This document provides an overview of research methodology. It defines research and discusses the different types of research including qualitative vs. quantitative approaches. The document outlines the various components of a research process including identifying a research problem, reviewing literature, developing hypotheses, using appropriate sampling techniques, and considering ethical issues. It discusses where research occurs and who typically conducts research. The document emphasizes that research should be a systematic, controlled, and empirical process aimed at gaining new knowledge and insights while avoiding harm to participants.

1. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
MA English: Semester III
CODE: ENGL 4145
Session: 1-3

2. The objectives are:
• To introduce basic research skills.
• To explain component of a research paper or
thesis.
• To read and understand research papers.

3. Course outline
• Introduction to research, its types and
classifications.
• Qualitative and quantitative research paradigms.
• Identifying and defining a research
problem/hypothesis.
• Review of Literature
• The role of theory.
• Sampling techniques.
• Ethical considerations.
• Identifying resources and using them.

4. Area/s to be discussed.
• What is research and its components?

5. Introduction
The following definitions will help you in
understanding the research concept.
• According to Oxford English Dictionary (2002),
research is defined as “the systematic study of
materials and sources in order to establish facts
and reach new conclusions.”

6. Contd…
• McMillan and Schumacher (1997) define
research as “a systematic process of
collecting and analysing information (data)
for some purpose.”

7. Contd…
• Kerlinger (1986) defines scientific research
as, “Systematic, controlled, empirical, and
critical investigation of natural phenomena
guided by theory and hypotheses about
the presumed relations among such
phenomena.”

8. Why do research?
• We conduct research because we want to
explore ideas and find solutions that make
sense.
• In doing so a person thinks, constantly
assesses, reassesses and makes decisions
about the best possible means of obtaining
information that is trustworthy.

9. Contd…
• We may like to call this process a
person’s thinking game or whole brain
activity and the psychologists call it right
and left brain attributes (Cherry et.al.
1993).

10. Where does research occur?
• Research is conducted in many settings:
educational institutes, laboratories, classrooms,
libraries, the city streets, foreign cultures, etc.
• Some research is of short duration. Other
research is spread over a long period of time.
Research is usually done at universities at
graduate or undergraduate levels as a required
course.

11. Contd…
• It can be done in various formats which fall
under the categories of qualitative and
quantitative research, the details of which will
follow later in the module.

12. Contd…
• Research is done by researchers, who are
professors from education, natural
sciences or social sciences, experts, and
students of graduate or undergraduate
programmes from related and multiple
disciplines.

13. Research Types
• When carrying out research, our purposes are
different. Therefore research types will vary
according to our purposes.
• The major research types will fall under
application, objectives, inquiry mode, and
sometimes we may use mixed method research.

14. Application (Pure and applied
research)
• Applied research is "hands-on", which means
that the researcher is actually working with the
topic/subjects while conducting the research.
• Generally, applied research focuses on
"practical problems" such as climate change in
order to come up with solutions to better or
improve an existing condition

15. Contd…
• Basic research is often considered researching
for the sake of increasing knowledge as
opposed to applied where the research truly is
intended to solve a problem.
• Basic Research is often called "pure" research
and is considered the foundation for applied
research.

16. Concept of Research in Education.
• According to J.W. Best research is an
“intellectual activity which brings to light new
knowledge or corrects previous error and
misconceptions and ads in an orderly way to the
existing corpus of knowledge”.

17. Contd…
• The term ‘research and scientific method’ are
often used synonymously and ‘research is
considered to be more formal’ systematic
intensive process of carrying on the scientific
method of analysis.

18. Seven Elements of Scientific Process:
1. Purposeful Observation;
2. Analysis – Synthesis;
3. Selective recall;
4. Hypothesis;
5. Verification by Inference and Experimentation;

19. Contd…
6. Reasoning by:
(a)Method of Agreement,
(b) Method of Disagreement,
(c) Method of Concomitant Variation,
(d) Method of Residues and
(e) Joint method of Agreement and Disagreement.
7. Judgement.

20. The Ethics of Research
• In planning the actual procedures of study, there
are a number of factors that should be considered.
Two of these factors, the ethics of conducting
research and legal restrictions are relevant to all
research studies.

21. Contd…
• There are ethical considerations involved in all
research studies.
• Ethical concerns are, of course, more acute in
experimental studies, which by definition,
“manipulate” and “control” subjects.
• The ends do not justify the means and perhaps
the foremost rule of ethics is that subjects should
not be harmed in any way (physically or
mentally) in the name of science.

22. Contd…
• The subject’s right to privacy is also an important
consideration.
• Collecting information on subjects or observing
them without their knowledge or without
appropriate permission is not ethical.
• Furthermore, any information or data, which are
collected, either form or about a subject, should
be strictly confidential, especially if it is at all
personal.

23. Contd…
• Probably the most definitive source of ethical
guidelines for researchers is Ethical Principles in
the Conduct of Research with Human
Participants, which was prepared for, and
published by, the American Psychological
Association (APA).

24. Contd…
• In the APA these principles are preceded by a
statement to the effect that research should be
conducted”… with respect and concern for the
dignity and welfare of the people who participate
and with cognizance of federal and state
regulations and professional standards
governing the conduct of research with human
participants”.

25. Contd…
• Above all, the researcher must have personal
integrity.
• The reader of a research report must be able to
believe that what the researcher says happened,
really happened: otherwise it is all for nothing.
• Falsifying data in order to make findings agree
with a hypothesis is unprofessional, unethical,
and unforgivable.

26. Why does Research with Human and
Animal Participants Require Ethical
Approval?
• To protect the rights and welfare of participants
and minimise the risk of physical and mental
discomfort, harm and/or danger from research
procedures
• To protect the rights of the researcher to carry
out any legitimate investigation as well as the
reputation of the University for research
conducted and/or sponsored by it.

27. Contd…
• To minimise the likelihood of claims of
negligence against individual researchers, the
University and any collaborating persons or
organisations.
• Because Research Funding bodies and refereed
journals increasingly require a statement of
ethical practices in applications for research
funds and/or as a condition for publication.

28. Participant-Centred Perspective
• To ensure that these principles are adhered to it
is essential that a participant-centred approach
is adopted. It must not be forgotten that research
participants make a significant contribution to the
progress and promise of research in advancing
knowledge.

29. Contd…
• Collaboration between participants and
researchers is important and helps to ensure
that the interests of the participants are central
to the work, that they will not be treated simply
as objects and that their concerns will be
listened to.

30. Contd…
• However, a participant-centred approach must
also acknowledge that researchers and research
participants may not always see the harms and
benefits of a research project in the same way.
• Indeed, individual participants within the same
study may respond very differently to the
information provided in the free and informed
consent process; this can be important and
these individual perspectives must be
considered.

31. Ethical Issues Within the Research
Process itself
• When considering research involving human
participants issues to be taken into account will
include consideration of whether the research
has been done before and whether there are
consistent results in this area.
• This will be based on examination of the
literature review and the justification of the need
for the study.