Unit II:
Definition of Research
READING:
Read: Pan, Chpts 4-6
Read: APA Manual, Chpt 3 APA Editorial Style: Headings and Series; and Chpt 3 APA Editorial Style: Reference List
Each student in ILS 680 is required to complete the educational module and test on protecting human subjects. The educational module and test we use is Protecting Human Subjects housed on the National Cancer Institute website. (This training module was previously housed on the National Institutes of Health (NIH)'s website for extramural researchers, Human Participant Protections Education for Research Teams.) Each student is to print the certificate of completion and submit it to the instructor by the end of this unit as well as post a copy to the appropriate thread. Estimated time to complete the module and test is 1 hour. [You might like to know, faculty are also asked to complete this module and submit their certificate of completion to the Dean of the Graduate School.]
Also be sure to read about Southern's Human Research Protection Program and the IRB Newsletters on the Graduate School's Website. The Human Research Protection Program explanation and IRB Newsletters are your primary resource for information on conducting research at Southern.
If you will be conducting research involving human participants you will need to complete an IRB form.
INTRODUCTION
This week you will look at a definition for research and types of research.
LECTURE NOTES
Nature of research
There is no single, widely accepted definition of research. Research has been defined as by one researcher as "any conscious [and] premeditated inquiry -- any investigation which seeks to increase one's knowledge of a given situation" (Goldhor, 1972, p. 7).
From this definition, it seems many different kinds of activities can be justified as research. For our purposes, we will use a more focused definition that covers the types of research in LIS (Hernon, 1991, pp. 304): research is an inquiry process that has clearly defined parameters and has as its aim, the:
- Discovery or creation of knowledge, or theory building;
- Testing, confirmation, revision, refutation of knowledge and theory; and/or
- Investigation of a problem for local decision-making.
The inquiry process encompasses five activities:
- Reflective inquiry (identification of a problem, conducting a literature search to place the problem in proper perspective, and formulation of a logical or theoretical framework, objectives, and hypotheses/research questions;
- Adoption of appropriate procedures (research design and methodologies);
- The collection of data ;
- Data analysis ; and
- Presentation of findings and recommendations for future study.
There are two additional concerns in research which should guide the choice of appropriate procedures and the collection of data. They are reliability and validity .
Reliability is the extent to which the same results are produced on repeated samples of the same population. Reliability is concerned with replication and the consistency, stability, or accuracy from measurement to measurement. For example, if you place a thermometer repeatedly into water which is at a stable temperature, will the thermometer give you the same reading each time? If so, it has reliability.
Validity comes as two fundamental types. The first, internal validity is concerned with the extent to which researchers measure what they intend to measure. For example, your reliable thermometer reads 45¡F when plunged into water which is at the freezing point. You wanted to measure the temperature of the water relative to the standard Fahrenheit scale. Though reliable, your measurement is not valid. Internal validity is also concerned with eliminating those variables which suggest alternative explanations or which prevent the identification f causal relationships: internal validity is essentially a problem of control.
The second type of validity is external validity . External validity is concerned with the generalizability or representativeness of study findings. It addresses the question: "To what extent are the findings generalizable to the population, within known limits of sampling error?" That is, how predictive are the findings of a few to the reality of the whole? We measure external validity statistics.
Let's return for a moment to the inquiry process outlined earlier. Notice that it is somewhat different from scientific inquiry which focuses on hypothesis testing. If one substitutes the word "information" for "data" it is easy to see how historical research or literary research (which usually do not include hypothesis testing) could fit into this process. This definition of research is broad and encompasses the different types of social science research (of which library and information science are a part).
References:
Goldhor, H. (1972). An introduction to scientific research in librarianship. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois, Graduate Library School.
Hernon, P. (1991). The elusive nature of research in LIS. In C. R. McClure & P. Hernon (Eds.), Library and information science research: Perspectives and strategies for improvement, pp. 3-14. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Basic research concerns the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake and may or may not immediately contribute to a theoretical base of knowledge. Basic research may engage in theory building or may place abstract ideas, concepts, principles, and propositions [that exist outside of a set of circumstances or empirical referents] in some order, structure, or relationship. The purpose of basic research is to produce new theories or produce new generalizations by adapting existing theories. Basic research is the discovery of knowledge and theory building .
Applied research validates theory and may result in the revision of theory. Testing of theory often involves hypothesis testing. Applied research includes the testing, confirmation, revision, and refutation of knowledge and theory .
Action research is usually applied research directed to an immediate problem. Librarians often conduct action research to generate data useful for local decision making. The potential weakness of action research therefore is that it tends to focus on local problems to the exclusion of a broader context [theory building]. Action research is the investigation of a problem as an aid for local decision-making .
ASSIGNMENT
- Identifying Problems and Areas of Study
To help you identify the topic/question for your course research project, the following procedure is offered. By the end of this week you should settle on a topic/question. Post your decision in the appropriate threaded discussion for professor's comments. [The checklists are intended to help add clarity, certainty, and self-confidence in your choice of topic. The checklists also serve as a guide to ways of clarifying and exploring a topic.]
A two-step procedure has been quite successful in many instances at overcoming these feeling:
Essential materials -- a notebook called Possible Topics (reserve one full page per topic) OR a stack of 3x5 cards (put only one topic on a card) OR another recordkeeping device
STEP 1: CHECKLIST of Topic Sources
- Is there a publication on approved types of topics in the LS/IT department?
- Have you talked with five or more students who have conducted research and asked them about other topics related to theirs?
- Are there university-affiliated or private research agencies or groups in your region that conduct studies in your field and whose current activities you have explored?
- Are you attending local regular meetings or colloquia of professional groups in which you are interested?
- Have you examined the dissertation abstracts in your field in the past five years (available through Buley's online databases)? Have you talked directly with any of the authors about your research ideas (try email)?
- Have you compared and contrasted the scholarly and professional interests of your school's faculty with your own?
- Have you discussed research work in general with a faculty member with whom you feel comfortable and at ease?
STEP 2: CHECKLIST of Topic Feasibility and Appropriateness
General questions
- Is there current interest in this topic in your field? A related field?
- Is there a gap in knowledge that work on this topic could help to fill? A controversy it might help to resolve?
- Is it possible to focus on a small enough segment of the topic to make a manageable research project?
- Can you envision a way to study the topic that will allow conclusions to be drawn with substantial objectivity? Is the data collection approach (i.e., test, questionnaire, interview) acceptable in your school?
- Is there a body of literature relevant to the topic? Is a search of it manageable?
- Are there large problems (i.e., logistic, attitudinal) to be surmounted in working on this topic? Do you have the means to handle them?
- Would financial assistance be required? Is it available?
- Are the needed data easily accessible? Will you have control of the data?
- Do you have a clear statement of the purpose, scope, objectives, procedures, and limitations of the study? Are any of the skills needed, ones you have yet to acquire?
Questions concerning data collected through interviews
- What style or type of interview is best suited to the objectives of the study?
- Does an interview protocol exist that fits the purpose of the investigation? Has it been pilot tested?
- How will the data be recorded and collated for optimum speed, accuracy, and reliability?
- How will matters of confidentiality and permissions be handled?
- How will bias in the interviewer and the respondent be minimized or measured?
Questions concerning data collected through questionnaires
- What forms of questionnaire will be most productive for this kind of study? Has it been pre-tested?
- How will questionnaire items relate specifically to the purposes of the investigation?
- How will it be assured that the questionnaires will be answered? (pennies, cookies, pay, follow-up letters or cards)
- How will the questionnaire responses be validated? Analyzed?
Questions concerning data analysis
- What quantitative analyses are planned? What will they produce?
- Are the quantitative analyses appropriate to the kinds of data collected?
- Are there computer programs that will save time, energy, and money? Are they available?
Two difficulties non-native speakers encounter most often are: 1) topic relevance and 2) writing. The first problem arises when students know what problems need solutions in their own native countries or in their own ethnic subculture in this country but find few professors who understand the problems or think them suitable for investigation. The second, writing, appears as a problem if students have not acquired the specialized composition skills called for in phrasing thoughts in the combination of professional and scientific prose common to research reports in English-speaking countries.
Three possible solutions to the writing problem: 1) write in one's native language and then find someone to help translate it; 2) take instruction in English scientific and professional writing; and 3) engage the services of an editor (perhaps a classmate).
With regard to the topic problem: persist in impressing on the faculty member the importance of the problem until the faculty member becomes sympathetic and understanding.
- Does it interest you?
- Do you currently have background or experience in this area?
- Do you have the technical competence needed to do this research?
- How important it this topic? When you are finished, will anyone want to read it? Could it be published? Would it interest a prospective employer?
- Have you limited the topic to a size and scope that can easily be completed in the time you have?
Reference:
Mauch, James E. & Birch, Jack W. (1989). Guide to the successful thesis and dissertation (2nd ed.), pp. 44-52. New York: Marcel Dekker.
WORK TO BE SUBMITTED
You are to declare the topic for your term project in a post to the appropriate discussion thread.
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