Kumar - Research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners

Application is the essence of knowledge. However, there always remains a gap between theoretical knowledge and its application. It is only with practice that this gap can be narrowed. A beginner attempting to apply theoretical knowledge needs direction and guidance. This set of exercises has been developed with this belief. There is an exercise for almost each operational step of the proposed research process. Working through them will help you to develop a research project.

The main aim of these exercises is to provide you with a broad framework that is central to the operationalisation of each step of the research process. In most cases, a separate exercise is provided for quantitative and qualitative studies so it is important that you know before you start which approach you are going to take. Within each exercise, there are brief reminders of some of the key issues relating to the process and a series of questions to help you to think through procedures and provide a framework for the development of your study.

Answers to these questions and awareness of the issues that the exercises outline will put you in a position to complete the framework suggested for writing a research proposal (), and therefore these will also constitute the core of your research proposal.

It is important for a beginner to work through these exercises with considerable thought and care.

Now that you have gone through all the chapters that constitute Step I of the research process, this exercise provides you with an opportunity to apply that knowledge to formulate a research problem that is of interest to you. As you know, selecting a research problem is one of the most important aspects of social research, so this exercise will, therefore, help you in formulating your research problem by raising questions and issues that will guide you to examine critically various facets and implications of what you are proposing to study. The exercise is designed to provide a directional framework that guides you through the problem formulation path. Keep in mind that the questions and issues raised in this exercise are not prescriptive but indicative and directional, hence you need to be critical and innovative while working through them. Thinking through a research problem with care can prevent a tremendous wastage of human and financial resources.

A research problem should be clearly stated and be specific in nature. The feasibility of the study in terms of the availability of technical expertise, finances and time, and in terms of its relevance, should be considered thoroughly at the problem-formulation stage. In studies that attempt to establish a causal relationship or an association, the accuracy of the measurement of independent (cause) and dependent (effect) variables is of crucial importance and, hence, should be given serious consideration. If you have already selected a problem, you need not go through this process.

Start by identifying a broad area you are interested in. For example, a health, education or treatment programme; migration; patient care; community health; community needs; foster care; or the relationship between unemployment and street crime. of this book will help you to work through this exercise.

Having selected an area, the next step is to dissect it in order to identify its various aspects and subareas. For example, say your broad area of interest is migration. Some aspects or subareas of migration are:

• a socioeconomicdemographic profile of immigrants;
• reasons for immigration;
• problems of immigrants;
• services provided to immigrants;
• attitudes of immigrants towards migration;
• attitudes of host communities towards immigrants;
• the extent of acculturation and assimilation;
• racial discrimination in the host country.

Or perhaps you are interested in studying a public health programme. Dissect it as finely as possible in order to identify the aspects that could be studied. List them as they come to you. For example:

• a socioeconomicdemographic profile of the target group;
• the morbidity and mortality patterns in a community;
• the extent and nature of programme utilisation;
• the effects of a programme on a community;
• the effectiveness of a particular health promotion strategy.

Or your interest may be in studying delinquents. Some aspects of delinquency are:

• delinquency as related to unemployment, broken homes or urbanisation;
• a profile of delinquents;
• reasons for delinquency;
• various therapeutic strategies.

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To investigate all these subareas is neither advisable nor feasible. Select only those subareas that would be possible for you to study within the constraints of time, finance and expertise at your disposal. One way to select your subarea is to start with a process of elimination: delete those areas you are not very interested in. Towards the end it may become difficult but you need to keep eliminating until you have selected a subarea(s) that can be managed within your constraints. Even one subarea can provide you with a valid and exhaustive study.

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Subarea Specific research questions to be answered

Subarea Specific research questions to be answered

The research questions to be answered through the study become the basis of your objectives. Use action-oriented words in the formulation of objectives. The main difference between research questions and objectives is the way they are written. Questions are worded in question form and objectives are statements referring to the achievement of a task.