Research Process Steps

 The research process consists of a series of systematic procedures that a researcher must
go through in order to generate knowledge that will be considered valuable by the project
and focus on the relevant topic.
 To conduct effective research, you must understand the research process steps and follow
them. Here are a few steps in the research process to make it easier for you:
A research problem
 is a specific question, problem, or difficulty that needs to be investigated or analyzed. It is
a concise statement that expresses the difference between what is currently known and
what needs to be known or the difference between a current situation and a desired state.
 Examining research problems helps to identify the key concepts and terms of research.
A research problem should be clear, concise, and specific enough to guide the process
and contribute to the definition of research project objectives, methods, and outcomes. It
is the foundation of any research project, and a well-formulated research problem is
required for any research study to be successful.
A research problem statement
 is a brief and precise description of the problem that a researcher wishes to investigate. It
defines the research’s focus and serves as a framework for developing research questions
or hypotheses.
 Typically, the problem statement begins with a broad topic or research area and then
narrows down to a specific research question or problem. It should explain why the
research is important, what gaps in knowledge or understanding exist, and what potential
implications or applications the research may have.
 A good research statement keeps the researcher focused and guides the research project’s
development. It also assists other researchers in comprehending the scope and
significance of the research, as well as identifying potential areas for collaboration or
further investigation.
What is the purpose of a Research problem statement?
A problem statement in research seeks to achieve the following:
 Introduce the importance of the topic in the research proposal.
 Position the problem in an appropriate and particular context.
 Provide a framework to analyze and report results.
Theoretical & conceptual frameworks
 The terms theoretical framework and conceptual framework are often used
interchangeably to mean the same thing. Although they are both used to understand a
research problem and guide the development, collection, and analysis of research, it's
important to understand the difference between the two. When working on coursework or
 dissertation research, make sure to clarify what is being asked and any specific course or
program requirements.
Theoretical framework
 A theoretical framework is a single formal theory. When a study is designed around a
theoretical framework, the theory is the primary means in which the research problem is
understood and investigated. Although theoretical frameworks tend to be used in
quantitative studies, you will also see this approach in qualitative research.
Conceptual framework
 A conceptual framework includes one or more formal theories (in part or whole) as well
as other concepts and empirical findings from the literature. It is used to show
relationships among these ideas and how they relate to the research study. Conceptual
frameworks are commonly seen in qualitative research in the social and behavioral
sciences, for example, because often one theory cannot fully address the phenomena
being studied.
Operational Definition of variables
 Variables and operational definitions go hand in hand. Operational definitions
specifically identify how the variables are measured for the purposes of the research. An
operational definition should identify how the variable is calculated or recorded as a
numeric value. In addition, the operational definition should specify the range of possible
values and the variable’s level of measurement (nominal, ordinal, or interval). An
example of an operational definition for depression would be “the sum of the responses to
the Beck Anxiety Inventory, which can range from 0 to 63.”
Hypothesis formulation
 After finding your research problem, the next step is to formulate your own hypothesis. A
hypothesis is a theoretical statement in solving a logical relationship between variables..
 As discussed earlier, a hypothesis is a predictive statement about a relationship between
variables. There are usually two types of variables addressed in a hypothesis: the
independent variable and the dependent variable. Sometimes there are multiple variables
involved, but this lesson will focus on these two types.
 The independent variable is the element that can be manipulated or changed to cause an
outcome. The dependent variable is where the effect of the manipulation may be
observed. For example, to study the relationship between air temperature and the melting
speed of ice, the independent variable would be temperature, and the dependent variable
would be the melting time.
 The Importance of Formulating a Testable Hypothesis
 A hypothesis needs to be testable, potentially falsifiable, and lead to
reproducible results. This means that it must be possible to perform an
experiment or activity that will generate data that either supports or refutes
the hypothesis.
  Why is it important to have a valid hypothesis? A hypothesis that cannot
be tested is not scientific and will not lead to meaningful results. For
example, consider a hypothesis that states "If extraterrestrials built the
pyramids, then magic is real." While this statement seems to be structured
as a hypothesis about the relationship between two variables, it is not
possible to test it or prove it false. This is an extreme example, but it
illustrates how invalid hypotheses can lead to pseudoscientific studies and
misconceptions.

Choosing Appropriate Research Design

 Research design is the plan for achieving objectives and answering research questions. It
outlines how to get the relevant information. Its goal is to design research to test
hypotheses, address the research questions, and provide decision-making insights.
 The research design aims to minimize the time, money, and effort required to acquire
meaningful evidence. This plan fits into four categories:
 Exploration and Surveys
 Experiment
 Data Analysis
 Observation
Identification of Target Population and Sampling
 Sampling is the statistical process of selecting a subset (called a “sample”) of a
population of interest for purposes of making observations and statistical inferences about
that population.
 The sampling process comprises of several stage. The first stage is defining the target
population.
 A population can be defined as all people or items ( unit of analysis ) with the
characteristics that one wishes to study. The unit of analysis may be a person, group,
organization, country, object, or any other entity that you wish to draw scientific
inferences about. Sometimes the population is obvious.
 For example, if a manufacturer wants to determine whether finished goods manufactured
at a production line meets certain quality requirements or must be scrapped and
reworked, then the population consists of the entire set of finished goods manufactured at
that production facility. At other times, the target population may be a little harder to
understand. If you wish to identify the primary drivers of academic learning among high
school students, then what is your target population: high school students, their teachers,
school principals, or parents? The right answer in this case is high school students,
because you are interested in their performance, not the performance of their teachers,
parents, or schools. Likewise, if you wish to analyze the behavior of roulette wheels to
identify biased wheels, your population of interest is not different observations from a
 single roulette wheel, but different roulette wheels (i.e., their behavior over an infinite set
of wheels).
 The second step in the sampling process is to choose a sampling frame . This is an
accessible section of the target population (usually a list with contact information) from
where a sample can be drawn. If your target population is professional employees at
work, because you cannot access all professional employees around the world, a more
realistic sampling frame will be employee lists of one or two local companies that are
willing to participate in your study. If your target population is organizations, then the
Fortune 500 list of firms or the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) list of firms registered with the
New York Stock exchange may be acceptable sampling frames.
What Is Sampling?
 Sampling allows researchers to use a small group from a larger population to make
observations and determinations.
 Types of sampling include random sampling, block sampling, judgment sampling, and
systematic sampling.
 Researchers should be aware of sampling errors, which may be the result of random
sampling or bias.
 Companies use sampling as a marketing tool to identify the needs and wants of their
target market.
 Certified public accountants use sampling during audits to determine the accuracy and
completeness of account balances.
Types of Audit Sampling
 As noted above, there are several different types of sampling that researchers can use.
These include random, judgment, block, and systemic sampling. These are discussed in
more detail below.
Random Sampling
 With random sampling, every item within a population has an equal probability of being
chosen. It is the furthest removed from any potential bias because there is no human
judgement involved in selecting the sample.
 For example, a random sample may include choosing the names of 25 employees out of a
hat in a company of 250 employees. The population is all 250 employees, and the sample
is random because each employee has an equal chance of being chosen.
Judgment Sampling
 Auditor judgment may be used to select the sample from the full population. An auditor
may only be concerned about transactions of a material nature. For example, assume the
auditor sets the threshold for materiality for accounts payable transactions at $10,000. If
 the client provides a complete list of 15 transactions over $10,000, the auditor may just
choose to review all transactions due to the small population size.

 The auditor may alternatively identify all general ledger accounts with a variance greater
than 10% from the prior period. In this case, the auditor is limiting the population from
which the sample selection is being derived. Unfortunately, human judgment used in
sampling always comes with the potential for bias, whether explicit or implicit.
Block Sampling
 Block sampling takes a consecutive series of items within the population to use as the
sample. For example, a list of all sales transactions in an accounting period could be
sorted in various ways, including by date or by dollar amount.
 An auditor may request that the company's accountant provide the list in one format or
the other in order to select a sample from a specific segment of the list. This method
requires very little modification on the auditor's part, but it is likely that a block of
transactions will not be representative of the full population.
Systematic Sampling
 Systematic sampling begins at a random starting point within the population and uses a
fixed, periodic interval to select items for a sample. The sampling interval is calculated as
the population size divided by the sample size. Despite the sample population being
selected in advance, systematic sampling is still considered random if the periodic
interval is determined beforehand and the starting point is random.
 Assume that an auditor reviews the internal controls related to a company's cash account
and wants to test the company policy that stipulates that checks exceeding $10,000 must
be signed by two people. The population consists of every company check exceeding
$10,000 during the fiscal year, which, in this example, was 300. The auditor uses
probability statistics and determines that the sample size should be 20% of the population
or 60 checks. The sampling interval is 5 or 300 checks ÷ 60 sample checks.
 Therefore, the auditor selects every fifth check for testing. Assuming no errors are found
in the sampling test work, the statistical analysis gives the auditor a 95% confidence rate
that the check procedure was performed correctly. The auditor tests the sample of 60
checks and finds no errors, so he concludes that the internal control over cash is working
properly.
Data Collection
 Data collection is important in obtaining the knowledge or information required to
answer the research issue. Every research collected data, either from the literature or the
people being studied. Data must be collected from the two categories of researchers.
These sources may provide primary data.
 Experiment
 Questionnaire
  Observation
 Interview

Secondary data categories are:

 Literature survey
 Official, unofficial reports
 An approach based on library resources
Preparation of Research Instrument
 A Research Instrument is a tool used to collect, measure, and analyze data related to your
research interests. These tools are most commonly used in health sciences, social
sciences, and education to assess patients, clients, students, teachers, staff, etc. A research
instrument can include interviews, tests, surveys, or checklists.
 The Research Instrument is usually determined by researcher and is tied to the study
methodology.
 This document offers some examples of research instruments and study methods.
The following list is an example of the steps to complete a research project. Choosing a Research
Instrument is done after conceptualization and the units of analysis have been chosen, and before
operationalizing concepts construct instruments:
1. Select a topic
2. Formulate a thesis statement
3. Choose the types of analyses
4. Research and write a literature review
5. Formulate the research questions
6. Conceptualize a topic, refine thesis
7. Choose research method and research instrument
8. Operationalize concepts construct instrument
9. Formulate the data collection strategy
10. Perform a pilot study
11. Collect data
12. Prepare the data for processing & analysis
13. Process & analyze data
14. Interpret & make inferences about data
15. Write the research paper 1
16. Publish data
Reliability and Validity – Definitions, Types & Examples
 Reliability refers to the consistency of the measurement. Reliability shows how
trustworthy is the score of the test. If the collected data shows the same results after being
 tested using various methods and sample groups, the information is reliable. If your
method has reliability, the results will be valid.
 Validity refers to the accuracy of the measurement. Validity shows how a specific test is
suitable for a particular situation. If the results are accurate according to the researcher’s
situation, explanation, and prediction, then the research is valid.
 If the method of measuring is accurate, then it’ll produce accurate results. If a method is
reliable, then it’s valid. In contrast, if a method is not reliable, it’s not valid.
Data Analysis
 During research design, the researcher plans data analysis. After collecting data, the
researcher analyzes it. The data is examined based on the approach in this step. The
research findings are reviewed and reported.
 Data analysis involves a number of closely related stages, such as setting up categories,
applying these categories to raw data through coding and tabulation, and then drawing
statistical conclusions. The researcher can examine the acquired data using a variety of
statistical methods.
The Report-writing
After completing these steps, the researcher must prepare a report detailing his findings. The
report must be carefully composed with the following in mind:
 The Layout: On the first page, the title, date, acknowledgments, and preface should be on
the report. A table of contents should be followed by a list of tables, graphs, and charts if
any.
 Introduction: It should state the research’s purpose and methods. This section should
include the study’s scope and limits.
 Summary of Findings: A non-technical summary of findings and recommendations will
follow the introduction. The findings should be summarized if they’re lengthy.
 Principal Report: The main body of the report should make sense and be broken up into
sections that are easy to understand.
Conclusion: The researcher should restate his findings at the end of the main text. It’s the final
result.
Conclusion
The research process involves several steps that make it easy to complete the research
successfully. The steps in the research process described above depend on each other, and the
order must be kept. So, if we want to do a research project, we should follow the research
process steps.