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Research is a multi-stepped process that asks students to seek guidance and help from experts at every second step. While conducting research, you cannot do anything by choice; rather, you have to follow a complete framework to achieve certain goals. Science has presented a long list of research methods that researchers can use effectively. This article will throw light on a research method commonly known as explanatory research by stating its definition and types and examples.
What Is Explanatory Research?
Explanatory research can be defined in a variety of ways. It is a method that explores why something happens. To put it in another way, it is a strategy applied to collect data with the sole purpose of explaining a particular phenomenon. A researcher can use this method of investigation when he/she wants to study a phenomenon that has not been explained before as it must need to be. Furthermore, a research aims to find the best possible answers to solve a scientific problem can also be conducted by using the explanatory method of research.
The scope of explanatory method of research is not only confined to finding the information that was previously explained poorly; rather, after finding the information you must give useful suggestions to bridge the gaps. Furthermore, such research can also be explained as a cause-and-effect study ideal for finding patterns and trends in the existing data. For this reason, explanatory method of research is also known as casual research.
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Types Of Explanatory Research:
Explanatory research focuses on the ‘why’ aspects of research. It helps a businessman to review why people are not buying their products or physicians to know why a particular treatment is not giving the proposed outcomes. The answer to this ‘why’ can be investigated by using a number of methods such as case studies, literature research, pilot studies, observations, and focus groups. The following is a brief description of these types;
Case Studies:
Case studies help researchers in gathering all major or minor information about a case under study. It is a way to review other professionals’ strategies previously used to solve a similar but different condition. It allows finding a solution by exploring what works or what does not.
Literature Research:
A literature review is a method of collecting all relevant information in one place to make a final discussion. It is a secondary method of exploratory investigation that works by providing researchers insights into how others resolved a similar situation. It suggests useful techniques to help the researcher reach a particular conclusion.
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Focus Groups
As the name suggests, this method involves a group of experts to investigate about a problem. All experts that we invite must have relevant problem-solving experience so a researcher can reach a conclusion by learning from the experiences of all experts. This method focuses on experts’ opinions by arranging a short meeting instead of using already published information on the internet.
Observations
Observation is the method of explanatory investigation that helps researchers resolve a given problem by collecting information using any of the five senses. It is extremely important to help resolve critical social or behavioural matters. It aims to provide direct first-hand information to researchers so a research can be concluded on the basis of what they saw and observed.
Pilot Studies
Pilot studies are short versions of large studies that help researchers resolve a given matter without using too many resources. This method of investigation is usually used in trial studies when a researcher is not sure about whether the selected research design can give the best results or not. Simply, if you are planning to conduct research that is completely new to society, then performing pilot studies is a must.
Knowing about different methods of explanatory research is not enough; rather, you must also know when to use these methods to achieve research goals. The above description has described, to some extent, what kind of aims can be achieved by using a particular method. Even you can use more than one method in a study. If you are still confused about selecting the right method of investigation, you can avail yourself of any of the two options. The first is to use AI tools to search for a detailed guide to know more about them, and the second is to shortlist some good dissertation writing services. No matter what you will choose, both can help you achieve your research goals 10X faster.
You Can Also Read: What Are The Five Effective Ways Of Collecting Data For Research?
Examples Of Explanatory Research:
Examples are extremely useful to get deep insights into a process. Thus, the following are some examples that will help you further understand how the explanatory method of research can help you in academic research:
- Why teens of the twentieth century are more obese as compared to the past?
- Why do certain groups of Covid-19 victims survive while others do not?
- How does digitalization impact the intellectual abilities of children?
In all these examples mentioned above, the researcher must give an explanation or reasons for why teens are obese, why only a few Covid victims survive, and the impact of digitalization on children’s intellectual abilities. Thus, they all fall under the umbrella of explanatory research. However, to collect data, one can use a different method. For example, the reasons for obesity in teens of the twentieth century can be investigated by conducting an observation, focus groups, or literature review. Likewise, pilot studies may help you in finding the impact of digitalization on the intellectual abilities of children. Moreover, you can use observation or focus groups to find out why certain groups of Covid-19 victims survive while others do not.
Final Thoughts:
In a nutshell, explanatory research is important to find reasons why a particular phenomenon or event occurs. It is the process of selecting a topic or explaining it as thoroughly as possible. The purpose can be achieved by using many methods like focus groups, pilot studies, case studies, observations, and literature reviews. Different methods can be used in different research designs. Explaining a point or topic of interest as greatly as possible is the main task in explanatory method of research. Thus, if you are working on solving a social or medical problem, then you must take advantage of the explanatory approach of investigation.
