing caused the other. For ex, A correlation is - as age grows, the weight grows. This doesn’t mean that age has grown the weight. Weight primarily increases by food. The correlation just points out the phenomenon that humans have tendency to grow their weight with their age.

2. Experimental Research: To draw a cause-and-effect conclusion, a researcher must use the experimental research. Experimental research involves comparing two groups on one outcome measure to test some hypothesis regarding causation. For ex, if one has to test effect of protocol accelerator on Application, he can divide the number of test setups into 2 groups. On one group (called ‘experimental’ group), researcher will put the accelerator and then run the application. One the another group (called ‘control’ group), he will not put any accelerator and run the application. After doing multiple iterations/samples of tests, both the test results will be compared against each other to see whether the application on ‘experimental’ group has been benefited by accelerator in any way (performance, throughput etc). If there has been a performance/throughput gain in the ‘experimental’ group, the accelerator is said to increase the throughput of applications.

Science can be defined as a methodical and systematic approach to the gain of new knowledge. Scientific knowledge is not based on opinions or feelings, rather it is based on the accumulation of empirical evidence.

Research method is a set of research methods and principles that helps researchers obtain valid results from their research studies. It provides set of clear and agreed-upon guidelines for gathering, evaluating and reporting information in context of research study. Scientific method is characterized by following elements:

1. Empirical Approach - Empirical approach is an evidence-based approach that relies on direct observation and experimentation in acquisition of the new knowledge. With its emphasis on direct, systematic and careful observation, it is best thought of as the guiding principle behind all research conducted in accordance with scientific method.

2. Observations - Observation refers to two distinct concepts, being aware of the world around us and making careful & accurate measurements. An important aspect of observation is ‘operational definitions’. Researchers define key concepts and terms in their research studies by using operational definitions. Operational definitions help researcher to ensure that everyone is talking about the same phenomenon.

3. Questions - After getting a research idea, by making observation of world around us, the next step in research process is translating the research idea into an ‘answerable’ question. ‘answerable’ is important aspect, which refers to capability of answering through available research methods and procedures.

4. Hypothesis - Hypothesis is simply an educated and testable guess about the answer to research ‘question’. A key feature of all hypothesis is that each must make a prediction. Hypothesis are the attempt by researcher to explain the phenomenon being studied, and that explanation should involve the prediction about the variables being studied. These predictions are then tested by gathering and analyzing data; and the hypothesis can either be supported or refuted on basis of data. There are two types of hypothesis:

1. null hypothesis - It always predicts that there will be no difference between the groups studied. And researcher tries to disprove the hypothesis by contradiction.
2. experimental (or alternate) hypothesis - It predicts that there will be a difference between the groups. These two hypothesis are not mutually exclusive. In given set of hypothesis, some may be null and others can be experimental. The hypothesis being tested by a researcher is highly dependent on the type of research design being used.

One more important aspect of hypothesis is that it should be ‘falsifiable’. If hypothesis is not ‘falsifiable’, then science cannot be used to test the hypothesis. For ex, religious beliefs are not falsifiable, because we can never prove a faith based hypothesis are wrong. So, there would be no point in conducting research to test them.

5. Experiments or Research Study - A key aspect of Research study or experiment is measuring the phenomenon of interest in an ‘accurate’ and ‘reliable’ manner. ‘accurate’ refers to whether the measurement is correct, and ‘reliability’ refers to whether the measurement is consistently repeated.

6. Analyses. - Analyses of data involves the use of statistical techniques. Type of statistical technique used depends on the design of study, type of data gathered, and questions being asked. A key decision that researchers must make with the assistance of statistics is whether the ‘null hypothesis’ should be rejected. (IMP) There are only two choices with respect to the null hypothesis: the ‘null hypothesis’ can either be rejected or not rejected, but it can never be accepted. This is because, “‘null hypothesis’ not rejected” just means that we were unable to detect any difference between groups in our study, while in reality there might be significant difference between the two groups. The decision of whether to reject or not reject a null hypothesis based on statistical analyses is prone to two types of errors:

1. Type I error (false positive) - It occurs when a researcher concludes that there is a difference between groups being studied when, in fact, there is no difference.
2. Type II error (false negative) - It occurs when a researcher concludes that there is no difference between groups being studied when, in fact, there is a difference.

The typical convention in most fields of science allows for a 5% chance of erroneously rejecting a null hypothesis (type I error). That is, a researcher will conclude that there is a significant difference between groups being studied only if the chance of being incorrect is less than 5%. Chance of error in research cannot be made 0, because there is an inverse relationship between type I and II errors. That is, by decreasing the probability of making type I error, the researcher is increasing the probability of making type II error. So, 5% level is a standard convention in most fields of research represents a compromise between making type I and type II errors.

7. Conclusions - It is important that researchers make only those conclusions that can be supported by the data analyses, otherwise its a sin. i.e., if a correlational study indicates strong correlation between two groups, the researcher cannot conclude that one thing caused the other. So, it is important to understand that relationship between two things does not equal causation. For example, If a correlation study says, most people who own cars also own a house doesn’t mean that car has caused house or house has caused car. Its just some simple relation that one discovered. This relationship should not be used to make predictions or statements by self.

8. Replication - Replication essentially means conducting the same research study a second time with another group of participants to see whether the same results are obtained. It helps mainly to decide whether the results of the original study are ‘generalizable’ to other groups. So, replication serves several integral purposes, including establishing the reliability (i.e. consistency) of research study findings and determining whether the same results can be obtained with different groups of participants.

Goals of Scientific Research:

Most researchers agree that the three goals of research are: 1. Description - Description refers to the process of defining, classifying, or categorizing phenomenon of interest. For ex, description of relationship, describing cause and effect etc. Descriptive research is useful because it can provide important information regarding the average member of a group being studied. One example of descriptive research is correlational research. In correlational research, the researcher attempts to determine whether there is a relationship/correlation between two or more variables and then tries to describe the relationship (if exists) based on the collected data.

2. Prediction - Prediction based research often stems from previously conducted descriptive research. If researcher finds that there is a relationship/correlation between two variables, then it may be possible to predict one variable from the knowledge of the other variable. Many important questions both in science and real world involve predicting one thing based on knowledge of something else.

3. Understanding/Explanation - Being able to describe something and having ability to predict one thing based on knowledge of another are important goals of scientific research, but they do not provide researchers with a true understanding of a phenomenon. True understanding of a phenomenon is achieved only when researchers successfully identify the cause or causes of the phenomenon. The ability of researchers to make valid casual inferences is determined by the type of research design they use. ‘Correlational research’ does not permit researchers to make casual inferences regarding the relationship between the two things that are correlated. By contrast, a randomized controlled study permits researchers to make valid cause-and-effect inferences. There are 3 prerequisites for drawing an inference of causality between two events:

1. There must be an existing relationship between two events - It means that the events must ‘covary (or co vary)’ - i.e. as one changes, the other must also change. If two events do not covary, then a researcher cannot conclude that one event caused the other event.

2. The one event (cause) must precede the other event (effect) - Obviously, if two events occur simultaneously, it cannot be concluded that one event caused the other. Similarly, if the observed effect comes before the presumed cause, it would make little sense to conclude that the cause caused the effect.

3. Alternative explanations for the relationship must be ruled out - Stating it another way, a causal explanation between two events can be accepted only when other possible causes of observed relationship have been ruled out. This can be done by allowing only one variable under study to vary between groups under consideration. If more than one variables change at same time, it will be very difficult to identify the reason for variable. If in an experiment more than one variables change/vary at same time, the research is said to be ‘confounded’.

There are two broad categories of research: 1. Quantitative vs. Qualitative - a) A Quantitative research involves studies that make use of statistical analyses to obtain their findings. Key features include formal and systematic measurement and use of statistics. b) A Qualitative research involves studies that do not attempt to quantify their results through statistical summary or analysis. Qualitative studies typically involve interviews and observations without formal measurement. Qualitative research is often used as a source of hypotheses for later testing with Quantitative research.

2. Nomothetic vs. Idiographic -

1. A nomothetic approach uses the study of groups to identify general laws that apply to large group of people. The goal is often to identify the average member of the group being studied or average performance of a group member.
2. A idiographic approach is study of individual. An example of idiographic approach is case study.

Choice of approach largely depends on type of questions asked in research study and category of research.

Two key terms in field of research are: 1. Population - The population is all individuals of interest to researcher. 2. Sample - Since study of entire population is not feasible in most of the cases, researchers typically study a subset of the population, and that subset is called a Sample. Because researchers may not be able to study the entire population of interest, it is important that the sample be representative of the population from which it was selected. Studying a representative sample permits the researcher to draw valid inferences about the population. Simply putting, more the sample represents the whole population, more chances are that the results can be generalized to entire population.

There are two types of Correlation: 1. Positive Correlation - A positive correlation between two variables means that both variables change in the same direction. 2. Negative Correlation - A negative correlation between two variables means that as one variable increases, the other variable decreases. In other words, the variables change in opposite direction.

Important definitions that differentiate “Research Design” from “Research Methodology”: 1. Research Methodology refers to the principles, procedures, and practices that govern research. It should be thought of as encompassing entire process of conducting research, including planning & conducting research study, drawing conclusions, and disseminating findings). 2. Research Design refers to the plan used to examine the question of interest. On contrast to Research Methodology, the Research Design refers to many ways in which the research can be conducted to answer the question being asked.

Some important statements: - The first step in conducting research involves coming up with an idea and translating this idea into a testable question or statement.

Critical Notes on Research

1. It is always desirable to limit one’s topic “as soon as possible” to eliminate wasteful and unproductive reading; but one has to keep title provisional “as long as possible”. Because one doesn’t simply know what he is going to discover; and discoveries may lead to complete change of direction and title.

2. While choosing a research topic (rather than going with fascinating topics), one has to ask few brutally realistic questions like: Have the books/papers actually been written on the subject? Am I reachable to that content? Because the value and quality of research entirely depends on sources of information at hand.

3. First objective of a researcher is the preparation of as full a bibiliography as practicable.

4. The distinction must be made between primary and secondary sources. Primary materials are not based on other written works. They are in their original form, without having been arranged or interpreted by anyone else. For ex. official docs, standards docs. Secondary source (by far larger groups) discuss primary sources. They consist of works which select, edit and interpret this primary source material. Even most experienced scolars sometimes fall into the pitfall of considering what X said about Z as - to the conclusion of what Z actually said. So, one must maintain contact with original material they are discussing. Apart from the need to draw some conclusions of one’s own, it is here in primary sources that little nuggets of information may be found that have been over looked by other researchers, for one reason or the other. It is such nuggets which may give distinction to one’s own work. One should be able to classify the sources of information (books, papers) with him as primary and secondary.

5. All the sources, published and unpublished, must be recorded with accuracy. This can then be filtered down to useful bibiliography. It should also contain, how to abtain same resource if required in future. All references should be maintained. It would also be good to associate some rating to a source based on a quick impression of work.

6. Bibiliography arranging style: For Books: Author(s) [Last Name, First Name], Title (Italicized).

For single author, name should be written last name first, followed by comma, followed by first name or initials. Where there is more than one author, the first author should be listed last name first [Last Name First Name], followed by comma, and subsequent author(s) in normal order, seperated by commas. If there are more than 3 authors, it is the practice to put ‘et. al’ (Italicized) or “and others” after the name of first author.

If work of author is translated or edited by someone, this additional information should be given after the author’s name and title of work. for ex:

Castigilione, Baldesar, The Book of Courtier (Italicized), trans. Charles S. Singleton, ed. Edgar de N.Mayhew.

If work has no author, but an editor or compiler, then list work by its title followed by comma and the name of the editor. For ex: The Nazi Years: a Documentary History, edited by Johim Remak.

If the work is produced by public body, list it by its title and include the other information with the publishing details. For ex. Case Studies in Multiculture education: a series of documentary films (British Broadcasting Corporation, London, 1981).

Then comes, number of edition used. ed. 3rd ed. Wherever relevant, related information like, volume number (if in multiple volumes), and ‘revised or enlarged’ etc should be given. Follows the place of publication, date of publication.

For Articles, reviews: - All details for articles follow same as book except for title. The title of article is enclosed in single quotation marks, and followed by comma, unless the title ends with a question or exclamation mark. - If article appears in a book, the title will be followed by ‘in’ and the name of book (italicized), followed by publication details as mentioned for books, page number. For ex: Kershaw, Ian, ‘How effective was Nazi Propaganda?’ in Nazi Propaganda (Italicized), edited by David Welch (London, 1983), pp. 180-221.

• If article is from journal the date will also include month of publication.
• If article is from newspaper the date will also include date month and year of publication.
• If an article is accessed online, title should be followed by word ‘[online]’. And a new sentence “Available from:” and website URL, accessed date in square brackets should be mentioned.

7. After preparing a raw/initial bibiliography, one should reduce it to small and working bibiliography. To do this, one would need to weigh each source of information on two scales: a) data of publication and b) standing of author. In science & technology, more recent the publication is, more accurate it would be. While in History, more older it is, likely more accurate it would be.

8. Single note should taken per note card/note pad; a note consisting of one idea!. This method is benefited as these notes/ideas can be either rearranged or rejected easily at the later stage of compilation. Waste is inseperable from Research, but ability to reject unwanted notes and ability to rearrange them facilitates research. A note contains 3:

• a descriptive label, main body of note itself and the reference to source. A note should contain only an idea and nothing else. But techniques of recording an idea should be rigorously applied. Refernce to source can be very short (just to identify the source in bibiliography prepared). It can contain [Lastname of Author, Book title (in short), Page Number].

Whole research is founded on full and accurate information which can be verified later, if needed.

9. A note can be of 3 types: A direct quotation; a paraphrase or summary of original passage; and writer’s own opinions. These must be rigidly distinguished.

Statements in which every word counts, should be noted as exactly (as a directed quotation). Often very large quantity of data can be summarized in few generalizations. One paraphrases a passage for the importance of its ‘content’ (note: main goal of paraphrasing is to give importance to ‘content’), one quotes it directly for the additional importance of its ‘mode of expression’. In either case, an original quotation should be followed in all respects. If text uses American or outmoded spelling, it should be copied scurplously. An error or fatuity in text should be copied, and followed with [sic] (italicized) which means ‘thus in the original’. If anything has been omitted from passage copied, it should be indicated with ellipsis marks (…). If a considerable amount is omitted, this should be indicated by adding a single line of spaced full stops. If words have to be inserted to make sense of a passage, they should be enclosed in square [] brackets to distinguish them from parantesis () that may appear occasionally in quoted text. Square brackets are always an indication of an editorial intervention of some kind. The complete quotation, with or without expressions or additions, should be enclosed in single quotation marks and any quotations within it should be enclosed in double quotation marks.

A paraphrase is written without quotation marks. If quotation marks are present, that is proof that quotation is exact copy of the original; if quotation marks are not present, that is proof that the words are the researcher’s own. A good plan is to read passage carefully, think about it for a moment, keep the text aside and write the note without looking at actual text, then check it again to make sure that original author has not been misrepresented.

Personal comments are extremely valuable record of stray ideas that flash across mind in the process of note-taking. All personal comments should be preceded by one’s initials in parentesis ().

A sophisticated note may contain original quote, paraphrase and own’s comment on same in sigle note. It can also be accompanied by cross-reference to other notes.

Efficincy of note-taking relies on two: atomization of knowledge and reliability of source of information.

10. Even in summary one must be careful to note the exact source of information, since due acknowledgement has to be made, in paper, of ideas, theories and obscure facts.

11. Writing Outline of Research Paper is toughest of all. One should set aside two three hours of thought to draw an outline. Because, once outline is drawn, it is hard to break and harder to alter. One should be prepared ruthlessly to abondon large tracts of notes in order to prevent paper from being superflous and inacceptable. Not everything explored can be presented. The decision to accept and discard should be made in light of purpose of project. This is also the appropriate time to ask questions like, Can I complete project on these lines within given period ? Should I narrow down the scope of work?

Normally, it is good to minimize the briefing about prior art and history, so that one can concentrate on work done by oneself and present its attributes in good detail. Probably this is also a good time to give a good thought on title for the paper. As if Title is decided, the matter flows from Title to Outline and from there to selection of Material.

12. A brief introduction states the main purpose and direction of paper.

Research References

Online Materials: 1. www.britishlibrary.net 2. www.education.bl.uk

Ask Prof about the websites he uses to find research material and other shortcuts and useful helps he uses.

• The Times Educational Suppliment Online.
• The Hutchinson Directory of Websites.
• ASLIB Directory 2 volumes.
• Walford Guide to Reference Material.

Contacting with other researchers working in same field and maintaining relationships could be quite helpful and make the work lot more easy.

Unpublished sources can bring in lot of information and valuable mark to research.

For guidelines on writing style, presentation pattern etc, some commonly accepted are: - The MLA Style Sheet - Modern Language Association of America. - Modern Humanities Research Association Style Book (3rd ed, 1981).

In judgement of good source, the critics could be quite useful. But, critics could be biased, incompetent, unfair. One such journal that provides reviews: The NewYork review of Books, London review of books.

Research Tips

• Don’t be self centric. Promoting the success of others is also one way to promote your success.
• Donot under estimate or over estimate your work. Be realistic when choosing journal or showing your work.
• Be ready to take and give criticism.
• Understand the limitations of your country and your surroundings. Don’t complain about them, but try to solve them if possible.
• Try to find people in your own area who are having ideas and thoughts similar to that of you.
• Be member of a research team before trying to leading one.
• You may be the only genius in your place/country. But there are several intellectuals more intelligent than you in globe. Have this perception in your mind.
• Concentrate on your work and keep away from distractions like meetings, other duties etc.
• It is not at all necessary that you choose the research topics choosen by strong international research teams. You cannot compete with them. And research is not a race, but a motive to solve problems. So, choose local problems and try solving it. This way you would also help your own people and nation.
• Try to explore collaboration locally and abroad.
• Be generous with everybody.
• Attend national and international seminars and workshops. If you lack money to attend them, apply for grants.
• Donot get frustrated when some grant or paper publishing request is rejected.
• Avoid publishing your works in magzines or low quality journals, submit your papers to international journals.
• Avoid complaining infront of others. It lowers your prestige.
• Cultivate ability to find alternative solutions and persuade people.
• Give talks and write about science whenever you consider it pertinent. But donot over-budget them.

How to write a research paper:-

1. Take backup of your work :).
2. Printed material is acceptible, not the handwritten one.
3. 3 keywords in research philosophy: organization, discipline, and convention.
4. An essay writing is related to creativity, imagination and self expression; but they are irrelevant in research. Never mistake research paper as an essay writing.
5. Always try to justify and give reasons to all your assertions.
6. Conventions are vital in a context where one writes not for oneself, but for critical public.