Essentials of Research

Identify a Philosophical Foundation

Identifying a philosophical foundation is an important essential that occurs first or in the early stages of the research process. By philosophical foundation, we mean an individual's particular orientation to how a person learns about human behavior, health, and personal abilities and experiences or other phenomena of importance in health and human services. In Chapter 3, we classify these orientations into two overarching philosophical categories through which knowledge is viewed and built, each of which gives rise to one of the primary research traditions. Thus, the researcher's particular philosophical orientation toward learning about phenomena determines the specific research tradition that is selected: experimental-type, naturalistic inquiry, or an integration of the two.

In naturalistic inquiry, articulating a philosophical tradition is especially important because of the many distinct philosophical schools of thought that inform this research approach (see Chapter 3). In preparing a proposal to conduct a research study or in writing a report of the completed study, the researcher using naturalistic inquiry usually discusses his or her philosophical perspective to provide an understanding of the thinking context in which the research is conducted.

In contrast, experimental-type research is based on one unifying philosophical foundation—logical positivism. Positivism is a broad term that refers to the belief that there is one truth independent of the investigator and that this truth can be discovered by following strict procedures (see Chapter 3). It is not necessary for an experimental-type researcher to identify the philosophical root of his or her research when submitting a research proposal or a published report, because all experimental-type inquiry is based on a single philosophical base. For example, a researcher trained in survey techniques will naturally assume a positivist or empiricist approach to describe a particular phenomenon. Therefore, it is not necessary for this researcher to state formally the epistemological assumption embedded in the study.

A philosophical foundation provides the backdrop from which specific methodological decisions in research are made. This does not mean that you must first become a philosopher to participate in research. However, you do need to know that research methodologies reflect different assumptions about human behavior, experience, meaning, and knowledge and about how we learn about these phenomena. By selecting a particular research strategy, you will automatically adopt a particular worldview and philosophical foundation. We believe that, at the very least, you should be aware that you are adopting a specific set of assumptions about human behavior and how people come to understand it. Understanding this philosophical foundation is particularly critical because assumptions about knowledge and their use have major implications for how health and human service professionals understand and respond to the diversity of human characteristics.

How does one's philosophical foundation shape research decisions? Consider the example of a provider who is hired to design and examine a pregnancy prevention program for Asian-American teenagers. From a logical positive tradition, one approach would be to select an existing and previously validated program, or what is referred to as an evidence-based program, and then implement and test it to ascertain its effectiveness in achieving pregnancy prevention for this particular group. In contrast, a naturalistic researcher would begin by discovering the cultural norms and values of Asian-American teenagers that might be important to informing a prevention program and then, based on this knowledge, construct an intervention tailored to that group. Each research approach has its advantages and limitations that you will learn about in this book.

You probably already have a particular philosophical foundation or preferred way of knowing without fully labeling or recognizing it as such. Sometimes personality, or how one naturally views the world, influences the particular research direction that is adopted. If you prefer to make and follow detailed plans, if you feel uncomfortable with the view that values and biases shape one's worldview, or if you do not like “hanging out” in someone else's world and trying to uncover his or her perspectives or experiences, you may have difficulty with naturalistic inquiry. In contrast, if you are uncomfortable working with and understanding numerical values or feel that numbers do not capture the complexity of the human experience, you may have difficulty with experimental-type inquiries. Many articles have been written about the personality types of individuals who pursue naturalistic inquiry versus those who pursue experimental-type research. However, there is nothing definitive about this literature. Certainly, all types of personalities are capable of learning the practices of multiple research paradigms. Also, as you will learn, it is possible for one researcher to work out of both research paradigms or to use an approach that integrates the two.

Frame a Research Problem

To engage in the research process, the investigator must identify in advance a particular problem area or broad issue that necessitates systematic investigation. Research, regardless of the form of inquiry used, is a focused, systematic endeavor that addresses a social issue, theoretically derived prediction, practice question, or personal concern. One of the first thinking processes in which you must engage is the identification of the problem area and the specific purpose for your research. Research topics should come from personal, professional, theoretical, scholarly, political, or societal concerns. To engage in research, it is important that you identify an area that holds personal interest and meaning to you. The research process is challenging and requires time and commitment. You will quickly lose momentum if you do not pursue a topic of personal intrigue. Some researchers study areas that have been problematic in their own lives. For example, some investigators who pursue studies on chronic illness have had a personal encounter with chronicity, such as growing up with a sibling or parent with chronic illness. Research in an area that has personal significance provides a scholarly forum from which to examine and then personally understand the issues. This is not to say that you have to be an individual with chronic illness to want to study this area or that you need to have experienced chronic illness or child abuse to study the phenomenon. However, something about a topic should “grab” you. It has to have personal meaning or some level of importance to your life—intellectually, emotionally, or professionally—for the research endeavor to be personally worthwhile. Because research is a long and engaging process, being passionate about a particular topic area or problem is important.

Once you have identified a topic (e.g., coping strategies of culturally diverse caregivers of individuals with dementia; impact of maternal alcohol abuse on early childhood development; quality of life and individuals with multiple sclerosis), you can begin to think about your particular purpose in exploring the topic. What do you want to know about the topic? What will be the purpose of your particular research, and how will the knowledge gained be used? To determine the direction, purpose, and uses of a study, the researcher must read what is already known about the topic.

Determine and Evaluate Supporting Knowledge

Another research essential involves conducting a critical review of existing theory and research that concerns your topic or area of inquiry.

A critical review of the literature initially helps the investigator frame a specific research direction so that the study will systematically contribute to the building of knowledge in the topic or area of concern.

A critical literature review is also used for other purposes throughout the research process. In some forms of naturalistic inquiry, a literature review is used as an additional source of data or as a data set. Literature review may also be used to help the investigator further explore his or her emerging interpretations of observations. In experimental-type research, a critical review of a body of published studies using the methodology of meta-analysis is a type of research study in its own right (see Chapter 5). Within any research tradition, the researcher must draw on and place his or her new findings within the context of previous studies when reporting the knowledge developed in a study. The findings of a particular study are always interpreted through or added to other studies to add incrementally to a body of knowledge in the topic area.

Identify a Theory Base and Evaluate Its Adequacy

Theory is formally defined as a set of interrelated propositions that provide a framework for understanding or explaining phenomena. (Theory and its relationship with research are described in greater detail in Chapter 6.) The purpose of research is either to construct theory or to test theory. Research that does not contribute to the building of theory or that is not based on theory produces findings that are basically useless. Findings from a study that are not based in or related to a theoretical context cannot be adequately interpreted or understood. Atheoretical collection of data does not contribute to the systematic building of knowledge. Experimental-type researchers tend to test different aspects of a theory; that is, the research begins with a theoretical framework from which specific hypotheses (hunches about what should occur) are generated and tested using different design strategies. Even in a descriptive or correlational study that is not designed to test a specific theory, theory is essential in guiding the research process and interpreting study results.

Naturalistic inquiry generates new theories, expands existing theories, or relates research findings to existing theoretical frameworks. In actual research practice, theory is used by both research traditions for multiple purposes and in many ways. Thus, the use of theory is interjected at various points of the research process, especially in naturalistic inquiry.

Develop a Specific Question or Query

After a problem area is identified, the researcher must specify a particular research direction. In experimental-type research, this direction takes the form of a highly specified question that details the exact factors and the characteristics or phenomena that will be examined.

In naturalistic inquiry, the research direction is broadly represented and becomes highly specified only through the process of conducting the study itself. In this type of research, the investigator develops a broad working question, or what we call a query, that initially identifies the “who, what, and where” of the boundaries of the study, but nothing further.

Thus, in naturalistic inquiry, the research question is framed broadly and represents a query from which more specific research questions and investigative approaches emerge in the course of learning about a particular phenomenon. The specific questions that arise in the field cannot be anticipated before entering the research setting.

In any type of research approach, however, a broad topic or area of concern must be framed or specified in such a way as to facilitate its exploration.

The level of knowledge development and theoretical understanding of the topic will direct the researcher to the specific research question or query that represents the next logical step to build knowledge in the area.

Select a Design Strategy

Design is perhaps the most fundamental aspect of the research process. On the basis of one's philosophical position, research purpose, theory, and specific research question or query, the researcher will select an action process by which to explore or answer the query. In naturalistic inquiry, research design is fluid and evolves as the investigator gains access to a natural setting and explores the phenomenon of interest. Further, terms that refer to designs can represent both the process and the end product. For example, “ethnography” is a term that refers to the process of performing fieldwork to understand the cultural patterns of a specified group. Ethnography also refers to the end product: the published report or book about the particular cultural group. Design in naturalistic inquiry means a set of strategies that are employed by the investigator to gain access to a natural setting (e.g., homes of men with spinal cord injury) and to collect and analyze information using a combination of procedures that unfold in the course of conducting the study (e.g., videotape, participant observation, interviewing).

In experimental-type research, design is highly structured with a specified set of procedures that are decided before entering the field and then implemented uniformly and systematically by the investigator. In this tradition, a design is similar to a “blueprint” that details each procedure or action process.

It is impossible to discuss the vast array of research design strategies in each of the research traditions in one text. We present the most fundamental, commonly used, and useful approaches for health and human service professionals, with a particular emphasis on designs that are amenable to or that can be integrated within professional practices and varied settings.

Set Study Boundaries

Another essential is that a researcher must establish the boundaries or scope of a study. Boundaries are set for a number of reasons, the most important of which is to limit the scope of the study so that it is feasible to conduct or is doable. Ways of setting boundaries include determining the length of study, who can participate in it, the conceptual dimensions to be examined, and the type and range of questions that will be asked. Establishing and implementing boundary strategies is different for experimental-type and naturalistic inquiry studies. In experimental-type designs, the boundaries of the study are clearly and precisely defined before entering the field or starting the study. The researcher must establish a concise plan for identifying and enrolling subjects into the study, determine which questionnaires or data collection strategies to use, and identify before (or a priori of) conducting the study the specific conceptual dimensions and analytic strategies that are to be included. In naturalistic-type studies, the setting of boundaries is more fluid. It is an evolving process that occurs once the investigator enters the field or research setting. After gaining access to the research setting, the investigator continually makes decisions such as to whom to interview, how and which data are to be collected, and what conceptual issues will be explored.

A major action process in boundary setting is the protection of those boundaries. As discussed in Chapters 11 to 14, protection of human subjects is both an ethical and a legal obligation for any type of inquiry directly involving individuals and groups of people.

Obtain Information

A researcher can choose from a wide variety of techniques for obtaining information or data. Later in this text, we examine these techniques along a continuum, from unstructured looking and listening techniques to structured, fixed-choice observation and ways of asking questions.

Analyze Information and Draw Conclusions

Analyzing information, the ninth essential of the research process, involves a series of planned activities that differ depending on the specific research tradition in which one works. One of the initial analytical tasks of experimental-type researchers is to reduce numerical data into meaningful and manageable indicators, such as means, mode, and median. Other statistical techniques are then employed depending on the characteristics of the measures, the size of the sample, and the specific research question. The analytical task typically occurs once all the data have been collected and is used to answer the initial research question that was posed.

In naturalistic inquiry, other analytical approaches are used that are appropriate for the analysis of narrative and other nonnumerical types of data. The analytical task has several purposes in naturalistic inquiry. First, it is an ongoing process that occurs throughout the study and is used to inform field decisions. Second, the analysis systematically applies techniques that can lead to an interpretation of the information that has been obtained.

Share and Use Research Knowledge

The 10th essential, sharing and using research knowledge, completes the research process. Reporting conclusions involves preparing a report and disseminating the knowledge gained from the research. Each research tradition approaches this research essential somewhat differently. However, researchers usually describe the purpose of their study; how it contributes to a particular field or topic; the specific procedures that were followed by the researcher, including analytical strategies; and the findings and interpretations of the information obtained. The use of research conclusions may take different forms, including translation of the knowledge gained into specific service programs, as evidence to guide professional practice, or as a step from which other research questions are posed.