1.Explain the problems to be encountered by researchers in India. 2.Explain the contents of a research report in detail

ASSIGNMENT

1.Explain the problems to be encountered by researchers in India. Problems Encountered by Researchers in India: Research Methodology is a study subject in some of the under-graduate courses and most of the Post-graduate courses. Still, there is a lack of awareness of the purpose of research and the purpose of including research methodology in the curriculum. Many students hate this subject and the hatred is increased when they see the numerical in biostatistics when it is clubbed with research methodology. There are several problems encountered by students and novice researchers. Some of them are: Lack of Scientific Training: The research methodology is not systematic. Many researchers undertake research work without having actual knowledge of the research methods. They just look for similar studies and copy the methodologies listed in it. Even the research guides do not have a thorough knowledge of the various methodologies. This scenario warrants the need for some sort of short-term training to be imparted to researchers prior to undertaking research activities. There is a paucity of competent researchers. The scenario in most cases is like a blind leading the blind. Most of the people who hold the position of research guides are themselves not thorough with the various methodologies. They lead the researcher/students to copy methodology of similar studies. Insufficient Interaction: There is no proper interaction between researchers and the business establishments, government institutions, etc. This leads to a great deal of data going untapped. Interaction programs should be organized between researchers and other institutions on a regular basis. This will highlight what issues need to be researched, what data is required for conducting research, and how the study will be useful. Lack of Confidence: Most of the business establishments are of the opinion that, researchers can misuse the data provided by them. As such, they are reluctant to divulge details of their company. This affects the research studies for which that particular data may be of utmost importance. Thus, confidence-building measures should be adopted, which will convince the business units that their data will be put to productive purposes, and will not be misused in any manner by the researcher. Lack of Code of Conduct: No specific code of conduct exists for the researchers, which leads to inter-departmental and inter-university rivalries. The outlook of the researcher/research student: All students before being selected by the guide interact with their senior students. They already finding difficulty with research, tells the hardships they suffer or suffered. This changes the outlook of the students. Research is the way you take it. It can be either. Lack of confidence to take up a new study especially explorative study: This may be due to any of the above-mentioned reasons, also the fear of the result and fear of not able to answer questions during presentations. One should be dare enough to disseminate the result of the study, as it is the truth he/she has come to know after the research process. Limitations of the study are always considered and no one is going to blame on that, unless until the research is re-done. This leads to under taking of overlapping studies, as there is a want of information.

Unavailability of permission to do research in specific centers: Hospitals and business establishments usually don’t allow third party inside to conduct research. This may be due to security reasons or may be due to lack of confidence in keeping the confidentiality of the data or names. No establishments will agree a third person to get in and find out the problems within and it being gets published. Some organizations charge heavy fee or donation (whatever it may be)from students to allow doing research within. Research- a mere formality to fulfill course requirement: Yes, of course research is a part of curriculum. But most of the students find it as a mere formality to fulfill their course requirement. They just want to finish off the study. For this they search the shortcuts. But the fact is that once a study is done, it will be referred in future by other researchers. They won’t be aware if the study was sincerely done. Publishing may be expensive: Research study once it is completed, the further step will be the publishing of the same. Printing and binding may turn to be expensive. Also, it will be very expensive the paper has to be published in any international journals or conferences. These expenses may not be affordable by the student researchers. Lack of availability of sponsors: This may be due to lot of reasons. A. Hesitation to contact sponsors B. Not able to convince the sponsors C. Lack of confidence of sponsors over the researcher Inadequate Assistance: Researchers in India have to cope with the non-availability of adequate and timely secretarial assistance, which affects the schedule of their research study. Manipulation of data: Every researcher tries or does one or the other kinds of manipulation of data. May be multiplying the sample size or to make the result in the way they want. The lack of confidence over the result they may get after the completion of study is the reason for manipulation of result. This never reveals the reality, as the intuition of the researcher is guided by mere theoretical knowledge. In reality sometimes theory and practicemay be contradictory. Some researchers just finish off their study by simply sitting intheir home; they don’t even interact with their subject or have any one. Improper Library Management: The libraries are not managed systematically. Much of the precious time of the researchers is spent in looking for books, reports, newspapers, etc. rather than searching relevant information from them. High Cost of Publishing: Once their research is completed, the researchers have to look for a means to publish it. Publishing in international journals is highly expensive. This discourages most of the researchers from taking up research work. Copying of data (Plagiarism): Some researchers (as they call themselves), merely copy other international studies or studies which have been done by researchers/students of other universities. This is a crime and should not be promoted. A Researchers can re-evaluate others study by considering and overcoming the limitations of previous study, but at no cost should be copied or repeated. One should learn to respect others hard work. The act itself leads to lack of awareness in research methodology. Lack of availability or access to literature needed: This is a major problem faced during the literature review. The lack of availability of access to Internet, ignorance of the way to

search needed articles from journals and other databases are other problems. Searching books and newspaper articles from conventional libraries consumes a lot of time and effort. These kind of libraries, especially which are situated away from the capital cities lack copies of new acts/rules published by the government. There is also timely unavailability of published data.

2.Explain the contents of a research report in detail.

a) Preliminary Materials The preliminary materials include the title page, the abstract, acknowledgements, table of content, list of tables and list of figures. Title Page: Although title page may differ from one institution to another, they usually include: (1) the name of the topic,

(2) the name of the author, (3) the relationship of the report to a degree requirement, (4) the name of the institution where it is to be submitted, and (5) the date of presentation (see box on the right). The title should be concise and should indicate clearly the purposes of the study. Keep in mind its possible usefulness to the reader who may research the database in which it may be listed. The title should not claim more than the study actually delivers. It should not to be stated broadly and make it difficult for the reader to pin point what the study is about. For example, the title “The Self-Concepts of Urban Poor Children” is too general and a more precise title would be “The Effectiveness of the Inductive Method in Enhancing Creativity among Primary School Children”. The title should be in capital letters, single-spaced and centred between the right and left margins of the page. If the title goes beyond one line, the words in the title should be divided into lines so that each successive line is shorter than the one above it and is centred below it in an inverted pyramid style (see Figure). Abstract The abstract should be be not more than 1 page and should be in one to two paragraphs. It should be a self-contained summary of the most important elements of the proposal. Acknowledgement: An acknowledgment page is included if you have received unusual assistance in the conduct of the study. The acknowledgement should be simple and restrained. Do not indulge in flattery and excessive recognition for routine participation of family members, lecturers, supervisors, librarians and clerical helpers. Table of Content : A table of contents serves an important purpose in providing an outline of the contents of the report. Differentiate between headings and subheadings using capitalisation and small letters. Page references for each topic should be indicated. List of Tables and Figure: If tables and figures are included in the report, a separate should be included to list each table or figure. The full titles of figures and tables, worded exactly as they appear in the text, are presented with corresponding numbers and page locations. Note: All pages in the preliminary section are numbered at the centre of the bottom margin with lower-case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv). b) Body of the Report It is usual for this section to be divided into 5 sections or chapters.

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION The first chapter serves as the introduction to the area under consideration. A clear statement of the problem with specific questions to be answered or hypothesis to be tested is presented. You should present the significance of the problem and its historical background appropriately. Also, include assumptions and limitations of the study. All important terms that are operationally defined should be included in this chapter. This is important because terms such as gifted, underachiever and many other terms are defined differently by different researchers. Chapter 2: REVIEW OF RELATTED LITERATURE This chapter is a review of important literature related to your study. Extracts from previous research studies and significant writings of authorities in the area studied are reviewed. This chapter provides a background for the development of your study and brings the reader up to date about research and thinking in the field. It also gives evidence of your knowledge of the field. You should avoid an article-by-article presentation but should indicate areas of agreement or disagreement in findings or gaps in existing knowledge. The journal Review of Educational Research can be referred to for examples of good critical reviews of the literature. Also, avoid excessive use of quotations. Nothing is more tiresome or difficult to follow than a review of literature that is merely an accumulation of quotations. Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY This chapter explains the design of the study in detail. Sampling: It is here that you explain the size of the samples and how you selected them. Indicate the extent to which the sample is representative of the population. Did you use random sampling? Did you use stratified sampling? Setting: If you are doing a qualitative study, you have to explain in detail the setting, the characteristics of your subjects, how you gained access or entry to the setting and you role in the study (e.g. observer, participant observer). Instrumentation: You should include a description of the data collection techniques or instruments you used. For example, if your study is a survey you have to explain how you design and developed the questionnaire or interview checklist. Explain the number and types of items included in the questionnaire. If you had used attitude scales, achievement tests and other psychological tests; you have to give evidence regarding the reliability and validity of the instruments. You may also describe the scoring procedures adopted for the instruments used. Chapter 4: ANALYSIS OF DATA In this chapter, you present the findings of the study after having processed and analysed the data. This is the heart of the research report. If you are doing a qualitative study, tables and graphs are commonly used to organise and present numerical data. Tables and graphs are useful in presenting an overall picture of the data as well as showing trends that have emerged from the analysis. If you did a qualitative study, there would less numerical data.

Instead you data would consist of concepts, categories or themes which may be presented in table form. You would also be presenting data in the form anecdotes or excerpts of interviews, observations and form documents to support your arguments. You are advised to refer to the Journal of Educational Psychology and American Educational Research Journal to see how tables and graphs are presented and explained. For qualitative studies, The Qualitative Report is a useful journal which presents reports of qualitative studies in education, nursing and medicine. Chapter 5: SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION The last chapter comprises of two parts. The first part includes: a brief summary of the problem, methodology and results. Focus should be on a summary of the findings and it should be as brief as possible. Some researchers present the main findings in the form of list. The second part is a discussion of the findings. Here, you identify and interpret the findings. You give possible reasons why the results occurred. You could provide reasons by referring to the findings of previous research (This is where the studies cited in Chapter 2 are useful). Because you are the one who conducted the study, you have a deeper understanding of the study compared to most readers you are expected to discuss the findings and to give your own opinion. One of the most common weaknesses found in the writing of graduate students is that their reports present important and interesting findings but fail to provide a thoughtful interpretation of the findings. On the other hand, there is the tendency for beginning researchers to overgeneralise on the basis of their limited data. Remember, your study is not attempting to change the whole education system! For example you could have the following comments about your report: “Your study to this point has been good". "Your summary is disappointing". "What you have reported may possibly be true, but there is nothing in you study to justify or support your conclusions”. You should keep in mind that this chapter is the most used part of the research report by other readers. Readers who scan research literature to find significant studies examine this chapter before deciding whether or not further examination to the report is worthwhile reading. Reference Materials This section of the report comprises the References and Appendixes (if any). References are arranged in alphabetical order with the last name of the author listed first. Here you would include journal articles, books, chapters in books, monographs, reports, newspaper articles you have cited in the report. The common mistakes with the Reference section are: You had cited an author in the report but it is not listed in the References and vice-versa. The method of referencing does not follow a consistent format (In education, the format used is by the American Psychological Association – APA format).

Appendices The appendix is indicated by the word APPENDIX, capitalised and centred on the page. The first page of the appendix is title APPENDIX A followed by APPENDIX B and so forth. What may be included in the appendix? Tables and data – important, but not essential to the understanding of the report Copies of cover letters used, and printed forms of questionnaire, tests and other data – gathering devices. Item-analysis data and other materials pertinent to measures Scoring procedures