What is Research?

From what I have learned, research is the act of expanding knowledge by conducting investigating a particular topic. One researcher or a group of researchers who share a common interest can participate in a research study. Bernard R. (2006), defined research methods as ways of knowing things. He stated that methods are “strategic choices, like whether to do participant observation fieldwork, dig up information from libraries and archives, do survey, or run an experiment” (p 3). Babbie E. (2007) stated that any research has three main elements: theory or hypothesis, operationalization, and observation. Theory is anything that has been investigated. A hypothesis is a new idea or assumption that needs to be explored and proven or disproven. However, before testing an existing theory or exploring a new hypothesis we need to operationalize it or, in other words, specify the meaning of all the variables that are related to the new concept. The last step is to look at our surroundings and observe our variables to measure them using an appropriate method.

In fact, we do not realize that we get involved in informal types of research every day. For example, we use different techniques to seek information, using libraries, databases, books, and resources to satisfy our information needs. However, we need to know how to analyze our collected data to represent them in a formal final report. There are different types of research which can be used based on a researcher’s goals. For example, experimental research is the most suitable type for scientific studies. In this type, a researcher can create different experiments and study the effect on investigative variables. Another category is correlation research, which is used to find out the relationships between two or more variables. This style needs the researchers to predict some sort of cause and effect to study and find relations between them. Survey research is another common type that is preferable because it is easy to conduct but not to design. This form is useful for understanding and discovering the characteristics of a group. For instance, when a department manager wants to know more about his or her employees’ opinions regarding the new policy, survey research can assist in giving a partial picture. Why not a complete picture?  Some employees may not answer all of the questions honestly, or maybe they hide some of the information for their benefit. In this case, the best way to investigate people’s feelings, emotions, behaviors, and performance is to use qualitative research. A good example is ethnographic research, where researchers concentrate on observing participants' actions, reactions, behaviors, motions and even body language. Researchers collect data through field observation, interviews, videotapes, audiotapes, self-report and more. Sometimes, they use different locations to observe participants. Two or more observers can be used as well as two or three cameras to record participants’ conduct from different angles. All of these methods are used to collect as much data as possible and then analyze them correctly. However, this type of research is very expensive and requires a lot of effort, time, and experience.

In my opinion, ethnographic research is the best way to investigate human behavior. Most researchers mix quantitative, which includes surveys and numbers, with qualitative data. By using this method, researchers can avoid bias when collecting quantitative data and eventually create a definitive final report. For my study, I am going to use the mixed method in order to study information seeking behavior among physicians in the medical emergency rooms.

References:

Babbie, E. (2007). The practices of social research. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth  

Brebard, R. (2006). Research methods in anthropology: qualitative and quantitative approaches. Oxford, United Kingdom: AltaMira Press.