this would be helpful for all researchers and students

1. MR. MOHAN VT
PRINCIPAL
HEMADRI FIRST GRADE COLLEGE,
TUMKUR
Social work researchand statistics
Unit-2: Research Process

2. OUTLINE SLIDES
 Identifying and formulating the research
problem.
 Literature review.
 Formulation of research Objective.
 Hypotheses: Definitions, Meaning and
Types.
 Variables: Definitions, Meaning, and
Types.

3. IDENTIFYING AND FORMULATING THE
RESEARCH PROBLEM
 A problem is a question or ideas of interest to you which
ought to be data collection. In taking research of an area
you have to know more thing about the nature of the
problem how serious and wide.
 The following are the source of problem
identification. These are
I. Personal experience.
II. Literature review.
III. From the overview or review.
 A Good Problem Statement
 • Clear, precise and specific
 • It will answer the following questions
 – who, what, where , how and how big.
 Problem Formulation : A problem well defined is a
problem half solved.

4. WHAT IS GOOD PROBLEM FORMULATION?
 Definition:“Problem formulation is the creative and probably
the more important step towards overcoming a problematic
state than problem-solving. A good definition of what the
problem is, is believed to be more than half of the way towards
is eventual elimination.”
 Interesting – keeps the researcher involved in it throughout the
research process.
 Researchable – can be investigated through the collection and
analysis of data, using case study or other techniques.
 Understandable and logically build up – well formulated and
has logical structure with main question and following sub-
questions.
 Manageable – fits the level of researcher’s level of research
skills, needed resources, and time restrictions.
 Purposeful – establishes cooperation between researcher and
business which should lead to economical and practical
development of both sides.
 Ethical – does not embarrass or harm participants.

5. WHY IS GOOD PROBLEM FORMULATION IS
IMPORTANT ?
 Formulating a Problem formulation is the first and
most important step of a research process.
 The problem formulation is like an identification of
a destination before undertaking a journey.
 The research problem serves as a foundation of a
research study; like a building and its foundation.
 If it is well formulated, you can expect a good
study to follow.
 Remember: Confusion is often but the first
step to clarity

6. LITERATURE REVIEW
 Research process includes literature review which
aims at highlighting what has already been done so
far in the field of interest and how your findings
relate to earlier research. In general, the literature
review provides in-depth understanding and
explanation on how your findings are similar to or
novel from previous research work.
 It Refers to the system identification and on
analysis of documents containing related to your
problem.
 This procedure left required a reach to read
various books, magazine, journals and news
paper.

7. IMPORTANCE OF REVIEW OF LITERATURE
 To enable researches to determine what has been related to
the present data.
 They enable a researcher to avoid unnecessary repetition of
what has already done.
 To enable the researcher to redefine the research problem.
 To enable the researcher to select an adequate sample.
 It describes how the proposed research is related to prior
research in statistics.
 It shows the originality and relevance of your research
problem. Specifically, your research is different from other
statisticians.
 It justifies and improves your proposed methodology.
 It demonstrates your preparedness to complete the research.

8. FUNCTIONS OF REVIEW OF LITERATURE
 Reviewing literature is not an easy task and is
very time-consuming and daunting. However, it is
always rewarding and has a number of functions
in research methodology. The three important
functions of research methodology are the
following:
A. Provides theoretical background to your study or
field.
B. Helps justify how your findings are related to the
body of knowledge in your field of research.
C. Establish the links between what you propose to
examine and what has already been found. It
helps you to refine your research methodology.

9. HYPOTHESIS
 A hypothesis is an assumption or a statement that
may or may not be true. The hypothesis is tested on
the basis of information obtained from a sample. A
well formulated or good hypothesis helps the
researchers to focus/concentrate on the key points of
investigation.
 A hypothesis is an approximate assumption that a
researcher wants to test for its logical or empirical
consequences. It can contain either a suggested
explanation for a phenomenon or a proposal having
deductive reasoning to suggest a possible interrelation
between multiple phenomena. A deductive reasoning
can be defined as a type of reasoning that can be
derived from previously known facts.

10. DEFINITIONS OF HYPOTHESIS
 According to Townsend, ‘Hypothesis is
defined as suggested answer to a problem.’
 According to Mc Guigan, ‘A hypothesis is a
testable statement of a potential
relationship between two or more
variables.’
 According to Uma Sekaran, ‘A hypothesis
is defined as a logically conjectured
relationship between two or more variables
in the form of testable statement.

11. TYPES OF HYPOTHESIS
 There are two major types of research hypothesis.
 Null hypothesis: The hypotheses that are proposed with the intent of
receiving a rejection for them are called null hypotheses. This requires that we
hypothesize the opposite of what is desired to be proved.
 For example, if we want to show that sales and advertisement expenditure
are related,
 we formulate the null hypothesis that they are not related. If we want to prove
that the average wages of skilled workers in town 1 is greater than that of
town 2, we formulate the null hypotheses that there is no difference in the
average wages of the skilled workers in both the towns.
A null hypothesis is denoted by H0.
 Alternative hypotheses: Rejection of null hypotheses leads to the
acceptance of alternative hypotheses. The rejection of null hypothesis indicates
that the relationship between variables (e.g., sales and advertisement
expenditure) or the difference between means (e.g., wages of skilled workers
in town 1 and town 2) or the difference between proportions have statistical
significance and the acceptance of the null hypotheses indicates that these
differences are due to chance.
The alternative hypotheses are denoted by H1.

12. VARIABLES - MEANING AND TYPES
 A variable is a characteristic that takes on
two or more values. Variables are
something that takes varying values.
 Variables can be classified into different
types. The major types are:
I. Independent and Dependent Variables
II. Experimental and measured Variables
III. Discrete and continuous Variables
IV. Quantitative and Qualitative Variables

13. CONTD…
1. Independent and Dependent Variable: Independent variable is the major
variable the researcher wishes to investigate. It is the variable which is selected,
manipulated and measured by the researcher. An independent variable (also called X
variable in statistics) is one whose change results in the change of another variable.
The dependent variable (also called Y variable in statistics) on the other hand is
the condition researcher is trying to explain. It is one which changes in relationship
to changes in another variables(s).
2. Experimental and Measured Variable: The experimental variables spell out the
details of the investigator’s manipulations while the measured variables refer to
measurement.
3. Discrete and Continuous Variable: A discrete variable is a variable having only
integer value. Any variable that is not restricted to particular values (other than
limited by the accuracy of the measuring instrument) is known as continuous
variable.
4. Quantitative and Qualitative Variables: The quantitative variable is one whose
values or categories consist of numbers and if differences between its categories can
be expressed numerically. Examples of quantitative variables include age, income,
size and so forth.
The qualitative variable is one which consists of discreet categories rather than
numerical units. This variable has two or more categories that are different from
each other. For examples sex (male of female), religion (Hindu, Jain, Muslim, Sikh),
caste (General, OBC, SC, ST).