Research is one of the activities that characterize higher education. Students and lecturers alike engage in this. Lecturers do research to solve certain problems in the society or to make their contributions to the literature on a particular subject or issue. Students on the other hand engage in research as an assessment or just training or to solve a problem. Whichever group or reason, research is important. Beyond the academia, research is also done. Organizations and companies may engage in research for improved productivity. The type of research intended to be discussed hereunder is mostly academic research. That is, the research done by students and lecturers. Research is both creative and systematic. That is to say that it needs the researcher coming up with something new, following existing guideline. The expectation from every research paper is a relatively novel conclusion that follows a coherent and logical documentation or setup. As a beginner, you need to know the necessary steps you have to take or be aware of in doing your research. Apart from the possibility of making a career in the academy, you need to learn how to do research so as to sail through your course works. Below are the relevant steps in researching.
- Identify Area Of Interest
The first step to researching is to identify an area you want your research to be focused on. This is applicable when the topic or area is not already given or known. Every discipline has a number of areas that will be interesting to research in. Within the discipline of literary and cultural studies or history, there exist gender relation, sexuality, colonialism/post-colonialism, memory, migration, culture, race, politics, etc. These are some of the areas of study within the mentioned disciplines. So, in order to carry out a good and successful research, identify a definite area you want to look into. It is advisable for students doing their thesis or undergraduate report to go for the area they are particularly interested in. Research is a difficult work. It is only interest that can sustain a researcher. Within the identified area, the research can then proceed. One of the advantages of being particular about an area of interest is that it will help your reading to be focused. You will have almost a defined boundary and authors to read. If one chooses gender relation for instance, it is decided that such authors like Michel Foucault and Judith Butler are to be read. One would not need to read Heidegger or Derrida in this area. To mention the latter group in the paper would be as a passing reference in relation to a particular matter being discussed. They will not constitute the major authors. In doing a research in an area that interests you, the whole exercise will be more enjoyable unlike what your disposition would be when writing on something you have no interest in: you will feel like being punished.
- Choose A Topic
When you have made your choice of area, the next step is to choose a topic. Within an area, there is a wide range of issues that can be discussed. It is this topic that will show the problem of your study. When it is technically called ‘research problem’ we tend to be thrown off balance or be put off entirely. But the problem of the study is already there in the topic. It means what your research is saying. Is it looking at the effect of colonialism in a particular country or fiction or something else? So, to think of a problem of study is to think of the topic. Make sure your topic is within the area of interest you have chosen; otherwise you will find yourself out of the rail you already established. Mind you, a topic is not the same thing as a title. Your topic could be about the effect of male dominance on society. With this in mind, you can craft a catchy and creative title like: ‘Untapped Milk: Female Suppression and Effects on Society.’ This title creates a vivid image of the woman as a life giver; with the implication that to reject or suppress a woman is to suppress or reject life. Get a topic and craft the title accordingly.
- Get General Background Information
It is important that you get background information on the chosen topic. This is important especially for a paper one is to send out its abstract before doing the full paper. It is also necessary in other research paper writings. Part of what the background knowledge will give you is the trends of arguments or studies on what you want to write. It is somewhat like literature review. But while the latter is a basic requirement that should be featured in the paper, the background information only helps you in making certain preliminary decisions. The background information may include authorities on the subject, available methods of approaching it, when and how it emerged, the proponents and exponents as well as existing literature on it. Read up theoretical writings on what you intend to write on as well as any available piece that may make the topic clearer to you. The background information can also confirm the researchability of the topic. It is important to know that some topics are not researchable at least within a specific time frame or for certain level. If you have a space of two months to do a research on an issue that involves traveling to collect the data, the traveling logistics like visa and accommodation may delay you. What is more, the required data may be obtained only within a particular time or season which may not arrive before the end of the time frame. So, these and many more make for researchability of a topic. When you have decided on a topic, endeavor to get general information on it. Do not forget to take notes when you read for background information.
- Decide Your Data
Many researches require data from a particular population or geographical boundary. What data does one need to collect for the chosen topic? If one is doing an error analysis, for instance, a possible source of data should be school library or newspaper articles. In schools, students’ essays can be chosen. Part of the population aspect to consider might be the category of students to be chosen: undergraduates or high school students. The data is largely dependent on the topic and area. In literary studies for instance, common data is literary work. The population could be African or English literature, modern or classical literature, drama or poetry, etc. Because we have a topic already, we will have to go for works that explore that issue. We cannot choose William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet for a post-colonial studies. On the other hand, memory studies will go for Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day or When We were Orphans. The specific approach to memory study will also determine which of the two novels would go. So when deciding on data, do not forget the background information you already have, the topic you are working on and the area of interest it belongs. Remember, research is systematic. It follows a procedure.
- Choose An Approach/Methodology And Theory
Having decided on a topic and the data, choose also the theory that will be appropriate for the study. Even when we may be ignorant of theories, they are always latency in our writings. Acknowledging the theory makes our work a true research in that it shows the degree of search that went into the work. Some theories offer a specific methodology or framework that we can follow in our analysis. When a theory describes its phenomenon, often times, it proposes a method of reading. A methodology may also not be attached to a particular theory. Deconstruction for instance is a method of reading which is not limited to any theory. It has successfully been employed in sexuality and gender studies even when the proponent is a post-structuralist. His description of literature is different from his methodology of reading. So, when you choose a topic, get a theory, theorist and method or approach. In a recent research I did, I chose my theory because I have seen the particular issue or topic, selfhood. Although selfhood is an issue that can be located within existentialism, I had to look for theories of the self and not just existentialism because there is more to it than self. Again, discourses on the self are not limited to existentialists. Many authors have theories of the self: Carl Jung, Martin Heidegger, Franz Rosenzweig, etc. I had to settle on the theorist whose ideas most suit what I wished to find out in the data sample. Getting general information on their various theories of the self made me settle on the one that best explores what I have in the chosen data.
- Review Literature
Research is basically ‘searching again.’ By this is implied that there has been a previous search, or study. This previous study need not be done by the person embarking on the present research work. But this person must not just be aware of the former’s study and work but also acknowledge the findings/conclusion. This is what reviewing literature entails. You need to read and evaluate related studies on your chosen topic. The relationship could be in terms of method/theory, subject of discourse or data. Some of the things review of literature does to your study is: to project the uniqueness of your own paper by showing what has been done so far; it also helps to shape the direction of your own study so as to either be an advancement of one or a departure from another. Review of empirical studies especially shows a relationship of difference or similarity in methodology or approach. It is good have a focus in your review of literature. If one is reviewing literature for the topic we have in step two above, one can categorize their review thus: on gender relation in any population/ data at all, studies on the possible theory to be used, say, feminism (feminist studies of texts or another data), studies on the data that follows another method/approach or have different issues of concern. With a review that cuts across these areas, one will have shown the significance of their study. This is why it is important to make a summary of review, showing the relationship between each reviewed work and your own study.
- Collect Data
Data collection is a very important aspect of your research work. Some researches require a definite list of research questions which will make up the information to be gathered from respondents. The answers to these questions become the data collected. When your data is to be collected from a factual population, visit the place with your chosen method of data collection. Your method could be questionnaire or interview. You can also collect samples of their works if your study is to look at performance, or analyze their writings. Do not be discouraged by their reaction especially when your question or request entails their giving away personal information or things they feel ashamed of sharing. Be polite with your respondents so that they will give you unreserved contribution and response. Make them to be free and original if you must get a reliable data that will stand the test of validity. If your data is a literary work, note the instances: passages, scenes, lines that bear different spirits of what your discussion will explore. They will serve as concrete evidence. Do not forget to note the pages, scenes or line numbers for ease of reference and documentation.
- Draft Your Outline
Another step to take in doing a research is drafting the outline. During brainstorming or reading, one often stumbles on many thoughts or chain of thoughts. This chain needs to be rendered as a part of the entire paper. In order to make your work organized, draft the outline of each part. In the review part for instance, you can classify each part according to method, issue and data. Your analysis may be divided in such a way that they have sub-titles. Each sub-title should have a defined focus that also connects with the preceding and succeeding sub-titles. A good outline may include what will make up most of the paragraphs in each part. With a good outline, you can even write the last part before the initial ones. Making an outline is a convenient way of writing. It will help order your thought so that you don’t jumble everything in an untidy way. A possible outline may follow this sequence:
Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
Literature review
Theoretical framework/methodology
Analysis
Conclusion
References
The introduction may have literature review and theoretical framework as part of it, depending on the type/required length of the research. The analysis can also be further broken down into sub-headings that will make the work attractive and easy to read.
- Do The Analysis And Interpretation
This is the main writing that will then follow. The outline will help you very much at this stage. You can choose any of the part to start with. The major concern is your analysis, evaluation and interpretation. This area bears the crux of the whole research. As suggested already, it is good to break down your analysis in such a way that each sub-title will have a focus that when all is put together, the conclusion will be evident. One of the things that can guide the division of the analysis into parts is the variables. Data Analysis attempts to discover how the units covered in the research project react to the items under study. This can be for individual questions or it may be for sets of questions- trying to detect whether any pattern exists. It is this pattern discovered in the data that its exploration makes up this part. Data analysis could be ideally categorized as under: Univariate, Bivariate and Multivariate analyses. Univariate analysis relates to just one characteristic of interest or variable; i.e, the discussion is centered on one variable like just ‘spelling error’ in Error Analysis, not minding ‘grammar error’ and other writing errors. Bivariate analysis deals with a pair of characteristics of interest or variables, and multivariate analysis deals with more than two characteristics of interest or variables. The interpretation is about one’s opinion or discovery about the data. It goes hand in hand with analysis. Whichever direction your analysis and interpretation go, follow it.
- Make Conclusions
Your conclusions are very important. Do not fail to make them strong and convincing. When you must have analyzed and interpreted your data, readers need to also know what your findings are. It is these findings that will help you draw a conclusion on the data. The conclusion is peculiar to your study since it follows a particular perspective or method. There is no conclusion to any issue. So, your conclusion does not conclude the topic neither is it the end of the world. It only shows your opinion on the topic and analysis of data based on the particular study. You can arrive at a different conclusion when you study the same data using a different theory or approach.
- Document Your Sources
Documentation is very important in research. No one writes alone. Other people’s ideas and thoughts are deployed in your study. You therefore have to acknowledge those sources in the form of Works Cited, Bibliography or References. All the works you have reviewed or cited at one point or another in the course of your writing are to be documented. Otherwise, your reference to them or inclusion of their ideas and words will be regarded as plagiarism. Choose and consistently use a particular documentation style both in the in-text and final documentation. There are many styles; APA and MLA are the most popular. Each of these styles has rules and terms used. So, know which one you are required to use and follow the rules consistently. Studies in the Social Sciences, Management Sciences and Linguistics frequently use APA while Literary Studies and other Humanities prefer MLA. You can read more on documentation to understand this better. It is therefore important to note the sources and the publication details of every citation you make in your writing so as to make it possible for you to document them properly.
- Proofread
Do not be in a hurry to submit your work. Proofread your writing to see how coherent your points are, how logical your arguments are and how correct your grammar is. Make adjustments as necessary when you proofread. Do not stick to what you think is the first impulse. Proofreading is a skill. You have to read your work with another person’s eyes and mind. To do this appropriately, close all the memories in your brain about the work and read it as if it was not you that wrote it. Only then will you be able to see the errors and omissions in the work. You never finish a work even after publication. Papers undergo revisions after revisions. Your peer can also help you to review and proofread your paper. In the course of the proofreading, be flexible enough to make the exercise worthwhile. By that is meant that there should be evidence of the proofreading. This does not mean that you have to make unnecessary changes or even render the work less worthy in the name of proofreading.
What we have offered you are practical steps to doing your academic research. We tried to use simple words for some of the technical terms that could have left you more confused. Nothing gives more satisfaction as producing a paper by yourself. If you follow the above steps, you will find it less difficult to do a publication-worthy research. Those are what they do to produce those papers you read. Reading them is not bad. At least, you have samples to emulate from while bearing in mind the steps offered here. Remember, you cannot make a successful career as a teacher without writing papers or doing researches. The more you write, the better you become. And if you make research your career, you too will be referenced someday.
Bignedu
