The Research Process: Data Collection and Analysis

The research process
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Introduction
Research is an exploration of books or online material to get facts on a certain topic. Usually, the research tries to find facts to an existing theory or addresses the shortcomings of the study conducted earlier. There are several tasks a researcher should consider while preparing to collect and analyze data.
Tasks the researcher should consider for data collection
First, the researcher should choose a topic, selecting a topic is the first step in a research process. Choosing a topic that one has interest on makes it easier to get content for the research. The problem should be manageable, and the researcher should narrow down to the important aspects by getting some background information on the topic (Salkind, 2012).
Secondly, the researcher should select the catch words for using in the research process to get the required information. They are used in searching for topics in books and also in online sources. Finding correct catch words helps the researcher to conduct the research efficiently.
Having a summary of the research problem is also needed; it gives a few facts on the topic. Summary does not provide all the necessary information required on the subject, it provides only an overview, and more research is needed. The summary helps the researcher to understand the topic better and also to ask oneself questions that will be answered later in the research (Salkind, 2012). Making source cards for research on the topic is important. Source cards contain details of books that have content on the research topic. Source cards help in citing your research and also in retrieving lost sources. Types of source cards include; books, websites and also television shows. The researcher should also develop questionnaires while preparing to collect data. Questionnaires outline the relevant questions that help the researcher to narrow down to only relevant areas of the research topic.
Another factor in the research process is paying attention to the issue; here the researcher is required to display a thorough understanding of the problem. In this process, the researcher should standardise the topic to avoid boring the reader while on the other hand providing little information will sho...