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Scientific research follows a systematic approach. It aims to acquire new information that adds to the existing knowledge in the research field. The consensus of scientific research is that researchers should plan their investigation before executing it. This is important as it can help identify if research is observable, empirical, objective, valid, and reliable. These are key requirements for research to be regarded as scientific.
Scientific research aims to identify and build scientific knowledge that discovers and explains laws or principles of natural or social phenomena. There tend to be multiple explanations when building theories to explain a phenomenon. With scientific research, we can identify studies that provide better explanations and disregard disproved explanations.
The reasons why it is important for research to be scientific are:
This process is what causes the progression of knowledge in the scientific fields.
For research to be scientific, it should follow a specific process. Following this process ensures that the research is empirical and observable. It also increases the likelihood of the researcher measuring variables in a reliable, valid, and objective manner. This process consists of seven steps or stages.
The seven stages that research should follow to be scientific are:
Scientific research
Scientific research can be classified based on different categorising systems. For example, whether the research uses primary or secondary data, what type of causality relationship the data provides, or the research setting. This next section will explain the different types of scientific research used in psychology.
The three main ways of categorising research are to identify the purpose of the research:
A few other types of scientific research can be categorised based on if the research provides descriptive or analytical inferences regarding the hypothesis. For instance, research that collects data that describes identified patterns or trends or whether data provides further depth to understand the hypothesis.
Descriptive research allows for researchers to identify similarities or differences and describe the data found. This type of research can give descriptions of the research findings but it cannot be used to explain why the results occurred.
Examples of descriptive research include:
Researchers use analytical research to describe why phenomena occur. They usually use a comparison group to identify differences between the experimental groups. Examples of analytical research include:
Cohort research is a form of a longitudinal study (follows participants over a long period). This research usually recruits participants who have a common characteristic that the researcher is interested in investigating.
Research can be identified as primary or secondary research. This can be determined by whether the data used for analysis is collected by the researcher themself or if they use previously published findings.
This is data collected by the researcher carrying out an experiment. These are some examples:
This is research carried out using previously published research. These are some examples:
In order for research to be identified as scientific, there is a specific process that it should follow. Following the process ensures that the research is empirical and observable. In addition, it increases the likelihood of the researcher measuring variables in a reliable, valid, and objective manner.
Scientific research follows a systematic approach in order to acquire new information that adds to the existing knowledge in the research field. This research is required to be observable, objective, and empirical. Research that does not follow this approach cannot be regarded as scientific.
Examples of scientific research are:
Scientific research is defined as research that follows a systematic approach in order to acquire new information that adds to the existing knowledge in the research field.
The reasons why it is important for research to be scientific are:
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