2. A Few Keywords and Definitions for Understanding Statistics – VI (contd.)

       

 

 

 

 

2.10        Research Methods   

In the last post, we touched upon the concepts of reliability and validity and how they help determine the effectiveness of the measures we use in statistics. We are now inching closer to finishing basic know-how of terms and keywords to get acquainted with the field of statistics. We have now arrived at a point where we are transitioning from the 'what' and 'why' to the 'how' of statistics while exploring the basic ideas and principles to get a feel of statistics.  

In this context, there is an important distinction we need to make between how we implement all these basic ideas and principles toward our research goals. This has to do with the methods of research that tie the ideas discussed thus far into applicable knowledge. These make the most of statistical learning as related to research applications, however, consistent with the purpose of this section of the blog, it suffices to introduce them here and we will discuss them in detail in the forthcoming posts. There are three distinctly broad methods of research we need to know about at the outset while learning statistics. 

These methods are 1) Descriptive, 2) Predictive, and 3) Explanatory,  based on the broad purpose or intent of the research. As the name suggests the descriptive methods allow one to describe a situation. However, they do not facilitate the researcher to make accurate predictions or establish a cause-effect relationship between variables, which are enabled by predictive and explanatory methods respectively. The degree of specificity and control over the conditions surrounding the research problem determines the distinction between these methods. Herein, descriptive methods should not be confused with descriptive statistics, which is a distinct concept and will be discussed shortly.   

As far as the descriptive methods are concerned, they can of three broad types – namely observational, simply involving observation of a human or animal behavior, or a natural phenomenon which may either be in natural settings and thus called naturalistic observation or maybe within controlled settings and thus called experimental observation. For example, observing the hunting behaviors of a tiger in a wild habitat is an observational method, whereas studying the response of a tiger to two different given types of food in a caged environment is an example of an experimental study. Another observational method is the case study method, whereby an in-depth study of an individual subject or a single coherent set of multiple entities or subjects is performed.  The case study method belongs to a larger set of methods called qualitative methods, including other methods such as interviews, focus groups, field studies and action research, which will be discussed in future posts. Consider that the Tiger in the previous example is thoroughly studied for multiple behaviors and overall interaction of the tiger with its environment, such that the results describe the tiger in many relevant ways depending upon the objective of the research. This study would thus be deemed as an example of a case study. The third method that is based on description is the Survey method. In a survey, the participants are human beings irrespective of the subjects of the study. A survey questions a pre-determined number and type of individuals on a topic or set of topics and describes their responses. If a Tiger habitat is a zoo and the people visiting the zoo are questioned about the visible living conditions of the tiger such as the size or cleanliness of the habitat, the behavior of the caretakers, etc., and the responses described in a survey report, then this is a survey method. The survey method allows the researcher to study larger groups of people, with greater ease. However, whether the participants being studied represent the population of study interest can be an issue. Such issues fall in the domain of sampling and reliability of research, which shall also be discussed in detail in future posts. In the next post, we will continue with the research method types and sub-types further.