Major Phases of the Research Process

Research is like a recipe. To do it right you need to follow certain procedures or steps. The first thing you need to do when starting your research is to Identify a Research Problem.  

When selecting a problem a researcher must know first what his interest is. What type of research is he into and what are the things that hold his interest that he would like to examine. Furthermore, a research problem should be relevant and timely to the present situation. It must be new and useful. And has SMART characteristics.  The research problem is stated in a specific way, measurable in a way that can be measured using a research instrument like a questionnaire. Your research must also be achievable, the data you need to arrive at desirable results should be easily obtained. Also, your research problem needs to be both realistic and time-bound.

After you have figured and identified your research problem, the next thing that you need to do is to find sources of information.  This next phase of the research process is called Review of related literature. In this phase, you need to gather or collect information that would serve as a foundation for your research, you can look for any relevant information through books, magazines, and even catalogs. You can also search online for any published journals and articles that would either support or negate your research problem. When reading you need to decide which ideas or information are important so you could emphasize them, and you should look at conclusions, theories, arguments that underline the work and look for similarities and differences with closely related work. When you look for sources, you would want to also look for their credibility and reliability, for your research to be trustworthy. 

The next phase of the research process is the construction of the Theoretical and Conceptual framework. The theoretical framework provides a representation of the relationship between things in a given phenomenon while the conceptual framework is the researcher's idea of how the research problem will have to be explored (Afribrary, 2015). The overall purpose of these two frameworks is to make research findings meaningful.

Hypothesis Formulation. A hypothesis is an educated guess. It gives the researcher a view of a specific nature and direction of the relationship between two variables. After formulating the hypothesis, the next phase to consider is the construction of the research design. 

Research Design prepares a general plan for real research. During this phase, the selection of subject/s for your research is anticipated like people, animals, or other objects. The location for your research is also evaluated and the technology needed to use. Method selection is also an integral part of this phase, choosing between a Qualitative or quantitative approach is wholly based on how accurately the collection of data is achieved. The use of research instruments such as questionnaires, interviews, and surveys are also assessed. This phase also includes setting ethical boundaries if you're dealing with human research. When research design is established, the Collection of Data also follows.

Once data collection is complete, it is time to systematically organize the data so that it can be interpreted and analyzed by the researcher. This is where the Analytic phase comes in. The researcher must first examine the completeness and accuracy of the data collected before proceeding to summarising, interpreting, and analyzing data. Data must be analyzed and interpreted to draw conclusions that coincide with the results. Data results can be presented through a diagram or a table showing a correlation or differences between two variables. 

Before proceeding to the Dissemination of Results to anyone who might find it useful. The researcher must first proofread and do what is considered ethically right, which is to give credit to where it is due (cite your references).

For more information, you can watch this video 👇

REFERENCE:

 

Top 5 Phases of Research Process – Explained! By Puja Mondal. Retrieved from https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/sociology/top-5-phases-of-research-process-explained/35061

Phases of Research Process by Jan Hanacek. Retrieved from cashp.columbian.gwu.edu 

What is the Difference Between the Theoretical and the Conceptual Framework? by Afribary. Retrieved from https://afribary.com/blog/5/what-is-the-difference-between-the-theoretical-and-the-conceptual-framework/