Generally speaking, research is defined as the scientific investigation of a problem or gap, which aims at the discovery or interpretation of new facts. According to some scholars, the discovery or interpretation of news facts may lead to a revision or even rejection of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts.

1. What is Research?

2. “the systematic investigation into
the study of materials, sources etc.
in order to establish facts and reach
new conclusion”
- Oxford Encyclopedic English Dictionary

3. “the systematic, controlled, empirical and
critical investigation of hypothetical
propositions about presumed relations
among natural phenomena”
- Kerlinger, Fred N. 1973. Foundations of
Behavioral Researches. 2nd edition. Holt: Rinehart
and Winston.

4. “a procedure by which we attempt to find
systematically, and with the support of
demonstrable fact, the answer to a
question or the resolution of a problem”
- Leedy, Paul D. 1989. Practical Research:
Planning and Design. London: Collier Macmillan.

5. Working Definition of Research:
“the scientific investigation of a
problem or gap, which aims at the
discovery or interpretation of new
facts”

6. Full transcript of this
presentation is available at:
https://philonotes.com/index.php/2020/01/13/what-is-
research/

7. Why is Research important?
“According to some scholars, the
discovery or interpretation of news facts
may lead to a revision or even rejection of
accepted theories or laws in the light of
new facts.”

8. General Characteristics of Research:
research makes use of the rigorous and
questioning techniques of scientific
inquiry
hence, research employs a scientific
method
What is the implication?

9. “Because research is a specific term, which
necessarily involves a scientific rigor, any type
of inquiry that does not involve a scientific rigor
cannot be called “research” in the strict sense
of the word, such as the mere act of gathering
facts and information.
For instance, someone may say she wants to
go to the library to do further research on the
meaning, nature and dynamics of
earthquakes.

10. As we can see, the term research is wrongly
used in the example because in the first place
it lacks the scientific rigor.
What is scientific rigor?
- By scientific rigor we mean the
implementation of the highest standards
and best practices of science.

11. What is science?

12. Historically, according to B. R.
Hergenhahn, science came into existence
as a way of answering questions about
nature by examining nature directly, rather
than by depending on church dogmas,
past authorities, superstition, or abstract
thought processes alone.
The Key: Empirical Observations

13. But according to Hergenhahn, there is
more to science than simply observing
nature.
- Hergenhahn says that for
observations to be useful, they must
be organized or categorized in some
way, and the ways in which they are
similar to or different from other
observations must be noted.

14. And for Hergenhahn, after noting similarities and
differences among observations, many scientists
take the additional step of attempting to explain
what they have observed.
From the above discussion, we can now draw a
general conception of science as the systematic
attempt to rationally categorize or explain
empirical investigations.