Page 34 - SREENARAYANAGURU OPEN UNIVERSITY

Summarised Overview

The research process is the series of steps involved in conducting research. The first
step in the research process is to identify the area of research problem. It is analogous to
deciding on a destination before embarking on a journey. It serves as the foundation for
the entire research procedure. A research problem in the social sciences is presented in
the form of a question. It aids in narrowing down the problem to something manageable
for a study. Defining a research problem serves three main purposes.

◆ It emphasises the significance of the research topic.

◆ It assists the researcher in properly defining the parameters of the investigation by
placing the problem in a specific context.

◆ It provides a framework for future presentations of the results.
The context of this research problem is then discovered through a review of the
literature. A literature review is a detailed summary of previous research on a specific
topic. The literature review examines scholarly articles, books, and other sources that
are relevant to a specific area of study. This previous research should be enumerated,
described, summarised, objectively evaluated, and clarified in the review. A literature
review creates a “landscape” for the reader, providing a comprehensive understanding
of the field’s developments. This landscape informs the reader that the author has indeed
incorporated all (or a large portion of) previous, significant works in the field into her or
his research. A research gap is a question or a problem that has not been addressed by
any previous studies or research in your field. A research gap can occur when a concept
or new idea has not been thoroughly researched.
The researcher then develops research questions, objectives, and hypotheses based
on the research problem. A research study design is created in order to choose a sample
size and collect data from it. Following the processing and analysis of the collected data,
the research findings are presented in a research report.

Self- Assessment Questions

1. What is a research gap?
2. Why should a researcher review earlier research studies relating to a topic?

3. How can a researcher locate available literature relating to his topic?

4. What do you mean by analysis of data?
5. Identify the importance of research design.

6. What is statistical analysis?

28 SGOU - SLM -MCom Research Methodology