Introduction          Introduction         Introduction          Introduction         

For some reason, probably related to a dislike for math, many people consider the word research and everything the word suggests as unpleasant. But research can be a valuable term. It can lead to uncovering the answers to "impossible" questions.

Two basic questions the beginning researcher must learn to answer are how and when to use research methods and statistical procedures. Developing methods and procedures are 3 valuable tasks, but the focus for the majority of research students should be on applications.

 Although both statisticians and researchers are fundamental in producing research results, their specialties are different (keep in mind that one person may serve in both capacities). Statisticians generate statistical procedures or formulas called algorithms; researchers use these algorithms to investigate research questions and hypotheses. The results of this cooperative effort are used to advance our understanding of the studied phenomenon.

Scientific research may be defined as a systematic, controlled, empirical, and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions about the presumed relations among observed phenomena. This definition contains the basic terms necessary in defining the method of scientific research, and describes a procedure that has been accepted for centuries.

However, regardless of its origin, all research begins with a basic question or proposition about a specific phenomenon. For example:

Why do viewers select one television program over another? What sections of the newspaper do people read most often? What types of magazine covers attract the widest number of readers? Which types of advertising are most effective in selling specific types of products? Each of these questions could be answered to some degree with a well-designed research study. The difficulty, in many cases, is to determine which type of study, or which method of collecting data, is most appropriate to answer the specific question(s).

The user of the method of tenacity follows the logic that something is true because it has always been true. An example is the store owner who says, "I don't advertise because my parents did not believe in advertising." The basic idea is that nothing changes; what was good, bad, or successful before will continue to be so in the future.

In the method of intuition, the a priori approach, one assumes that something is true because it is "self-evident" or "stands to reason." Researchers who conduct telephone research encounter this method of knowing frequently. Many respondents assume (intuition) that all research projects involve some form of sales. This "fear," along with various consumer groups that wish to ban all forms of telephone contacts for sales, research, or solicitation, may be the downfall of telephone research in the near future.

The method of authority seeks to promote belief in something because a trusted source, such as a relative, news correspondent, or teacher, says it is true. The emphasis is on the source, not on the methods the source may have used to gain the information. The claim that "The world is going to end tomorrow because the New York Times editorial said so" is based on the method of authority.

The scientific method approaches learning as a series of small steps. That is, one study or one source provides only an indication of what may or may not be true; the "truth" is found only through a series of objective analyses. This means that the scientific method is self-correcting in that changes in thought or theory are appropriate when errors in previous research are uncovered.

For example, scientists changed their ideas about the planets Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune when, on the basis of information gathered by the Voyager spacecraft, they uncovered errors in earlier observations. In communications, researchers discovered that the early perceptions of the power of the media (the "hypodermic needle" theory) were incorrect and, after numerous research studies, concluded that behavior and ideas are changed by a combination of communication sources and that people may react to the same message in different ways.

The scientific method may be inappropriate many areas of life, such as evaluating works of art, choosing a religion, or forming friendships, but the method has been valuable in producing accurate and useful data in mass media research. The following section provides a more detailed look at this method of knowing.