Types of Research Methods - Objectives, Significance & Need of Research

 Types of Research Methods - Objectives, Significance & Need of Research

 INTRODUCTION

 Research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organising and evaluating data; making deductions and reaching conclusions and at last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulated hypothesis.

 

OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH

• To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it

• To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group.

• To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated with something else

• To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between studies

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH

“All progress is born of inquiry. Doubt is often better than overconfidence, for it leads to inquiry and inquiry leads to invention”

NEED OF RESEARCH

• Provides the basis of nearly all government policies

• Solves various operational and planning problems of business and industry

• Studies social relationship and seeks answers to various social problems

• Outlet of new ideas and insights

• Development of new style and creative work

• Development of new theories

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH

• Descriptive research is used to describe characteristics of a population or phenomenon being studied. • It does not answer questions about how/when/why the characteristics occurred. Rather it addresses the "what" question.

• The characteristics used to describe the situation or population are usually descriptive categories.

ANALYTICAL RESEARCH

• Researcher uses already available facts and information

• Analyses to make critical evaluation of the material

APPLIED RESEARCH

• Aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a society

• To identify social, economic or political trends that may affect a particular institution, marketing research, evaluation research

• To discover a solution for some pressing practical problem

FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH

• Generalisations and formulation of theroy

• Gathering knowledge for knowledge’s sake

• Directed towards finding information that has a broad base of applications

• Adds to already existing organised body of scientific knowledge.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

• Based on quantitative measurements of characteristics

• Applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in quantitites

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

• Concerned with phenomenon relating to quality or kind

• Discovers underlying motives and desires

CONCEPTUAL RESEARCH

• Related to some abstract idea or theory

• Used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or to reinterpret existing ones

EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

• Also called experimental research

• Relies on experience or observation

• Data based research with conclusions capable of being verified by observation or experiment

METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH

• Way to systematically solve the research problem

• Science of studying how research is done scientifically

Research methodology should answer the following questions:

1. Why a research has been undertaken?

2. How research problem has been defined

3. In what way and why the hypothesis has been formed?

4. What data has been collected and its methods?

5. Why particular technique of analysing data has been used?

RECENT TRENDS IN HOME SCIENCE RESEARCH

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• Development and appraisal of nutritional, sensory and keeping quality

• Geriatrics • Association of cardio metabolic risk factors and obesity with lifestyle

• Understanding and use of nutrition information on food labels

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• Remedial agents against diseases