Health and Social Care - Research
PURPOSE AND ROLE OF RESEARCH IN HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE
Research is wide and diverse. It may focus on people (eg. why men are more aggressive than women) on the structures of society, (eg. the family) or may study hidden structures (eg, memory).
The word "research" has several meanings:
1. Research is a systematic, formal rigorous and precise process employed to gain solutions to problems and/or to discover and interpret new facts and relationships. (Waltz and Bausell, 1981, p.1).
2. Research is the process of looking for a specific answer to a specific question in an organised objective reliable way (Payton, 1979, p.4)
Diversity of Research
There are several factors which distinguish between different types of research, but the main one is whether it is ‘qualitative’ or ‘quantitative’ research (will be discussed later). There are many types of research, the main ones being:
Exploratory Research – carried out to see if the topic for investigation is worth doing before carrying out the full investigation, eg. will there be enough relevant secondary data.
Basic Research – is concerned with producing new information and knowledge on a topic and with increasing scientific understanding. It is not intended to be used (or applied) by those working in the field, eg, social workers, nurses etc. It is also called ‘pure research’
Applied Research – the aim of such research is that the findings will be used by practitioners in carrying out their jobs; it is intended that their jobs performance will be improved by the findings. Practitioners will study the findings of such research to help them keep up to date with current developments in their job, eg. findings of a study on the effects of psychological abuse on an elderly person’s self-esteem.
Descriptive Research – aims to describe something that is currently happening and is the most commonly used, eg. it could be used in order to find out what age group is most likely to develop an eating disorder.
Research is wide and diverse. It may focus on people (eg. why men are more aggressive than women) on the structures of society, (eg. the family) or may study hidden structures (eg, memory).
The word "research" has several meanings:
1. Research is a systematic, formal rigorous and precise process employed to gain solutions to problems and/or to discover and interpret new facts and relationships. (Waltz and Bausell, 1981, p.1).
2. Research is the process of looking for a specific answer to a specific question in an organised objective reliable way (Payton, 1979, p.4)
Diversity of Research
There are several factors which distinguish between different types of research, but the main one is whether it is ‘qualitative’ or ‘quantitative’ research (will be discussed later). There are many types of research, the main ones being:
Exploratory Research – carried out to see if the topic for investigation is worth doing before carrying out the full investigation, eg. will there be enough relevant secondary data.
Basic Research – is concerned with producing new information and knowledge on a topic and with increasing scientific understanding. It is not intended to be used (or applied) by those working in the field, eg, social workers, nurses etc. It is also called ‘pure research’
Applied Research – the aim of such research is that the findings will be used by practitioners in carrying out their jobs; it is intended that their jobs performance will be improved by the findings. Practitioners will study the findings of such research to help them keep up to date with current developments in their job, eg. findings of a study on the effects of psychological abuse on an elderly person’s self-esteem.
Descriptive Research – aims to describe something that is currently happening and is the most commonly used, eg. it could be used in order to find out what age group is most likely to develop an eating disorder.