What is Research?

1.

LECTURE 2
What is Research?
-The structure of the Research process?
- How to choose and formulate a Research Topic and
Research questions?

2.

What is Research?
A search or investigation directed to the
discovery of some fact by careful consideration or
study of a subject; a course of critical or scientific
enquiry (OED, 1989).

3.

Characteristics of research
1. the question
2. the research process
3. The answer
The nature of research is:
• Structured and purposeful
• Rigorous
• Robust and defensible
• Systematic

4.

What it means to carry out research
…a detailed study of the subject, especially in order to discover
(new) information or reach a (new) understanding’ (Online Cambridge
Dictionary).
Research consists of three steps: the posing of a question, the
collection of data to answer the question, and presenting an answer to
the question.

5.

What it means to be a researcher
If the purpose of research is to attempt to provide answers to questions by
collecting and analysing data and information, it follows that someone who is occupied
in this process is a researcher.
The Researcher Development Framework defines the personal qualities and
skills the researcher needs to work effectively with others. The four domains are:
• Knowledge and intellectual abilities;
• Personal Effectiveness;
• Research governance and organization – knowledge of the standards, requirements
and professionalism to do research;
• Engagement, influence and impact – the knowledge and skills to work with others
and ensure that the research process and findings have an impact beyond the confines
of the project.

6.

The role of a researcher
The role of a researcher may seem obvious: the
collection of information (data) in an attempt to answer a
research question, analyse the findings and write a report
which concludes whether, or to what extent, the research
question has been answered.
However, in the course of gathering the information,
the researcher may take on a parallel role or role. These roles
is described as ‘intentional ’ and ‘unintentional ’.

7.

Intentional roles of the researcher
An intentional role relates to why the researcher is conducting the
research. It is transparent, explicit and understood by participants. Here are
some possible intentional roles:
• Final-year undergraduate doing a research study supervised by a tutor;
• Master’s student undertaking research for his or her dissertation;
• PhD student carrying out research to gain a doctorate;
• Teacher in a school conducting action research to find out how students could
improve their revision techniques as part of a professional development course.

8.

It may be that the researcher takes on two or more roles at the same time,
as in the final example, where the researcher is both a teacher and a
student studying for a qualification. These roles are ‘intentional’ in the
sense that the researcher is aware of them from the outset.
These are the roles that will be made explicit to the individuals who
will be the ‘participants’ or ‘subjects’ of the research itself, from whom the
researcher will gather data, and the organization within which the research
is being conducted.

9.

Unintentional roles of the researcher
‘Unintentional’ roles mainly arise during the research and
are frequently below the level of awareness of the researcher, or
emerge unexpectedly during data collection.
They are more likely to arise in qualitative rather than
quantitative research, especially when a face-to-face interview or
conversation is part of the research process. A couple of
examples will help to illustrate how the researcher might assume
an ‘unintentional’ role

10.

Case 1
Alex is a final-year student conducting research into the impact of the use
of social media on the well-being of students aged 18+ in a college. She is
collecting data through anonymized surveys using Survey Monkey and
face-to-face interviews with 10 students chosen at random. During the
course of one of the interviews, the participant, Sadiq, becomes visibly
upset when describing someone who is bullying him online through his
Facebook account and asks the researcher, ‘What do you think I should
do?’ It is at this point in the research that the researcher is being asked to
take on an ‘unintentional’ role: that of mentor or tutor or counsellor or even
parent.

11.

Case 2
Chris is a research fellow carrying out a research study on behalf of the NHS in the
UK. The study is into the effectiveness of a care home for elderly patients who are no
longer able to live independently. Chris is collecting quantitative data on the number
of patients who require private care, how long they need care before they die, and the
number of medical interventions needed by residents. He is also interviewing patients
about the quality of their care. During an interview, Jim, one of the residents,
discloses that Dawn, a member of staff, is stealing property from him. Jim tells Chris
that Dawn has threatened him that he will be evicted if he tells the care home
manager. Jim asks Chris not to tell anyone about it, as he is afraid of losing his place
in the home. Chris is being placed in an unintentional role – that of confidant – and
Jim expects him to behave accordingly. Does Chris keep silent about Dawn’s
pilfering or does he tell the care home manager and break Jim’s confidence?

12.

map
researc n project
Right at the beginning,
think about how you
are going to manape
the project: your time
and resources
1. Ask a
question›. T h i s is
t h e starting point
for a n y research
Think about
tK
Do your
fieldwork: and
collect cfafa
t h i n / r a6oof
your question.
Find out what
others have
d o n e . This
m e a n s doing a
literature r e v i e w
What ctesigr›
frame will you
use?
Think about
h o w tc› ari:saw
the question
and ttne
approach that
you will use
As a l y z o your
findings
h o w , after the
literature review,
refine your
qsection and ask
a n e v e n better
question
D r a w your
conc/vision

13.

Components of a good research paper
• It explains the research context.
• It clarifies the aims and research questions.
• It provides a review of the literature related to the focus of the
research.
• It provides an explanation and justification of the research,
approach, drawing on the RM literature.
• It presents findings from the enquiry.
• It links the findings to the literature.
• It reaches reasoned conclusions based on the evidence.

14.

Structuring your research paper
1. Introduction: context/aims/RQs
2. Literature review: thematic approach, not the source- by-source
3. Methodology: approach/design, methods, sampling, instruments, analysis
4. Findings: text/tables/quotes
5. Discussion: linking data and literature (thematic approach)
6. Conclusion: answering RQs; reasoned conclusions; and
recommendations.
7. References (APA style)
8. Appendices

15.

16.

Creswell (2005) explains that the research topic is a
broad area in which “a central phenomenon is the key
concept, idea, or process studied in qualitative research”
(p. 45). The research questions “narrow the purpose
statement to specific questions that researchers seek
to answer” (p. 117).

17.

How to Select the Right Research Topic
1. Brainstorm some research topics
2. Select a topic
3. Get more specific
4. Define your topic as a question
Selecting the right topic is a process of elimination.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Education Policy in Kazakhstan -> Trilingual Education policy in Kazakhstan
Effectiveness of management of TEP in Kazakhstan
The effectiveness of management of the Trilingual Education Policy at one of the intellectual
schools in Kazakhstan
To what extent is the management of TEP effective at school A?

18.

Questions lie at the heart of research

19.

Developing RQ
• Clear and focused. In other words, the question should clearly state
what the writer needs to do.
• Not too broad and not too narrow.
• Not too easy to answer. ...
• Not too difficult to answer. ...
• Researchable. ...
• Analytical rather than descriptive.

20.

Types of questions
Practice questions:
How can I teach this class better?
What works questions?
Does homework improve learning outcomes?
Exploratory questions
How much did school students study during lockdown?
Explanatory questions:
How does English class affect exam outcomes?
Categorising questions:
How can we describe types of learners in terms of engagement?

21.

Question Type
Example
Definition
Practice (or
policy)
questions
How can I teach this
class better?
Practice questions focus on how to improve policy and practice for specific
people or in a specific location.
What works
questions
Does homework
improve learning
outcomes?
What works questions seek policies practices that are effective in general.
Exploratory
questions
How much did school
students study
during lockdown?
Exploratory questions are about finding out what is happening.
Explanatory
questions
How does English
class affect exam
outcomes?
Explanatory questions focus on giving an explanation in terms of causes
and effects. They often use causal language like ‘impact’, ‘effects’, ‘affect’,
‘causes’, ‘why’ and ‘how’. They seek different factors that influence different
outcomes.
Categorising
questions
How can we describe
types of learners in
terms of
engagement?
Categorising questions try to identify types, groups or categories.