What do you think anything containing historical facts or figures can be termed as a research study or not? For example, if you have watched the Oppenheimer movie released in 2023, you will get to know a lot of facts or reasons behind the making of nuclear bombs by the United States of America.
But the question here is can you consider it as a research study or not? You can not consider it as a research study because it lacks evidence with sources that are mainly added to the academic study. Then you must ask what is academic research?
It is the process of systematically investigating critical questions using different sources available and backing the arguments with supporting facts and figures from other writings or pieces of studies.
What is Academic Research Definition?
Many academics have proposed different words for the academic research process, but more or less, the meaning is the same. According to Mr Werner von Braun, “Basic research is what I am doing when I don’t know what I am doing?”
Academic research has been defined as the process of systematic investigation entailing the collection of data, documentation of critical information, and lastly, analysis and interpretation of collected data based on the set research methodologies for finding the best possible answer to the research hypothesis.
In the broader sense, academic research means the collection or analysis of data in order to increase the audience’s understanding of a certain topic. It is mainly conducted to fill out any research gap like empirical, population, knowledge, evidence, methodological, and so on present unaddressed till now about a specific topic by the researcher.
Difference Between Academic and Professional Research?
There are a lot of differences between academic and professional research studies, mainly in intent and other factors are discussed in the table below.
| Academic Research | Professional Research |
|---|---|
| Also known as a scholarly research study | Also known as an applied research study |
| To add more knowledge to an existing body of knowledge | To find solutions for personal or business problems |
| Addresses conceptual research aims | Addresses practical research aim |
| Meant to be made public | Meant to be kept private |
| Results usually lead towards future research implications | Results usually lead towards making decisions and setting up strategies |
| Passed through peer reviews by scholars | Passed by client or internal review committee |
| It can be in the form of journal articles, dissertations and so on. | It can be in the form of case studies, reports, and so on. |
What is the Academic Research Process?
The academic research process is the phenomenon related to data collection using different techniques like surveys, sampling, questionnaires, interviews, and from different academic research sites like journals, e-books, magazines, etc.
To interpret the data for deducing results and findings related to the research aims or questions being set by the author or authors to solve the big questions in a particular piece of study.
Lastly, the researcher is required to present the analysis and findings in a manageable way for the readers, along with a list of citations added throughout the study.
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Different Types of Academic Research
There are different types of academic research studies each one serving different purposes at one time. The type you choose for your paper or dissertation totally depends upon your intent for conducting the whole process.
Let’s explore the 4 main kinds to know about the most commonly used types of academic research throughout the world of research studies.
- Explanatory Research
When a student wants to know the relationship between cause and effect present in the data being collected or shortlisted to address the research questions outlined by the author.
- Descriptive Research
As the name suggests it is widely used by the author to highlight specific characteristics of a particular topic or content under observation without diving deep into the causes at work behind it.
- Exploratory Research
Exploratory research type is used to identify or explore untapped problems or scientific issues in your investigative document. It is often used by qualitative researchers to uncover hidden questions about a certain field of study.
- Correlational Research
It is mainly used by scientific researchers to identify the relationship between two or more variables and the effect those variables have on the whole context of the study.
Academic Research Methods
Academic research can be conducted mainly using qualitative and quantitative methods, depending on the nature of your study.
If you are going to study reasons behind the lowering graph in essay publications, then you may not need to use quantitative research methodology because it deals with numbers, and your research aim is to discuss the philosophical or critical reasons not doing data analysis.
On the other hand, if you want to conduct a research study dealing with the reasons behind the more casualties in the recent pandemics globally, then you must be required to use quantitative research methodology for dealing with numbers.
Let’s explore different types of research methods being used by the researchers in order to complete the data collection process.
- Qualitative Research
It involves dealing with data only in words or statements to prove the arguments or questions related to research problems. It does not include doing statistical analysis or other kinds of numerical analysis to find the results.
It is mostly used by students associated with academic disciplines of social sciences who do not have to deal with numbers or quantify data for writing literature reviews.
- Quantitative Research
It’s a pure research methodology that includes dealing with numbers to deduce the required results for providing the optimal answers to the research aims or objectives that the researcher wants to achieve.
This research methodology is widely used by the students of economics, accounting, finance, medical sciences, and so on writing assignments or dissertations to prove their hypothesis scientifically along with numerical data that can be verified.
- Mixed Method Research
According to Dr. John W. Creswell, “Mixed methods investigations involve integrating quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis in a single study or a program of inquiry”. It involves using qualitative and quantitative research conducting approaches in a single study to present several advantages of a single multifaceted study.
It is also termed as a hybrid approach allowing the researcher to use the best of both worlds approaches and present a comprehensive understanding of the project to the audience. It is most commonly used by educationists, public health researchers, and social scientists to present a bigger picture of the study.
Importance of Academic Research
Academic research can be beneficial for students or for commoners in different aspects which can be measured or explained briefly in this section. But we’ll explain the main three important elements of conducting research studies in this article.
Elements of Conducting Academic Research
First of all, it facilitates people in improving the learning process by making them able to see specific problems from different lenses that they have never thought of before or talked of. It leads the researcher towards being more rational or responsible in arguments by making it pass through the journey of argumentation with evidence.
The academic research process is, in short, the transition from being empty to full of evidence in communication. The second major benefit of conducting academic research studies is the identification of hidden problems neglected by society or especially by people associated with it.
It makes you pinpoint and address the problems for the betterment of society, like those related to cultural norms, health, education, etc.
Lastly, it’s the best path to follow for boosting the process of personal growth as it helps you develop academic research skills to pinpoint problems and find solutions in a systematic way using different academic research tools.
Academic Research Examples
Academic research writers usually mould their data or findings in the form of a research paper or a full-fledged study to make it public for the benefit of a large chunk of the audience who can benefit from it.
Academic research can be conducted in different forms as suitable for the author and the whole process to manage. However, some of the top academic research examples are outlined below for you to know about the most used types around the globe.
- Research Papers
It is usually a compact study comprised of even 2 to 3 pages discussing the larger issues with preciseness. Though concise in volume, but no doubt very much effective in addressing the research questions about a particular topic or field of study.
- Dissertation
A full-fledged research study is usually required by the institutes for undergraduate, master’s, or PhD students to complete the academic requirements of a certain study level. Some students write it completely on their own, and some deal with it in the form of a group.
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- Survey Reports
Survey reports are usually conducted by organisations or groups of individuals to find out exact facts and figures about any social or economic issue. For example, to find out the food-starved countries, world organisations like the United Nations lay out a survey report to find the right number or statistics about the food-starved nations.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is an investigation conducted by academic research writers to find the answers to the research questions related to the problem identified by the author.
It is not necessary to conduct a research study only under the supervision of someone skilled, you can conduct it on your own to address the issues that you want to be demystified.
In academic research, several tools are helpful in completing the whole process, such as Google Scholar for finding articles, Mendley & EndNote for managing citations, Turnitin for checking plagiarism, and many more according to your use case, like SPSS for data analysis.
