TYPES AND EXAMPLES

OF RESEARCH IN
DIFFERENT AREAS/
FIELDS
Sources:
Johnson and Christensen (2008)
Lichtman (2006)
APPLIED RESEARCH
• is designed to solve practical problems of
the modern world, rather than to acquire
knowledge for knowledge’s sake
•Its goal is to improve human condition.
•It is used to find solutions to everyday
problems, current illnesses and develop
technologies.
SOME AIMS OF APPLIED
RESEARCH
•Improve agricultural crop
production.
•Treat or cure a specific disease
•To improve the energy efficiency of
homes, offices, or modes of
transportation
BASIC RESEARCH
• also referred to as fundamental or pure
research
•driven by a scientist’s curiosity or interest in
scientific question.
• motivated by extending human knowledge, not
to create or invent things.
•designed to add to an organized body of
scientific knowledge and does not necessarily
produce results of practical value.
BASIC RESEARCH
Examples of basic science investigation
questions:
•What is the possible cure for HIV?
•What is the genetic code of the fruit fly?
•How do mushrooms produce?
CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
•refers to the systematic investigation or
statistical study of relationships among two
or more variables, without necessarily
determining the cause and effect
•seeks to establish a relation or association
between two or more variables that do not
readily lend themselves to experimental
manipulation
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
• refers to research that provides an accurate
portrayal of a class or particular individual
situation or group
•also known as statistical research
•a means of studying new meanings,
describing what exists, determining the
frequency with something that occurs and
categorizing information
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
• collects a large amount of notes for a
detailed study
•deals with everything that can be counted
and measured and which has an impact on
people or communities
•Example:
Finding the most common and frequent
disease that affects the children of a town
ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH
• refers to the investigation of a culture
through an in-depth study of the members
of the culture
•Involves the systematic collection,
description, and analysis of data for
development of theories of cultural
behavior
ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH
• attempts to understand what is happening
naturally in the setting to interpret the data
gathered so implications could be formed
from those data
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
• an objective, systematic, controlled
investigation, for the purpose of predicting
and controlling phenomena and examining
probability and causality among selected
variables
•best establishes cause-effect relationship
•suitable for studying the effects of variables
on each other
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH
• conducted for a problem that has not been
clearly defined
•helps determine the best research design, data
collection method and selection of subjects
•can be informal, relying on the secondary
research such as review, available literature
and/or data
•not typically generalizable to the population at
large
HISTORICAL RESEARCH
• involves analysis of events that occurred in
the remote or recent past
•can show patterns that occurred in the past
and over time which can help to see where
we came from and what kind of solutions
we have in the past
•essential in examining current events and
educational practices
PHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCH
• an inductive descriptive research developed
from phenomenological philosophy
•aims to describe an experience as it is
actually lived by the person
•concerned with the study of experience
from the perspective of the individual
•emphasizes the importance of personal
perspective and interpretation
PHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCH
•emphasizes the importance of personal
perspective and interpretation
•Is powerful for understanding subjective
experience, gaining insights into people’s
motivation and actions
•The researcher in this type of study attempts to
understand one or more individual’s
experiences of a phenomenon by one or more
individual.
ACTION RESEARCH
•involves the application of the steps of the
scientific method in the classroom
problems.
•is done on a very limited scope
•is helpful to beginning researches
•The population to be studied is not so big.
 Phenomenological

Interpretive
Understanding a Ethnographic
situation from the
participant perspective

Grounded Theory
Qualitative

Action Research
Critical
Understanding and
critiquing power within
society
Dialectics
 Quasi-
Experimental
experimental

Correlational

Single
Quantitative
subject

Descriptive

Meta-
analysis
 Which type of research?

• Smith set out to determine • Historical

the number of teachers in • Descriptive
• Correlational
Vancouver who planned to
• Causal
retire in the next five years, comparative
their ages, and their main • Ethnographic
reasons for considering • Experimental
retirement.
 Which type of research?
• Historical
Mitchell attempted • Descriptive
to describe the • Correlational
• Causal
early years of the comparative
• Ethnographic
residential schools • Experimental
in BC.
•Norris set up a study • Historical
in Florida schools to • Descriptive
• Correlational
determine the • Ethnographic
effectiveness of using • Experimental
computer simulations
to teach science
versus hands-on labs.
 Types of Research
•Mitchell investigated a • Historical
• Descriptive
hypothesized • Correlational
relationship between • Causal
comparative
student melancholia and • Ethnographic
grades received. • Experimental
 Types of Research
• Historical
Roy conducted an in- • Descriptive
depth study of the • Correlational
culture of a religious • Ethnographic
school in southern • Experimental

Saskatchewan.