Most people first encounter research as part of a school or college course.
A piece of research is usually included in any advanced degree course, and may also be integral to undergraduate degrees. Basic research, such as issuing questionnaires, may be undertaken in social science classes at school.
But there are many more applications for quality research.
The best place to start is our page An Introduction to Research Methods. This sets out the basic principles of research design and the role of the researcher.
Our page on Designing Research explains how to approach research, and what to think about in designing your research. It sets out some possible research approaches, including experimental and quasi-experimental designs, survey research, and ethnography.
Finally, you need to make a decision about whether your research will be Qualitative or Quantitative, or even mixed.
Common methods used for qualitative research include Interviews and Focus Groups and Group Interviews. Both these methods allow researchers to explore a topic in depth with one or two people at a time, or within a small group. You can also collect Qualitative Data from Interactions, in research that recognises that the researcher is a key part of the situation, rather than an outside observer.
If you are not collecting numbers, then your research is qualitative, not quantitative. Quantitative research is usually used to get views from large numbers of people.
The first step in quantitative research is to determine your Sampling and Sample Design. You then need to gather data. Suitable methods include surveys (and our page on Surveys and Survey Design explains more about this surprisingly complex subject).
Other sources of data include Observational and Secondary Data.
For example, for qualitative research, you may need an approach like content analysis, because you will have generated large amounts of data, often narrative in form. Our page on Analysing Qualitative Data explains more.
Quantitative data is often analysed using statistical methods, which may be both simple and more complex, depending on the question you are trying to answer. Our page on Simple Statistical Analysis suggests some suitable starting points, with more information available on Identifying Patterns and Multivariate Analysis.
