Focusing Your Research Efforts-Leedy, Paul D., and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod

The problem must be expressed with the utmost precision;it should be then be divided into more manageable subproblems.

The heart of every research proect is the problem. To see the problem with unwavering clarity and to state it in precise and unmistakable terms is the first requirement in the research process.

BASIC RESEARCH

Some research projects are intended to enhance basic knowledge about the phyical, biological or social world. For example, a psychologist might study the nature of people’s cognitive processes. Such project, which can advance human beigns’theoetical conceptualizations about a particular topic, are known as BASIC RESEARCH.

APPLIED RESEARCH

Research project that intended to address issues that have immediate relevance to current practices, procedures and policies. For example, a nursing educator might compare the effectiveness of different strategies for training future nurses. Such projects , which can inform human decision making about practical problems are known as applied research .

Some problems are not suitable for research because they lack the "interpretation of data" requirement; they do not elicit a mental struggle on the part of the researcher to force the data to reveal their meaning. Following are four situations to avoid when considering a problem for research purposes:

1.  Research projects should not be a ruse for achieving self-enlightenment. All of us have large holes in our education, and filling them is perhaps the greatest joy of learning. But self-enlightenment is not the purpose of research. Gathering information to know more about a certain area of know 1-edge is entirely different from looking at a body of data to discern how it contributes to the solution of the problem.

A problem whose sole purpose is to compare two sets of data is not a suitable research problem.

Calculating a coefficient of correlation between two sets of data to show a relationship between them is not acceptable as a problem for research.

Problems that result in a yes or no answer are not suitable problems for research.

FINDING A LEGITIMATE

As a general rule, appropriate research projects don't fall out of trees and hit you on the head.

Must be sufficiently knowledgeable about your topic of interest to know what projects might

Make important contributions to the field. Following are several strategies that are often helpful for novice and expert researchers alike.

Look around you

smaller problems suitable for research exist everywhere. Perhaps you might see them in your professional practice or in everyday events.

Read the literature

3.     • Address the suggestions for future research that another researcher has offered

4.     • Replicate a research project in a different setting or with a different population

5.     • Consider how various subpopulations might behave differently in the same situation

6.     • Apply an existing perspective or explanation to a new situation

7.     • Explore unexpected or contradictory findings in previous studies

8.     • Challenge research findings that seem to contradict what you know or believe to be true

9.     (Neuman, 1994)

 Reading the literature has other advantages as well. It gives you a theoretical base on which to build a rationale for your study. It provides potential research methodologies and methods of measurement.

-Attend professional conference

-Seek the advice of experts

-Choose a topic that intrigues and motivates you

-Choose a topic that others will find interesting and worthy of attention

 

Stating the Research Problem

1.  -State the problem clearly and completely

2.  -Think through the feasibility of the project that the problem implies.

3.  -Say precisely what you mean.

4.   -Edit your work.