Research Diaries: Entry 1: Some Basic Terms
RESEARCH DIARIES: ENTRY 1: SOME BASIC TERMS
WHAT IS RESEARCH?: RESEARCH IS DEFINED AS THE CREATION OF NEW KNOWLEDGE AND/OR THE USE OF EXISTING KNOWLEDGE IN A NEW AND CREATIVE WAY SO AS TO GENERATE NEW CONCEPTS, METHODOLOGIES AND UNDERSTANDINGS. THIS COULD INCLUDE SYNTHESIS AND ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH TO THE EXTENT THAT IT LEADS TO NEW AND CREATIVE OUTCOMES. (1)
WHAT IS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM RESEARCH METHODS? THE SCIENTIFIC METHODS OF COLLECTING DATA, TESTING HYPOTHESIS, REPORT WRITING ETC. ARE A PART OF RESEARCH METHODS. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IS ABOUT WHICH RESEARCH METHOD SHOULD BE USED TO CARRYOUT THE RESEARCH PROPERLY. BOTH ARE IMPORTANT BUT THE UNDERSTANDING OF METHODOLOGY IS MORE IMPORTANT. IT IS LIKE KNOWING ENGLISH GRAMMAR (RESEARCH METHODS) VS KNOWING HOW TO APPLY THAT GRAMMATICAL KNOWLEDGE IN REAL WORLD COMMUNICATION. FOR EXAMPLE, SACHIN PLAYS CRICKET IS AN SENTENCE. ACTIVE VOICE IS USED IN IT. ITS PASSIVE WILL BE "CRICKET IS PLAYED BY SACHIN". WHILE BOTH ARE GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT, IN THIS SITUATION, ONE SHOULD USE THE ACTIVE VOICE IN REAL-WORLD COMMUNICATION.
WHAT IS THEORY?: IT IS GENERALLY AN ASSUMPTION THAT IS VALIDATED WITH THE SUPPORT OF SOME EVIDENCE. THAT'S WHY, WHILE WE HAVE MANY "CONSPIRACY THEORIES" ABOUT THE NOVEL CORONA VIRUS, THEY WILL BE CALLED "CONSPIRACY THEORIES" BECAUSE THERE IS NO VERIFIABLE, TESTABLE, FACTUAL EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THESE THEORIES. SO A SCIENTIFIC THEORY MUST HAVE A BACK UP OF A STRONG EVIDENCE.
WHAT IS A MODEL? A MODEL MAY TRY TO SHOW THE APPLICATION OF A THEORY IN A PARTICULAR SITUATION USING GRAPHICAL METHODS. FOR EXAMPLE, HOW TO APPLY A MOTIVATIONAL THEORY IN XYZ SITUATION.
WHAT ARE THE DEPENDENT VS INDEPENDENT VARIABLES?: A VARIABLE IS SOMETHING WHOSE VALUE IS NOT FIXED. A DEPENDENT VARIABLE'S VALUE DEPENDS ON THE CHANGES THAT OCCUR IN A DEPENDENT VARIABLE. FOR EXAMPLE, CHANGES IN DEMAND DEPEND ON CHANGES IN PRICE. CHANGES IN EMPLOYMENT GENERATION DEPENDS ON THE CHANGES IN GDP / ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.
WHAT ARE INTERVENING VARIABLES?/MEDIATOR VARIABLES? INTERVENING VARIABLES ARE NOT VISIBLE. THAT MAKES THEM DANGEROUS. THEY ARE ALSO HYPOTHETICAL AT TIMES. FOR THE SAKE OF SIMPLICITY, WE WILL USE THE TERM INTERVENING VARIABLES WITH MEDIATING VARIABLES. THOUGH SCIENCES LIKE PSYCHOLOGY AND STATISTICS HAVE DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS OF THESE TWO. THEY LINK THE INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLES. FOR EXAMPLES, HARD WORK FOR EXAMS LEAD TO BETTER MARKS. SO, THE HARD WORK IS AN IV, WHILE MARKS ARE DV. BUT, THE WAY OF PREPARING FOR EXAM MAY BE AN INTERVENING VARIABLE. IT MAY NOT BE EASY TO MEASURE/QUANTIFY IT. SO, WE MAY CALL IT INTERVENING VARIABLE. MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS OR MODERATOR ANALYSIS IS USEFUL TO FIND OUT SUCH VARIABLES.
WHAT ARE CONTROL / CONTROLLED VARIABLES?: ANY VARIABLE THAT IS KEPT NEUTRAL IN ANY STUDY IS CALLED CONTROL VARIABLE. IF YOU DO NOT KEEP THEM UNDER CONTROL, THEY WILL FAIL YOUR RESEARCH OR EXPERIMENT.
WHAT ARE CONTROL GROUPS VS EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS?: FOR EXAMPLE, IF I HAVE TWO GROUPS OF PATIENTS WITH THE SAME DISEASE AND I WANT TO TRY A NEW DRUG ON THEM. SO, I WILL ADMINISTER A NEW DRUG TO THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP, WHILE I WILL ADMINISTER THE PLACEBO (DRUG WITH NO EFFECT) TO THE CONTROL GROUP. IF BOTH THE GROUPS SHOW THE SAME LEVEL OF IMPROVEMENT AFTER THE EXPERIMENT (I.E. THE CLINICAL TRIAL), THEN THE DRUG IS SAID TO HAVE NO EFFECT. BUT, IF THE EXPERIMENT GROUP SHOWS SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT COMPARED TO THE CONTROL GROUP, IT CAN BE ARGUED THAT THE NEW DRUG IS WORKING. THE HAWTHORNE STUDIES ARE A GOOD EXAMPLE (2)
WHAT ARE EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES?: FOR EXAMPLE, IF I WANT TO CHECK IF CASE STUDY METHOD IS BETTER OR TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM TEACHING. THEN I CAN DO EXPERIMENT, BUT THE PROBLEM, IS THAT A LEARNER'S ABILITY TO LEARN WILL DEPEND ON SOME UNFORESEEN EXTERNAL FACTORS, REGARDLESS OF THE METHOD OF LEARNING. FOR EXAMPLE, SOMEONE IS FAMILIAR WITH THE SUBJECT WILL BE ABLE TO LEARN MORE THAN SOMEONE WHO IS NOT FAMILIAR, REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THAT WHETHER I USE CASE METHOD OF TEACHING OR TRADITIONAL METHOD OF TEACHING. SUCH EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO CONTROL AND IT IS THE RANDOM SAMPLING THAT CAN HANDLE SUCH VARIABLES UP TO SOME EXTENT. THAT'S WHY STATISTICAL RANDOM SAMPLING IS VERY CRITICAL IN CAUSAL RESEARCH.
WHAT IS A CONSTRUCT VS A CONCEPT?: A CONCEPT IS GENERALLY BROAD AND A BIT VAGUE. WHILE A CONSTRUCT IS A VERSION OF CONCEPT, THAT IS MORE SPECIFIC IN A GIVEN INQUIRY / RESEARCH. CONSTRUCTS, THEN, ARE MORE CONTEXTUAL. FOR EXAMPLE, EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION MAY BE MEASURED IN TERMS OF EQUITABLE TREATMENT WHILE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION MAY BE MEASURED IN TERMS OF HOW MUCH "VALUE FOR MONEY" IS THERE IN ANY PRODUCT. THEN, SATISFACTION IS A CONCEPT WHILE TWO OTHERS ARE CONSTRUCTS. CONSTRUCTS ARE NOT DIRECTLY OBSERVABLE IN PSYCHOLOGY. FOR EXAMPLE, SOMEONE IS PERSPIRING, SHOWS UNCOMFORTABLE BODY LANGUAGE AND IS NOT ABLE TO CONVEY THE IDEAS PROPERLY. IT MEANS THE PERSON IS CONFUSED. BUT YOU CANNOT "OBSERVE" THE CONFUSION DIRECTLY. WHAT IS VALIDITY AND WHAT IS RELIABILITY?: VALIDITY MEANS AN INSTRUMENT OR AN EXPERIMENT MEASURES WHAT IT IS "SUPPOSED TO MEASURE". FOR EXAMPLE, A QUESTIONNAIRE CLAIMS TO MEASURE TYPE A PERSONALITY OF AN INDIVIDUAL. BUT IN REALITY, IT MEASURES, SAY, STRESS LEVEL OF AN INDIVIDUAL. THEN, WE CAN SAY THAT THE QUESTIONNAIRE IS NOT "VALID" AS IT IS NOT MEASURING WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE MEASURING. RELIABILITY, IS ABOUT CONSISTENCY. FOR EXAMPLE, I SCORE "74" ON A SCALE (WHICH MEASURES, FOR EXAMPLE, ANXIETY) TODAY. AFTER ONE MONTH, IF I SCORE 44 AND AFTER ONE MORE MONTH IF I SCORE 99 ON THE SAME SCALE, THEN, WE CAN SAY IT IS NOT A RELIABLE SCALE. BUT, IF THE SCORE OF MINE REMAINS IN THE SAME RANGE DURING THESE THREE TRIALS, I CAN CLAIM THAT THE SCALE IS RELIABLE. BOTH, VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY ARE IMPORTANT, BUT THE VALIDITY, IS OBVIOUSLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN RELIABILITY. IN THE ABOVE EXAMPLE, THE INSTRUMENT CAN CONSISTENTLY MEASURE STRESS RATHER THAN TYPE A. SO, WHILE, IT IS NOT VALID, IT IS DEFINITELY RELIABLE (NEGATIVELY SPEAKING)
(1) HTTPS://WWW.WESTERNSYDNEY.EDU.AU/RESEARCH/RESEARCHERS/PREPARING_A_GRANT_APPLICATION/DEST_DEFINITION_OF_RESEARCH(2) HTTP://WWW.YOURARTICLELIBRARY.COM/MANAGEMENT/4-PHASES-OF-HAWTHORNE-EXPERIMENTS-DISCUSSED-BUSINESS-MANAGEMENT/27888
WHAT IS RESEARCH?: RESEARCH IS DEFINED AS THE CREATION OF NEW KNOWLEDGE AND/OR THE USE OF EXISTING KNOWLEDGE IN A NEW AND CREATIVE WAY SO AS TO GENERATE NEW CONCEPTS, METHODOLOGIES AND UNDERSTANDINGS. THIS COULD INCLUDE SYNTHESIS AND ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH TO THE EXTENT THAT IT LEADS TO NEW AND CREATIVE OUTCOMES. (1)
WHAT IS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM RESEARCH METHODS? THE SCIENTIFIC METHODS OF COLLECTING DATA, TESTING HYPOTHESIS, REPORT WRITING ETC. ARE A PART OF RESEARCH METHODS. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IS ABOUT WHICH RESEARCH METHOD SHOULD BE USED TO CARRYOUT THE RESEARCH PROPERLY. BOTH ARE IMPORTANT BUT THE UNDERSTANDING OF METHODOLOGY IS MORE IMPORTANT. IT IS LIKE KNOWING ENGLISH GRAMMAR (RESEARCH METHODS) VS KNOWING HOW TO APPLY THAT GRAMMATICAL KNOWLEDGE IN REAL WORLD COMMUNICATION. FOR EXAMPLE, SACHIN PLAYS CRICKET IS AN SENTENCE. ACTIVE VOICE IS USED IN IT. ITS PASSIVE WILL BE "CRICKET IS PLAYED BY SACHIN". WHILE BOTH ARE GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT, IN THIS SITUATION, ONE SHOULD USE THE ACTIVE VOICE IN REAL-WORLD COMMUNICATION.
WHAT IS THEORY?: IT IS GENERALLY AN ASSUMPTION THAT IS VALIDATED WITH THE SUPPORT OF SOME EVIDENCE. THAT'S WHY, WHILE WE HAVE MANY "CONSPIRACY THEORIES" ABOUT THE NOVEL CORONA VIRUS, THEY WILL BE CALLED "CONSPIRACY THEORIES" BECAUSE THERE IS NO VERIFIABLE, TESTABLE, FACTUAL EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THESE THEORIES. SO A SCIENTIFIC THEORY MUST HAVE A BACK UP OF A STRONG EVIDENCE.
WHAT IS A MODEL? A MODEL MAY TRY TO SHOW THE APPLICATION OF A THEORY IN A PARTICULAR SITUATION USING GRAPHICAL METHODS. FOR EXAMPLE, HOW TO APPLY A MOTIVATIONAL THEORY IN XYZ SITUATION.
WHAT ARE THE DEPENDENT VS INDEPENDENT VARIABLES?: A VARIABLE IS SOMETHING WHOSE VALUE IS NOT FIXED. A DEPENDENT VARIABLE'S VALUE DEPENDS ON THE CHANGES THAT OCCUR IN A DEPENDENT VARIABLE. FOR EXAMPLE, CHANGES IN DEMAND DEPEND ON CHANGES IN PRICE. CHANGES IN EMPLOYMENT GENERATION DEPENDS ON THE CHANGES IN GDP / ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.
WHAT ARE INTERVENING VARIABLES?/MEDIATOR VARIABLES? INTERVENING VARIABLES ARE NOT VISIBLE. THAT MAKES THEM DANGEROUS. THEY ARE ALSO HYPOTHETICAL AT TIMES. FOR THE SAKE OF SIMPLICITY, WE WILL USE THE TERM INTERVENING VARIABLES WITH MEDIATING VARIABLES. THOUGH SCIENCES LIKE PSYCHOLOGY AND STATISTICS HAVE DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS OF THESE TWO. THEY LINK THE INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLES. FOR EXAMPLES, HARD WORK FOR EXAMS LEAD TO BETTER MARKS. SO, THE HARD WORK IS AN IV, WHILE MARKS ARE DV. BUT, THE WAY OF PREPARING FOR EXAM MAY BE AN INTERVENING VARIABLE. IT MAY NOT BE EASY TO MEASURE/QUANTIFY IT. SO, WE MAY CALL IT INTERVENING VARIABLE. MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS OR MODERATOR ANALYSIS IS USEFUL TO FIND OUT SUCH VARIABLES.
WHAT ARE CONTROL / CONTROLLED VARIABLES?: ANY VARIABLE THAT IS KEPT NEUTRAL IN ANY STUDY IS CALLED CONTROL VARIABLE. IF YOU DO NOT KEEP THEM UNDER CONTROL, THEY WILL FAIL YOUR RESEARCH OR EXPERIMENT.
WHAT ARE CONTROL GROUPS VS EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS?: FOR EXAMPLE, IF I HAVE TWO GROUPS OF PATIENTS WITH THE SAME DISEASE AND I WANT TO TRY A NEW DRUG ON THEM. SO, I WILL ADMINISTER A NEW DRUG TO THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP, WHILE I WILL ADMINISTER THE PLACEBO (DRUG WITH NO EFFECT) TO THE CONTROL GROUP. IF BOTH THE GROUPS SHOW THE SAME LEVEL OF IMPROVEMENT AFTER THE EXPERIMENT (I.E. THE CLINICAL TRIAL), THEN THE DRUG IS SAID TO HAVE NO EFFECT. BUT, IF THE EXPERIMENT GROUP SHOWS SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT COMPARED TO THE CONTROL GROUP, IT CAN BE ARGUED THAT THE NEW DRUG IS WORKING. THE HAWTHORNE STUDIES ARE A GOOD EXAMPLE (2)
WHAT ARE EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES?: FOR EXAMPLE, IF I WANT TO CHECK IF CASE STUDY METHOD IS BETTER OR TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM TEACHING. THEN I CAN DO EXPERIMENT, BUT THE PROBLEM, IS THAT A LEARNER'S ABILITY TO LEARN WILL DEPEND ON SOME UNFORESEEN EXTERNAL FACTORS, REGARDLESS OF THE METHOD OF LEARNING. FOR EXAMPLE, SOMEONE IS FAMILIAR WITH THE SUBJECT WILL BE ABLE TO LEARN MORE THAN SOMEONE WHO IS NOT FAMILIAR, REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THAT WHETHER I USE CASE METHOD OF TEACHING OR TRADITIONAL METHOD OF TEACHING. SUCH EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO CONTROL AND IT IS THE RANDOM SAMPLING THAT CAN HANDLE SUCH VARIABLES UP TO SOME EXTENT. THAT'S WHY STATISTICAL RANDOM SAMPLING IS VERY CRITICAL IN CAUSAL RESEARCH.
WHAT IS A CONSTRUCT VS A CONCEPT?: A CONCEPT IS GENERALLY BROAD AND A BIT VAGUE. WHILE A CONSTRUCT IS A VERSION OF CONCEPT, THAT IS MORE SPECIFIC IN A GIVEN INQUIRY / RESEARCH. CONSTRUCTS, THEN, ARE MORE CONTEXTUAL. FOR EXAMPLE, EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION MAY BE MEASURED IN TERMS OF EQUITABLE TREATMENT WHILE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION MAY BE MEASURED IN TERMS OF HOW MUCH "VALUE FOR MONEY" IS THERE IN ANY PRODUCT. THEN, SATISFACTION IS A CONCEPT WHILE TWO OTHERS ARE CONSTRUCTS. CONSTRUCTS ARE NOT DIRECTLY OBSERVABLE IN PSYCHOLOGY. FOR EXAMPLE, SOMEONE IS PERSPIRING, SHOWS UNCOMFORTABLE BODY LANGUAGE AND IS NOT ABLE TO CONVEY THE IDEAS PROPERLY. IT MEANS THE PERSON IS CONFUSED. BUT YOU CANNOT "OBSERVE" THE CONFUSION DIRECTLY.
WHAT IS VALIDITY AND WHAT IS RELIABILITY?: VALIDITY MEANS AN INSTRUMENT OR AN EXPERIMENT MEASURES WHAT IT IS "SUPPOSED TO MEASURE". FOR EXAMPLE, A QUESTIONNAIRE CLAIMS TO MEASURE TYPE A PERSONALITY OF AN INDIVIDUAL. BUT IN REALITY, IT MEASURES, SAY, STRESS LEVEL OF AN INDIVIDUAL. THEN, WE CAN SAY THAT THE QUESTIONNAIRE IS NOT "VALID" AS IT IS NOT MEASURING WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE MEASURING. RELIABILITY, IS ABOUT CONSISTENCY. FOR EXAMPLE, I SCORE "74" ON A SCALE (WHICH MEASURES, FOR EXAMPLE, ANXIETY) TODAY. AFTER ONE MONTH, IF I SCORE 44 AND AFTER ONE MORE MONTH IF I SCORE 99 ON THE SAME SCALE, THEN, WE CAN SAY IT IS NOT A RELIABLE SCALE. BUT, IF THE SCORE OF MINE REMAINS IN THE SAME RANGE DURING THESE THREE TRIALS, I CAN CLAIM THAT THE SCALE IS RELIABLE. BOTH, VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY ARE IMPORTANT, BUT THE VALIDITY, IS OBVIOUSLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN RELIABILITY. IN THE ABOVE EXAMPLE, THE INSTRUMENT CAN CONSISTENTLY MEASURE STRESS RATHER THAN TYPE A. SO, WHILE, IT IS NOT VALID, IT IS DEFINITELY RELIABLE (NEGATIVELY SPEAKING)
(1) HTTPS://WWW.WESTERNSYDNEY.EDU.AU/RESEARCH/RESEARCHERS/PREPARING_A_GRANT_APPLICATION/DEST_DEFINITION_OF_RESEARCH
(2) HTTP://WWW.YOURARTICLELIBRARY.COM/MANAGEMENT/4-PHASES-OF-HAWTHORNE-EXPERIMENTS-DISCUSSED-BUSINESS-MANAGEMENT/27888
