What Is Scientific Research?

                What Is Scientific Research?
 

Written by A. Yavuz Oruc in Handbook of Scientific Proposal Writing. New York: CRC Press. 2012. pp18-181.

The term scientific research is used broadly to refer to an investigation of open problems in a scientific field. The synergy between the two words that constitute the term codifies its meaning. We will explore these two
words and the synergy between them to give as complete a description of the term scientific research as possible. We begin with the second word first.

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The Merriam-Webster online dictionary* defines research as “careful or diligent search,” “studious inquiry; especially investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery or interpretation of facts, revision of
accepted theories in the light of new facts or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws,” or “collecting of information about a particular subject.”

Others define it more succinctly as “human activity based on intellectual application in the investigation of matter.” We will adopt the following more generic definition to focus on the essence of research:

Research is a process of understanding a problem, and discovering facts to help solve it. Researching a problem can thus be viewed as solving or completing a puzzle. However, in this puzzle analogy, obtaining the missing pieces may involve steps that may go far beyond searching for them. The pieces may exist in some other form and may have to be modified before they can be used, or they may not even exist and may have to be created. Exactly how the pieces are obtained and the puzzle is solved depends on the model of
research process used.

One such model is that of a mathematical investigation in which Mathematical results are customarily established using five basic entities:
(1) axioms (postulates), 
Axioms are generally the ground rules of a mathematical investigation. All statements must agree with the axioms of the mathematical domain within which the research activity is carried out.
 
(2) definitions and propositions, 
Definitions and propositions form the front end of such an activity. They are introduced to formalize the problems to be solved.

(3) lemmas
Lemmas serve as auxiliary puzzle pieces

(4) theorems
Theorems correspond to blocks of puzzles, and corollaries extend the solutions of puzzles to the solutions of other similar puzzles. In this setting, stating and proving lemmas should constitute a research activity if they have not been stated or proved before. They are like creating new pieces to solve a puzzle. Stating and proving theorems is similar to putting smaller pieces together to make bigger pieces of a puzzle. This would also be a research activity if the theorems in question have not been stated and proved elsewhere.

(5) corollaries.
On the other hand, corollaries are more like consequences of theorems and lemmas. Stating and proving corollaries, in and of themselves, should therefore be viewed more as a process of extending known results. However, in some cases, coming up with corollaries and proving them may involve considerable creativity and effort and thus constitute a legitimate research activity.

Basic and Applied Research

                Basic and Applied Research


Written by Kenneth S. Bordens and Bruce B. Abbott in Research Design and Methods, A Process Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2011. pp. 4-6.


Scientists work in a variety of areas to identify phenomena and develop valid explanations for them. The goals established by scientists working within a given field of research may vary according to the nature of the research problem being considered.

For example, the goal of some scientists is to discover general laws that explain particular classes of behaviors. In the course of developing those laws, psychologists study behavior in specific situations and attempt to isolate the variables affecting behavior.

Other scientists within the field are more interested in tackling practical problems than in finding general laws. For example, they might be interested in determining which of several therapy techniques is best for treating severe phobias. An important distinction has been made between basic research and applied research along the lines just presented.

I. Basic Research
Basic research is conducted to investigate issues relevant to the confirmation or dis-confirmation of theoretical or empirical positions. The major goal of basic research is to acquire general information about a phenomenon, with little emphasis placed on applications to real-world examples of the phenomenon.

For example, research on the memory process may be conducted to test the efficacy of interference as a viable theory of forgetting. The researcher would be interested in discovering something about the forgetting process while testing the validity of a theoretical position. Applying the results to forgetting in a real-world situation would be of less immediate interest.

II. Applied Research
The focus of applied research is somewhat different from that of basic research. Although you may still work from a theory when formulating your hypotheses, your primary goal is to generate information that can be applied directly to a real-world problem. A study by James Ogloff and Neil Vidmar (1994) on pretrial publicity provides a nice example of applied research. It informs us about a very real problem facing the court system: To what extent does pretrial publicity affect the decisions jurors make about a case? The results of studies such as Ogloff and Vidmar’s can help trial and appeals court judges make decisions concerning limitations placed on jury exposure to pretrial publicity. Further examples of applied research can be found in the areas of clinical, environmental, and industrial psychology (among others).

III. Overlap Between Basic and Applied Research
The distinction  between applied and basic research is not always clear. Some research areas have both basic and applied aspects. Consider the work of Elizabeth Loftus (1979) on the psychology of the eyewitness.

Loftus has extensively studied the factors that affect the ability of an eyewitness to accurately perceive, remember, and recall a criminal event. Her research certainly fits the mold of applied research. But her results also have some implications for theories of memory, so they also fit the mold of basic research. In fact, many of Loftus’s findings can be organized within existing theories of memory.

Even applied research is not independent of theories and other research in psychology.The defining quality of applied research is that the researcher attempts to conduct a study the results of which can be applied directly to a real-world event. To accomplish this task, you must choose a research strategy that maximizes the applicability of findings.

Circumfix ke-...-an in Bahasa Indonesia

Circumfix ke-...-an in Bahasa Indonesia

Written by James Neil Sneddon in Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar. 1996.London: Routledge.pp. 35-38



Circumfix ke-...-an forms nouns from adjectives, verbs and other classes. Such nouns are generally of an abstract nature.

1. Ke-...-an nouns can have an adjective base.
The nouns are all abstract, identifying the characteristic of the adjective:

baik good : kebaikan goodness, kindness
bebas free : kebebasan freedom
bersih clean : kebersihan cleanliness
cantik beautiful : kecantikan beauty
sehat healthy : kesehatan health
sulit difficult : kesulitan difficulty

2. In general the meaning of the noun can be predicted from the meaning of the adjective base. In a few cases this is not so:

berat heavy : keberatan objection
malu shy : kemaluan genitals
terang clear : keterangan explanation

3. The negative tidak 'not' can combine with some adjectives to form a compound base for ke-...-an nouns.
These correspond to English nouns with prefix dis- or in-:

adil just : ketidak-adilan injustice
jujur honest : ketidak-jujuran dishonesty
puas satisfied : ketidak-puasan dissatisfaction
senang pleased : ketidak-senangan displeasure

4. Several adjectives derived with prefix se- can form the base of a ke-...-an noun:
seimbang balanced : keseimbangan balance, equilibrium
sesuai appropriate, suitable : kesesuaian suitability, compatibility
seragam uniform, of the same kind : keseragaman uniformity

5. The noun can be formed from an intransitive verb:
datang come : kedatangan arrival
hidup live : kehidupan life
ingin wish : keinginan wish, desire
lahir be born : kelahiran birth
menang win : kemenangan victory
naik go up : kenaikan rise, increase

6. The base can be a verb with prefix ber- or ter-. 
In this case the prefix remains:

berangkat depart : keberangkatan departure
berhasil succeed : keberhasilan success
terbatas limited : keterbatasan limitation
tersedia available : ketersediaan availability

7. A few nouns are formed from a negated verb or have a compound verb base:
tahu know : ketidak-tahuan ignorance
ikut serta participate : keikut-sertaan participation

8. A few ke-.„-an nouns are based on modals or adverbs:
boleh may : kebolehan ability, skill
harus must : keharusan necessity, a must
kerap frequently : kekerapan frequency
lebih more : kelebihan excess
mungkin possible : kemungkinan possibility

9. ke-...-an nouns can be based on nouns; this use is very productive and many forms are recent in the language.
The ke-...-an forms in general mean 'having to do with [base]'. Some forms have a different translation from the base:

anggota member : keanggotaan membership
daerah region : kedaerahan regionalism
ibu mother : keibuan motherliness
pemimpin leader : kepemimpinan leadership
wanita woman : kewanitaan femininity

10. Many ke-...-an nouns with noun bases typically modify another noun. Thus keagamaan 'having to do with religion' occurs in such phrases as upacara keagamaan 'religious ceremony'. Sometimes the translation depends on context; thus kebangsaan is translated differently in the phrases kebangsaan kapal itu 'nationality of the ship' and lagu kebangsaan 'national song'. When modifying another noun it is frequently translated by an adjective, as in the case of keagamaan above. In other cases the ke-...-an noun has the same translation as the base. Thus penduduk 'population' and (teori) kependudukan 'population (theory)'. In either case such nouns are best glossed 'having to do with [base]',except where context makes their meaning clear, as in thefollowing examples:

kedokteran medical, having to do with doctors : fakultas kedokteran faculty of medicine
kehutanan forestry, having to do with forests : petugas kehutanan forestry official
kepolisian having to do with police : akademi kepolisian police academy
keuangan finance, finances : departemen keuangan department of finance; soal keuangan financial matters
kemasyarakatan social, having to do with society or community : masalah kemasyarakatan community
problem
kemahasiswaan having to do with students : hidup kemahasiswaan student life
keimigrasian having to do with immigration : undang-undang keimigrasian immigration laws

11. In a few cases ke-...-an nouns are formed from nouns already having prefix peN-, such as kependudukan 'having to do with population' (penduduk population menduduki occupy) and kepemimpinan leadership (pemimpin leader, pimpin lead).

12. With noun bases indicating a person holding a rank or office, ke-...-an forms nouns meaning 'the domain administered by [base]':
duta ambassador : kedutaan embassy
kaisar emperor : kekaisaran empire
lurah village head : kelurahan administrative unit headed by a lurah
menteri minister : kementerian department headed by a minister
raja king : kerajaan kingdom
sultan sultan : kesultanan sultanate

13. With a very few noun bases ke-...-an forms nouns indicating a collection of [base]:
pulau island : kepulauan archipelago
pustaka book (archaic) : kepustakaan bibliography, list of references

14. A few nouns are derived from numbers, both definite and indefinite , meaning 'a group which consists of [base]:
satu one : kesatuan unit
sebelas eleven : kesebelasan eleven (soccer team)
seluruh whole : keseluruhan entirety