Overview of the Research Process

The first phase of research is exploration. This phase includes exploring and selecting research questions for further investigation, examining the published literature in the area of inquiry to understand the current state of knowledge in that area, and identifying theories that may help answer the research questions of interest.

The first step in the exploration phase is identifying one or more research questions. Research questions are specific questions about a behavior, event, or phenomena of interest that you wish to seek answers for in your research (e.g. how can we make high school students more creative, or why do some people commit terrorist acts). Research questions can delve into issues of what, why, how, when, and so forth. More interesting research questions are those that appeal to a broader population (e.g., “how can firms innovate” is a more interesting research question than “how can Chinese firms innovate in the service-sector”), address real and complex problems, and where the answers are not obvious.

The next step is to conduct a literature review of the domain of interest. The purpose of a literature review is three-fold: (1) to survey the current state of knowledge in the area of inquiry, (2) to identify key authors, articles, theories, and findings in that area, and (3) to identify gaps in knowledge in that research area. A literature review is commonly done today using computerized keyword searches in online databases. Once a shortlist of relevant articles is generated from the keyword search, the researcher must then manually browse through each article, or at least its abstract section, to determine the suitability of that article for a detailed review. Literature reviews should not be restricted to a few journals, a few years, or a specific methodology. A well-conducted literature review should indicate whether the initial research questions have already been addressed in the literature, whether there are newer or more interesting research questions available, and whether the original research questions should be modified or changed in light of findings of the literature review.

The third step is to identify one or more theories that can help address the desired research questions. While the literature review may uncover a wide range of concepts or constructs potentially related to the phenomenon of interest, a theory will help identify which of these constructs is logically relevant to the target phenomenon and how. Theories must be carefully selected based on their fit with the target problem and the extent to which their assumptions are consistent with that of the target problem.

The next phase in the research process is research design. This process is concerned with creating a blueprint of the activities to take in order to satisfactorily answer the research questions identified in the exploration phase and includes selecting a research method and operationalizing constructs of interest.

Operationalization is the process of designing precise measures for abstract theoretical constructs. This is a major problem in science research, given that many of the constructs are hard to define, let alone measure accurately. Simultaneously with operationalization, the researcher must also decide what research method he wishes to employ for collecting data to address their research questions of interest. Such methods may include quantitative methods such as experiments or survey research or qualitative methods such as case research or action research, or possibly a combination of both. For complex, uncertain, and multifaceted phenomena, multi-method approaches may be more suitable, which may help leverage the unique strengths of each research method and generate insights that may not be obtained using a single method.

At this stage, it is often a good idea to write a research proposal detailing the research questions you wish to study and why, the prior state of knowledge in this area, theories you wish to employ along with hypotheses to be tested, how to measure constructs, what research method to be employed and why. Funding agencies typically require such a proposal in order to select the best proposals for funding. Also, a proposal may serve as a useful vehicle for seeking feedback from other researchers and identifying potential problems with the research project before starting data collection. This initial feedback is invaluable because it is often too late to correct critical problems after data are collected in a research study. Having decided who to study (subjects), what to measure (concepts), and how to collect data (research method), the researcher is now ready to proceed to the research execution phase.

The final phase of research involves preparing the final research report documenting the entire research process and its findings in the form of a research paper, dissertation, or monograph.

Date: 2016-01-05; view: 753