Michael Ogbu

The most difficult aspect of a research project or any project for that matter is usually the beginning part. That moment of commitment, and of taking the first bold step. For seasoned researchers, this might not really be as much a problem. But, it is, or even more for beginners, or in most cases, for students. I know this because of my experience with many beginners, most of whom are students. This is why I have always insisted that there is no reason why every research teacher should not be very intentional about creating an easy and exciting experience for his/her research students.

Often than not, I have encountered students who did not know where to begin with their research projects even after taking a course in the subject. In fact, many of them would have completely avoided the process had it not been compulsory. Faced with such situation, I would ask that they followed these steps committedly and it always proved invaluable.

While these may seem too elementary to most experienced researchers, howbeit, they are the most proven, and reliable ways with which any beginner can start a research project with the hope of completing the process in an exciting note, and would be willing to carry on with the process for umpteen times.

Step 1 – Defining the Problem

Every research is likely to start from the point of conceiving a problem. In other words, they would hardly be a research if there isn’t a problem. However, this is not to imply succinctly that there must always be a nagging, life-threatening situation before there would be a research. Actually, such problems that could lead to research may come in an unassuming, and imagined forms. They could be as trivial as a problem about wooing your school crush (well, that is not even that trivial in the true sense of it), or as serious as finding the cure of a deadly ailment. In any case, research is all about finding answers and in some cases, it could be for a future purpose, one that may appear inconsequential to most people at the time of the research. Yet, such with its findings could produce results that may become the gateway to many scientific discoveries in the future.

In this sense, the need to clearly conceptualise the problem when embarking on a research is very pivotal to its seamless process, thereby, leading to an accurate result evidence. Identifying a problem, especially a novel problem makes for the best quality and most success of a given research. By this, one must be sure that the problem so conceived is properly interpreted in a way that it satisfies as being problematic enough, no matter how fascinated you may seem about the idea. A problem once conceived must be clearly defined and its veracity equally agreed upon. At the point of defining the problem, you are able to determine the type of research you are venturing into, whether it’s an applied or a fundamental research. Also, defining a problem helps you to decide on the best approach to adopt in the end. The topic of the research is equally created at this stage. Doing this is the very first and most important step in research.

Step Two – Literature Search

Delving into the research work proper, you will need to have an in-depth understanding of the research topic. This step is not particularly followed in the orderly step-by-step process as outlined in this piece. Here’s a step that can come in between the various steps but must be utilised at the very beginning of the journey, immediately after a research idea (problem) must have been conceived.

This is a crucial step that arms you with the trends and latest information on your research topic. It has to do with exploring various related sources for updated information on the research area. It is a critical step which requires an analytical approach. Beginners often make the mistake of searching sources in a directionless manner. That can be time consuming and frustrating. In literature search, you must consider the keywords of your research topic; otherwise, you would waste most of your time scouring sources, endlessly.

Literature search is carried out on different sources from different spaces. The Internet and Libraries are the major spaces for carrying out literature search. These are the spaces where literature sources like the journals, encyclopaedia, texts, etc. are stored for utilization by researchers.       

Step Three – Framing the Questions

This is the next big step. While the research problem is seen as the heart of research, the questions are considered as the blood vessels. This, as a step or process is the vehicle and compass through which the rest of the research process is navigated. The research questions are what gives every research a direction. It produces the framework of research. It is worth noting that the research questions are the objectives of the study framed in in form of questions. So they lead to the findings of the study and the consequent results as the case may be.

In framing the research questions, we put a structure to our research. We give it a direction, a sort of plan which make the process methodical, systematic and scientific. We frame our purpose into questions which the research will have to provide answers to through its findings at the end of the day. This ensures that you don’t wander about endlessly searching for the wrong things in the wrong places. It tailors your process and gives you the precision you require to start and finish. Nothing can be more exasperating like being stuck half way in the process, only to realise that you had been searching for the wrong things in the wrong places.

Step Four – Determining the Research Design  

Having defined your research problem and framed a set of research questions/objectives, the next step would be to decide on the research design you wish to adopt. In determining the research design we draw from a lot of factors which characterize the research. A research can be typified or categorised based on its timing in terms of applicability (Applied or Fundamental), the timing in terms of activities of its subjects (descriptive or analytical), the measurability of the characteristics of its subjects (qualitative or quantitative), etc. The nature and type of a given research project determines the design that will be most suitable for it.

Research design is the orderly and systematic approach which entails a detailed plan for the conduct of a research project. This is different from the research method. In fact, a research method is an offshoot of the research design. While a research method has to do with the specific method or strategy you’d use to execute a research, such as observation, interview, or survey, research design is a broader approach – the overall design that is adopted to ensure a successful conduct of research.  

The most common research designs are descriptive, observational, correlational, experimental, exploratory, case study, historical, etc. many a time, a particular research can be a hybrid of more than one research design also. Whichever design you settle for, adopting the right research design is one to ensure a conclusive process with a veritable result at the end. 

If and when you are able to follow these steps to the point of selecting a suitable research design, trust me, your research is more than half way gone. Every other aspect of the process would readily fall into place because it is the same as having laid a solid foundation, and having assembled all the suitable materials for a building projects. The rest, as you would agree, would be an easy-peasy experience.