What do you understand by ‘research’? Describe the different types of social research.

 WHAT IS RESEARCH?

Most of the anthropologists conduct their research by doing fieldwork, going to the field, which is wherever people and the cultures are, to study about their culture or any problem through direct observation.

Research can be interesting as it offers you a measure of control and autonomy over what you learn. It gives you an opportunity to confirm, clarify, pursue or even discover new aspects of a subject or topic you are interested in. Research can be conducted by anyone who is interested in exploring something.

Research is a process of enquiry and investigations; it is systematic, methodical and ethical; research can help solve practical problems and increase knowledge. Research involves several questions; for example,

· What is the research problem?

· Why does the problem occur?

· When does the problem occur?

· Where does the problem occur?

· How can the problem be solved?

Such types of questions rise from ‘curiosity’, which is one of the basic qualities of every human being. When such search or enquiry is made systematically, it becomes scientific research. Scientific research helps a researcher to develop a new idea or a concept which ultimately results in a discovering new laws and theories or to improve or modify the existing ones.

Scholars have defined research in many ways. Few definitions of research are discussed below:

· Systematic effort to gain new knowledge: Redman and Morry (1933).

· Systematic, controlled, empirical and critical investigation of hypothetical relations among natural phenomena: Kerlinger (1986).

· organized inquiry designed and carried out to provide information for solving a problem: Emory (Caliwan, 2014). · To see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought: Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (1937).

· A process of steps used to collect and analyze information to increase our understanding of a topic or issue: Creswell (2008).

The above definitions reveal the following characteristics of research, such as:

· A systematic and critical investigation to a phenomenon.

· It aims at interpreting and explaining a phenomenon.

· It adopts scientific method.

· It is based on empirical evidence and observable experience.

· It develops generalizations, principles or theories.

· It directed towards finding answer to the questions and solutions to the problems.

Every research has different purposes and objectives according to the subject of the study. In general the purpose of research is to discover answers to questions though the application of scientific procedures. The main aim of research is to find out the truth/fact which is hidden and which has not been discovered as yet.

While conducting research a researcher must have the skill and ability of how to conduct the research. He/she should select a good topic and according to the topic choose appropriate and specific tools and techniques. In research it is important to follow structural procedures and rules are known as methodology. To carry out scientific research you must follow proper methodology. Scientific research could be defined as an organised and systematic enquiry into a physical or social-cultural phenomenon to discover new or to verify the existing knowledge.

TYPES OF RESEARCH

There are different types of research in social sciences. Let us now discuss each one of them briefly.

Pure or Basic Research: Pure or basic research is carried out with the purpose of gaining knowledge for its own sake. Pure researchers come up with more of new ideas and concepts that could improve the old theories by incorporating new ideas into or lead to the emergence of new theories. In other words, innovation of new ideas that are fundamental in nature and also improvising the old theories encourages the pure scientists to enrich knowledge abundantly without expecting any direct result or impact or practical use of such theories in reality.

Applied Research: Applied research is based on the need to gather knowledge for practical application or use. Sociologists, for instance, concerned with this type of research could engage themselves with study of variety of social problems such as terrorism, trafficking of women, children and drugs, juvenile delinquency, marital conflicts, and property disputes among families. Unlike the pure research, applied research studies social problems and seek solutions. The purpose is to apply research findings to deal with social problems.

Exploratory Research: It is typically conducted in the interest of “getting to know” or increasing our understanding of a new or relatively less researched setting, group, or phenomenon. It is used to gain insight into a research topic. Consequently, exploratory research tends to utilize relatively small sample of subjects that permit the researcher to get first-hand information. To facilitate indepth understanding, the researcher might engage in intensive one-on-one interviewing.

Experimental Research: When we want to find out the cause and effect of a particular problem experimental research would be the finest choice of researchers. It is appropriate to choose this kind of research especially to provide explanations for problem under given situation. Here, the researcher tries to prove that “A” causes “B” or “B” is the result of “A” alone. Experiments usually takes place or are carried out in created/established situations in the laboratory setting rather than in natural/real situations. Such experiments are done by manipulating the independent variable under pre-set conditions.

Descriptive Research: This type of research describes a social situation, an event of social structure. Here, researchers report what they find or what they see as accurately as possible. Consider the example of descriptive study of a market. Researchers are expected to describe what they see and what they find after interviewing some people.

Analytical Research: In this type of research, the researcher goes beyond the event which he/she sees. This is done by understanding the context of the event or social situation he she is studying. The assumption is that there is something more to what is being seen. Often, the researcher looks for the context, reasons and for implications of the event or social situation.

Evaluative Research: Evaluative research seeks to judge the merits or efficacy of a social programme or policy. Evaluative research is interested in “outcomes” or results of some specific program or policy. The significant basic elements in evaluative research include the nature and extent of effectiveness of the programme, its efficiency (in terms of cost benefits) which determines whether the programme should be continued. It is generally concerned with socioeconomic development programs and its overall performance and impact. A researcher should always keep the ethics and values involved in the program and its associates at the forefront while evaluating a program.

Participatory Action Research: In this type of research, the members of a community are involved in the process of research. In participatory research, the purpose is to bring about a change in the lives of the community that the researchers studies. Naturally then, it is appropriate to involve members from the community itself. It implies joint effort or close collaboration between researcher and local people.

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