RESEARCH PROCESS

The research process is a systematic approach of investigating a research question or

problem.

STEPS OF A RESEARCH PROCESS

The general outline of the research process is as follows;

STEP 1: Identifying the research problem or question

STEP 2: Conducting a literature review

STEP 3: Developing research objectives or research hypothesis

STEP 4: Designing the research methodology

STEP 5: Collecting data

STEP 6: Analyzing data

STEP 7: Interpreting results or drawing conclusions

STEP 8: Report or dissemination of findings

STEP 9: Evaluating the research

STEP 1: IDENTIFYING THE RESEARCH PROBLEM OR QUESTION

Identifying the research problem involves defining the topic or issue to be investigated. The
research question has to be refined to ensure that it is simple and manageable.

Identifying the research problem is the first and crucial step in the research process.
Identification of a research problem also does through steps.

1. TOPIC SELECTION
The researcher should choose a broad area of interest
2. PRELINARY RESEARCH
The researcher is required to conduct a brief literature in order to gain an
understanding of the topic.

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 3. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Problem identification may involve looking for gaps, inconsistencies or un answered
questions in the existing literature.
4. REFINING THE PROBLEM
The researcher has to narrow the topic to a specific research question or statement
of the problem.

FORMULATING A RESEARCH PROBLEM

A good research problem statement should include;

a. Context; this is a brief background information on the topic.

b. Problem statement: this is a clear description of the issue or the question
c. Significance: there should be an explanation why the problem is worth investigating

Example of how to formulate a research problem

Broad topic: students retention in higher education

Research problem

Despite various initiatives, many universities in Zambia continue to experience low retention
rates. What are the key factors influencing student drop out decisions in Zambian universities
and how can institutions address the challenge.

Problem statement

This study aims to identify the primary factors contributing to student drop out in Zambian
universities and explore potential strategies for improving student retention.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD RESEARCH PROBLEM

1. Relevance: The problem should be significant and relevant to the field of study
2. Originality: The problem should contribute new knowledge insights.
3. Feasibility: The problem should be researchable within the given time and resource
constraints.

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 4. Specificity: The problem should be clearly defined and focused
5. Researchability: The problem should capable of being investigated through data
collection and analysis.

SOURCES OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS

The research problem can be identified from;

1. Personal experiences or observation

2. Literature review where a researcher can identify gaps or controversies in the existing
research.
3. Testing theory or extension of the existing theoretical framework
4. Real world problems or challenges in a particular field.

STEPM 2: CONDUCTING A LITERATURE REVIEW

A literature review is a comprehensive analysis of existing research on a specific topic in order

to identify gaps in the current knowledge, synthesizing the findings and identifying patterns
and themes.

Literature review is carried out in order to;

1. Contextualize the research by situating the study within the broader field of research.
2. Identify gaps in order to determine the areas that require further investigation.
3. Establishes the research design that will guide the development of the research.
4. Establish the significance of the research in order to demonstrate its relevance and
importance

STEPS IN CONDUCTING RELEVANT LITERATURE REVIEW

a. Articulate the topic or research question clearly as it will guide your literature review
b. Search the literature relevant to your topic or research question. The researcher can
search for relevant literature from academic data bases and sources such as google,
scholar JSTOR, EBSCO HOST. Relevant literature can be searched too from journals,
books, conference papers and institutional repositories.

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 As you search the relevant literature, develop a list of key words and terms related to
the topic
c. As you search relevant literature, you should evaluate and select screen title and
abstracts relevant to your research question. Have a critical appraisal by assessing the
quality, validity and reliability of the studies, the methodology, results and conclusions
of selected studies.
d. Analyse and synthesize the literature by identifying common themes, trends and
patterns. Analyse also the methods, research designs and limitations. Then organize
the literature review around the key concepts or theories.
e. Organize the literature into;
i) Its introduction; an overview of the topic and review of the purpose
ii) Its body; present the synthesized literature in themes and in chronologically
iii) Conclusions; by summarizing the key findings highlighting gaps and discussing
the implications of the research
f. Write your literature review section part.
Example; broad topic; financial challenges for Kwame Nkrumah ODL students
i. Introduction
- Brief overview of ODL and its importance
- Context of financial challenges in higher education
- Purpose of the literature review
ii. Financial challenge faced by ODL students
- Theme 1; tuition fees and living expenses (discuss)
- Theme 2; access to financial support (review literature on student loans,
scholarships and bursaries).
- Theme 3; impact of financial challenges on academic performance.
Analysis of studies linking financial stress to academic outcomes.
- Theme 4; factors contributing to financial challenges.
- economic factors (employment rates, poverty levels)
- Institutional factors (university policies, availability of financial aid)
- Personal factors (student demographics, financial literacy, etc)
- Theme 5; strategies for addressing financial challenges
- Financial aid programmes (scholarships, grants and loans)

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 - University initiatives (payment plans, part time work opportunities)
- government interventions (policies and funding for ODL students)

iii. Conclusions of the review

- Summary of the findings
- Identification of gaps in current research
- Implication for Kwame Nkruma university’s approach to supporting ODL
students

Tips for effective literature review

1. Be systematic by following a clear and replicable search and selection process

2. Be critical by evaluating the strengths and limitations of the literature
3. Be thematic by organizing the review around themes rather than individual studies
4. Be concise and focusing on the more relevant and high quality studies

STEP 3; DEVELOPEMTN OF RESEARCH OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS

- The research is required to formulate a clear objective or hypothesis based

on the literature review
- The research objectives and hypothesis are crucial components of a
research study as they guide the direction of the investigation and provide
a clear focus.

Research objectives

Research objectives are specific statements that outline what the researcher aims to achieve
through the study.

Types of objectives

1. General objectives; these are broad statements that describe the overall purpose of
the research

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 2. Specific objectives; they are detailed and focused on goals that contribute to achieving
the general objectives
The research objectives should be;
i. Specific; it should clearly define and easy to understand
ii. Measurable; it should be achievable and quantified
iii. Achievable; it must be realistic with the given resources and time frame
iv. Relevant; it should be aligned with the research question and contribute to the
field of study.
Example
Broad topic: financial challenges faced by Kwame Nkrumah ODL students
General objective; To investigate the financial challenges faced by ODL students at
Kwame Nkrumah university on the academic performance.

Specific objectives

1. To identify the primary financial challenges encountered by ODL students at Kwame

Nkrumah university
2. To examine the relationship between financial challenges and academic performance
among ODL students
3. To assess the effectiveness of existing financial support mechanisms for ODL students.
4. To identify demographic factors associated with increased financial challenges among
ODL students
5. To recommend strategies for mitigating financial challenges and improving academic
outcomes for ODL students
The research objectives provide a clear direction for the investigation.

Research hypothesis

A research hypothesis is a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more
variables

Types of hypothesis

1. Directional hypothesis; it predicts the direction of the relationship between variables.

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2. Non directional hypothesis; it states that there is a relationship between variable but
does not predict the direction
3. Null hypothesis (HO); it states that there is no significant relationship between
variables.
4. Alternative hypothesis (HI); it stats that there is a significant relationship between
variables.
The research hypothesis should be;
1. Testable; it must be capable of being proven or disproved through data analysis
2. Clear and concise; hypothesis must be easy to understand and should be focused.
3. Specific; the hypothesis clearly state the expected relationship between variables.
4. based on existing knowledge; the hypothesis should be grounded in theory or
previous research.

Example

Broad topic: financial challenges faced by Kwame Nkrumah ODL students

Null hypothesis (HO)
1. There is no significant relationship between financial challenges and academic
performance among ODL students of Kwame Nkrumah university.
2. HO; there is no significant difference in the financial challenges faced by male and
female ODL students.
Alternative hypothesis
1. HI; there is a significant negative relationship between financial challenges and
academic performance among ODL students of Kwame Nkrumah university.
2. HI; female ODL students face significantly greater financial challenges
compared to male ODL students at Kwame Nkrumah university.

Directional hypothesis

1. ODL students who experience higher levels of financial challenges are more likely to
have lower academic performance.
2. Students from lower income background are more likely to face greater financial
challenges compared to those from higher income backgrounds

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STEP 4; DESIGNING RESEARCH METHODOLGY

• After developing the research objectives or hypothesis, the researcher is required to

choose a research design.
• A research design is the scientific research’s plan from the first to the last step. In other
words a research design is a programme to guide the research in collecting, analyzing
and interpreting observed data. It is a road map that outlines how you will collect and
analyze data to achieve your research goal.

TYPES OF RESEARCH STRATEGIES

1. True experiments; they involve manipulation of variables to establish cause

relationships. Experiments are like testing hypothesis to see if it is true. In true
experiments, there is random assignment of participants to treatment or control
groups.
2. Quasi-experiments; they are similar to true experiments but they lack random
assignment. They are often used in real world settings.
3. Surveys; the collection of data through self reports measures such as questionnaires.
4. Case studies; in-depth examination of a single case or a small number of cases.
5. Comperative; comparing and contrasting different groups or phenomena

A research design includes;

1. Research questions or objectives that clearly define the problem or question being
investigated.
2. The research approach which is whether qualitative or quantitative or mixed method.
3. Research strategy which is experimental, quasi experimental, survey or case study.
4. Data collection method whether surveys, interviews, observation, experiments or
from secondary data
5. Sampling strategy
6. Data analysis

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 EXAMPLE OF A RESEARCH DESIGN

Broad topic: financial challenges Kwame Nkrumah ODL students face during their
studies
The research design for this study will involve the following steps.
1. Research design; a mixed method approach will be used, combining both
quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis method.
2. Target population; the target population will be DL students at Kwame Nkruma
university.
3. Sampling strategy; a random sampling technique will be used to select participants
for the study.
4. Data collection methods
a. Survey questionnaire; a survey questionnaire will be used to collect data from
ODL students.
b. Interview; in-depth interviews will be conducted with selected qualitative
data.
5. Data analysis; data will be analysed in the following ways;
a) Quantitative data analysis; statistical analysis will be used to analyse the
quantitative data collected through survey questionnaire.
b) Qualitative data analysis; thematic analysis will be used to analyse the
qualitative data collected through the interviews.
c) A mixed method approach will provide a comprehensive understanding of the
financial challenges faced by ODL students at Kwame Nkruma university. The
survey questionnaire will provide quantitative data on the prevalence and
types of financial challenges, while the interviews will provide qualitative
insights into the experiences and perceptions of the ODL students.

STEP 5; COLLECTING DATA

• After determining the research design, the researcher is required to collect data using
the right tools.
• The data collection methods include;

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 1. Surveys; these are online or offline questionnaires to gather information from a
sample.
2. Interviews; they are in-depth structured or semi-structured conversations with
participants.
3. Observations; it involves watching and recording behaviors or phenomena
4. Experiments; manipulating variables to observe facts.
5. Secondary data; analyzing existing data from sources like reports, articles or data
bases.
The tools used in data collection includes;
1. Questionnaires; they are standardized set of questions
2. Interview guides; they are structured or semi structures guides for
conversations.
3. Observation schedules; they are templates for recording observations.
4. Sensors and devices; they are tools for collecting physiological or
environmental data.

STEP 6; ANALYSING DATA

Data analysis is making sense of the numbers and patterns to uncover insights. Data can be
analyzed using the following approaches;

1. Quantitative analysis; this is where the researcher uses statistical methods to analyse
numerical data. Quantitative data analysis is broken down into;
a) Descriptive statistics in which the data is summarized using mean, median and
modes.
b) Inferential statistics where conclusions are drawn with testing of hypothesis and
confidence intervals
c) Regression analysis in which there vis modelling of relationship between variables
2. Qualitative analysis; this approach involves thematic, content or narrative analysis of
text, image or video data.
a) Thematic analysis involves identifying patterns and themes in the text or image
data
b) Context analysis involves analyzing text, image or video content.

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 c) Grounded theory involves developing theories from qualitative data

Data visualization

After analysis the data can be visualized in the following ways;

1) Charts and graphs; this is visualizing data with plots, histograms and bar charts.
2) Tables and matrices; data is organized in tables and matrices for easy interpretation.
3) Maps and spatial analysis; these help in visualizing geographical or spatial data.

STEP 7; INTERPRETING RESULTS

Interpreting data is making sense of the findings and understanding what they mean for your
research question. Interpretation is done by discussing the implications of the findings and
relating the results back to the research question.

- Interpretation of results goes through the following steps;

1) Reviewing the research questions, research objectives or hypothesis.
2) Examination of data to identify patterns or trends.
3) Drawing conclusions about your research question, research objective
or hypothesis based on the data.
4) Acknowledging the limitation of your study.
5) Discussing the implications and making recommendations.

STEP 8: REPORT AND DISSEMINATING RESULTS

• This is the state of sharing the findings with the world. It involves communicating
results effectively to the audience.
• The results of the findings may be shared in the following ways;
a) Research report; writing a detailed report of the results.
b) Journal article; publishing the findings in a peer review journal
c) Conference presentation; presenting the results at a conference or seminar.
d) Policy brief; writing a brief report for policy markers.

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The findings may also be disseminated using the following ways;

1) Academic channels; publishing journals and presenting them at conferences

2) Social media; sharing the findings on social media platforms.
3) Stakeholder engagement; sharing the results with stakeholders or policy makers.
4) Public outreach; engaging with the media and the public through a press or interviews.

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