The Research Process: Step-by-step guide to conduct effective research

Research process is a broader concept that includes all the steps and activities involved in conducting research from start to finish. It encompasses everything from defining research questions, literature review, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of findings, and reporting results.

Planning to undertake research work? Understanding the research process will enable you to conduct research effectively.

Managers, employees, citizens and even students need to be capable of decision-making that is based on information and knowledge derived from research, rather than solely on personal opinion.

Related: What is Research?

Understanding the research process will provide you with an understanding of the various ways in which research is undertaken in business as well as in the academic segment.

Students undertaking major projects, capstone projects, thesis and dissertation will also find this research process extremely useful.

Please note that before you carry out the detailed research work, you may need to submit a research proposal, which is a formal document that outlines the details of your proposed research project, including the research topic, objectives, methodology, and potential impact. The purpose of a research proposal is to convince your college/professors that the research is valuable, feasible, and worth pursuing. Read more on How to write a Research Proposal

The Research Process

The research process is an organized series of activities that researchers follow to investigate a particular topic, answer research questions, and generate new knowledge or insights.

Here’s an overview of the typical research process:

Identifying Research Topic

The research process begins with selecting a research topic or formulating a research question. One is expected to decide the general area or aspect of a subject-matter one would like to inquire in to.

This should be a clear and specific area of interest and/or concern that you want to explore.

• How to come up with Research Topics?

Conducting Literature Review

Before starting the actual research, you must review existing literature and studies related to the topic to understand what is already known and identify gaps in knowledge.

Related: Read more on Literature review.

Defining Research Objectives and Hypotheses (if applicable)

You establish the objectives of the study and, if relevant, formulate hypotheses or research hypotheses that you aim to test through your research.

Once you decide on the research topic, you will need to come up with the research question or Hypothesis. For most research projects, using either a hypothesis or a research question is fine, although in some circumstances you may feel that one is more appropriate than the other.

• How to formulate research question
• How to test research hypothesis

Learn what you should write under Problem statement, Research aims, objectives.

• Problem statement, Research aims, objectives

Research Framework and Methodology

Next you need to talk about the Research Approach, Research Design, Research Method, and Research Methodology. You must decide on the overall approach and methodology for the study and to collect and analyze data. This includes selecting research methods, data collection techniques, and data analysis tools.

Research Approach

Here, you must explain the research approach that you will be adopting for your study. Are you using a deductive or inductive approach? Qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods? This sets the philosophical context for your research.

Read more on Research Approach

Research Design

Research design explains the structure and organization of your study. Is it a cross-sectional study, longitudinal study, experimental design, case study design or another type? Explain the selection of participants or sources, and the procedures for data analysis. Research design includes elements such as the sampling strategy, data collection instruments, data analysis techniques, and the timeline for the study. Discuss the key design decisions.

Read more on Research Design

Research Methods

Research Methods refer to the use of specific research methods (techniques or tools) such as surveys, experiments, case studies, and interviews that is to be used for gathering and analyzing data.

It talks about the practical tools and processes that will be used to gather information and answer research questions or test hypotheses.

Read more on Research Methods

Research Methodology

Research methodology refers to the theoretical underpinning of the research, talks abut the philosophical framework and the principles upon which a research study is based. It provides the rationale for using specific research methods, and the overall approach to conducting research.

It involves considerations of research design, data collection techniques, data analysis procedures, and the interpretation of results. It addresses questions like why a particular research method was chosen, how the data will be analyzed, and how the research is situated within existing literature and theories.

Read more on Research Methodology

Ethics in Research

Researchers must conduct research in an ethical manner taking into account the rights, dignity, and well-being of the participants involved.

Read more on Ethics in Research.

Validity and Reliability

Validity and reliability are important concepts in research that assess the quality and accuracy of measurements and instruments used in a study.

Read more on Validity and Reliability in Research.

Data Collection

The next step is to gather data according to your chosen methods. This can involve surveys, experiments, interviews, observations, or other data collection techniques.

Various Data Collection methods and techniques

Data Analysis

The collected data is then analyzed using appropriate statistical or qualitative analysis methods. The goal is to derive meaningful insights from the data.

• Qualitative Data Analysis methods
• Quantitative Data Analysis methods

Interpreting Results

You then interpret the findings from the data analysis. You should assess whether the results support or refute your research objectives or hypotheses.

Drawing Conclusions

Based on the interpretation of results, you should conclusions and discuss the implications of your findings.

The research process is iterative and may involve revisiting earlier stages if new insights or questions arise. It’s a systematic approach to acquiring knowledge and contributing to the field of study.

You must also adhere to ethical principles and ensure the validity and reliability of your research throughout the process.

Understanding the Research Process

The operations involved in a research process are so independent that the earlier steps or operations determine to an appreciable extent the nature of the later ones.

Serious difficulties may arise, often preventing a successful completion of the study, if the researcher has not taken into active account the subsequent procedures during the initial stages of the inquiry.

Thus the researcher has to be constantly anticipating at each step in the research process, the requirements of the subsequent steps.

As a research progresses from the formulation of the problem through collection data to presenting the conclusions, the focus necessarily shifts from one kind of activity to the other. Such shifts, it should be remembered, reflect differing emphases at different points on specific operations involved in research process, rather than a singular concentration at any time on any particular step.

The organization of the subject-matter requires that steps should be discussed separately & consecutively, hence adopting the sequence of steps proposed above, not for getting, of course, that the research process never corresponds from the published research reports.

It should also be borne in mind that designating certain steps as major only implies that each of such steps subsumes under it a set of inter-related operations, each of which is important in its own way in affecting the value of the research results & their worth thus major steps should advisedly be considered as groupings or classes of operations or activities hundreds of which involved in research, each corresponding to some requirement of research.

For example, “Data Collection” summarizes decisions about the kinds of data needed, the most efficient way of collecting them, the activities to be carried out in the development & pre-testing of the data collection instruments etc. in addition, such decisions as constitute responses to the practical requirements of research are also covered, i.e. planning of budget, procurement & administration of funds, allocation of personnel, training of personnel (e.g. interviewers), strategies of eliciting co-operation from the people who are to be respondents & so on. It is obvious that each one of these operations will have some effects on the quality of research. A small omission anywhere will affect adversely the quality of study, just as a small lapse, even in the manner it is served, will affect the satisfaction people get from a recipe.

Topics prompted by intellectual concerns differ from those mooted by practical ones in that the former are less likely to involve the study of specific situations primarily as objects of interest in them. The specific situations have only an illustrative relevance, i.e. they are studied as specimens of some larger class of structures or process in which the researcher evinces theoretic interest.

Many a time, investigators may be tempted to jump immediately from the selection of a general topic to the collection of data. But this only means that they would have to face the task off formulating a problem at some later stage when only the lucky ones may be able to produce a worthwhile scientific inquiry.

Obviously, without a problem the heaps of data would hardly mean anything. The meaningfulness of data collected can be assessed only after their scrutiny & organization with a view to finding out how these data would answer a specific problem. The problem is, indeed the organizing principle for the processing & organization of data.

References

Bryman A, and Bell, E. (2015) Business research Methods, 4th Ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press;

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2015) Research Methods for Business Students, 7th Ed. Essex: Pearson Education;