The research Process

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Rudestam, Kjell Erik. (2001). Surviving your Dissertation. A comprehensive Guide to Content and Process. Second edition. Sage Publications, Inc. USA.
Chapter one: The research Process.
The procedure of carrying out a research is described with help of a metaphor of a wheel called the research wheel. This metaphor has four main stages: empirical observation (common entry point), Proposition, Theory and literature, and Research questions/hypotheses (then it comes, data collection, data analysis and conceptual framework).
Quotes:

• The most common entry point is some form of “empirical observation” P5
• …inductive logic that culminates in a proposition (“I wonder if …”)P6
• It is the role of the researcher to clarify the relationship between a particular proposition and the broader context of theory and previous research. P6
• A theory is the language that allows us to move from observation to observation and make sense of similarities and differences. Without placing the study within such a context, the proposed study has a “so what?” quality. P6
• Research methodology
• “the basic purpose of scientific research is theory”
• deductive reasoning to move from the larger context of theory to generate a specific research question.” P7
• Generalizations are made on the basis of the particular data that have been observed (inductive process)P7
• Bertrand Russell noted that there are two primary kinds of knowledge acquisition: Knowledge by description and knowledge by acquaintance. P8

Alberto Ramirez Martinell