Introduction
Research
is the cornerstone of any science, including both
the hard sciences such as chemistry or physics and
the social (or soft) sciences such as psychology,
management, or education.
It refers to the organized, structured, and
purposeful attempt to gain knowledge about a
suspected relationship.
Many
argue that the structured attempt at gaining
knowledge dates back to Aristotle and his
identification of deductive reasoning.
Deductive reasoning refers to a structured
approach utilizing an accepted premise (known as a
major premise), a related minor premise, and an
obvious conclusion.
This way of gaining knowledge has been called
a syllogism, and by following downward from the
general to the specific, knowledge can be gained
about a particular relationship.
An example of an Aristotelian syllogism might
be:
|
Major
Premise:
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All
students attend school regularly
|
|
Minor
Premise:
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John
is a student
|
|
Conclusion:
|
John
attends school regularly
|
In
the early 1600s, Francis Bacon identified a
different approach to gaining knowledge. Rather than moving from the general to the specific, Bacon
looked at the gathering of specific information in
order to make general conclusions.
This type of reasoning is called inductive
and unlike Aristotelian logic allows new major
premises to be determined.
Inductive reasoning has been adopted into the
sciences as the preferred way to explore new
relationships because it allows us to use accepted
knowledge as a means to gain new knowledge.
For example:
|
Specific
Premises:
|
John,
Sally, Lenny and Sue attended class
regularly
|
|
Specific
Premises:
|
John,
Sally, Lenny, and Sue received high grades
|
|
Conclusion:
|
Attending
class regularly results in high grades
|
Researchers
combine the powers of deductive and inductive
reasoning into what is referred to now as the
scientific method.
It involves the determination of a major
premise (called a theory or a hypothesis) and then
the analysis of the specific examples (research)
that would logically follow. The results might look something like:
|
Major
Premise:
|
Attending
classes regularly results in high grades
|
|
Class
Attendance:
(Suspected
Cause)
|
Group
1:
|
John,
Sally, Lenny and Sue attend classes
regularly
|
|
Group
2:
|
Heather,
Lucinda, Ling, and Bob do not attend classes
regularly
|
|
Grades:
(Suspected
Effect)
|
Group
1:
|
John,
Sally Lenny, and Sue received A’s and
B’s
|
|
Group
2:
|
Heather,
Lucinda, Ling, and Bob received C’s and
D’s
|
|
Conclusion:
|
Attending
class regularly results in higher grades
when compared with not attending class
regularly (the Major Premise or Hypothesis
is therefore supported)
|
Utilizing
the scientific method for gaining new information
and testing the validity of a major premise, John
Dewey suggested a series of logical steps to follow
when attempting to support a theory or hypothesis
with actual data.
In other words, he proposed using deductive
reasoning to develop a theory followed by inductive
reasoning to support it.
These steps can be found in Table 1.1.
Table
1.1:
Dewey's Scientific Method
The
steps involved in the research process can vary
depending on the type of research being done and the
hypothesis being tested. The most stringent types of research, such as experimental
methods (sometimes called laboratory research),
contain the most structured process.
Naturalistic observation, surveys, and other
non-intrusive studies, are often less structured.
A general process guide for doing research,
especially laboratory research, can be found in
Table 1.2.
Table
1.2:
Steps Involved in the Research Process
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