Misuse or Misspoken use of Research
Frequently you find published research results in newspapers, magazines and on the television that fail to explain how they came to gather or analyze the results they are reporting. Related to this, are issues of results being misused, embellished or taken out of context. For example, during an election time, more and more news and television organizations conduct quick polls and surveys. They report and discuss the findings as valid unbiased indicators about a candidate’s position or the public views on an issue. Not once during their broadcast or while you are reading the article do they speak about how the data was gathered or what analysis were performed to get the results they are reporting. All of these individuals and groups claim to have conducted some form of research but fail to validate their findings.
It is important to qualify the point I am making; I am not saying that these activities are not important or lack value to the gatherers of the information. However, these activities lack rigor and do not meet the definition or the criterion of research. At best this type of research is informative, an indicator to an assumption, or a mechanism that alerts you to group and social trends, issues, and impressions.
It is important to make the distinction because of the value people attach when reading or are told that the findings are a result of research. The implication is that these results or finding are reliable and valid. RELIABITY is an indication of how sound your research is and applies to both the design and the methods of your research; it is a measure of whether the results are replicable. VALIDITY refers to the degree to which a study accurately reflects or assesses the specific concept that the researcher is attempting to measure. Validity is a measure of accuracy and whether the instruments of measurement actually are measuring what they are intended to measure. Research can be affected by any internal or external factors, which can impact the reliability and validity of that research. Controlling all possible factors that threaten the reliability and validity of the research is a primary responsibility of every good researcher.
The function of research is to either create or test a hypothesis. Research is the instrument used to test whether a hypothesis is good or not. It is the method by which you identify a problem, form a hypothesis, design an experiment, test the hypothesis, analyze the results, formulate and report conclusions. There are different ways of conducting research; however any method you use will be based on the systematic collection and analysis of data. The emphasis here is on the word systematic.
Research can be broadly defined as a form of systematic inquiry that contributes to knowledge. It is also important to understand what is meant by this term research. Research is about finding out. It is about searching systematically for solutions to problems. It is about a structured process and rules that guides you to the results. It is also about helping you to evaluate the research of others.