Steps in Research

Riaz Hussain
Department of English
The Islamia University of Bahawalpur
 Overview
1. Selecting the Problem to investigate
2. Reviewing the literature on the problem
3. Planning and Designing Research
4. Operationalizing Research Plan
1. Data Collection
2. Data analysis.
5. Presenting or reporting research
 Stepwise Research
• Sahu (2013) observes that ‘a research process
is a stepwise delineation of different activities’
(p.15).

•
 The First Step
• The first step is to select the problem to
investigate. The problem should be
consequential enough to warrant
investigation.
 2nd Step
Reviewing the literature on the problem
• Researchers should thoroughly review the
relevant literature to gain more understanding
and insight into the problem and to determine
what research may already have been done.
 Three Phases

Reporting &
Planning Operationalizing
Presentation
 Planning & Designing Research
• The investigator plans how to conduct
research to answer the question. The design is
the researcher’s plan for the study, which
includes the method to be used, what data
will be gathered, where, how, and from
whom.
 Planning
• There is no single blueprint for planning
research. Research design is governed by the
notion of ‘fitness for purpose’. The purposes
of the research determine the methodology
and design of the research.
Why is planning important ?
Moving without plan is like moving without eyes
 Why is planning important ?
• To change the ‘rules of the game’ in
midstream once the research has commenced
is a sure recipe for problems. The terms of the
research and the mechanism of its operation
must be ironed out in advance if it is to be
credible, legitimate and practicable. Once they
have been decided upon, the researcher is in a
very positive position to undertake the
research.
 Operationalizing
The process of operationalization is critical for
effective research. Operationalization means
specifying a set of operations or behaviours that
can be measured, addressed or manipulated.
What is required here is translating a very
general research aim or purpose into specific,
concrete questions to which specific, concrete
answers can be given. The process moves from
the general to the particular, from the abstract
to the concrete.
• The setting up of the research is a balancing
act, for it requires the harmonizing of planned
possibilities with workable, coherent practice
 Harmonizing
Planning &
Practice

Planned
Coherent practice
possibilities

what one would what

like to do one can actually
do
 Steps in Planning
1. Preparatory issues
2. Methodology
3. Sampling and instrumentation
4. Piloting
5. Timing and sequencing
6. Resources required
 Preparatory issues (Planning )
1. A clear statement of the problem/need that has given rise to the
research.
2. Constraints on the research (e.g. access, time, people).
3. The general aims and purposes of the research.
4. How to operationalize research aims and purposes.
5. The intended outcomes of the research: what the research will
do and what is the ‘deliverable’ outcome.
6. Generating research questions (specific, concrete questions to
which concrete answers can be given) and hypotheses (if
appropriate).
7. Identifying and setting in order the priorities for the research.
8. Ethics
 Methodology
1. What is the main methodology of the
research (e.g. a quantitative survey,
qualitative research, an ethnographic study,
an experiment, a case study, a piece of action
research , approaches and research styles,
e.g. survey; experimental;
ethnographic/naturalistic; longitudinal;
cross-sectional; historical; correlational; etc).
2. Reliability and validity of tools
 Choose the right method from the
right methodology
Methodology Method
• a survey • Interviews
• an experiment • Questionnaires
• an in-depth ethnography • Observation
• action research • Tests
• Accounts
• case study research
• testing and assessment. • Biographies and case
studies
 Sampling
• Research subjects; social responsibility; honesty
and deception).
• Sampling: size/access/representativeness; type:
probability: random, systematic, stratified,
cluster, stage,
• multi-phase; non-probability: convenience, quota,
purposive, dimensional, snowball.
• Ethical issues and ownership of the research (e.g.
informed consent; overt and covert research;
anonymity; confidentiality;
 Instrumentation
• Instrumentation, e.g. questionnaires;
interviews; observation; tests; field notes;
accounts; documents;
 Piloting
1. Technical matters: clarity,
layout and appearance,
timing, length, threat,
ease/difficulty, intrusiveness;
2. Questions: validity,
elimination of ambiguities,
types of questions (e.g.
multiple choice, open-ended,
closed),
3. Response categories,
identifying redundancies;
pre-piloting: generating
categories, grouping and
classification.
 Timing and sequencing
• Time frames and sequence (what will happen,
when and with whom)
• By clarifying the time scale a valuable note of
• realism is injected into the research, which
enables questions of practicability to be
answered.
Operationalizing Research
 Data Collection
• The next step involves executing the research
plan. Quantitative researchers use a wide
variety of instruments to gather data,
including tests, questionnaires, ratings, and
attitude scales. Qualitative researchers also
have a toolbox of data-gathering techniques,
including indepth interviewing, participant
observation, and document analysis.
 Analyzing the data
The data collected in research must be analyzed. Quantitative data
are usually in the form of numbers that researchers analyze using
various statistical procedures. Even verbal data, such as
compositions written by high school students, would be converted
through the scoring process to a numerical form. The analysis of
the numerical data in quantitative research provides evidence that
supports or fails to support the hypothesis of the study. Qualitative
data generally take the form of words (descriptions, observations,
impressions, recordings, and the like). The researcher must
organize and categorize or code the large mass of data so that they
can be described and interpreted. Although the qualitative
researcher does not deal with statistics, analyzing qualitative data
is not easy. It is a time-consuming and painstaking process.
 Interpreting the findings and stating
conclusions
The researcher next tries to interpret the
findings in terms of the research problem. The
quantitative researcher typically makes
statements about the probability that such a
finding is due to chance and reaches a
conclusion about the hypothesis. Qualitative
researchers present their interpretations and
explanations in narrative form. They do not talk
about probability but try to emphasize the
trustworthiness and credibility of the findings.
Reporting Results
• Researchers must make their procedures,
findings, and conclusions available in a form
intelligible to others who may be interested.
• This involves clearly and concisely presenting
the steps in the study in sufficient detail so
that another person can replicate it.
 Three divisions of Reporting a
Research
• A report is typically made up of three main
divisions:
• (1) preliminary material
• (2) body
• (3) supplementary material.
Each of the sections contains a different kind of
content.
Recapitulating Discussion
 References
• Ary, D., & Ary, D. (2014). Introduction to research
in education. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Cengage
Learning.
• Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison (
2013) Research Methods in Education. NY:
Routledge.
• Sahu, P. K. (2013). Research methodology: A guide
for researchers in agricultural science, social
science and other related fields. New Delhi:
Springer.
Thank you