The more comprehensive definition of research is Research

The more comprehensive definition of research is: Research is a scientific undertaking which, by means of logical and systematized techniques aims to: z discover new facts or verify and test old facts z analyze their sequence, interrelationships and causal explanations The ultimate purpose of research is to: z. Fill in gaps in information z. Find answers to questions so far unexplained

Research is the systematic collection, analysis & interpretation of data to answer a certain question or solve a problem. z Characteristics of research: z It demands a clear statement of the problem z It requires a plan z It builds on existing data, using both positive & negative findings z New data should be collected as required & be organized in such a way that they answer the original research questions.

Research serves to major purposes z. First: Basic research is necessary to generate new knowledge & technology z. Second: Applied research is necessary to identify priority problems & to design & evaluate policies & programs.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING A RESEARCH TOPIC 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Relevance Avoidance of duplication Feasibility Political acceptability Applicability urgency of data needed Ethical acceptability

What Stimulates People to Undertake Research? z A person may be stimulated to undertake research activities because of: z A genuine interest to add to the body of knowledge and understanding z To create or develop new/better tools methods programmes, equipments etc. Others may undertake research as a means of earning: z a livelihood z a better career or position, z an academic degree or z Self ‑gratification.

Why Learn Research Methodology? z. Whatever the reason for undertaking research, the right way of doing it should be learnt. No country is rich enough to permit wastage. Disorganized pursuits are wasteful and not desirable. This is true also in research. No matter what the reason be for undertaking a research work, the investigator needs to learn

Contd…. Correct methods. Systematic & methodical approach in important for several reasons: 1. To obtained true & dependable information 2. To obtained optimum output in return for the input in terms of money, material, human efforts & time invested in the work. 3. To allow repeatability & there by verification of findings.

Sequence of Steps in a Research Work: The steps involved in a research usually have the following sequence: z Problem identification. z Knowledge gathering about the problem, and finding the lacunae in the existing knowledge: z Problem statement. z Precise statement of research questions or hypothesis (es) formulation. z Statement of objectives of research. z Planning research. z Selection of research design and methodology.

Contd… z Planning data collection. z Data analysis, interpretation of findings and drawing of inferences. z Writing research report based on the data. z Dissemination of research findings through publication of report or presentation in a seminar. z The total process of research is an unending cycle. In true sense it may be considered helical, because ideas generated from one research can be food for thought and basis for further research.

A researchable problem (P) is one where: zdiscrepancy between the expected (E) and the actual (A)situation exists. z(P= E - A) zthe discrepancy raises questions "Why? …. . and zthere are more than one possible answers to the questions.

Example: z. Ideally we expect that all mothers should breastfeed their infants for full two years or even longer. But actually few mothers do so i. e. there is a discrepancy in the actual the expected behaviour of mothers. Therefore we can say that problem exists. This problem raises several questions.

simple ones could be Q. 1. Why mothers do not breast‑feed their infants for 2 year OR Q. 2. What are the reasons for mothers discontinuing breast feeding earlier than 2 years?

There can be more than one possible answers to the questions v. Mothers do not have enough breast milk after the first months. v. Mothers have some infection or disease of breasts or nip which hampers breast feeding for a longer duration. v. The babies do not tolerate breast milk well. v. The mother may have a total dislike for breast feeding baby and so on.

SOME SPECIFIC REASONS FOR UNDERTAKING LITERATURE REVIEW: Scientific literature is searched & reviewed to: 1. Better ‘know’ & understand the already known facts & concepts. 2. Discovered what is a yet undiscovered i. e. to identyfiy the unanswered questions & gaps in information. 3. Avoid repettition of a work already done. 4. Find out about the research design, universe, population, sampling unit, samplw size, sampling technique, methods & procedures used by others. 5. Learn about difficulties & problems encountered & how these were solved by other workers doing a similar study.

Contd…. z. Critically analysis reported data to discover fallacies & inconsistencies as well as strengths. z. Note the findings the other researches for comparison with the findings of the research in hand.

Tips on how to do a good literature review z Here a few tips for the beginner: z Be selective. z SCAN the summaries and abstracts of the articles first z and then "LIFT or LEAVE" the journal depending on z whether the material meets your needs. z Take prompt notes. Do not postpone note taking. z Use small index cards to take notes and write journal z references on the reverse side. z Use one card for each reference. z Arrange and store the cards carefully (you can use an z empty I litre ice cream box for this purpose).

This statement should include a summary of information so for gathered by him on: z Magnitude of the problem? z Time frame : when does the problem occur? z Which geographic area is affected more? z Which population groups are affected more? z What are the probable reasons for the problem to occur or z persist? Are there controversies regarding these reasons?

Contd… z. Has any attempt been made in the past for solving the z problem ? If yes, what results were obtained and to what zextent the problem was solved ? 'What remains to be solved? z. What aspects of the problem s. have not been. studied. in the past?

Relationship of research question and hypothesis z. There is often a debate on whether one writes research questions or a hypothesis for the study. Apparently contradictory, they are in fact to sides of the same coin. Hypothesis are nothing but the logical assumed answers to the research questions under exploration. As example let us take the research question “why mother do not breast feed their infants for 2 years? ”

Research objectives may be stated as: z. General objective z Ultimate objective and z Specific objectives z. General Objective: z. General objective is a short statement that tells in a summary form what will be (was) done during the study.

Ultimate Objective: z A statement that tells about the benefits/implicafions/ Wisafion z of study findings ( if and when, they are put to use) it called z ultimate objective. In other wordsithis statement tells us about z the sign * ificance of the study and how it will help in the policy z decisions, future planning or actions with regards to the z problem. z Specific Objectives: z Every research work involves several tasks. Statements that tell about each task that will be (was) undertaken during the research work, are termed as specific objectives.

Some Research Jargons z Population z In research an aggregate of items (animate or inanimate) having common traits is termed as population. Thus men, ponds, mango trees, cows, houses, schools, hospitals or a collection of urine or blood specimens or any other item may become population in research terms depending upon the nature of research. z 2. Sample: z The subgroup of population selected for an investigation to get an idea about the population is termed as sample. z 3. Sampling Frame: z All listed units or items constituting the study population are called the sampling frame. z 4. Sample size: z The number of persons or sampling units selected from the population of the stucl'y comprise the sample size. z 5. Sampling Unift z Each member of the sample is the sampling unit or unit of analysis. z Sampling units a‑bout which information is collected may be referred to variously, depending upon the nature of study. The following terms are com‑ man:

Variable z In a preceding section we have mentioned that hypotheses are the basis of research. We have defined hypotheses as statements of researcher's assumptions about the relationship between variables. It is essential at this point that we understand the term variable. Variables are 'characteristics or attributes that may vary from person to person, place to place, or from time to time. Any biological, physical, chemical, social, behavioral or environmental characteristics can be considered as variable in a research. e. g. , age, parity, temperature, pressure, p. H level, education, occupation, knowledge, skill, habits, ventilation etc. These are factors which the researchers are often interested to study. According to their role, variables may be termed as independent, dependent or intervening.

Contd… z. Dependent variables are the variables that are influenced by other variables. In other words they may be the results, effect or outcome. z. Independent variables influence, regulate or cause the dependent variables. Note the statements below: z. The operational definition on the other hand, differs from the dictionary meaning

Contd… z To have unbiased and generalisable findings, appropriate sampling techniques and the right sample size are essential. There are two main ways of selecting a sample. z 1. Probability sampling z 2. Nonprobability sampling z 1. Probability Sampling: z In this technique, the sampling units are so selected that each unit in the sampling frame has equal probability of getting included in the sample. No unit receives preference over the other or no unit is left out intentionally to tilt the results in the direction that the researcher is more inclined to accept.

Contd… z Probability Sampling, can be carried out using any of the following techniques. z Simple Random Sampling z Systematic Sampling z Stratified Sampling z Multistage Sampling z Cluster Sampling z Of the above five techniques, the simple random sampling (SRS) if correctly carried out is the most unbiased technique. The remaining four are modifications adopted when simple random sampling is hot practical.

Sample Size z The number of sampling units necessary for a study has to be determined prior to implementation of the study. This decision has to be taken by the researcher, alone or better still in consultation with a statistician. The following three factors will influence the decision regarding the total number of sampling units needed i. e. sample size: z 1. Rate of prevalence in the population, of the disease or condition to be investigated (the more prevalent the condition the fewer the houses needed to be visited for collection of data for the study and vice versa). z 2. Size of (standard) error acceptable to the researcher (The smaller the size of the error acceptable to the researcher, the larger the sample size needed and vice‑versa).

Contd… z 3. The degree of confidence which the researcher wishes to have in his findings. (The greater the confidence the researcher desires in his findings, the larger the sample size he will need and vice versa). Statistically this level of confidence is indicated by the term confidence interval or confidence limits. z All the above points can be shown in a simple equation as follows: n=Z 2 (p x q) n= d 2 z Here Z is the confidence limit, p is the prevalence rate, q is I‑P (or proportion of persons not z suffering from the disease), d is the acceptable standard error and n is the required sample z size.

Scales of measurements question z Attributes, characteristics or key factors of interest i. e. variables in a study, may be of different nature. These variables can be measured under four levels or scales of measurement as follows: z 1. Nominal z Used for categorical variables z 2. Ordinal z 3. Interval z Used for numerical variables z 4. Ratio z Each of these four scales is in ascending order of power over the preceding one, and is suitable for different types of variables as shown.

QUESTIONS THAT ARE NOT RELATED TO THE OBJECTIVES OVERBURDEN THE QUESTION IT IS IMPORTANT z z z z To be simple and clear GKRb †gv. Ui Pvj. K‡K `vuo Kwi‡q GKwe`¨vw`MR cÖ‡dmi ej‡jb, say, your tubular air container has lost most of its rotundity. Pvj. K t w. K ej‡jb cÖ‡dmit The cylindrical apparatus which supports your vehicle is no longer inflated. Pvj. Kt&Avcbvi K_v Avwg w. VK ey. S‡Z cviw. Q bv | cÖ‡dmit The elastic fabric surrounding the circular frame whose successive revolutions bear you onward in space has failed to retain its pristine roundness. z Pvj. Kt ey. Sjvg bv| Mo z GKUv †Qv. U †Q‡j †gv. Ui Pvj‡K ejjt Avcbvi Pv. Kvi nv. Iqv †ewo‡q †M‡Q| z GZ¶‡b ey. S‡jb †gv. Ui Pvj. K

Contd… 1. The question should be of appropriate length (number of question should be reasonable) 2. Question should be in logical order. 3. Length of the questions should be simple & clear. 4. Questions should be relevant to the hypothesis and objective. 5. Easier questions should be asked first. 6. Questions should e specific not vague. 7. Embarrassing questions should be avoided or phrased in a suitable language and wherever possible kept for a relatively later part of the interview. 8. Arrangement of the questions should be such that the preceding answer does not influence the answer to the succeeding question. 9. Double barreled questions should be avoided 10. Do not ask questions suggestive of answers.

Parts of a questionnaire: z. In general a standard questionnaire consists of the following sections : z. A title: Clear and brief. z. An Introductory remark: Briefly telling something about the survey and what is expected from the respondent and assurance about confidentiality. z. Instructions: For studies involving interviewers other than the