A REVIEW ON RESEARCH
by
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Dr. Shukla, Assistant Professor,
Department of Textile Technology,
Govt. Central Textile Institue, Souterganj,Kanpur,
Uttar Pradesh Technical University, Lucknow, U. P., India
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Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. It can also define as a scientific and systematic approach for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. Research has moved during this century from the periphery to the centre of our social and economic life. What is the nature of this force? Why it is getting momentum? Most of us recognize that the progress which has been made in our society has been largely the result of research we do not have an exact definition of the term. Most of us have a fuzzy idea of what is implicated but concept of research generally is too much oriented toward experimentation as conducted in the social sciences.
The goal of this endeavor “A Review on Research” is to orient neophyte researcher with a starting point of research definitions, in becoming a more informed punter and creator of research in the form of a lexicon of terms and an analysis of the underlying constraints that apply to enquiry, regardless of the specific methods employed.
This explores the underlying constraint in research in two aspects. The first examines broad and critical definitions most commonly used for research and the second reveals about fundamental vital considerations in fundamental, broad definition, objectives, and basic functions for research apply across.
1. Gist of Research
Research simply seeks the answer of certain questions which have not been answered so far and the answers depend upon human efforts. It may be illustrated by taking an example of the moon. Some years ago man did not know what exactly the moon is? Was this problem which had no solution? Man could only make some assumptions about it but the man now this time by his efforts, he went to the moon brought the soil of the moon and studied it. The man is now able to give concrete answer of the problem what is the moon? But the question arises, “Is the answer of the question in examination also research”? The answer is ‘no’, because the answers of these questions are available. They are available in text-books, class-notes etc. Research answers only those questions of which the answers are not available in literature i.e., in human knowledge. Thus, research answers to those questions of which the answers can be given on the basis of available facilities.
Actually research is simple process of arriving as dependable solution to a problem through the planned and systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data. Research is the most important process for advancing knowledge for promoting progress and to enable man to relate more effectively to his environment to accomplish his purpose and to resolve his conflicts. Although it is not only way, it is one of the more effective ways of solving scientific problems.
From the beginning of time man has noted certain irregularities among the phenomena and events of his experiences, and has attempted to devise laws and principles which express these regularities. These laws and principles are of course not without expectations any law is valid only under the conditions under which it was derived. Even though objects tend to fall, they have been known to rise when other forces are active, but this does not deny the general principle of gravity. Research is to find the conditions under which a certain phenomenon occurs and under which it does not occur in what might appear to be similar circumstances.
Our culture puts such a premium on science that the terms science and scientific are frequently misused. Research is also frequently in contexts where little research in the true sense of the world is actually done. A person no longer looks up a word in dictionary or a historical fact in the encyclopedia he researches it. Therefore many agencies claiming that research are nothing more than fact-findings. Research is a logical and systematic search for new and useful information on a particular topic. In the well-known nursery rhyme,
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
How I Wonder What You Are?
The use of how and what here summarizes what research is. It is an investigation of finding solutions to scientific and social problems through objective and systematic analysis. It is exploration for knowledge for a discovery of hidden truths. Here knowledge means information about matters. The information might be collected from different sources like experience, human beings, books, journals, nature, internet etc. It leads to new contributions to the existing knowledge. Only through research it is possible to make progress.
Research is indeed civilization and determines the economic, social and political development of a nation. The results of scientific research very often force a change in the philosophical view of problems which extend far beyond the restricted domain of science itself.
Research is not confined to science and technology only. There are vast areas of research in other disciplines such as languages, literature, history and sociology. Whatever might be the subject, research has to be an active, diligent and systematic process of inquiry in order to discover, interpret or revise facts, events, behaviors and theories. Applying the outcome of research for the refinement of knowledge in other subjects, or in enhancing the quality of human life also becomes a kind of research and development.
Research is done with the help of study, experiment, observation, analysis, comparison and reasoning. Research is in fact ubiquitous. For example, we know that cigarette smoking is injurious to health; heroine is addictive; cow dung is a useful source of biogas; malaria is due to the virus protozoan plasmodium; AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) is due to the virus HIV (Human Immuno Deficiency Virus). How did we know all these? We became aware of all these information only through research. More precisely, it seeks predictions of events, explanations, relationships and theories for them.
The research-worthy problem serves as the point of departure for the research. The nature of the research problem and the domain from which it is drawn serves as a limiting factor on the type of research that can be conducted.
The data should never supersede the necessity of a research-worthy problem serving as the anchor and the existing body of knowledge serving as the foundation for the research. The absence of the ability to gather the necessary data can, however, certainly make a study based upon research methods directly driven by a well-conceived problem and supported by current literature completely futile. Every solid research study must use data in order to validate the proposed theory.
As a result, new researchers should understand the centrality of access to data for their study success. Access to data refers to the ability of the researcher to actually collect the desired data for the study. Without access to data, it is impossible for a researcher to make any meaningful conclusions on the phenomena. Novice researchers should be aware that their access to data will also imply what type of methodology they will be using and what type of research, eventually they will conduct based on the body of knowledge; the data available to the researcher serves as the final filter used to identify the specific study type.
The term ‘Research’ consists of two words:
Research = Re + Search
‘Re’ means again and again and ‘Search’ means to find out something, the following is the process:

Person=Observes/(Again and again) Phenomena (Collection of Data)/(Analysis of Data) Conclusions

Therefore, research means to observe the phenomena again and again from different dimensions. For example there are many theories of learning due to the observation from different dimensions.
The other author discussed word research as it composed of two syllables, re and search, re is a prefix meaning again, anew or over again search is a verb meaning to examine closely and carefully, to test and try, or to probe. Together they form a noun describing a careful, systematic, patient study and investigation in some field of knowledge, undertaken to establish facts, theories or principles.
The research is a process of which a person observes the phenomena again and again and collects the data and on the basis of data and draw conclusions.
Research is oriented towards the discovery of relationship that exists among phenomena of the world in which we live. The fundamental assumption is that invariant relationship exists between certain antecedents and certain consequents so that under a specific set of conditions a certain consequents can be expected to follow the introduction of a given antecedent.
2. Review on Definitions of Research
The large number of quotes were found to define research, still definitions are publishing to explain the word clearly, among all few are as follows.
The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English lays down the meaning of research as “a careful investigation or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge.”
According to Rusk “Research is a point of view, an attitude of inquiry, or a frame of mind It asks questions which have hitherto not been asked, and it seeks to answer them by a fairly definite procedure. It is not a mere theorizing, but rather an attempt to elicit facts and to face them once they have been assembled.
Research is likewise not an attempt to bolster up pre-conceived opinions, and it implies a readiness to accept the conclusions to which an inquiry leads, no matter how unwelcome they may prove. When successful, research adds to the scientific knowledge of the subject.
Nunamaker, Chen, and Purdin noted that “It is clear that some research domains are sufficiently narrow that they allow the use of only limited methodologies”. The problem also serves as the guidance system for the study in that the research is, in essence, an attempt in some manner to develop at least a partial solution to the research problem. The best design cannot provide meaning to research and answer the question ‘Why was the study conducted,’ if there is not the anchor of a clearly identified research problem.
Levy & Ellis illustrated a model that the body of knowledge serves as the foundation upon which the study is built. The literature also serves to channel the research, in that it indicates the type of study or studies that are appropriate based upon the nature of the problem driving the study. Likewise, the literature provides clear guidance on the specific methods to be followed in conducting a study of a given type. Although originality is of great value in scholarly work, it is usually not rewarded when applied to the research methods. Ignoring the wisdom contained in the existing body of knowledge can cause the novice researcher, at the least, a great deal of added work establishing the validity of the study. From an entirely practical perspective, the nature of the data available to the researcher serves as a final filter in determining the type of study to conduct. The type of data available should be considered a necessary, but certainly not sufficient, consideration for selecting research methods.
George J. Mouly defines research as, “The systematic and scholarly application of the scientific method interpreted in its broader sense, to the solution of social studiesal problems; conversely, any systematic study designed to promote the development of social studies as a science can be considered research.”
Gerald Milburn stated Scientific research is a chaotic business, stumbling along amidst red herrings, errors and truly, creative insights. Great scientific breakthroughs are rarely the work of a single researchers plodding slowly by inexorably towards some final goal. The crucial idea behind the breakthrough may surface a number of times, in different places, only to sink again beneath the babble of an endless scientific discourse.
Creswell told that Scholarly research is, to a very great extent, characterized by the type of study conducted and, by extension, the specific methods employed in conducting that type of stud.
Ellis & Levy view that Novice researchers, however, often mistakenly think that, since studies are known by how they are conducted, the research process starts with deciding upon just what type of study to conduct. On the contrary, the type of study one conducts is based upon three related issues: the problem driving the study, the body of knowledge, and the nature of the data available.
As discussed elsewhere, scholarly research starts with the identification of a tightly focused, literature supported problem.
Leedy & Ormrod wrote in paper that novice researcher, overwhelmed by the intricacies of the research methods employed in conducting a scholarly inquiry.
In Mertler & Vannatta model both a consumer and producer of research, it is essential to have a firm grasp on just what is entailed in producing legitimate, valid results and conclusions. The very large and growing number of diverse research approaches in current practice exacerbates this problem.
Redman and Mory define research as a “systematized effort to gain new knowledge.” Some people consider research as a movement, a movement from the known to the unknown. It is actually a voyage of discovery. The vital instinct of inquisitiveness for unknown confronts, The wonder and our inquisitiveness makes us probe and attain full and fuller understanding of the unknown. This inquisitiveness is the mother of all knowledge and the method, which man employs for obtaining the knowledge of whatever the unknown, can be termed as research.
According to Clifford Woody of the University of Michigan He writes that in an article in the Journal of Social Studies Research, Research is an academic activity and as such the term should be used in a technical sense. It comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organizing and evaluating data; making deductions and reaching conclusions; and at last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis.
According to C.C. Crawford “Research is simply a systematic and refined technique of thinking, employing specialized tools, instruments, and procedures in order to obtain a more adequate solution of a problem than would be possible under ordinary means. It starts with a problem, collects data or facts, analysis these critically and reaches decisions based on the actual evidence. It evolves original work instead of mere exercise of personal. It evolves from a genuine desire to know rather than a desire to prove something. It is quantitative, seeking to know not only what but how much, and measurement is therefore, a central feature of it.”
John W. Best thinks, “Research is considered to be the more formal, systematic, intensive process of carrying on the scientific methods of analysis. It involves a more systematic structure of investigation, usually resulting in some sort of formal record of procedures and a report of results or conclusions.”
James Harvey Robinson reveals that “Research is but diligent search which enjoys the high flavor or primitive hunting.”
Encyclopedia of Social Science depicted as “Research is the manipulation of things concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in the practice of an art.”
V. Redman and A.V.H. Mory quoted that “Research is a systematized effort to gain new knowledge.”
C. Francies Rummel, considered it an endeavor to discover, develop and verify knowledge. It is an intellectual process that has developed over hundreds of years, ever changing in purpose and form and always searching for truth.
P.M. Cook has given a very comprehensive and functional definition of the term research as “Research is an honest exhaustive, intelligent searching for facts and their meanings or implications with reference to a given problem. The product or findings of a given piece of research should be an authentic, verifiable and contribution to knowledge in the field studied.” He has emphasized the following characteristics of research in his definition:
It is an honest and exhaustive process.
The facts are studied with understanding.
The facts are discovered in the radiance of problem.
The conclusions are applicable and demonstrable.
The task should add new comprehension in the area.
According to W.S. Monroe, University of Illinois states, “Research may be defined as a method of studying problems whose solutions are to be derived partly or wholly from facts. The facts dealt with in research may be statements of opinion, historical facts, those contained in records and reports, the results of tests, answers to questionnaires, experimental data of any sort, and so forth. The final purpose of research is to ascertain principles and develop procedures for use in the field of social studies; therefore, it should conclude by formulating principles or procedures. The mere collection and tabulation of facts is not research, though it may be preliminary to it on eve a part thereof.”
J.H. McGrath and D.E. Watson have defined the term ‘Research’ more comprehensive , “Research is a process which has utility to the extent that class of inquiry employed as the research activity vehicle is capable of adding knowledge, of stimulating progress and helping society and man relate more efficiently and effectively to the problems that society and man perpetuate and create.”
D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences define research as “the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an art.”
Dr. Lokesh Shukla and Nishkam Anita discuss an inventive contribution to the existing acquaintance making for its enhancement. It is detection of accuracy by study, observation, comparison and experiment. In short, the rummage around for knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding solution to a quandary is research. The systematic approach concerning generalization and the formulation of an assumption is also research. The term ‘research’ refers to the systematic method consisting of enunciating the problem, formulating a hypothesis, collecting facts or data, analyzing and reaching certain conclusions either in the form of solutions(s) towards the apprehensive quandary or in convinced wide-range speculations.
R.M. Hutchins, Chancellor of the University of Chicago, in “The Higher Learning in America” says, “Research in the sense of the development, elaboration, and refinement of principles, together with the collection and use of empirical materials to aid in these processes, is one of the highest activities of a university and one in which all its professors should be engaged.”
J.H. McGrath and D.E. Watson have defined the term ‘Research’ more comprehensively as “Research is a process which has utility to the extent that class of inquiry employed as the research activity is capable of adding knowledge, of stimulating progress and helping society to relate more efficiently and effectively to the problems that society perpetuate and create.”
Dr. Lokesh Shukla and associates conveyed pictorial definition (figure) of fundamental research as it is interaction among the objectives, literature, data available and technique. The objectives are as raw material, the literature is hopper that encircles approaches within the boundary of data available to clean, paralyze, individualize and modify by appropriate technique to elicit conclusions.

According to Francis G. Cornell “To be sure the best research is that which is reliable verifiable and exhaustive, so that it provides information in which we have confidence. The main point here is that research is, literally speaking, a kind of human behavior, an activity in which people engage. By this definition all intelligent human behavior involves some research.”
3. Fundamentals of Research
The following are the fundamentals of research:
A sound philosophy of social studies as the basis of research.
Robert R. Rusk observes. “In the application of scientific procedure to social studies a sound philosophy well as a sound commonsense must be invoked to save the scientific procedure from itself.”
Research is based on insight and imagination.
The same writer feels, “Social studies by its reliance on research must never fail to realize that in addition to its practical practitioner and skilled investigators, it stands in need of men and women of imaginative insight, who look beyond, he present and behold the vision splendid. If the vision should fade into the light of common day, not only will the people perish, but research itself will become a sterile futility.”
Research requires an inter-disciplinary approach.
Research is not the mere description of elementary and isolated facts of nature. It must be related to the study of complex relationships of various facts. It requires an interdisciplinary approach.
Research usually employs deductive reasoning process.
Eric Hylla writes in the ‘Nature and Functions of Research’, the science of mind commonly uses methods of description, explanation, interpretation, sympathetic or intuitive understanding methods which are mainly speculative and deductive in character and which rarely furnish results that can be subjected to measurement or mathematical procedures.
Research should come out of a desire to do things better.
Stephen M. Corey writes. “Better social studiesal means better development or formulation of instructional aims, better motivation of pupils, better teaching methods, better evaluation and better supervision and administration, these are ‘activities’ or ‘operations’.
Research is not as exact as research in physical science.
H.C. McKown writes that the way of making research as an exact science by using the fact stand in that no two human beings have ever been found to be alike. No scientific investigations of human behavior even those of so called “identical twins” have resulted in the findings of individuals completely similar in structure or behavior. “In the whole world there are probably no two things exactly alike similarly no two human beings are alike, they differ physically in size, weight, height, color of eyes and hair texture of skin and in a thousand other details as well as in thousands of details of mental, social and spiritual life,”
Research is not the field of the specialist only
W.C. Redford writes, “In sum, I believe the teachers in every country have the opportunity and the capacity to undertake some research. Such research, carried out in the day-to-day work of the school, should be concerned directly with the problems of that school. It can properly concern itself with such matters as child development, class organization, teacher-pupil relationships, and interaction with the community, curriculum matters, teaching techniques and many others.”
Similarly, V.V. Kamat, in an article entitled “Can a teacher does research?” published in ‘Teaching’ making these remarks: “Any teacher with commonsense, intelligence and insight can undertake research in a problem. In beginning such workers require some guidance and training but this can be made easily available to them at the hands of experts.”
8. Research generally requires inexpensive material
In many social research studies simply need subjects, i.e., children, their social studiesal tools of daily use, paper and pencil and a few tests.
9. Research is based on subjectivity and intangibility of social phenomena.
Lundberg has pointed out that the physical phenomena may be known directly through sense, whereas social phenomena are known only symbolically through words representing such phenomena as tradition, custom, attitude, values and the whole realm of so called subjective worlds.
10. Research is perhaps incapable of being dealt through empirical method
According to Lundberg “Exact science tends to become increasingly quantitative in its units, measures, and terminology while most of the matter of social science is quantitative and does not admit of quantitative statement. We can talk of urbanization, cultural assimilation etc. but we can’t measure quantitatively. We may talk of growing indiscipline, but unless we can measure it, unless we can ascertain the degree of indiscipline, we cannot find a perfect cure.”
According to Mitchell, “Even in the work of the most statistically minded, qualitative analysis will have a place. Always our measurements, the pre-conceptions shape our ends, our first glimpses of new problems, our widest generalizations will remain qualitative in form.”
11. Research is based on inter dependence of causes and effect.
MacIver rightly points out, In case of a social phenomena the cause and the effect are inter dependent and one stimulates the other. It becomes, therefore, very difficult to find as to what is the cause and what is the fore effect. He noted that “Social science has hitherto suffered greatly from the attempt to make it conform to method derived from the order and more abstract sciences. It has led us to look for impossible results and to be disappointed at not getting them. We enquire, for example, after the manner of physical sciences which of the two related social phenomena is cause and which the effect. It usually turns out in the social sphere, that both are cause and both are effect”.
12. Research cannot be a mechanical process
Symonds concludes that research is “not something that can be ground out as by a machine. Research can never be made a mechanical process. There is no problem worthy of study that does not include unknown elements and does not require a fresh approach and attack. Too much of the research done by students in recent years has marked of the mechanical or merely following the methods and procedures of some predecessors without clear insight, into the problem itself or the methods to be used in attacking it. Much of the research in social studies that is being published fails to receive recognition because it lacks that spark of originality that must accompany an attack on a new problem.
Research methods and techniques can be taught, but after they are mastered there is still the problem of attacking a new problem and genuine contribution to social studies cannot be made without the willingness to pioneer into new fields or to work out new procedures. Genuine research must be an exploration. Any who wishes to undertake research in social studies must be willing to take venture into the unknown and only by doing it will get genuine discovery.”
Hugh B. Wood states: “Every year about a thousand young men and women go off justly neglected corners of knowledge and assemble tiny scraps of more or less useless information into a little pile of dust, which, adopted with comparative tables, correlative graphs, and other forms of academic is served up as a thesis. The reward is the little of Doctor of Philosophy, which enables its recipient to ascend the social studies as ladder and in time teach other young men and women to scrap together their own heaps of dust or doctoral dissertations.”
4. Broad Definition of Research
Research is undertaken within most professions. More than a set of skills, it is a way of thinking: examining critically the various aspects of your professional work. It is a habit of questioning what you do, and a systematic examination of the observed information to find answers with a view to instituting appropriate changes for a more effective professional service.
To undertake a research to investigate answers to a question, the process implying must;
is being undertaken within a framework of a set of philosophies ( approaches);
uses procedures, methods and techniques that have been tested for their validity and reliability;
is designed to be unbiased and objective .
Philosophies mean approaches e.g. qualitative, quantitative and the academic discipline in which you have been trained.
Validity means that correct procedures have been applied to find answers to a question. Reliability refers to the quality of a measurement procedure that provides repeatability and accuracy.
Unbiased and objective means that you have taken each step in an unbiased manner and drawn each conclusion to the best of your ability and without introducing your own vested interest. (Bias is a deliberate attempt to either conceal or highlight something).
Adherence to the three criteria mentioned above enables the process to be called ‘research’.
However, the degree to which these criteria are expected to be fulfilled varies from discipline to discipline and so the meaning of ‘research’ differs from one academic discipline to another.
The difference between research and non-research activity is, in the way we find answers: the process must meet certain requirements to be called research. We can identify these requirements by examining some definitions of research.
Research is a structured enquiry that utilizes acceptable scientific methodology to solve problems and create new knowledge that is generally applicable.
Scientific methods consist of systematic observation, classification and interpretation of data. Although we engage in such process in our daily life, the difference between our casual day-to-day generality and the conclusions usually recognized as scientific method lies in the degree of formality, rigorousness, verifiability and general validity of latter.
5. Objectives of Research
The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the application of scientific procedures. The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and which has not been discovered as yet. Though each research study has its own specific purpose, however research objectives are falling into a number of following broad groupings:
To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it (studies with this object in view are termed as exploratory or formulative research studies);
To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group (studies with this object in view are known as descriptive research studies);
To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated with something else (studies with this object in view are known as diagnostic research studies);
To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables (such studies are known as hypothesis-testing research studies).
6. Basic Functions of Research
The following are the basic functions of research.
To improve research procedures through the refinement and extension of knowledge.
The refinement of existing awareness or the acquirement of new data is an intermediate step toward the improvement of the collective lessons process.
The collective lessons improvement is associated with various aspects:
The function of research is to aid to making a decision concerning the refinement or extension of knowledge in this particular area.
The function of research is to improve the students learning and classroom problem with which teacher is encountering with problems. The more effective techniques for teaching can be developed.
Another function of research is to aid social studiesal administrators to improve the Social Studiesal systems.
The Researches should contribute to the theory and practice simultaneously. It should have the image of a helpful mechanism can be used by researcher / research scholar in one way or the other, for the improvement of the process.
7. Conclusions
The above review reveals that research is a process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting information to answer questions. But to qualify as research, the process must have certain essentials as: it must, as far as possible, be controlled, rigorous, systematic, valid and verifiable, empirical and critical. Overall a process to be called research, it is imperative that it has the following essentials.
-Controlled- in real life there are many factors that affect an outcome. The concept of control implies that, in exploring causality in relation to two variables (factors), you set up your study in a way that minimizes the effects of other factors affecting the relationship. This can be achieved to a large extent in the physical sciences, as most of the research is done in a laboratory. However, in the social sciences it is extremely difficult, as research is carried out on issues related to human beings living in society, where such controls are not possible. Therefore in social science external factors cannot control to quantify their impact.
-Rigorous-you must be scrupulous in ensuring that the procedures followed to find answers to questions are relevant, appropriate and justified. Again, the degree of rigor varies markedly between the physical and social sciences and within the social sciences.
-Systematic-this implies that the procedure adopted to undertake an investigation follow a certain logical sequence. The different steps cannot be taken in a haphazard way. Some procedures must follow others.
-Valid and verifiable- implies that whatever you conclude on the basis of your findings is correct and can be verified by you and others.
-Empirical-means that any conclusions drawn are based upon hard evidence gathered from information collected from real life experiences or observations.
-Critical-critical scrutiny of the procedures used and the methods employed is crucial to a research enquiry. The process of investigation must be foolproof and free from drawbacks. The process adopted and the procedures used must be able to withstand critical scrutiny.
Overall research definition must include as under.
It gathers new knowledge or data from primary or first-hand sources.
It places emphasis upon the discovery of general principles.
It is an exact systematic and accurate investigation.
It uses certain valid data gathering devices.
It is logical and objective.
The researcher resists the temptation to seek only the data that support his hypotheses.
The researcher eliminates personal feelings and preferences.
It endeavors to organize data in quantitative terms.
Research is patient and unhurried activity.
The researcher is willing to follow his procedures to the conclusions that may be unpopular and bring social disapproval.
Research is carefully recorded and reported.
Conclusions and generalizations are arrived at carefully and cautiously.