RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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A
research is a scientific and systematic search for knowledge. A research works
must follow some specific process and method and must be capable of adding
knowledge to an existing knowledge. It must be able to provide answers to the
problem of the subject matter and variables that are been studied.
TYPES OF RESEARCH
1.
Explanatory research which aims at
exploration of facts and bringing up of new ideas that were not in existence.
2.
Descriptive research is the type of
research that is based on observation study and description.
3.
Experimental research is the type that
uses experiments and control tests in explaining a research that has been
carried out.
4.
Explanatory research is the research
that tends to explain more clearly what has been carried out already or done
before.
WHAT
MAKES UP A GOOD RESEARCH TOPIC
a.
It must be novel
b.
It must be new
c.
It must not be ambiguous
d.
If a topic must be repeated
then the method and case study of such research must be changed.
PROBLEMS
OF RFESESAERCH IN NIGERIA
a.
Lack of Data
b.
Secrecy
c.
Lack of finance
d.
Attitude of people to work
METHODS
OF DATA COLLECTION
Most
research is based mainly on observations which can either be formal or informal
in nature. Research is used to answer questions that have been asked about
something or over something.
Research
works must either be objective, subjective and unbiased, positivism and
naturalism which depends on the discipline of the researcher which implies that
the research has to be properly conducted with all measures and procedures.
Subjectivity of a research has to be based
on the background of the researcher, discipline, philosophy and experience.
Bias on the other hand is the attempt to
deliberately concede or highlight something.
Adhering to these three characteristics is
called research.
CHARACTERISTICS
OF A RESEARCH
-
It must be controlled
-
Rigorous: this implies that a
research has to be exhaustive and tends to answer questions on a research
topic. Also it has to ensure that careful method and procedure are followed in
carrying out research work.
-
Systematic: this means that every research work has to be
logical and follow steps and procedures. It must have a beginning and an end.
It has to follow an order or sequence like chapter I, chapter II, chapter III,
chapter IV etc.
CLASSIFICATIONS
OF RESEARCH
A research can be;
·
Academic research is the one
whereby the topic is novel which can come in many forms like descriptive,
explanatory, experimental and exploratory.
·
Industrial research: Industry or company gives the researcher area
to research on
CLASSIFICATIONS
OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH
It could be classified into;
i.
Project report
ii.
Theses
iii.
Dissertation
PROJECT
REPORT
This
is a plan or outline of a plan. It is a systematic research that tends to
answer questions on how things happened and why they happened, what caused them
to happen. This is the type of research done in tertiary institutions like ABSU
and B.Sc level. A project talks about the feasibility studies of subject
matters. A project can also be said to be a research centered on the process
and management of a system. It studies a
piece of action relating the past with the present and the future.
THESES
They are projects that are yet to undergo verifications
because they are basically hypothetical in nature which implies that they are
filled with hypothesis which are statements on a research based on observation
on a research. Theses is more voluminous than the project report that is why it
is associated with the higher degrees of learning like the masters degree
(M.Sc), after verifications has been carried out in theses then it has to
decide whether such hypothesis are to be accepted or rejected (this give rise
to alternative H1 and null hypothesis H0)
DISSERTATION
It is a long written account of something,
a place, person or thing or organization for the purpose of drawing useful
conclusions based on findings from the research study as the case may be. In
dissertation, full details about a research problem is been made.
RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN PROJECTS, THESES, AND DISSERTATION
Irrespective of the term used, academic projects or researches have one
common underlying principle;
1.
It tries to establish a
relationship between two variables
2.
It projects the future from the
past data are usually employed to determine the future trend
3.
Subjective and quantitative
techniques can be deployed on the analysis of the data
4.
It is aimed at making useful
findings that will form the basis for recommendations
5.
It is done at the instance of a
problem situation and as such should be able to provide solutions to such
problems.
6.
Each research contribute to
academic knowledge
ELEMENTS OF ACADEMIC PROJECTS:
1.
Problem: This is a situation of
dissatisfaction. The existence of a problem means that the actual outcome of an
event varies disproportionately with the expected outcome. If there is no
problem then there would be no research.
2.
Data: They are numerical facts about a
set of variables. Data can be quantitative example; 1,2,3,4 and qualitative as
the case may be example pictures, graphs etc.
3.
Sources of data: there are two main
sources of data in research namely; the primary source and the secondary source
of data. Primary sources can be direct
contacts whereas secondary sources can be through published materials like
newspapers, radio and internet as the case may be. This data are collected and
orderly arranged in a useful format known as statistics.
a.
Statistics is concerned with the scientific methods used in
collecting data, organizing, summarizing, presenting and analyzing data as well
as the drawing of important conclusions and making reasonable decisions on the
bases of the analysis.
4.
Variable: it is the characteristics
under study or investigation. Project is all about the measurement of
variables. Example, “the important of estate management practice in Nigeria”
the independent variable is the “important” which is represented by ‘Y’ whereas
the dependent variable is “estate management” which is represented by ‘X’.
5.
Attributes: They are non-measureable
variables that can never be quantified in any form but can rather be employed
using the “spearman’s ranking correlation coefficient”
r = 1 – 6d2
n (n2 – 1)
n (n2 – 1)
Where d = rank
different
n = number
r = rank of the rth
number
6.
Population: it is a statistical parlance.
It is the collection of persons, places or things under investigation. It is
the total collection of animate and inanimate objects.
7.
Sample: since population can be
comprehensive in nature, samples are set of variables that represent a
population.
8.
Parameter: it is the measure of
population taken from a parameter point. Parameters include; - - population
mean “n”
-
Population variance O2
-
Population standard derivation
O and
-
Population coefficient p
9.
Sample Survey: it is a task of
identifying the sampling units and to construct a frame that provides a list of
the sample units that will represent a population.
SCOPE
OF A RESEARCH PROJECT
1.
Who: this is the target audience usually
organizations, people. Who is to be investigated?
2.
What: this is the subject matter of the research;
the method to be used, what department of data is required.
3.
When: this is the time of data
collection, the time of meeting with the people and the time to source for the
data needed.
4.
Where: this is the place where the data
would be found, where the people or audience would be found.
5.
How: this talks about the method of data
collection, how the respondents would be reached, how the data would be analyzed.
6.
Why: this questions the necessity of the
research study.
PROCESS
OF PROJECT RESEARCH
i.
Definition of problem
ii.
Choosing the project title
iii.
Research design
iv.
Field work/data collection
v.
Presentation and analysis of
data
vi.
Discussion of findings and
results
vii.
Summary
viii.
Conclusion
ix.
Recommendation
QUALITIES
OF A GOOD RESEARCH TOPIC
-
It must be stated in a simple
order
-
It must not be ambiguous
-
It must connect at list two
variables
-
It must provide room for
efficient data gathering
-
It must contribute to knowledge
-
It must not be too lengthy.
SOURCES
OF DATA
There are two main sources f data namely;
·
Published and
·
Unpublished sources.
Published
sources are those data sources that are readily
available for the researcher to use. It doesn’t require express permission
before it can be collected for example, newspaper, journals, radio, internet,
and statistical bulletins, abstract from government departments etc. these are
referred to as secondary source of data.
Unpublished
data sources are those data that can’t be found or
collected without permission from the required authority in the sense that they
are those data that have not yet been published before for the first time.
These are also referred to as a primary source of data.
TYPES
OF DATA
Primary
Data: these are statistical informations collected
by the researcher for his own purpose. However, a primary data collected today
may turn out to be someone else’s secondary data tomorrow all depending on the
individual researcher. Primary data can be gotten either from observation or
through the use of questionnaire which has series of steps and procedures in
constructing a questionnaire;
-
A questionnaire must not be
ambiguous to understand
-
A questionnaire must follow a
logical sequence for the respondent to give appropriate answers to questions.
-
A questionnaire must be clear
and concise.
-
A questionnaire must contain
the subject or purpose of survey matter of the research study.
-
Close end questioning style
should be used in constructing a questionnaire i.e. the “Yes or No” answer pattern.
-
Questionnaires must contain
instructions that will guide the respondent in answering the questions to avoid
ambiguity.
-
Few questions has to be use to
avoid and save time for the respondent.
-
Double barrel questions should
be avoided.
Secondary
Data: these are data that have been published
somewhere else. It can be classified into three categories namely; continuous
or regular data, periodic data, irregular data.
WHAT
IS HYPOTHESESIS?
Hypothesis
is a tentative statement that speculates a future action that is yet to be
encountered in a research problem in the sense that they are yet to undergo
some verifications and tests before that can be accepted. It is important to
note that every researcher makes hypothetical statements to draw out useful facts
relating to the two variables that he is writing on in the research.
A
“null
hypothesis “represented by H0 is used to reject
statements from a made hypothesis. It is also used when there seems to be no
difference between the two variables, say P = 0.5 then 0.5 = P.
An
“alternative
hypothesis” represented by H1
is a statement that is alternative in the observations made in a research
study; they are statements that show deviations and variations from an observed
study. Say P = 0.5, then an alternative hypothesis may connote that P = 0.7 or
P = 0.4
TEST
FOR HYPOTHESIS
From
the definition of hypothesis we found out that hypothesis is still a
speculative statement that is yet to undergo some tests and verifications to
prove it acceptable or reject able by the researcher. The following are
hypothetical tests;
1.
Type I and Type II errors: this is the
most common error made by researcher’s especially inexperienced researchers.
Type I error is an error made when a researcher accepts a hypothesis when it is
supposed to be rejected by him whereas type II error is an error made by a
researcher when he rejects a hypothesis when it supposed to be accepted by him.
These two errors should be avoided in very research.
2.
Level of significance: The maximum
probability with which we should be willing to risk a type I error is called “the
level of significance of the test”. This means that in a practical research,
there may seen to be a level of significance of 0.5 or 5% which means that in a
100% research carried out, the researcher is 95% sure and confidence in his
work, whereas 0.5% level of significance says he is not sure. We can see that
the sure % is far much greater than the % not sure so such a hypothesis has to
be accepted but if the % not sure is greater than the % sure then the
hypothesis would be rejected. In other words, if a tabulated result is greater
than the calculated, then the hypothesis has to be accepted whereas tabulated
is far much lesser than calculated then it is to be rejected.
LEVELS
OF MEASUREMENTS IN STATISTICAL RESEARCH
Research is made of the measurement of
variables and some numbers assigned to them. There are four levels of
measurements in research and statistics;
I.
Nominal scale of measurement: This is
the simplest form of measurement in statistics. The numbers assigned in this
type of measurement doesn’t signify magnitude rather it signifies the name of
the variable. We cannot subtract or add to get a number we are looking for in
this type or level of measurement. It is symmetrical and transitive in nature.
Symmetrical in the sense that A = B then B =A, transitive in the sense that if
A = B, B = C, then A =C. for example in a football pitch a player may wear a
number 10 jersey, it doesn’t mean that he is playing 10 times better than other
players.
II.
Ordinal scale of measurement: this is
another level of measurement that is asymmetrical and also transitive in nature
in the sense that if A= B, then B is not = to A, likewise A =/= to C.
transitively, A > B, then B < A, then A > C also.
III.
Interval: this is another level of
measurement that is used to rank variables and attributes according to their
level of important. For example, we can rank students degree qualifications in
ABSU according to 1st class, 2nd class upper, 2nd
class lower, 3rd class etc, we can rank countries of the world
according to their income status. It is important to note that we can add or
subtract in this level of measurement that is why it is parametric in nature.
IV.
Ratio: this is the highest and advanced
level of measurement that we have in research. It is parametric in nature unlike the ordinal
and nominal scale that is non-parametric. It has its origin from zero (0) for
example we can say the weight of on object is twice heavier than that of the
other object.
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