Learn Research Methodology
I will be creating a course based on what I teach to Bachelor’s students in actuarial science. Generally, I share my passion through different topics such as sports, fashion, theatre, among others. I love helping students create research project questions to solve using quantitative methods.
What is the meaning of “research”?
Research
Research is the systematic process of searching for information to answer a question, solve a problem, or generate new knowledge. It has three main characteristics:
- It starts with a problem or a question.
- It should be based on evidence.
- It has a clear goal.
The research problem
A research problem shows a relationship between variables, is written as a clear question, and can be measured or observed in real life. The problem statement includes five main elements:
- Objectives (what the study aims to achieve),
- Research questions (what will be analyzed),
- Justification (why the study is important),
- Feasibility (available resources, scope, and consequences) and
- Identifies gaps in knowledge to explore new perspectives.
Hypotheses
A research hypothesis guides the study and indicates what we are trying to prove. It is a tentative explanation of the phenomenon or problem being studied, which can be tested with evidence and either accepted or rejected. There are different types of research hypotheses:
- Descriptive hypotheses predict a specific value.
- Correlational hypotheses describe relationships between two or more variables.
- Group difference hypotheses compare groups.
- Causal hypotheses establish cause-and-effect relationships.
Scientific Papers Structure
A scientific text includes the following elements:
- It begins with an introduction, where the objective, research question, and hypotheses are presented in a clear and engaging way.
- Then, the literature review explains what other researchers have found.
- The methods and data section describes how the data will be analyzed, what variables are included, and where the data comes from.
- Next, the results present the findings without interpretation, often using tables and graphs.
- The discussion compares the results with previous studies and evaluates the hypothesis.
- Finally, the conclusions highlight the main findings, explain whether the objective was achieved, and suggest directions for future research.
- Do not forget the references!
In Short
Research is a way to understand the world by asking questions and looking for answers using information and evidence. It starts with a clear problem or question that can be observed or measured, and it often explores the relationship between different variables. To study a problem, researchers create hypotheses, which are possible explanations that can be tested and either accepted or rejected. Finally, all this work is organized in a scientific text, which includes an introduction, a review of other studies, the methods used, the results, and the conclusions.