Scientific research skills

Research can be defined as a careful and systematic investigation in some field of knowledge, undertaken to establish facts or principles. Scientific research is a continued search for scientific knowledge and understanding by scientific methods. Research is aimed at obtaining the information to test specific hypotheses.

6- basic steps in scientific method 

 1)Defining the problem by reviewing the relevant knowledge. Based on these activities, hypotheses are stated, questions are formed and experiments are designed. 2)Planning the research to collect the data required to evaluate the hypotheses or answering the research questions. 3)Carrying out the experiment to obtain the desired data. 4)Analyzing the results so that conclusions can be drawn.5) Interpreting the results so that practical applications can be made and 6)Reporting the results in a way that all relevant audiences will benefit from the knowledge obtained.

Methods of scientific research

There are three methods of scientific research such as descriptive method, experimental method and statistical method.

1. Descriptive methods 

They provide a description of the thing being studied. This method is very crude and it may be some combination of words and numbers. It can be a natural observation, systematic observation and by developing tests. Greeks first employed natural observation to record what they see. This method is unsystematic and time consuming. The research using systematic observation can be carried out by checklist technique, questionnaire method and public opinion.

2. Experimental methods

In this method, the experimenter changes or varies something by  keeping other conditions  as constant as possible and  looks for some effect of the changes or variations on the thing being studied.
Experimental design – it must be planned with great care to control various factors/ variables.

Variables – a variable is something that varies. It can be quantitatively measured. Variables fall into two classes: independent and dependent variables. An experiment must have at least one independent and one dependent variable. An experiment may also have more than one independent and more than one dependent variable. In a graph, the horizontal axis (abscissa) depicts the independent variable and the vertical axis (ordinate), the dependent variable.

1.       An independent variable is a variable that the experimenter selects and manipulates. In other words the variable that is purposely changed is an independent variable. Each change of a variable is known as a level of independent variable. Each Experimenter also selects the dependent variables.

2.       The dependent variable is a variable that changes as a result of changing the independent variable.

Constants – the various factors in an experiment that do not change.

Controls – the main point of doing an experiment is to compare control factors with experimental factors otherwise it is difficult to tell what is going on.

The scale – it is a measuring device which consists of a sequence of interchangeable units beginning with zero.

Ranking – it is the arrangement of the units of a measurable quality in the order of amount.

Rating – it is the arrangement of items into ascending or ordered classes.

3. Statistical methods

Statistical methods focus on the significance of differences, sampling error and probability. Correlation refers to a co-relationship between two sets of scores.  Reliability refers essentially to repeatability. Validity refers to what the test is supposed to be measuring.

Scientific reasoning

It refers to a body of techniques for investigating a phenomena and acquiring knowledge. It consists of systematic observation, measurement and experiment. Scientific methods requires intelligence, imagination and creativity. This method is an ongoing cycle of formulating, testing and modifying hypotheses.

Types of research design

Exploratory research (huh?) is conducted to generate or gather basic knowledge. It is performed to clarify relevant issues, uncover variables or simply to collect more information.

Descriptive research (who, what, where, how) is conducted to provide further insight into the research problem by describing the variables of interest.

Causal research (if...then) is done to provide information on cause and effect relationships.

Importance of scientific research

•  Develop new methods to conduct scientific research.
• Increase the sum total of information/ philosophies in various fields of science.
• Develop and apply new devices to conduct research.
• Increase the general availability of new materials and certain services.

Parts of a research article

Abstract –a brief overview of the article.
Introduction – the purpose of the present study.
Review of literature – present relevant literature related to the present scientific study and justifying the choice of the present study which is uncovered till date.
Methodology - define new terms and describe the instruments and procedures.
Result – report the findings with tables and figures.
Conclusions – support the present findings with relevant literature.
References - cited literature may reflect the investigator’s knowledge on the subject and validity of the present study with reference to relevant published information.
"Man is the interpreter of nature, and science is the right interpretation."