Research Methodology

This is compiled to help Research Scholar to organize their Research work in a better way.

1. Dr. Praveen Koushley Assistant Professor, The Department of Botany, Jata Shankar Trivedi Govt. Post Graduate College, Balaghat (MP)

2. The R esearch P rocess : A n eigh t- step M o del Phase I: Deciding What To Research Step 1: Formulating A Research Problem Phase II: Planning A Research Study Step 2: Conceptualizing A Research Design Step 3: Constructing An Instrument For Data Collection Step 4: Selecting A Sample Step 5: Writing A Research Proposal Phase III: Conducting A Research Study Step 6: Collecting Data Step 7: Processing And Displaying Data Step 8: Writing A Research Report

3. Phas e I: D eciding W ha t to R esearc h ? Step I: formulatin g a researc h problem Res e arch P roc ess – study design, meas u re m e nt procedu r es, sampling s t rate g y, fr a m e of an alysis a n d the style of writin g of yo ur dissertatio n , th esis or re p ort – I s gr eatly i n flu e nced by the w a y in w hich y o u f o rmulat e yo ur res e arch pro b lem.

4. Phas e II: Planning a Researc h Study Step II: concept ualizing a re s earc h design Th e mai n f u nction of a r e search d esi g n is to e x plain h o w you wil l find a n swers to y o ur r e search qu e stions or problem s . Th e res e arch design sets out the s pecific details of yo ur e n quir y. A resea r c h d esi g n sh o uld include the followin g : Th e study d esi g n p er se a nd th e logistical arrang em ents that y ou p rop o se to u n de rtak e : Th e meas u rem e nt pro ce d ures, Th e sampl i ng strate gy, Th e fr a m e of an alysis a n d the tim e - fr a me.

5. Phas e II: Planning a Researc h Study Step III: constr ucting an instrument fo r data colle c t i o n . An y th ing t hat bec o me s a m ean s of c ollecting information fo r y our s t udy is calle d a ‘ r esearc h t oo l ’ or a ‘ resear c h instrum en t ’ , fo r e xample Observat i on form s, Interview schedu l es, Quest i onnaires and Interview.

6. Phas e II: Planning a Researc h Study Step IV: sele c ti n g a sample Th e accu r acy of y o ur f ind i ngs la r gel y d epends upon the wa y you select y our sample.

7. Phas e II: P lanning a R esearc h S tudy Step V : w r iting a re s earc h pro p osal All the p r eparatory work , the next step i s to put everythi n g together in a w ay that provi d e s a dequ a te information about your re s e a r c h study, fo r your Resea r c h S uper viso r and others. Thi s o ver all p l an, ca l led a re s earch pro p osa l , t e lls a reade r a b out your resear c h p r ob le m a n d how you are plan n ing t o investi gate. Broadly, a resear c h proposa l ’s m ain functio n is to detail t h e operational plan for obtaining answers t o y o ur r e s e a r c h questions.

8. Phas e II I : Conductin g a Researc h Study Step VI : coll e ct i ng data In this ph a se you a c tually colle c t the data. For ex a mple, Dependi n g upon y o ur plans, you m i g ht c omm ence interview s, Observat i ons, Docu m en t s and re c o r d s , Cas e stu d ie s , etc.

9. Phas e II I : Conductin g a Researc h Study Step VII : processing and displaying data Th e w a y you analy z e the info r matio n y ou collect e d largely depends u pon two t hin g s: Th e type o f information (descrip t iv e , q u a ntitative, qual i ta t ive or attitu dina l ); a n d Th e w a y you w ant to c ommunicate yo u r f ind i ngs to y o ur rea d ers.

10. Phas e II I : C onductin g a R esearc h S tudy Step VIII : writing a re s e arc h report Ther e a r e t w o broad categorie s of re p orts: Qua n titati v e and Quali t at i v e. Writin g t h e repor t is t h e l ast a nd, fo r many , the m ost difficu l t step o f the r e search pro c e s s. Thi s repo r t i nforms t h e wor l d w h at you have d o ne, w h at y o u h ave discove r e d a nd wha t co n clu sions you have d ra w n fr o m y o ur findings. If y o u are c l e ar ab o ut t h e wh o le pr o cess , you wil l also be clear about t he w ay you wan t to wr i te y o u r r eport . Yo u r r epor t sh o uld be writ t e n in an academic s tyle a n d b e divided i nto diffe r en t c h a pt e r s and/or s ect i ons ba s e d u pon the ma i n the m e s o f your s t udy.