You are on page 1of 7

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH

Introduction:

Information, ideas and opinions surround us, most of which we never question. In fact, we
have to ignore most of them or suffer from brain burnout. However, when we do pay attention
we usually accept it as it comes in from whatever source. For example, do you ever wonder if
you're getting the whole story from TV news shows or newspapers? Do you wonder what's
been left out, if anything? Or why? However, if we wish to understand something, not just
accept someone else's word for it but actually understand it, and in turn pass on our
understanding to someone else, we must question opinion and assumption and theory and
speculation. The purpose of the questions is to gather evidence.

Definition:

In the broadest sense of the word, the definition of research includes any gathering of data,
information and facts for the advancement of knowledge.

Importance Of Research:
Research is actually an act of studying something carefully and extensively in order to attain
deep knowledge in the same. For being successful, research should be systematic, arranged,
summarized and recorded properly. Research is not only a process that is limited to the field
of science. It can, as well, cater to people and scholars from artistic, historic or any other field
where an individual is willing to do extensive study to get relevant information. Research can
be creative, exploring or just reassuring in nature. Each one of us does some or the other
research in our lifetime for sure. Research can affect a subject both positively and negatively
and can be constructive or destructive in nature. Some people believe that research is mostly
destructive in nature. However, you need to understand that it’s not the results from a
research that determine its use; it’s the people who handle the results. In the following lines,
we have just tried to emphasize the importance of research.

Significance Of Research:

To Gather Necessary Information

Research provides you with all necessary information in field of your work, study or
operation before you begin working on it. For example, most companies do research before
beginning a project in order to get a basic idea about the things they will need to do for the
project. Research also helps them get acquainted with the processes and resources involved
and reception from the market. This information helps in the successful outcome of the
project.

1
To Make Changes:

Sometimes, there are in-built problems in a process or a project that is hard to discover.
Research helps us find the root cause and associated elements of a process. The end result of
such a research invokes a demand for change and sometimes is successful in producing
changes as well. For example, many U.N researches have paved way for changes in
environmental policies.

Improving Standard Of Living:

Only through research can new inventions and discoveries come into life. It was C.V
Raman’s research that prompted invention of radio communication. Imagine how you would
have communicated had Graham Bell not come out with the first ever practical telephone!
Forget telephones, what would have happened if Martin Cooper did not present the world the
concept of mobile phones! Addicted as we are to mobile phones, we need to understand that
all the luxuries and the amenities that are now available to us are the result of research done
by someone. And with the world facing more and crisis each day, we need researchers to find
new solutions to tackle them.

For A Safer Life:

Research has made ground breaking discoveries and development in the field of health,
nutrition, food technology and medicine. These things have improved the life expectancy and
health conditions of human race in all parts of the world and helped eradicate diseases like
polio, smallpox completely. Diseases that were untreatable are now history, as new and new
inventions and research in the field of medicine have led to the advent of drugs that not only
treat the once-incurable diseases, but also prevent them from recurring.

To Know The Truth:

It has been proved time and again that many of established facts and known truths are just
cover ups or blatant lies or rumors. Research is needed to investigate and expose these and
bring out the truth.

Explore Our History:

Research about our planets history and human history has enabled us to learn and understand
more about our forefathers and helped us learn from their mistakes and absorb good things
from their life. Research about the planet’s history and existence has told us a lot about how
things will shape up in years to come and how we need to respect our planet and work closely
together to stop global warming and other scenarios of destruction.

Understanding Arts:

This helps us in understanding the work of artists in literature, paintings, sculptures and
everything that can be attributed with artistic touch. If no research is conducted into any of
these, we will never be able to understand any of these as per the artist’s imagination. Also, a
lot of great artistic work is hidden in the shadows of history, which needs to be drawn out.
2
The Significance of Research in Business Decision Making:
Research is essential in all businesses, whether small or big. Based on research, management
can make intelligent and informed decisions. Companies need to research which products to
make, how to make them, the quantities thereof, how to market them, entice customers,
motivate employees and run more effective systems. In the research mechanism, the analyst
collects data, organizes and tabulates it, then presents it to top management in the form of text
and charts.

Function
Research is necessary for managerial decision making. All strategic business areas are
scrutinized and evaluated; then tactics for more efficient operations are developed. Every
business often has several means of performing a task. Through research, the organization is
able to choose the most efficient, productive and profitable one. Research could be applied to
marketing, production, finance, IT and HR. Through research, the organization is able to
gauge initially whether getting into a new line of trade would be a profitable venture. On-
going research is essential to improve and improvise the product as per customer
specifications. The company must also research ways and means to keep its employees happy
and motivated.
Features
The research mechanism enables the organization to better understand and comprehend the
market, its customers and competitors. The organization knows exactly what their customers
need and desire, and takes the appropriate steps to deliver that to them. Also, the company
can classify customers on the basis of demographics, such as gender, age, income and level
of education. Once the company determine its customers' primary demographic group, it takes
steps to service them better. Through research, competitors' moves and strategies are
highlighted, and the company can then be proactive to preempt them.
Types:
There are two types of research. The first type, primary research, is when the individuals who
are the company's present or potential customers are asked to define their specifications on
the kind of product they desire. The interviewer usually has a pre-set format or questionnaire
when he goes to respondents to ask for feedback. This type of research is primarily conducted
to gauge the customers' perceptions on a specific product. Secondary research uses an analyst
to compile previously published data. This study is useful in understanding the broad market
and industry situation.
Benefits:
There are many benefits of conducting research. The company can understand what its
customers actually want and can deliver that product to them. When the company is planning
to diversify its product range, it will know at the very outset, through the research mechanism,
whether or not there is a demand for such a product. When the company knows about what
feature in the product attracts customers and what repels them, the company is able to take the
appropriate steps. The company then accentuates its strengths more aggressively while
allaying its weaknesses.

3
Considerations:
Companies must apportion a chunk of their yearly budgets for research and development
purposes. Also, many companies entrust the work of carrying out research to market research
companies. These companies may not be fully aware of the work ethos and ethics prevailing
in the organization; hence there is always the possibility that they may not research that
pertinent aspect of the company desired. Therefore, the research company must be made fully
aware of the parameters of the research.
Significance in Statistics & Surveys:
"Significance level" is a misleading term that many researchers do not fully understand. This
article may help you understand the concept of statistical significance and the meaning of the
numbers produced by The Survey System.

This article is presented in two parts. The first part simplifies the concept of statistical
significance as much as possible; so that non-technical readers can use the concept to help
make decisions based on their data. The second part provides more technical readers with a
fuller discussion of the exact meaning of statistical significance numbers.

Significance of research project:

The results from this project will allow a reappraisal of the competing theories of hominid
development in the Middle Pleistocene. This issue is one of the most important topics, not
only in the Palaeolithic archaeology of the Near East, but globally, as testified by the number
papers, books and international conferences on this subject that have taken place over the last
few years. Also the issue has a high profile in public awareness because of a series of
magazine articles and television programmes. The question of the role of Neanderthals in the
development of our own species is fundamental to our understanding of human evolution,
especially the relationship of 'cultural' evolution to biological evolution. Therefore it is

4
anticipated that this project would generate a great deal of interest, not only among
archaeologists, but also among the general public.

The significance of my research for theory:

The goal of my research was an improvement in the quality of my practice as a teacher and as
an ICT consultant to a national awarding body. My thesis offers descriptions of what I did
and explanations for doing it. Together these become my living theory of practice (McNiff
2006: 149). Within the thesis I am offering my own living theory based in my practice. The
theory is located within and generated from within practice and influences the development of
new practices. I have indicated how Deane (2000) has shown that the formation of the Action
Learning Group in NCVA led to new practices. The work of the Action Learning Group
supported the members of the group in changing their practices. Some of the group presented
our changing practice publicly at an action research conference. By telling our stories and
providing explanations for those stories we were generating theory. By making this work
public professional educators and educational administrators were reclaiming their
professions as their own (McNiff 2006: 120).

I started my teaching life believing that theory was something generated by professional
researchers, mainly in the universities. As I carried out a self-study of my practice I came to
understand that I could generate theory too. As I worked with my students on their Web
Quests I came to realize that my students were generating their own living theories.

With this insight I began looking for evidence of theory generation in my students’ work and
I found it. In their web site reports, and elsewhere, my students were providing accounts of
their learning and explanations for learning. These were not presented in academic language
but were accounts of theory nonetheless.

Research question:

Your research question (or questions) should be your tool(s) for addressing the issue that you
have identified as being of interest to you. The way you ask the question is vital to
determining what kind of research you will conduct. For example, if you are interested in the
second example above - multiculturalism in the classroom - you could ask a number of
questions about this, all of which will guide you in a specific direction. Examples of questions
to address this context/problem might include:

 "Why are some schools managing to integrate students from different backgrounds
better than others?"
 "How are teachers in [X] coping with the increasing numbers of students from [X]?"
 "What could I do to improve the intercultural awareness of the students within my
class?"
 "What is the impact of multiculturalism on classroom ethos?
 "What are the strength and weaknesses of multiculturalism in the classroom?

5
Each of these questions has a particular slant (possibly even a philosophy), both in what it is
targeting and how it is phrased. They will also inevitably spawn a number of other questions,
or sub-questions. They also may need to be refined, or clarified (such as, in the second
question, by asking "What measures are teachers taking to cope with ...?". This is a continual
process that you will have to think about constantly throughout your research - possibly even
after your data collection and analysis. Things to bear in mind in forming questions to ask is
to be realistic in what you can answer (with the time/resources you have available), and also
in how many questions you are answering (better to have one or two well-focussed questions,
than five vague ones).
Methodologies and method:

There are a wide array of research methodologies and methods, and, while there are some
distinctions amongst these, there can also be significant overlap or multiple
methods/methodologies used in a single research design. Research methodologies can take
the form of experiment, case study, and/or survey, can be either, or a mixture of, qualitative
(based on words and meanings) or quantitative (based on statistics and their meanings), and
can incorporate a variety methods to generate data (eg. observations, questionnaires), as well
as varieties of ways of analysing this data. The following are some common ways of
designing a methodology that answers your research question(s), and methods of generating
data.

 Experiment: An experiment-based methodology is where, simply speaking, a


stimulus is applied (eg. a new system of teaching science to primary school students) and
its response is measured (eg. by analysing exam results). Such a methodology is most
often linked with a quantitative (ie statistical) approach, but this is not necessarily the
case. To maximise the validity of such studies, there is usually some element of
controlling of/for variables (such as by having a group of students who are taught
differently to normal, and another group who are taught the same as normal). It can be
linked with methods such as observation, interview etc.
 Survey: A survey is a study of a phenomenon over/within a geographic region. This
could involve, say, a survey of the crime rates of every major city in a certain country
(where "major city" needs to be defined), or a survey of a sample of bloggers' political
motivations (where this sample needs to be defined).
 Case study: A case study, as the name implies, is a study of a specific "case", or
group of "cases" - a "case" being an individual person, an organisation, a school etc. Some
research will focus on one single case and attempt to generate "rich" data (ie revealing as
much complexity as possible); and some research will focus on a number of cases, either
which are significantly different from one another, or which are similar, or which are
clustered or spread in a geographic/socio-political spread. Focussing on a number of cases
can approach a survey design (or mini-survey) - or sometimes large-scale surveys can be
used in order to identify specific cases which might be of interest to the researcher.
 Questionnaires: Sometimes a questionnaire can contain a number of questions with a
number of options to choose from (ie where you have to "tick a box, or number of
boxes"). Other questionnaires may be questions with space in which to write more
6
free-form or detailed answers. Some questionnaires will have a mixture of both types
of questions. Both types of questions can have their strengths and weaknesses.
 Observations: Observation is paying close attention to an environment, its context,
and its social dynamics. It can be systematic (where the researcher will be recording,
for example, how many times a person scratches their head), or more free-form where
the researcher watches everything and records as much detail as they can or that they
feel is appropriate. This latter type is a form of "participant observation", and which is
often associated with anthropological or ethnographic research.
 Interviews: Interviews can be between one person and another, or in a group setting.
They can be "structured" (where the interviewer will ask a predetermined set of
questions), "semi-structured" (where the interviewer will ask a number of questions
based on an outline of topics to be covered), or "unstructured" (where the interviewer
will ask questions based on whatever emerges during the interview itself - or, often,
will not seem to ask questions, but rather facilitate or participate in a conversation).
 Eliciting: Eliciting is a way of getting people to talk about something, based on a
prompt, such as a photograph, or piece of music. For example, in research done with
young children, an interview might be intimidating, but a photograph (for example)
gives the child or children something to talk about, while giving the researcher an
opportunity to observe reactions to the photograph.

You might also like