I would prefer action research which gives you results that may be valuable in any application of life

Miranda,

a balanced experimental and action research: my fav.

Regards

F.

Thanks @Frank. Which is your favorite topic or subtopic that you feel is well worth researching?

I would prefer action research which gives you results that may be valuable in any application of life

I prefer action research, but I think it depends on the research subject itself more than what I prefer.

Thanks @Prof Hatem and Aieman. What are the usual journals that you will send your action research papers to? In my place, there are very few journals. Please advise, thanks.

I like Action research and I will prefer that. But sometimes subject also matters.

Regards,

Nitish

@Miranda, action research type and experimental research type! The second one is related to applied research which was order for industry!

Another good method for narrowing your focus involves brainstorming a list of terms and questions related to your broad topic.

To demonstrate, let's start with a broad subject like unhealthy behavior as an example. Imagine that your instructor has given this subject as a writing prompt.

You can make a list of somewhat-related, random nouns and see if you can ask questions to relate the two topics. This results in a narrow subject! Here is a demonstration:

art

cars

bedbugs

eyeballs

sandwiches

That looks really random, doesn't it? But your next step is to come up with a question that connects the two subjects. The answer to that question is the starting point for a thesis statement.

You ask about research stages and not on research methods, is not it?

Well, I prefer the stage at which the results are obtained. I think boring stages of data analysis and so on, even recognizing that they are important. It's like being on the field ...

"To boldly go where no man has gone before"-- "Star Trek" (A good editor would grimace at the split infinitive.)

I am a research "trekkie." My "action research" leads me into distant archives rarely or never explored even by the native scholars. I love to surprise my scholarly readers by unusual archival finds. Although I am formally trained only in literature, my finds span many different fields: literature, music, philosophy, theology, history, and medical anthropology. I´ve always been encouraged to do this kind of wide-ranging research, and so I performed it and hopefully will continue as long as my health persists.

Conventional research is one point I do at my work as scientific advisor for the authority and analytical chemist. For myself I try to do a research in consideration of empiric methods and under philosophical and humanistical aspects. Therefore some fields of my private research seemed to be out of the scientific normality.

I see that nearly all of you like action research and conventional research. Probably most of us are doing applied research to get answers to our research problems.

But suddenly, just yesterday, I received a letter from my boss in the Education Ministry, to do more research to contribute to the 'body of knowledge' (basic research!). Now I'm wondering why this is so. (But I just get on with my work...)

Yes, Patrick and friends on this thread, when it comes to research we must do all that duties that come our way! Otherwise, 20 years from now or so, we will regret the things we Didn't do, rather than the things we Did :)

@Alexandre, actually the question is broad. I'm inviting our friends to talk about the research topics (HR, HRD, science, language), and types of research (action, applied, basic) etc. When we really start talking about this, we are really happy :))

In my case I am inclined to develop research processes that can contribute to state of the art theme, I support local processes (eg local innovation in rural areas) develop methodologies to address a problem, generate reflections led to the next steps and turn guidance to decision makers.

Thanks Gonzalo et al., and I place here a pic of some current interesting areas of research, that probably touch our lives in some way. Because we are all consumers...

I try to avoid doing anything conventional. Don't ask me why, that's just how I am.

Thanks David et al. Just let me share with you a pic about what most of us on RG are actually doing :)

I love to do action research by giving all respects to the basic/conventional research.

@Dr Lijo, thanks for your view. Do you still work on desalination or moved to other topics/field of research?

Of course Miranda,...I am doing research on desalination...Thanks....

Recently in China and in United States, I presented totally new views on desalination during some important conferences.

@Dr Lijo, that's great. Desalination will convert water to its usable and useful form. But is it just for drinking purposes...?

Yes, Miranda! We can do desalination for any purpose, from agriculture, potable/drinking and even up to the level of ultra pure water production from any kind of water such as Seawater, waster water (domestic and/or industrial).

Sorry for late response!

Cheers

Thanks Rebecca and Lijo. Definitely interesting!! I like this:

'...the transformative potential of the research process; the production of knowledge from diverse points of view; and breaking down the oppressive power dynamics that can be perpetuated through conventional research design'

Dr Lijo, thanks for telling me about your work.

Dear Miranda, I am an active type researcher!

I am not sure what you really mean by Conventional and action research. By definition the purpose of “Action Research” is to provide a solution to a problem in their own organization and to improve practice or understand issues. It is normally classified as qualitative. It has four basic steps – identify a problem, collect data, analyze data, and take action to resolve the problem. Typically the organization “owns” the problem in that they carry out the research themselves to solve it. As a result it may not be universal and applicable elsewhere.

Having clarified the matter, most of my research is quantitative and utilizes experimental techniques. In my opinion most of the engineering research studies fall in this category. I deal with manufacturing operations area that deal with machine tools such as lathes and milling machines, how to machine efficiently, how to organize the information for manufacturing, etc.

Miranda: In the figure given by you for the question, Historical, Ethnographic and Action are classified under qualitative research methodology while all others are quantitative. For example the exit surveys taken during the election process is quantitative. The study conducted by Charles Darwin that culminated in his discovery of Evolution is Ethnographic which is also a qualitative study. Similarly the study conducted by Jane Goodall about wild chimpanzees also falls in the same category. An example of an Action study is “How can disciplinary policies be enforced consistently in our school?”

Dear friends,

This is what I used to think. If I'm wrong, please correct me.

I thought that the type of research I did for my MS or PhD were basic research, where conceptual frameworks were tested and more info obtained concerning the variables. As for action research, I view it as the type of research that I'm doing now, to solve some learning problems faced by my students, and to give me more insights about my teaching. I like to use an experimental design with a control group. For action research, the effect/s on researchers is/are considered important.

Thanks Patrick. Actually I'm more concerned about my writing, so I tend to miss posts on RG, I missed Ljubomir's post earlier on. But I know my friends will understand.

Sometimes QandA is relaxing, but I mustn't discipline myself, thanks.

Miranda: What you are doing with experimental design and control group is termed as Experimental and is quantitative. It is the most common form of research used in education. I did not want to discourage you but wanted to clarify the terminology. I am adding a presentation about experimental methods here for your information.

Thanks Prof Nageswara, Bassam et al., PEACE at last when I email off the corrected paper :))

Prof N, thanks! I understand your kind and sincere intentions. Will get into the paper soon :))