Aliya Qureshi, Academic Content Writer at Edumarz.
Conducting scientific research is not an easy task. To study an event or phenomenon scientifically, the research should be designed as such it is Objective, systematic, and testable.
Objective: a study is considered objective if it is based on observable and verifiable facts and is Unbiased. Eg. if a person designs and conduct a study/research, and another person is conducting the same study, both of them should arrive at the same results. This property is known as Objectivity.
Systematic: a systematic study involves certain steps/procedures in the investigation. It involves the following steps: conceptualization of a problem, collection of data, drawing conclusions, and revising research conclusions and theory.
Testable: a scientific study must be designed as such, the questions in the research can be tested, they can be proven true or false. If the questions are not testable, it will be impossible to provide an answer to that query/question.
Steps in conducting scientific research:
Conceptualizing a problem:
Selecting a theme/topic for the research. (studying habits of alcoholics)
Narrowing down the topic for more focus on the problem. (studying habits of alcoholic men while drunk, and when not drunk)
Developing a research question. (Are alcoholic males more aggressive when they are drunk?)
Developing a Hypothesis (tentative answer) of the question. (The degree of aggression shown by male alcoholics is more when they are drunk, and less when they are not.)
Collection of data:
We collect data to prove if our hypothesis is wrong or right. To collect data, a research design or synopsis of the entire research is required. It contains information about:
Who the Participants of the study will be? (Age group, gender, etc)
It is determined by the nature of the study. (Eg. in this case it will be alcoholic Men in the age group of 25-40 and their wives or other family members)
What are the methods of data collection?
The type of study will also determine what method we will be using to collect data: Observational Method, Experimental Method, Case Study, Questionnaire, Survey, etc. ( Eg. in our case Questionnaires or Interview of the family members of alcoholics and these men themselves will help us to collect data for our study.)
What are the tools required for conducting the research?
Tools include the timingor schedule, the setting/place of conducting the research. Researcher needs to decide on the appropriate tools for conducting the research and collection of data.
What will be the procedure of data collection?
The procedure of data collection means how the data will be collected, or how the study will be conducted. (Eg. Interviews are done in a One-on-One basis, while Experiments are done on a group.)
After deciding all this, actual data collection is carried out.
Drawing conclusion
After data collection, Data Analysation is done.
Analysing the data is necessary to understand what the collected data means.
This is done using Statistical methods like graphical representation, psychometrics, etc.
Analysing the data is done to verify if the conclusions match our hypothesis.
Revising research conclusions and theory.
If the conclusion match our hypothesis, then our hypothesis/theory is correct.
If the conclusion does not match our hypothesis, then we need to revise/restate a new hypothesis and test it by collecting new data.
This is why Research is said to be a ‘continous process’.