Research is a logical and systematic search for new and useful information on a particular topic. Research is important both in scientific and nonscientific fields. In our life, new problems, events, phenomena, and processes occur every day. Practically, implementable solutions and suggestions are required for tackling new problems that arise. Scientists have to undertake research on them and find their causes, solutions, explanations, and applications.
The research is broadly classified into two main classes: 1. Fundamental or basic research and 2. Applied research. Basic and applied researches are generally of two kinds: normal research and revolutionary research. In any particular field, normal research is performed in accordance with a set of rules, concepts and procedures called a paradigm, which is well accepted by the scientists working in that field. In addition, the basic and applied research can be quantitative or qualitative, or even both (mixed research).
1. Fundamental or Basic research:
Basic research is an investigation of basic principles and reasons for the occurrence of a particular event or process or phenomenon. It is also called theoretical research. The study or investigation of some natural phenomenon or relating to pure science is termed basic research. Basic research sometimes may not lead to immediate use or application. It is not concerned with solving any practical problems of immediate interest. But it is original or basic in character. It provides a systematic and deep insight into a problem and facilitates the extraction of scientific and logical explanations and conclusion on it. It helps build new frontiers of knowledge. The outcomes of basic research form the basis for much-applied research.
Basic research
2. Applied research:
In applied research, one solves certain problems by employing well-known and accepted theories and principles. Most of the experimental research, case studies, and interdisciplinary research are essentially applied research. Applied research is helpful for basic research. Research, the outcome of which has immediate application is also termed applied research. Such research is of practical use to current activity.
Applied research
Basic and applied research is further divided into three types of research bearing some characteristics feature as follows:
Quantitative research
Qualitative research
Mixed research
Mixed research- research that involves the mixing of quantitative and qualitative methods or paradigm characteristics. The nature of data is a mixture of variables, words, and images.
Other types of research
Exploratory Research
Exploratory research might involve a literature search or conducting focus group interviews. The exploration of new phenomena in this way may help the researcher’s need for better understanding, may test the feasibility of a more extensive study, or determine the best methods to be used in a subsequent study. For these reasons, exploratory research is broad in focus and rarely provides definite answers to specific research issues.
The objective of exploratory research is to identify key issues and key variables.
Descriptive research
The descriptive research is directed toward studying “what” and how many of this “what”. Thus, it is directed toward answering questions such as, “What is this?”.
Explanatory research
Longitudinal Research
Research carried out longitudinally involves data collection at multiple points in time. Longitudinal studies may take the form of:
While longitudinal studies will often be more time-consuming and expensive than cross-sectional studies, they are more likely to identify causal relationships between variables.
Cross-sectional Research
One-shot or cross-sectional studies are those in which data is gathered once, during a period of days, weeks or months. Many cross-sectional studies are exploratory or descriptive in purpose. They are designed to look at how things are now, without any sense of whether there is a history or trend at work.
Action research
Policy-Oriented Research
Classification research
It aims at categorizing units into groups
Comparative research
Causal research
Theory-testing research
Theory-building research
Last, of all, it is needless to say that scientific research helps us in many ways:
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