Research & Report

Writing
By
Gizachew Girma (PhD Candidate)
Salale University

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What is Research for you?

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 What is Research?
 Research is a process of systematic inquiry that
is designed to collect, analyze, interpret and
use data to understand, describe, predict, or
control a social, educational and psychological
phenomenon to empower individuals in such
contexts.
 Research is simply the process of finding
solutions to a problem after thorough study and
analysis of the situational factors.
 It is gathering information needed to answer a
question, and thereby help in solving a problem.
 Research is a process by which one acquires
dependable and useful information about a
phenomenon or a process.
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 Cond…

 Research is a systematic, controlled, empirical

and critical investigation of hypothetical
propositions about the presumed relations
among natural phenomena.

 Research is an organized, systematic, data based,

critical, objective, scientific inquiry or investigation into a
specific problem, undertaken with the purpose of
finding answers or solutions to it.

 Research is a disciplined inquiry which

requires us to be systematic so that by the
end we can stand by our results with
confidence.
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 Motivation/Purposes for doing research?
1. One major way of knowing
 It is one of many ways of knowing or
understanding.
2. For its ultimate goals
Basic Research
 For generating theories and models that could be used for
understanding human behavior and the functioning of
different structures
 For developing methodologies
 For proving or disproving whether what has been
done/studied works in our context
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Cond…
Applied Research
 For offering the opportunity of solving a problem
 Forreducing uncertainty by providing information that
improves the decision-making process.

3. For its immediate purposes

 It attempts to explore new things
 It presents a picture of the specific details of a situation,
social setting, or relationship. It seeks to determine the
answers to who, what, when, where, and how questions.
 It builds on exploratory and descriptive research and goes
on to identify the reasons for something that occurs.
Explanatory research looks for causes and reasons.
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 1. Ways of Knowing
 Five ways we can know something
 Personal experience
 Tradition

 Experts and authorities

 Logic

Inductive

Deductive

 The scientific method

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 Cond……

1. Personal experience
 Relying on one’s knowledge of prior experiences
 Limitations
 How one is affected by an event depends on who one is
 One frequently needs to know something that cannot by learned
through experience
 2. Tradition
 Doing things as they have always been done

 Limitations
 Traditions are often based on an idealized past
 Traditions can be distant from current realities and the
complexities associated with them
 3. Experts or authorities
 Relying on the expertise or authority of others

 Limitations
 Experts can be wrong
06/10/25 Experts can disagree among themselves, as in a “second opinion”8
 Cond……
 4. Logical Reasoning
 A. Inductive reasoning
 Reasoning from the specific to the general
 Limitations

 In order to be certain of a conclusion one must observe

all examples
 All examples can be observed only in very limited

situations where there are few members of the group

 B. Deductive reasoning
 Reasoning from the general to the specific
 Limitations

 You must begin with true premises in order to arrive at

true conclusions
 Deductive reasoning only organizes what is already

known
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 Cond…
5. The Scientific Method
The goal of the scientific method is to explain,
predict, and/or control phenomena
This involves the acquisition of knowledge and the

development and testing of theory

The use of the scientific method is more efficient and

reliable than any other source of knowledge

Five steps in the scientific method
 Recognition and definition of the problem
 Formulation of questions or hypotheses

 Collection of data

 Analysis of data

 Stating conclusions

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 How do Science & Research relate?
Goals of Science
1. Description
2. Understanding
3. Prediction
4. Control over phenomena
To achieve these goals, science has to conduct research in
its various fields.
Key values of Science
1. Empiricism (Pragmatism, experimentation, practicality)
2. Skepticism(doubt, distrust, incredibility, disbelief)
3. Tentativeness
4. Publicity
Studies in different fields, be it in natural or social
science, have to share these values.
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 Science & Research
Important Characteristics of Scientific Method
1. Empirical
2. Verifiable (demonstrable, provable, confirmable)
3. Cumulative (collective, accumulative)
4. Deterministic
5. Ethical and Ideological Neutrality
6. Statistical Generalization
7. Rationalism

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 CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH
 Five Dimensions for classification :
1. The ultimate goals of research
2. The immediate purpose of doing
research
3. How it treats time i.e. the time
dimension in research
4. Design of the research
5. The data collection techniques used in
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it
 Dimension 1: Ultimate goals of Research
A. Basic Research
Basic research advances fundamental
knowledge about the human world.
It focuses on refuting or supporting theories that
explain how this world operates, what makes
things happen, why social relations are a certain
way, and why society changes.
Basic research is the source of most new
scientific ideas and ways of thinking about the
world.
It can be exploratory, descriptive, or
explanatory;
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however, explanatory research 14
is
the most common.
 B. Applied Research
 Applied researchers try to solve specific policy
problems or help practitioners accomplish tasks.
 Theory is less central to them than seeking a
solution on a specific problem for a limited
setting.
 Applied research is frequently a descriptive
research, and its main strength is its immediate
practical use.
 Applied research is conducted when decision
must be made about a specific real-life problem.
 Applied research encompasses those studies
undertaken to answer questions about specific
problems or to make decisions about a particular
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course of action or policy.
Dimension 2: Immediate Purposes of Research
 A. Exploratory/Formulative Research
 It attempts to explore new things
 B. Descriptive Research
 It presents a picture of the specific details of
a situation, social setting, or relationship.
 It seeks to determine the answers to who, what,
when, where, and how questions.
 C. Explanatory Research
 It builds on exploratory and descriptive research
and goes on to identify the reasons for
something that occurs.

06/10/25Explanatory research looks for causes and
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reasons.
 A. Exploratory Research
Goals :
Become familiar with the basic facts, setting,
and concerns;
Develop well grounded picture of the situation;
Develop tentative theories, generate new
ideas, conjectures/inferences, or hypotheses;
Determine the feasibility of conducting the
study;
Formulate questions and refine issues for more
systematic inquiry; and
Develop techniques and a sense of direction
for future research.
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 B. Descriptive Research
Goals of Descriptive Research
Describe the situation in terms of its
characteristics i.e. provide an accurate profile of
a group;
Give a verbal or numerical picture (%) of the
situation;
Present background information;
Create a set of categories or classify the
information;
Clarify sequence, set of stages; and
Focus on ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘when,’ ‘where,’ and
‘how’ but not ‘why’?
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 C. Explanatory Research
Goals
Explain things not just reporting Why?
Elaborate and enrich a theory’s explanation.
Determine which of several explanations is
best.
Determine the accuracy of the theory; test a
theory’s predictions or principle.
Advance knowledge about underlying process.
Build and elaborate a theory; elaborate and
enrich a theory’s predictions or principle.
 Extend a theory or principle to new areas, new
issues, new topics:
Provide
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 Dimension 3: Time Required in Research
 Cross-Sectional & Longitudinal Research

A. Cross-Sectional Research
 Observation is conducted at one point in time.
 Adv. Usually the simplest and least costly
alternative.
 Dis. Cannot capture the change processes.
 Cross-sectional research can be exploratory,
descriptive, or explanatory,
 But it is most consistent with a descriptive
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approach to research.
Cond…
B. Longitudinal Research
Examining features of people or other
units at more than one time.
ADV. More powerful, especially when
researchers seek answers to questions
about change.
Disadv. Usually more complex and
costly than cross-sectional research

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Dimension 4: Research Design
A. Experimental / Quasi-experimental

B. Causal - Comparative

C. Survey

D. Correlational

E. Case Study

F. Ethnographic

G. Phenomenological

H. Historical/Narrative
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I. Action Research
Dimension 5: Research Techniques/Methods Used
 A. Quantitative
 Experimental
 Quasi-experimental
 Survey
 Causal-comparative
 Correlational
 B. Qualitative

 Case study
 Narrative
 Ethnography
 Phenomenological
 Action research
 C. Mixed Method

 Quantitative supplementing Qualitative

 Qualitative supplementing Quantitative
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End of the Lesson 1!

I Thank You!

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