Research Methods:
1. Scholarly research is conducted by academicians and people who pursue higher education. The expectation of the organization or institution that oversees scholarly research can vary, depending on their practices, policies and review board. Each researcher is expected to choose a research topic that is clear and focused and progress in it. He is expected to record and present the progress of the research to the institutional review board. Once the work is completed, the institution review board may review the work and provide suggestions or ask questions that will help the researcher. The scholarly review board is made of people who have diverse viewpoints and their views will benefit the students.
Doing a systematic review of published literature on a topic is also called scholarly research. The researcher first identified an area in which he wants to conduct research. Following this he makes an exhaustive search of all literature and reads them. He then makes a systematic review of these published works on the topic. This helps the researcher to understand the lacunae in the existing knowledge and also know the future research perspective which he should follow. By not doing this exercise, the researcher may end up doing research that is already repeated many number of times. Knowing what is already done on the topic will prevent wastage of resources on repetition. Unlike scholarly research, in actual research the researcher does not designs and executes experiments that will help him validate his research hypothesis and answer the research question. The result obtained from once experiment are analyzed to draw logical conclusion. The actual research is done in a defined and planned manner, so that it can be repeated by anybody who wants to replicate it.
2. In literature review one selects from available research literature, the set of documents that are pertinent to the research topic, and evaluates the research in relation to the work one intends to do. The practice of literature review, helps gain knowledge about the topic. One can also know the exact facts and the scholars who have worked previously on the topic. The process of literature review can be split into four stages: The first stage is to select a topic for conducting literature reviews. Second is to choose literature that is pertinent to the topic. This will help the researcher understand the topic exhaustively. Third stage is to analyze and interpret the work presented in these selected literature. Finally, in the fourth stage, the researcher is expected to write a review.
Once the topic is chosen key words in the topic can be used to filter out the desired literature from the AMU/APUS database. While making a search and selecting literature appropriate to the topic, it is preferable to choose from primary sources of literature like academic journals, conference proceedings, theses, government websites, pamphlets and dissertations. Articles published in peer reviewed journals are those that are reviewed by two or more researchers who are competent in the respective field and thus likely to be reliable. While searching literature, it will be a good idea to document the author, title and key idea in the literature, as it will help further selection easier.
3. It is often necessary to think about data analysis even before proceeding with the experiments. This will help ensure that the data collection instrument is the right choice to provide the information or data that will help answer the research question. The issue with many research is that the data analysis is decided at a later stage so as to help the researcher obtain the result he expects. This is very bad for research. Quantitative research method employs highly structured and standardized research instruments for collecting data. The data are analyzed using statistical techniques. On the other hand, qualitative research methods use semi structured methods like group discussion, interviews, questionnaires, etc. to obtain data. The data are descriptive though it may be coded numerically in certain instances. The data are analyzed using non statistical techniques. While qualitative research techniques help gain an initial general knowledge about the topic, they are unreliable. However, they can be useful tools in exploratory research where preliminary information is required for hypothesis building. To test a specific hypothesis more reliable quantitative methods are used. Many researchers prefer to use a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies or mixed methodologies. The hypothesis developed by qualitative research and be tested by quantitative research. The purpose of evaluating data must be considered while collecting data and conducting analysis.
4. Both abstract and introduction is written with the intention of giving the reader an idea about what to expect from the paper. The complexity of each will vary with the level of work. The abstract of the work is usually presented at the beginning. It provides a brief idea about the paper in terms of the aim, method and the main conclusion. Introduction is a piece of writing that occurs at the beginning of the paper. The aim of the introduction will be to introduce the reader to the paper and elicit the interest of the reader. In academic papers the introduction is less creative and more informative. Nevertheless, a good introduction will help present a convincing reason as to why the paper is important and the advantage of reading the paper further. While abstract helps create an awareness about the paper, the introduction gives a broader idea about the paper. Using quotes, ornamental language and rhetoric questions to hook the readers is not permitted in academic papers. The aim of an academic paper is to inform and not to persuade or entertain. Thus narrative hooks and rhetorical questions are not permitted. The abstract and introduction should demonstrate knowledge on the subjects. The paper would be reviewed by experts and thus needs to be suited to the audience caliber.
