- Functionalistic research process
1. Exploration
4. Research execution
2. Research design
3. Research proposal
5. Research report
This phase includes exploring and selecting research questions for further investigation, examining the published literature in the area of inquiry to understand the current state of knowledge in that area, and identifying theories that may help answer the research questions of interest.
- The first step in the exploration phase is identifying one or more research questions dealing with a specific behavior, event, or phenomena of interest. Please use the paper formulating research questions to work on research questions.
- The next step is to conduct a literature review of the domain of interest. A well-conducted literature review should indicate whether the initial research questions have already been addressed in the literature (which would obviate the need to study them again), whether there are newer or more interesting research questions available, and whether the original research questions should be modified or changed in light of findings of the literature review.
- The third step is to identify one or more theories. In functionalist research, theories can be used as the logical basis for postulating hypotheses for empirical testing.
This process is concerned with creating a blueprint of the activities to take in order to satisfactorily answer the research questions identified in the exploration phase.
1. Operationalization: is the process of designing precise measures for abstract theoretical constructs. Operationalization starts with specifying an “operational definition” (or “conceptualization”) of the constructs of interest.
2. Research method: Simultaneously with operationalization, the researcher must also decide what research method they wish to employ for collecting data to address their research questions of interest.
3. Sampling: Researchers must also carefully choose the target population from which they wish to collect data and a sampling strategy to select a sample from that population. The sampling strategy is closely related to the unit of analysis in a research problem.
At this stage, it is often a good idea to write a research proposal detailing all of the decisions made in the preceding stages of the research process and the rationale behind each decision.
What research questions you wish to study and why.
The prior state of knowledge in this area.
Theories you wish to employ along with
hypotheses to be tested.
How to measure constructs.
What research method to be employed and
why
Desired sampling strategy.
Having decided who to study (subjects), what to measure (concepts), and how to collect data (research method), the researcher is now ready to proceed to the research execution phase. This includes pilot testing the measurement instruments, data collection, and data analysis.
1. Pilot testing: The pilot sample is usually a small subset of the target population.
2. Data collection: The data collected may be quantitative or qualitative, depending on the research method employed.
3. Data analysis: Depending on the type of data collected (quantitative or qualitative), data analysis may be quantitative (e.g., employ statistical techniques such as regression or structural equation modeling) or qualitative (e.g., coding or content analysis).
The final phase of research involves preparing the final research report documenting the entire research process and its findings in the form of a research paper, dissertation, or monograph.
Common mistakes in research
1. Insufficiently motivated research questions: The researcher must be certain (and be able to convince others) that the research questions they seek to answer in fact deal with real problems (and not hypothetical problems) that affect a substantial portion of a population and has not been adequately addressed in prior research.
2. Pursuing research fads: Another common mistake is pursuing “popular” topics with limited shelf life. A typical example is studying technologies or practices that are popular today.
3. Unresearchable problems: Some research problems may not be answered adequately based on observed evidence alone, or using currently accepted methods and procedures.
4. Favored research methods: This is an unfortunate trend. Research methods should be chosen to best fit a research problem, and not the other way around.
5. Blind data mining: Some researchers have the tendency to collect data first (using instruments that are already available), and then figure out what to do with it. Note that data collection is only one step in a long and elaborate process of planning, designing, and executing research.