1. Meaning of Research

• Research = systematic, scientific, and objective search for knowledge.
• Word derived from French “rechercher” = “to search again.

2. Meaning of Social Research

• Social research is the systematic study of social life, including human behavior, social groups, institutions, organizations, and processes.
• Unlike casual observation or common sense, it follows a scientific, objective, and methodical approach.
• It seeks to explain, predict, and sometimes control social phenomena.

3. Definitions of Social Research

• V. Young: “Social research is a scientific undertaking which, by means of logical and systematized techniques, aims to discover new facts or verify old facts and to analyze their sequences, inter-relationships and causal explanations.”
• A. Moser: “Social research is the systematic and objective attempt to collect, classify, and analyze social facts to find out relationships among them or to discover their causes.”
• Rummel: “Social research is an objective, logical, and systematic method of analysis of social phenomena, devised to permit the accumulation of reliable knowledge.”

4. Types of Research (Detailed Explanation)

a) Descriptive vs. Analytical Research

i) Descriptive Research

• Definition: Research that aims to describe the characteristics of a phenomenon, situation, or population as it exists.
• Key Features: No control over variables by the researcher. Often called Ex post facto research (“after the fact”). Concerned with what is happening or what has happened.
• Methods: Surveys, observations, fact-finding inquiries, comparative methods, correlational methods.
• Examples: Measuring the frequency of online shopping. Finding out consumer preferences for a product. Surveying employee job satisfaction.

ii) Analytical Research

• Definition: Research where the researcher critically evaluates existing facts, data, or information to make interpretations or draw conclusions.
• Key Features: Uses secondary data (already available information). Involves deep analysis and critical evaluation.
• Examples: Analyzing historical records to evaluate government policy. Examining financial statements to assess business performance.

Difference: Descriptive focuses on “what is,” while Analytical focuses on “why/how it is.”

b) Applied vs. Fundamental Research

Applied Research

• Definition: Research carried out to solve a practical, immediate problem.
• Key Features: Practical in orientation. Provides actionable solutions for organizations or society.
• Examples:
  • Marketing research (to design effective ads).
  • Educational research (to improve teaching methods).
  • Evaluation research (measuring impact of a policy).
  • Identifying political trends to guide campaigns.

Fundamental (Basic/Pure) Research

• Definition: Research aimed at expanding general knowledge, without immediate practical application.
• Key Features: Theoretical in nature. Generates new ideas, principles, or theories. Focuses on “knowledge for knowledge’s sake.”
• Examples: Research in pure mathematics. Studying human behavior to form general psychological theories. Physics research into quantum mechanics.

Difference: Applied research = solving specific problems; Fundamental research = creating new knowledge.

c) Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research

Quantitative Research

• Definition: Research based on numerical measurement and statistical analysis.
• Key Features: Deals with quantifiable data. Uses structured tools (questionnaires, surveys, experiments). Results are presented in charts, graphs, and statistics.
• Examples:
  • Measuring GDP growth rate.
  • Conducting a survey on voting preferences with percentages.
  • Analyzing sales figures of a company.

Qualitative Research

• Definition: Research concerned with understanding meanings, motives, and attitudes rather than numbers.
• Key Features: Focuses on human behavior, feelings, and perceptions. Data is descriptive (words, observations). More flexible but harder to analyze.
• Methods: In-depth interviews, case studies, focus groups, projective techniques (word association, sentence completion, story completion).
• Examples:
  • Studying why customers prefer brand A over brand B.
  • Exploring employee motivation factors.
  • Understanding cultural practices in a community.

Difference: Quantitative answers “how much/how many,” Qualitative answers “why/how.”

d) Conceptual vs. Empirical Research

i) Conceptual Research

• Definition: Research related to abstract concepts, ideas, or theories.
• Key Features: Used to develop new theories or reinterpret old ones. More common in philosophy and theoretical sciences.
• Examples:
  • Developing a new model of economic growth.
  • Reinterpreting Freud’s psychoanalytic theory.
  • Proposing a new ethical framework in philosophy.

ii) Empirical Research

• Definition: Research based on observations, experiments, and real-world data.
• Key Features: Data-based and verifiable. Researcher actively manipulates variables (experimental). Involves forming and testing hypotheses.
• Examples:
  • Conducting experiments to test a new drug’s effectiveness.
  • Measuring the impact of advertising on consumer behavior.
  • Field experiments in education to test new teaching methods.

Difference: Conceptual = based on ideas, Empirical = based on experiments/observations.

e) Other Types of Research

i) Based on Time

• One-time Research: Conducted once within a limited time period (e.g., a 2023 consumer survey).
• Longitudinal Research: Conducted repeatedly over time (e.g., studying students’ progress over 10 years).

ii) Based on Environment

• Field Research: Conducted in a natural setting (e.g., studying tribal communities).
• Laboratory Research: Conducted in controlled settings (e.g., drug testing in labs).
• Simulation Research: Creating an artificial environment (e.g., using computer models to study traffic flow).

iii) Based on Approach

• Clinical/Diagnostic Research: Case studies, in-depth probing, usually with small samples (e.g., psychological case studies).
• Exploratory Research: Conducted to generate hypotheses, not to test them (e.g., exploring reasons for declining employee productivity).
• Formalized Research: Structured research aimed at testing hypotheses (e.g., controlled experiment on study methods).

iv) Based on Purpose

• Historical Research: Uses past records, documents, and remains to study past events (e.g., analyzing freedom movements).
• Conclusion-oriented Research: Researcher has freedom to design and modify research as needed.
• Decision-oriented Research: Conducted for decision-making, researcher works under constraints (e.g., Operations Research in business strategy).

Summary Table: Types of Research