Research is the process of finding new information about a topic to explore and expand its present understanding. Whether you are a student, a seasoned researcher or a curious scholar, conducting good, solid research is the most viable way to make meaningful contributions to academia.
However, the research process can often be tough and overwhelming for students, aspiring researchers and new professionals to understand and follow. That’s why we have made this simple and easy-to-follow guide describing the whole process in seven clear steps. So let’s start right away with the seven steps of the research process.
The first step is to define the research problem, i.e. the question that needs to be answered. This generally involves finding a knowledge gap, a real-world problem or a topic that needs better understanding. You can do a survey, look at case studies or simply observe an interesting phenomenon that hasn’t been studied before.
E.g.
A student notices that many of their classmates feel tired during morning classes. They start wondering why this happens and decide to explore whether sleep habits are affecting students’ energy levels. Then they might look at different studies to find out whether there has been any research on this subject and the scope of such research to identify a gap in present understanding.
An important part of research is to understand what has already been studied. Use tools such as Google Scholar to search for research papers on your chosen topics or browse the books available in a library. Not only will it inform you about the limits of the knowledge on this subject, but also give you an idea about how a research paper should look.
E.g.
Before starting the study on sleep habits and tiredness, the student reads articles, books and previous research papers about how sleep affects focus and energy. This helps them understand what others have already found and what new things they can explore in their research.
A hypothesis is an educated guess that can be tested. It can be supported (True), rejected (False) or inconclusive based on evidence at the end of the research. It generally describes the relationship between two or more variables or the lack thereof - “If (independent variable) happens, then (dependent variable) follows, because (Reason). This step helps give objectivity to your study.
E.g.
After reading about sleep and energy levels, the student hypothesises that “Students who sleep at least 8 hours a night feel less tired during morning classes.” This educated guess becomes their hypothesis, which they will now test through research by gathering evidence.
The next step is to plan how the research will be conducted. Here you finalise the research methodology based on your resources, time and effort required to collect evidence (data) for your research. This includes:
E.g.
Suppose a researcher hypothesises that “Students who sleep at least 8 hours a night feel less tired during morning classes.” To test this, they may choose a quantitative research design, select a sample of 100 students from the college at random, divide them into experimental and control groups, and use standardised questionnaires during a 7-day 8-hour sleep program. The collected data would then be statistically analysed to verify the hypothesis.
Once you have completed the design stage, you will have to do the research. For an experimental study, this would mean conducting the experiment and recording the data. For qualitative research, it might involve conducting interviews or providing survey questionnaires to participants. Depending on your research methodology, you will have to find your target group, select the sample and collect the required information.
E.g.
The student now surveys their classmates. They ask about their sleep duration, bedtime routines and how tired they feel during morning classes. The student records the responses from both groups (100 students) over a week to get enough data for analysis.
The method of analysis and interpretation has been determined in the research methodology. In this stage of the research process, you will have to follow the structure laid out before. People use various statistical as well as other methods to analyse their research data. A knowledge of statistics often helps in this step.
However, not all methods depend on statistical analysis. You can derive your inferences based on your expertise. But the steps that you have used to reach an interpretation must be clear, logical and sequential (one follows from the other). Don’t forget to check for outliers in data, missing values and other quality issues.
E.g.
After collecting all the survey forms, the student enters the data into a spreadsheet. They compare the students from the control group and the experimental group. If students who sleep 8 or more hours consistently report feeling less tired, the data support the hypothesis.
After finishing the previous research steps, you have to prepare a detailed report incorporating all collected research data, whether it’s from literature, previous research studies or interviews. Here’s a sample research report format:
Once you have prepared your research paper, you can present it to the relevant academics (the review board at your college, seminars, etc.) or publish it in publishing platforms such as Research India Today to ensure it reaches the broader academic circle.
There you have it, an easy, concise and clear approach to conducting research. With these 7 steps of the research process in mind, you can easily take on the task of conducting research. If you are still overwhelmed, don’t worry. Start small, focus on a niche topic, something that you find easy to tackle. And whether you're solving a real-world problem or just completing an assignment, stay curious, stay systematic, and let the process guide you.