How to do research approach

Research approach is the way in which a researcher plans what type of approach they are doing to do in order to gain the data they need to conduct their research. To understand which type of research approach you need to use, you should first study the topic you have been given or the one you’ve chosen. Philosophy has its part to play as well – the decision as to which approach you wish to take should be informed by the procedures of the inquiry, also known as the research design and the specific methods of data collection that you wish to use in order to gain knowledge for your research. All of these things must be considered when writing a piece of research, whether for a business or for university. You must carefully examine all aspects of the company or person that you are researching and ensure that all elements relating to it are carefully examined to determine whether they are more suited to one particular type of research method or another. Once you have understood which methods best apply to your research, it is time to consider the different type of approach to it.

There are a few different types of research approach, however there are lots of intricacies to each. They all broadly fall into either quantitative or qualitative research, as do most research methods. However, unlike other types of research, approaches must be treated differently as an element of philosophical understanding comes into them more than it does with other types of research. Don’t let this put you off – it doesn’t involve reading lots of Kant or Nietzsche The philosophy is simply an understanding of what the purpose of your research is and what it means to you and how that will then impact on your choice of research. When choosing from the deductive, inductive or abductive types of approach you must also be aware that fully understanding the difference between each type of research will ensure you make the right choice; if you fail to fully understand the differences between them then your research will likely not be as successful, and you may not be able to come to the correct conclusions for your research.

• Deductive Research. In Deductive Research, the logical inference is that if the premise is true then therefore so must the conclusion ben. This means that you must ensure that your premise comes from a place of logic rather than based on a misconception or misreading of data. For example, it is a fact that there is large scale migration between the US and Mexico. Therefore, based on Deductive Research, if you used this as an idea and then used the premise that “large scale migration between the US and Mexico has negatively impacted on the American job market” then your research would have to prove this was the case. The collection of your data, whether through surveys, discussion groups; government records is set to simply find out whether your premise is correct and to either prove it or disprove it. One of the problems with Deductive Research is that it tends to be fairly rigid and this means that it is often not open to wider interpretations and or to greater degrees of flexibility. Unlike the other two methods, inductive and abductive, deductive tends to work best only within the confines of what is already known and extrapolate from that; it can be seen as the self-fulfilling prophecy of the research world as often the premise that you set out with is fulfilled by the data you collect. This can sometimes result in the data being sent in a particular direction, towards the presupposed conclusion and therefore it may not result in an entirely accurate reading of the situation or of the data. Deductive Research is most often used for university dissertations and for other sorts of courses as it has a safe structure which students are likely not to be worried by or find confusing. It is best used if the aim of your project is to prove one particular preposition.
• Inductive Research. Unlike, Deductive Research, which plans to prove a theory is correct, Inductive Research is most often used to construct theories rather than prove them one way or the other. It starts with an inference or premise that uses known facts to generate untested or new conclusions. For instance, rather than stating that large scale migration from the US to Mexico “has negatively impacted on the US jobs market” it takes a broader idea and refines it to something more manageable and something different that statistical information might not exist for. This will result in your research question being more like “Does large scale migration from Mexico to the US effect American restaurants?” Unlike the Deductive Research, Inductive Research allows the researcher to develop new information and ideas and test them within a framework of scientific endeavour. This allows for the freedom of experimental ideas which would otherwise be constricted by Deductive Research. It also allows for the research to try different type of research and not be afraid of the results because it isn’t expected that you come to a concrete conclusion having used this method, rather that you simply come up with something original and different which Inductive Research allows you to do. Inductive Research is best used for experimental projects or for business projects that want to pursue new ideas or find out something that hasn’t previously been explored. It can be used for university dissertations, but it is perhaps better, for those of you who are doing dissertations, to use Deductive Research rather than Inductive. Whilst Inductive Research may seem more exciting or at least flexible it doesn’t give you the support system that you need when gathering information for your dissertation as it relies on not giving certain results but rather finding new questions.
• Abductive Research. In contrast to Deductive Research or to Inductive Research, Abductive Research takes known premises or inferences and uses them to find testable conclusions. In this way it is more like Deductive Research, however, unlike it Abductive Research is more concerned with finding patterns than coming to any solid conclusion. It is about the examination of theories and either testing or modifying them – somewhat like Inductive Research. However, unlike Inductive Research Abductive Research is more concerned with explaining odd little quirks in data or researching obscure or over looked elements of research that other projects have not properly examined. This can be demonstrated by using our example – rather than supporting a statement or a question, an Abductive Premise would be something like this: “Travel between Mexico and the US, costs in petrol, twenty million dollars a year.” Rather then examining what the migration itself does an Abductive Research project would examine how petrol was involved and the extent to which petrol impacted on whether people from Mexico could travel to the US or not. Again, this allows flexibility of purpose and ensures that your research is open to interpretation and allows you to think freely. This particular type of research approach is best used in experimental research and discovering how patterns act in particular frames of data rather than in providing research for a dissertation. As such, it would be advised against unless you are conducting experimental research for a business or company that wishes to find out about new ideas or experiment with existing business theories that they may have. It can also be used by research students as a mean of finding out whether their idea for a dissertation can break new ground but not for the dissertation itself.

Once you have looked into what methods you want to use and decided which approach you wish to use, it is time to put into practise which of the techniques you have chosen. This will mean using the approach and your research methods to gather together as much data as you can for your dissertation or research project so that you have a firm authorial basis when you use your data in your project. This will allow you to be certain that you have the data you need and not feel as if you need to worry about it when you are writing your dissertation. However, before you put your data into action and once you have gathered it, it is time to analysis it.

The analysis of your data is important as it allows you to clarify what type of data you have and how you will be able to use it in your project. It will also allow you to properly understand what data is extraneous and what is vital to supporting your theory. You may also find data which disproves or undermines your theory; this is important to conclude because you can use it when discussing what you would do differently if you have more time to conduct the research and use it as a means of demonstrating that you can be self critical.

Analysis of data also allows you to sort your data into the sections relevant to each part of your research and allow you to have it ordered and structured even before writing your dissertation meaning that you will not have to order your data as you go along but simply and easily add it into your work and therefore not cause any worry during the writing process.