How to Conduct A Research Part 1

Conducting a research is not a simple process. There are many factors to consider to produce a good research such as research approach, method, sampling and etc. In general, conducting a research is a cyclic process that always goes on. For instance, A research is conducted and built based on the previous research or findings. In the end, the results of the research will be a foundation for the other research/further research. Usually, the aim of the research is to solve problems or explain certain phenomena. However, it is just like people said "the more you study, the more you know that you don't know". The research often reveals another problem or unexplained phenomena. This is what will suggest the other researcher to do further study. The following scheme is shown below.

Before conducting a study, the researcher must identify the motivation or the problems that lead to the need of conducting the study. This step is followed by literature review to study more about the problems or the motivation of the research. These two steps are reversely analyzed to determine the aims of the study and the research questions.

The next step is choosing the best research approach to conduct the study. The approach should support the aims of the study. The approach will determine the research technique of how to collect the data such as interviews, observations, or questionnaires.

After collecting the data, researcher must analyze the data by using an appropriate statistical tools such as ANOVA, SPSS, or another tools. The result of the data analysis must be reported in a way such that it is understandable for the reader. Furthermore, these results are discussed and concluded. The important point in here is that the conclusion must meet the aims of the study and answer the research questions. Finally, the implication of the study will have potential to lead to another motivation or problem to do further research.

More explanation of each part of the cyclic method is on the next post.