4 Types of Research Applied to Home Science – III

G. P. Jeyanthi

4.1 Longitudinal research

A longitudinal research is a type of observational research method. That is, the researcher does not interfere with the respondent and is not involved in any interventional programme. The same individuals are studied or observed repeatedly for a long period of time even up to one or two decades.

A cohort study is a particular type of longitudinal study. Cohort means a group of individuals who belong to a particular period of time experiencing an event together. Longitudinal cohort study may be retrospective or prospective longitudinal cohort study.

In retrospective study, otherwise known as historic study, the same group of individuals are exposed to similar conditions and the outcome have already occurred in the past A cohort ofindividuals are studied that share a common exposure factor to determine the development of a problem, say, a disease, and are compared to another group of equivalent individuals that were not exposed to that factor. These collected and preserved data are recorded and analysed. In retrospective cohort studies, a risk ratio or odds ratio gives an assessment of relative risk.

Longitudinal research can also be panel study which involves a representative sample of subjects, usually identified through a panel services company. Longitudinal research is mainly used in environmental studies and psychology. The development trend across the life span and the study of life events throughout generations are some of the examples. In cross sectional studies, different individuals of a particular period with the same characteristics are compared.

In medicine, the study helps to uncover predictors of certain diseases . In advertising, the study is used to identify the changes ,that advertising has produced in the attitudes of the target group. Social scientists can assess the socio economic status of the target group they are interested over a period of time in order to make correct policies and plans for remedial measures.

The difference between a Longitudinal study and a Cross sectional study

In contrast to Longitudinal research, Cross sectional research makes comparisons at a single point of time. However both are observational studies. Cross sectional studies may include comparison of different population in a single point of time and Longitudinal studies may involve comparison of the same population at different points of time.

For example, if we consider the study of blood cholesterol levels among a target population who are of two groups-daily walkers and non walkers, in cross sectional study, we may assess the levels considering a number of other variables like age, sex, nutritional status, clinical history, treatment strategies ,income and educational status. However, as this study involves a single point assessment, It becomes impossible to see if walking has considerable check over blood cholesterol level. This is possible in Longitudinal studies, as the same individual is monitored at different points of time. Therefore, it can be said that Longitudinal researches explain the cause and effect relationship and not the Cross sectional researches.

Choice of the types of study depends on the objectives of the study. In case, a study is taken to assess the benefits of jogging , a cross sectional study may be more appropriate. The researcher need not do data collection from a single individual at many points of time, but from many individuals at a single point of time which is referred as ‘snap shot’.

Other features of Longitudinal research

Longitudinal research are time consuming and also the subjects selected for the study may not be available through out the study period causes being death, migration or unwillingness to continue.Another disadvantage is that some of the important happenings in between two touch points may be missed and the data collected skipping any sudden calamities or unnatural happenings may not provide a true picture of the collected data ignoring such events. Yet another disadvantage of Longitudinal research is , the respondents in due course may get adopted to the concept of the study and change their attitude and views and may not respond in their original way.

Criteria for successful Longitudinal research

Requirement of appropriate infrastructure and team of researchers to withstand the time period
Method of data collection and recording should be identical and error free at various study sites and at different time points
Unique coding system has to be formulated to follow track of the samples to maintain continuity
Several variables have to be taken into account like factors related to a population under study namely their environment and mobility
There should be commitment of the organization or team involved in the study
Proper training should be given to the personnel involved in conducting the research work
Uncontrolled departure of the participants should be prevented with maximal retention of those included in the study
Statistical analysis may require management of missing data and unequal sized data
Univariate and multivariate ANOVA are best suited for Longitudinal research

Examples of Longitudinal research

assessment of the performance of a special school in the successful management of autism cases over a period of one decade , prevalence and incidence of diabetes in selected cities in a time period say, from 2010-2017 and rainfall status and details of crop cultivation in selected cultivable regions over a period of say, ten years..

4.2 Laboratory research

One type of classical research is Experimental and Non experimental research. Experimental research is otherwise known as Laboratory research. This is a study planned carefully under controlled conditions on a given problem in order to find out the underlying principles or discover the facts. This type of work is done during a prescribed period. Clinical trials can be mentioned as the best examples. The researcher aims to control the conditions and the variables of the study under consideration. The researcher also aims to determine whether the intervention followed produces a desired effect or some intervening confounding factors affect the expected outcome. In the control of blood sugar while assessing the pharmacological potential of a medicinal plant, the researcher may be interested in the study of selected blood parameters .The outcome expected is control of fasting and post prandial blood sugar. If the desired results are not observed among the target population, the researcher has to rule out the possibility of any interfering confounding factors.

Laboratory research is mainly carried out by doctoral programme scholars and research scholars of funded projects .It mainly includes basic research and applied research, involving research on environment, health and other basic sciences. Clinical trials and agricultural aspects take a lead role in laboratory experiments. Health research constitutes scientific investigations to understand the patho physiology of diseases, drug actions, health and human nutrition, treatment strategies for ailments, health programmes like immunisation and community nutrition. Prevention, diagnosis and treatment form a triangular concept in clinical trials.

Maintenance of laboratories and handling of instruments and high end equipment play an important role in laboratory research. Use of radioactive isotopes, hazardous and toxic solvents and chemicals require careful and safety handling and strict adherence to rules and guidelines including their purchase and disposal.

Human Ethical Clearance Committees and Animal Ethical Clearance Committees in educational and research institutions help in monitoring research studies associated with animals and humans. In clinical trials, specimen collection and preservation like blood, urine, sputum, cerebrospinal fluid, amniotic fluid and tissue samples is a challenging problem until analysis is carried out.

Public Health Departments and Pollution Control Boards possess mobile laboratories which are fully equipped with all requirements for doing on the spot assessment of biological samples. These are a great boon to the researchers working on environmental aspects and on clinical toxicology.

Researchers working with animal models which mimic the human system, attempt their research studies on animals and extrapolate their findings to human system. Such scholars need to concentrate on handling animals, breeding of various species, cleaning the cages, administering injections and test doses, preparing special animal diets, learning to anesthetize the animals, maintaining and evaluating animal records, preparing for sterile surgical procedure, performing simple surgical procedures like pancreatectomy, administering medication, performing animal autopsy, collecting blood and other biological specimens.

Histology experiments will include preparation of frozen sections of whole animal body organs, perfusion of animals, staining processes, paraffin and celloidin embedding processes and autoradiography of tissue sections. Immunology experiments include plaque assays, hemagglutination assays, fluorescent antibody techniques, lyophilisation, cytotoxicity assays and lymphocyte culture.

Other skills and experiences expected from researchers doing laboratory experiments are data processing, laboratory maintenance, performing statistical analysis, programming skills, data base skills and knowledge on computer languages.

Advantages of Laboratory research

There is tight control of the variable
The relationship between the cause and effect can be easily studied.
This type is easy to replicate under the same environmental conditions. Therefore results can be checked and verified and accurate results may be obtained.
Complex methodology and high end equipment can be used,
It is less expensive and less time consuming
Conditions not found in a natural setting can be created in an experimental setting. Therefore , there will be maximum control of the external environment.

Disadvantages of Laboratory research

The participants may come to know the objectives and methodology and may modify their responses and behaviour
There is artificial environment created which masks the original set up and real life situation may be masked.
There may be less ecological validity and may not be easy to generalise to all situations
The researcher’s attitude may affect the process of experimentation
Sometimes, human error may play an important role and give false results
All ethical standards pertaining to the laboratory work should be taken care of

4.3 Exploratory research

It is mainly associated with marketing and business aspects. This includes mainly discovery of new concepts, ideas and views related to the problem rather than mere data collection. The focus is on exploring clearly on untouched problems, by establishing the priorities, formulating new theories and discovering new research design.

The methodology is related to secondary research, making use of available background information and collecting information from sources like consumers, management, employers or even competitors on different aspects of the problem. Final decisions are not based on the results of Exploratory research as this type of work is performed at the initial stage of the problem. This research becomes necessary when a new issue pops up in the society that demands concern from academicians, industrialists, politicians , public and researchers. Impact of demonetisation can be identified as a suitable topic for Exploratoryresearch. Direct interviews, case studies and pilot studies help in collection of information and for assessing the status. In case, the problem is too broad or too narrow, then formal hypothesis can be generated from the results of the Exploratory research. Applied research in an administration can be considered as

Exploratory research because of the need for flexibility in dealing with the problem under consideration. Also Exploratory research makes use of the tools of Qualitative research, like case studies and field work. Selection of Exploratory research to analyse and solve any problem can clearly define the problem, give priority to action steps to be taken and also can help in deciding the exact action plan. The final outcome of Exploratory research will not help in making final decision as this research is formulated only based on the initial issues of a problem. Unstructured interview is an important primary data collection method of Exploratory research.

Any marketing research , a type of Exploratory research may be of three types:

Formulative research required in the initial stage of the analysis to collect all preliminary data and to formulate hypothesis,2.Descriptive research to further discuss on the various aspects of the work and 3.Causal research or Explanatory research to test the proposed hypothesis and to study the cause –effect relationship

Exploratory research may be initiated in two forms-may be in a new topic when the researcher after identifying a problem can formulate a new ,innovative, novel related topic for research similar to the original problem or in a new angle when the researcher may try a new methodology and a different theoretical perspective.

There are three categories of Exploratory research:

Use of the expertise of learned persons during data collection
Analysis of secondary data
Review of qualitative data and analysis through interview, case studies and pilot studies Ethnography , a type of case analysis is sometimes adopted in Exploratory research where video tapes and computers are used for observation at the work places and residents of the respondents. Two types of pilot studies are followed-external in which a small group of participants are involved who do not form the study group and internal in which the first few participants are considered as pilot study group. Pilot study can be categorised into two types in another way- 1.undeclared pilot study where the participants are not aware that they are included in the investigation and do not belong to a pre-test group and 2. participatory pilot study where the participants are aware that they form the pre-test group.

Advantages of Exploratory research

Flexibility and adaptability are achieved
Basic preliminary steps can be completed for future work
Time and resources can be saved.

Disadvantages are

The sample size may not be a true representation of the population
Most of the information collected in Exploratory research are qualitative in nature and this may lead to bias in the interpretation of data.

Other important highlights of Exploratory research are:

Subsequent original research is expected based on the findings of Exploratory research
Small sample size is a feature of Exploratory research
The final results may force the researcher to go for another research
Open ended questions are used
Specific groups of participants are involved.

4.4 Historical research

Understanding the basics and development of a particular field of research study may offer insight into organizational culture, current scenario and future perspectives. The historical method of research is applicable to all fields of study as it involves their origin, development, theories, personalities, crisis, etc. Historical data can be collected by using both quantitative and qualitative variables.

Historical methods of research include analysis of the past happenings in a systematic way. Just the facts and dates or description of past happenings alone are not collected. The minute details giving an account of the involvement of historic personalities, their achievements , principles and other documents related to historic events are gathered.. An important goal of historical research is to bring a link of the present to past events. There are a number of topics in library and information science field that may be considered for conducting historical research. For example, a researcher may select topics like development of a school that is one or two centuries old ,academic or public libraries, the rise of technology from the scratch up to the current status and the benefits/ problems it brings, the development of preservation methods, communication methods,life history of famous personalities in a field, library statistics, or geographical demographics and how they influence library distribution. Historical methods of research is a scientific method where comparison is made to explain the historical phenomena and to understand the various historical stages of development .The historical method consists of the techniques and guidelines by which primary sources and other evidence, such as secondary sources and tertiary sources are used by the historians to do research on history. A biography of a personality who has contributed to the development of any current flourishing field like film industry, is also considered to be history of the media.

The steps involved in a Historical research

The first step in doing a historical research is to identify a proper topic and then do a background literature survey. Then appropriate methodology has to be designed. Suitabl primary and secondary data sources have to be located and the authenticity and accuracy of the source materials have to be evaluated. After the analysis of the data, the findings have to be presented as a descriptive report which can be substantiated with the opinion, views and comments of related personalities associated with the story. .Sources of historical methods of research include-Primary Sources of Information that comprise of direct and true picture of the events or the records of eyewitnesses, original documents, etc. and Secondary Sources of Information that consists of information provided by an individual or any other source who did not directly observe the event. Other sources of the topic under study include text books , newspapers , periodicals, internet and library catalogues and library databases. Tertiary sources like encyclopedias, dictionaries and handbooks provide an outline of the problem under study.

The researcher has to make sure that the evidences under consideration that are gathered are authentic. The researcher also should check the genuineness , accuracy or validity of the source. Another point to be considered is the competency, honesty and unbiased approach of the researcher. .The time gap between the event and the report also plays a role in determining the accuracy and validity of the research work.

Historical research should not have report writing towards the end.. The researcher should start writing while doing research. Final report should develop only from a previous rough draft. A broad write up should culminate in a narrow topic or hypothesis..

Historical methods of research refer to a process of collection, analysis and interpretation of information to answer questions. To achieve a correct form,, the process must have certain characteristics: It must be controlled, rigorous, systematic, valid and verifiable, empirical and critical. There will be no manipulation of data possible, as the events are the ones that had truly happened in the past.

Advantages of Historical research

Most of the data and information collected are authentic and valid as they are the true events of the past.
The effects of interaction within a culture or sub-culture is highlighted.
Understanding of any solution to contemporary problems are achieved.

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References

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