Introduction to Research Methodologies - MAliKhatri/Ali-khatri-Knowledge-Base GitHub Wiki

An Introduction to Research Methodology, Practices & Skills.

Abstract

Before working on researching skills, lets figure out what research actually is. A research is generally speaking the attempt to answer a question. It is done such that more knowledge can be gained about a specific topic or a specific system. Research also means conducting surveys, performing experiments and observing them or going on archaeological digs. While these activities are crucial for advancing human knowledge. On the organizational level, Research is conducted to find out new Trends, topics and innovations in the market for the organization. It is also conducted to create or deploy a new product or service. This paper is focused on the following skills.

How to perform good research?
How does a person become good at research?
How to get up to speed on basic research skills and to find, organize and use the information you need to put together a decent research paper?

Introduction

Research is a careful and detailed study into a specific problem, concern, or issue using the scientific method. It's the adult form of the science fair projects back in elementary school, where you try and learn something by performing an experiment. This is best accomplished by turning the issue into a question, with the intent of the research to answer the question.

Research can be about anything, and we hear about all different types of research in the news. Cancer research has 'Breakthrough Cancer-Killing Treatment Has No Side Effects in Mice,' and 'Baby Born with HIV Cured.' Each of these began with an issue or a problem (such as cancer or HIV), and they had a question, like, 'Does medication X reduce cancerous tissue or HIV infections?' There are a lot of fields which research on an organizational and an academic level.

Research Methodologies

The research process is really easy to implement and manage if broken down into steps.

To research effectively, organize and put together a decent research paper the following points should be considered:

Find a topic- If you don’t have a topic, your research will be undirected and inefficient. A topic could be provided to you by the organization itself or you might have come up with one on your own. Just keep in mind the question “is the research on this topic beneficial to me or the organization?”. On an organizational level the time and resources should also be considered in doing the research.
Refine your topic- Even after finding a topic the overall idea of the topic could be very vague. In the beginning a topic must be narrowed down such that the various sub topics could be easily understood. And the overall complexity of the research process decreases.
Find key sources- After finding a good research topic and finding out the various sub-systems. Basic search should be done through search engine or a library. The sources for the research could be various websites, blogs and books. Finding a few number of key sources (nearly 3-4) are necessary as going through all the sources found could be really stressful and unproductive. An organization should keep track of the research of other organizations in the same field if possible.
Take notes on your sources- Writing or noting down all the useful and important information from the sources is a good idea as it helps you create and unstructured and general data source for your actual research documentation. While conducting research on an object or a system, experiment with the system such that all the bounds and scopes are found.
Creating the paper or presentation- The final document of the research is a very important and crucial part doing the research. The structure should be readable and presentable to other people who might have little or no knowledge on the given topic.
Do additional research as necessary- Once you’ve started writing the draft of your paper, you’ll probably find a few gaps. Maybe you realize that a specific sub-topic isn’t relevant to your paper, or that you need more information for a particular section. In this case, you are free to return to researching as necessary.
Citing the sources- Since plagiarism is a wrong thing to do and even a crime, always cite the sources that helped you to perform your research. The citation could be done in the bibliography page of the paper or the presentation.

Research Practices

To become better at doing research the following points should be considered:

Read a lot of literature on your topic. Based on the literature, pick a very narrow subtopic. Now, read all the literature on that narrow subtopic, everything that's ever been written on it.
This is particularly important if you're doing experimental research. Pick a really modest question to answer in that subtopic, one that wasn't answered before. Make sure it doesn't delve into unknowns that are very distant from what was answered before. Aim for only an incremental contribution.
Form an intelligent hypothesis and have a clear way to test it and to answer your researc2h questions. If you've followed advice from 1 & 2, you should be on the right track to doing this. Have a clear definition of "when you're done".
Involve whomever you're working with as much as you can. If you have an adviser/supervisor, talk to him/her. Depending on your and his/her preference, communication can be even more extensive.
Don't be afraid to email and contact other people to ask a question. Someone from another department? Someone from another country even who wrote a paper you have a question about? Yes, definitely email him/her. The worst thing that can happen is that you won't get a response.
If you're going to collaborate with someone at all, especially if he/she is not required to collaborate with you, make sure the agreement is really clearly spelled out. Make sure it's clear what the expectations are, what the deliverables are, who's going to do what and when, and what will be the attribution for the final result (who gets credit for what).
Self-motivation is difficult for anyone. Don't assume you have self-discipline. Find structure wherever you can to impose discipline on yourself. Set deadlines and share with your advisers/supervisors and make sure they hold you to those deadlines. Also ask them to help you meet them. Impose structure on yourself. Have a place to work. Use timers to make sure you spend sufficient time on the tasks at hand. Find other people in similar situations to keep each other accountable if you can. Agree on rewards and penalties for meeting (or failing to meet) certain goals, and make sure you are both committed to holding the other person to the agreement.
Things will take at least 2-3 times as long as your most conservative time estimate. If you multiply this conservative time estimate by 2-3 times in order to follow my advice, the actual time it will take will again be 2-3 times longer than that.
While this may seem contradictory to point number 8, a lot of things will take as long as the time you give them. So, if you give yourself less time, things can often take less time. If you give yourself more time, things will definitely expand to fill that time. This is actually not contradictory to point number 8. In fact, it goes right along with it. Things take way longer than expected especially if you allow them to.
Start outlining and writing things up well before you're ready to. This will help you focus on important things, organize your tasks. Just trust yourself, trust the process, and start writing.