What is research? Flashcards
What is research?
Research is a systematic inquiry process that seeks to understand, explore, describe, or explain phenomena to generate new knowledge or validate existing knowledge.
How does research matter to you?
Research can help you understand complex social issues, contribute to policy-making, and improve the lives of individuals and communities.
Research refers to investigating the relationship between social media usage and political engagement among South African youth.
What is the process of inquiry?
- Curiosity, Interest, Uncertainty, Questions and, Problems
- Information (depends on existing knowledge)
- Existing knowledge- beliefs, values, attitudes, and expectations.
- Assumptions
- Decisions
How does research matter to us all?
Research matters to us because it shapes our understanding of the world, informs policies and practices, and helps us make informed decisions based on evidence.
What is meant by the narrative term?
Analysis of many different kinds of stories have come to feature prominently in social scientific research.
What are concepts?
Abstract ideas that are associated with other ideas and that are created through language.
What are some concepts that can be related to research?
Observation, Facts, Evidence, Reality, Truth, Relationships, Relevance, and Objectivity.
What is the hierarchy of assumptions in research?
- Philosophical assumptions - epistemology (beliefs of knowledge) , ontology (reality) , and axiology (values, objective or subjective)
- Theoretical assumptions - metatheory (theories about the role of theory in research)
- Methodological assumptions - qualitative and quantitative methods
What are the stages of the research process?
The research process involves identifying and analysing the research problem, reviewing relevant literature, formulating a research question, deciding on a research approach, writing your research, pre-testing, collecting and analysing data, and discussing the implications of the findings and, writing a report.
What is the difference between pure research and applied research?
Pure research is learning more about a particular topic to gain more insight and understanding
Applied research is finding a practical solution to a problem
What is the research problem identified?
The research problem is the low political engagement among South African youth and the potential role of social media in addressing this issue.
What are the three broad categories that research topics is grouped in?
These categories guide you in determining the purposes and goals of your research
- Exploratory research - the aim is to gather new information about a topic that has not been researched before.
- Explanatory research - aim is to find a explanation for a specific phenomenon.
- Descriptive research - the aim is to describe a phenomenon that is identified through the research conducted.
What are the stages in the literature review process?
Stage 1: Research databases. Find published articles that contain key words which seem to relate to your research topic. These articles may or may not contain information that is relevant to your inquiry.
Stage 2: Focus on articles that contain key words and information relevant to your inquiry.
Stage 3: Focus on articles that will enable you to formulate your research question or problem more clearly.
What is the nature of the research process?
The research process is iterative and dynamic, with each stage informing the next.
What does conducting a literature review involve?
Conducting a literature review involves examining existing studies related to the research problem.
What could be a research question for this study?
The research question for this study could be: ‘How does social media usage influence political engagement among South African youth?’
What research approach may be chosen?
The researcher may choose a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative interviews with South African youth and quantitative analysis of social media data.
What does a research proposal outline?
The research proposal outlines the research problem, literature review, research question, research approach, data collection and analysis methods, and anticipated implications of the research.
How will data be collected?
The researcher will collect data through semi-structured interviews with South African youth and analyse social media data, such as posts, likes, and comments.
How will the data be analysed?
The researcher will use qualitative coding to identify themes from the interviews and statistical analysis to explore relationships between social media usage and political engagement.
What are the implications of this research?
This research could have significant implications for policymakers, political parties, and civil society organisations interested in increasing youth political engagement in South Africa.
