What Makes People do Research?

This is a fundamentally important question. No person would like

to do research unless there are some motivating factors. Some of
the motivations are the following:
(1) to get a research degree along with its benefits like better
employment, promotion, increment in salary, etc.
(2) to get a research degree and then to get a teaching position in
a college or university or become a scientist in a research
institution
(3) to get a research position in developed countries and settle
there
4) to solve the unsolved and challenging problems
(5) to get joy of doing some creative work
(6) to acquire respectability
(7) to get recognition
(8) curiosity to find out the unknown facts of an event
(9) curiosity to find new things
(10) to serve the society by solving social problems.
 CHAPTER 2
The research process:
 Steps in the research process:

• Objective of the unit:

• At the end of the unit you will be able to:

 List the steps of scientific research

 Discuss how to select research title

 Write how to state the research problem

 State how to write the reviews of related literatures

 Write how to develop the research hypothesis

 Discuss how to select methodology etc

4
 Cont…

• The major steps in conducting research are:

 Identification of research problem
 Extensive Literature Survey
 Develop a research title
 The formulation of research objectives
 Formulation of hypothesis
 Identifying variables

5
 Cont…

 Data collection

 Data analyze

 Hypothesis testing

 Generalization and interpreting the data

 Preparation of the report & evaluating research

 Presentation of the result

 Communicating the research findings and recommendations

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 1. Identification of research problem
 The first step of the scientific research process involves defining the
problem
 At the very outset, the researcher must decide the general area of
interest or aspect of a subject matter.
 The more specific and clearer you are the better, as everything that
follows in the research process is greatly influenced by the way
in which you formulate your research problem.

7
 Cont…
 This can be based on experience, observation and review
of
related literature
 For instance, the teacher can realizes that some students in the
class do not perform well in the examination
 Sohe / she pose an unanswered question: which factors
are
associated with students ‘academic performance?

8
 Cont…
• A research problem, in general, refers to some difficulty which a
researcher experiences in the context of either a theoretical
or practical situation and wants to obtain a solution for the same.
• Problem identification is the initial stage in the scaling up process

9
 Cont…
• Sources of problem • Selection of problem
 Reading • Selection of research problem is based on:

 Academic experience  Researcher’s interest

 Topic of significance
 Daily experience
 Novelty of the idea
 Exposure to field situations  Researcher’s resources
 Consultations  Availability of data

 Research  Feasibility and Relevance of the study

 Ethical issues
 Intuition
 Level of expertise
 Magnitude of experience and problem
10
 Cont…

Steps to be taken in selection the problem

1. Identify a general problem area.
2. Revise and narrow the problem statement
• Criteria to identify a general problem area
 Interest
 Theoretical value worthwhile?
 Practical value
 Workability
 Critical mass

11
 Cont…
• Revise and narrow the problem statement
 Identify primary sources.
 Read and record the literature.
 Focus should be on identifying that need to be
questions
answered (theoretically and practically).
 Review primary sources in the literature.
 Make a list of research questions.
 Provide a rationale for the problem.
 Identify variables to be studied.
 Rewrite the problem statement. 12
 Cont…

• Select what is of most interest to you

 Raise research questions

 Formulate objectives

 Assess your objectives

13
2. Extensive Literature Survey

• Literature review is a summary of the writings of recognized

authorities and of previous research provides evidence that the
researcher is familiar with what is already known and what is still
unknown and untested.
• It is based on the assumption that knowledge accumulates and that
we learn from and build on what others have done.

14
 Cont.…
• Ways in which review of previous research can in help formulating new
research problems
 Review of previous research

 helps to formulate research questions

 may stimulate a researcher to see whether the procedures

employed can be adapted to solving other problems, or whether a
similar study could be conducted
 may suggest the desirability of replication to confirm previous
findings

15
 Cont.…

• Goals of a Literature Review

 To demonstrate a familiarity with a body of knowledge and establish

credibility
 To know the path of prior research and how a current research project
is linked to it.
 To integrate and summarize what is known in an area

 To learn from others and stimulate new ideas

 Identification of variables

 Helps in developing theoretical framework.

16
 Cont.…
• Where to find the Research Literature?

 Computer: on line systems.

 Scholarly journals.

 Books – containing original research, or collection of

research articles.
 Government documents.

 Policy reports and presented papers.

17
 Cont.…

• The researcher should conclude with following points:

 What has been done so far in this area?

 Where? (Area wise)

 When? (Year wise)

 How? (Methodology wise)

 What needs to be done?

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 3. Develop a research title

• Writing a research paper title may seem a simple task, but it

requires some serious thought

• First, the topic chosen must be of some significance in your

field of interest

• Secondly, the topic must be justifiably well worth

researching (feasible)

• There are three basic tips to keep in mind while writing a title:

19
 Cont…

• 1. Keep it simple, brief and attractive:

 Use active verbs instead of complex noun-based phrases, and avoid

unnecessary details
 A good research title is typically around 10 to 12 words long

 For instance, avoid: Climate change has a negative effect om

agricultural productivity through decreasing the yield by 45% in
Ethiopia.

Better: Effect of climate change on agricultural productivity in xxx

region, Ethiopia.

20
 Cont..

2. Use appropriate descriptive words:

 A good research paper title should contain key words used in the
manuscript and should define the nature of the study

 Think about terms people would use to search for your study and
include them in your title

 For instance, avoid: Effect of climate change on agricultural

productivity in xxx region, Ethiopia.

 Better: Effect of climate change on maize crop yield in xxx region,

Ethiopia.
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 Cont…

3. Avoid abbreviations and jargon:

 Known abbreviations such as AIDS, UNESCO, and so on can be used

in the title

 However, other lesser-known or specific abbreviations and jargon that would

not be immediately familiar to the readers should be left out

 For instance, avoid: SWC P improves the productivity and the water
availability of soils.
 Better: Soil and water conservation practice improves the productivity
and the water availability of soils.

22
 Cont...

• Simple steps to write a good research paper title:

1. Ask yourself these questions and make note of the answers

 What is my paper about?

 What techniques/ designs are used?

 Who/what is studied?

 What will be the results?

23
 Cont...

2. Use your answers to list key words

 E.g. water  improved water

harvesting productivity
 dry farming
 supplemental
systems
irrigation  Meja watershed

3. Create a sentence that includes the key words you listed

 E.g. This study is about water harvesting that investigates

whether supplemental irrigation can improved water productivity;
it focuses on dry farming systems of Meja watershed.
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 Cont...

4. Delete all unnecessary/ repetitive words and link the remaining

 This study is about water harvesting that investigates whether

supplemental irrigation can improved water productivity; it
focuses on dry farming systems of Meja watershed.

 water harvesting and supplemental irrigation for improved

water productivity on dry farming systems of Meja watershed.
(Length of revised title: 16 words)

25
 Cont…

 5. Delete non-essential information and reword the title.

 E.g. water harvesting and supplemental irrigation for improved

water productivity on dry farming systems of Meja watershed.
 water harvesting and supplemental irrigation for improved water
productivity of Meja watershed. (Length of finalized title: 12 words)

26
 Cont...

 Generally , researching a topic that is too broad or too narrow

can turn into a very frustrating experience

 If your topic is too general, you will find an

overwhelming amount of information and will need to focus
your topic

 If your topic is too specific, you will find very little information
and will need to broaden it.

27
 Cont.….

• After choosing a topic and gathering background information, add

focus with a research question

• A good research paper title:

 Condenses the paper’s content in a few words

 Captures the readers’ attention

 Differentiates the paper from other papers of the same subject

area

28
 Cont...

• After choosing a topic and gathering background information,

add focus with a research question

• You can expand or focus a topic by adding or eliminating the:

 Time Period – year, decade, century

 Specific Population

 Geographic – county, state, region, country

29
 Cont.…

• Examine carefully the following to determine to what extent

your chosen topic meets the criteria:

 It must be interesting to you

 It must be feasible in the time allocated

 It must fit within financial and other resource constraints

 It must be within your competence

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 The formulation of research objectives
• Objectives are the goals you set out to attain in your study.

• Since these objectives inform a reader of what you want to achieve

through the study, it is extremely important to word them clearly and
specifically.
• Objectives should be listed under two headings:

 main objectives;

 Sub-objectives or specific objectives.

31
 Cont…

The main objective : is an overall statement of the thrust of your study.

 It is also a statement of the main associations and relationships
that you seek to discover or establish.

The sub-objectives: are the specific aspects of the topic that you want to
investigate within the main framework of your study.
 should be numerically listed

 should be worded clearly and unambiguously

32
 Cont…
• Make sure that each sub-objective contains only one aspect of the study.
• Use action-oriented words or verbs when writing your objectives.

• The objectives should start with words such as ‘to determine’, ‘to find
out’, ‘to ascertain’, ‘to measure’ and ‘to explore’.
• The way the main objectives and sub-objectives are worded
determines how your research is classified (e.g. descriptive,
correlational or experimental).

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 4. Formulation of hypothesis

• The word hypothesis is derived from the Greek word ‘hypotithenai’

meaning ‘to put under’ or ‘to suppose’.

• Hypothesis is the presumptive statement of a proposition or a

reasonable guess, based upon the available evidence, which
the researcher seeks to prove through his study.

• It gives definite point and direction to the study, prevents blind

search and indiscriminate gathering of data and helps to delimit the
field of inquiry

• For example, “Students who receive counselling will show a

greater increase in creativity than students not receiving
counselling”
34
 Cont.…

 Sources of hypothesis

 Review of similar studies in the area or of the studies on similar

problems
 Examination of data and records

 Discussions with experts about the problem,

its origin and the objectives

 Exploratory personal investigation

35
 Cont.…

• Every hypothesis test contains a set of two opposing hypotheses:

• These are: null hypothesis (H0) and alternative hypothesis (Ha)

• a. Null hypothesis:
 Is the currently accepted value for a parameter.

 Thus, the null hypothesis is true if the observed do not differ from
what would be expected on the basis of chance alone

 It always states that the population parameter is equal to the claimed

value
36
 Cont.…

 For example, if the claim is that the average time to chop a 50kg of

corn straw is 5 minutes , the statistical short hand notation for the
null hypothesis in this case would be as follows:

 Since our sample usually contains only a subset of the data in the

population, we cannot be absolutely certain as to whether the null

hypothesis is true or not

37
 Cont…

• We can merely gather information (via statistical tests) to determine

whether it is likely or not

• We therefore speak about rejecting or not rejecting the

null
hypothesis on the basis of some test

• Often in an experiment, we are actually testing the validity of the

alternative hypothesis by testing whether to reject the null
hypothesis.

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 b. Alternative hypothesis

• The alternative or experimental hypothesis reflects that there will be an

observed effect for our experiment

• In a mathematical formulation of the alternative hypothesis, there will

typically be an inequality, or not equal to symbol

• This hypothesis is denoted by either Ha or by H1.

• The alternative hypothesis is what we are attempting to demonstrate in

an indirect way by the use of our hypothesis test

• If the null hypothesis is rejected, what’s your alternative going to be?

39
 Cont…

• The two are complementary (i.e. H0 is true if and only if H1 is false)

• If the null hypothesis is rejected, then we accept the alternative

hypothesis

• If the null hypothesis is not rejected, then we do not accept the

alternative hypothesis

40
 Cont…

• Actually, three possibilities exist for alternative hypothesis, denoted Ha

i.e. for shorthand notations in the context of the straw chopping
example above:

• A. The population parameter is not equal to the claimed value

• B. The population parameter is greater than the claimed value

• C. The population parameter is less than the claimed value

41
 Characteristics of a good hypothesis
 Hypothesis should be clear and precise

 Hypothesis should be capable of being tested

 Hypothesis should be limited in scope and must be specific

 Hypothesis should be stated as far as possible in most simple terms

 Hypothesis should be consistent with most known facts

 The hypotheses selected should be amenable to testing

within a reasonable time

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