Understanding the Research Process

This assignment delves into the research process, a systematic approach to acquiring and analyzing information. It outlines seven key stages: defining the research problem, reviewing existing literature, formulating hypotheses, determining research design, collecting data, analyzing findings, and interpreting results. The document emphasizes how each stage contributes to enhancing understanding of a specific issue or problem.

Running head: RESEARCH PROCESS
Research Process
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RESEARCH PROCESS 2
Research Process
The research process is a series of steps used to collect and analyze information to
enhance understanding of an issue or problem. The research process is made up of multiple
and inter-related phases. Precisely, the research process entails seven key stages. The first
step is the definition of the research problem. The research problem serves as the focus of the
study and gives its purpose. The second phase is the review of the literature. Literature
review equips the researcher with existing information on the study topic. The information
gathered at this stage enables the researcher to understand the intensity of the problem under
study and the existing knowledge gaps.
The third phase is the formulation of hypothesis. A hypothesis is a tentative
assumption which serves a guide to the researcher by restricting the area of research. After
hypothesis formulation, the next stage is the determination of research design. Research
design provides the mechanisms for collecting the relevant evidence to test the hypothesis.
Importantly, research design limits time and resource wastage during the research process.
The fifth stage is the collection of data. The purpose of this step is to provide the
information required to answer the research problem. Moreover, it provides the evidence used
to support study conclusions and recommendations. This stage is followed by the analysis of
the collected data. Data analysis purposes to derive meaningful information from the
collected raw data. Additionally, it is important in deriving comparisons and verifying the
stipulated study hypothesis. The final stage is the interpretation of the data and writing of the
research report. Data interpretation purposes to elaborate the meaning of the analyzed data to
the readers and how they relate to outlined study objectives. In this stage, the researcher
deduces the meaning of the collected data and how it relates to the hypothesis.