A Brief Guide to Understanding Research Methods

Starting an academic study can be an overwhelming task. After all, it is a very systematic way of studying and involves many procedures and methods that you cannot skip or go around. One of the most prominent parts of research is the research methods that you adopt to get your results.

10.08.2021

A Brief Guide to Understanding Research Methods

This article gives you a brief guide to understanding research methods in academic studies. To give you an opportunity to practice proofreading, we have left a few spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors in the text. See if you can spot them! If you spot the errors correctly, you will be entitled to a 10% discount.

Starting an academic study can be an overwhelming task. After all, it is a very systematic way of studying and involves many procedures and methods that you cannot skip or go around. One of the most prominent parts of research is the research methods that you adopt to get your results.

If you are starting your research but are lost on that front, this article is all you need. Here, we cover all the types of research methods. After reading this article, you will be able to recognize which method is most suited for your study.

Understanding research methods

First, it would be better to understand what research methods are and why we need them. They are simply used to collect data for analyzing and deriving information from them. Therefore, the two most important parts of determining research method are to understand the following: 

  • How will you collect data?

  • How will you analyze them? 

Determining the research method is crucial to your research because without study data, your research will remain incomplete. Therefore, understanding how you need to collect and analyze your data is of importance. 

Research methods— collecting data

Your research is centered around questions that you ask. The entire process involves trying to find answers to those research questions and coming to a concrete answer or solution.

For that, you need data that you can study and analyze. However, the way you collect data is a big constituent of how you want your research to proceed. There are various types of collecting data: 

Primary and secondary methods

The primary method is the way of collecting original data. These data will come to you through forms, surveysobservations, and so on. Through this data, you will need to answer your research questions. 

Whereas the secondary method includes collecting data that are not original. It means that these data already existed before or were used for research before by someone else.

Research method

Qualitative and quantitative methods

For these research methods, you need to determine what kind of answer you are looking for. If you are looking for answers that you can represent numerically, you need to follow the quantitative method.

Otherwise, you will need to follow the qualitative method. At times, you may need to use both types of methods to find a precise answer to your questions.

Experimental and descriptive methods

The experimental method includes collecting data where you purposefully intervene with the subjects. You may control the variables and observe them in different situations. The experimental design will matter here. However, the descriptive method includes simply observing the subjects without trying to control the factors. Your sampling method is what will validate your research.

Research methods— analyzing data

Again, your method for collecting data will determine how you can analyze your data. There are two methods for doing so:

  • Quantitative analysis

Quantitative analysis will help you numerically analyze your data, that is, through statistics and numbers.

  • Qualitative analysis

Qualitative analysis will help you analyze your data through words, ideas, observations, and experiences. It is more descriptive.

Both collecting and analyzing data are very important. However, you need to pay extra attention to editing and proofreading as these data will help you conclude. You need to be extra sure that your data is accurate. You may take help from professionals to edit and proofread your research and data so that you don’t make any errors. 

If you need us to make your manuscript shine, contact us unhesitatingly!

Best Edit & Proof expert editors and proofreaders focus on offering manuscripts with proper tone, content, and style of academic writing, and also provide an upscale editing and proofreading service for you. If you consider our pieces of advice, you will witness a notable increase in the chance for your research manuscript to be accepted by the publishers. We work together as an academic writing style guide by bestowing subject-area editing and proofreading around several categorized writing styles. With the group of our expert editors, you will always find us all set to help you identify the tone and style that your manuscript needs to get a nod from the publishers.

English manuscript formatting service

You can also avail of our assistance if you are looking for editors who can format your manuscript, or just check on the particular styles for the formatting task as per the guidelines provided to you, e.g., APA, MLA, or Chicago/Turabian styles. Best Edit & Proof editors and proofreaders provide all sorts of academic writing help, including editing and proofreading services, using our user-friendly website, and a streamlined ordering process.

Get a free quote for editing and proofreading now!

Visit our order page if you want our subject-area editors or language experts to work on your manuscript to improve its tone and style and give it a perfect academic tone and style through proper editing and proofreading. The process of submitting a paper is very easy and quick. Click here to find out how it works.

Our pricing is based on the type of service you avail of here, be it editing or proofreading. We charge on the basis of the word count of your manuscript that you submit for editing and proofreading and the turnaround time it takes to get it done. If you want to get an instant price quote for your project, copy and paste your document or enter your word count into our pricing calculator.

Research method

24/7 customer support | Live support

If you need support for editing and proofreading services, contact us. You can also e-mail us or use the 24/7 live chat module to get direct support. We have a 24/7 active live chat mode to offer you direct support along with qualified editors to refine and furbish your manuscript. Alternatively, you can text us through our WhatsApp business support line.

Research method

Stay tuned for updated information about editing and proofreading services!

Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn,  Facebook, Instagram, and Medium.

For more posts, click here. 

They Also Read

Academic Writing
Academic Writing — A Complete Guide for Beginners
10.08.2021

What is academic writing? In simplest words, academic writing is a style of writing used in the academic field and adopted by academic institutions or scholarly publications. You might encounter academic writing in peer-review journals, books, articles, and you are expected to write your manuscripts, dissertations, essays, or thesis in the academic style. Academics and students use this style to convey complex ideas and theories clearly and precisely to their readers. Therefore, as a student, especially for the ones getting higher education, it is needed for you to learn this way of writing and adopt it.

Continue Reading
Grammar Rules Academic Writing
Importance of Punctuation Marks in Academic Writing
10.08.2021

One of the main things that any editor or proofreader looks out for while editing a piece of text is punctuation marks. The reason is simple — they can alter the meaning of your text if you do not use them correctly. It becomes even more prominent when you are writing an academic paper. In academic writing, an author may be easily misunderstood when ambiguous sentences are used. Punctuation marks mainly serve the purpose to disambiguate sentences. While literary or other types of writing will have a certain degree of freedom for using punctuation marks, academic work needs to be precise and correct. This article will cover the importance of punctuation marks in academic writing.

Continue Reading
Academic Writing Dissertation & Thesis
How to Write a Dissertation Methodology in 7 Steps
10.08.2021

A methodology section explains the entire process of data collection and analysis based on logic and philosophy. This section is an unavoidable part of a dissertation or a research paper. Considering errors in the methodology section enervates the entire dissertation. Here, we bring you a general guide on the steps to compose a flawless methodology section for a dissertation.

Continue Reading
Academic Writing Dissertation & Thesis
How to Write a Perfect Ph.D. Thesis
10.08.2021

Writing a thesis or dissertation is considered the final phase of your Ph.D. journey. You must cover three to five years of study and research into your thesis. A doctoral thesis or dissertation is a long essay of knowledge and research on a specific niche that poses interesting questions and answers with your reasoning. Ph.D. candidates should carefully choose the study topic according to their expertise. This article explains how to write an impeccable Ph.D. thesis for outstanding results in 6 helpful steps.

Continue Reading
Academic Writing Dissertation & Thesis
How to Write a Dissertation and Thesis Introduction
10.08.2021

The first chapter of your thesis or dissertation includes the introduction. You should provide the reader with a solid start. Next is staging your research with an apparent focus, objective, and direction.

Continue Reading