A Brief Study on Descriptive Research:: Its Nature and Application in Social Science
Sagufta Sahin, Jayanta Mete
Abstract
Research is not only a set of skills, but also a way of thinking. Within this framework of thinking, researcher usually question what to observe, make an attempt to further explore, understand and explain their observations, and draw conclusion and inferences to enhance their practice skill and knowledge base. One of the components of research is getting enough information about the research problem—the what, how, when and where answers, that is why descriptive research is an important type of research. It is very useful when conducting research whose aim is to identify characteristics, frequencies, trends, correlations, and categories.This research method takes a problem with little to no relevant information and gives it a befitting description using qualitative and quantitative research methods. Descriptive research aims to accurately describe a research problem. According to Gay (1992: 217), descriptive research involves collecting data in order to test hypotheses or to answer questions concerning the current status of the subject of the study, tried to get deep data and information about the object by giving detail data and information. The purpose of descriptive research is, of course, to describe, as well as explain, or validate some sort of hypothesis or objective when it comes to a specific group of people. Descriptive research questions simply aim to describe the variables you are measuring. When we use the word describe, we mean that these research questions aim to quantify the variables you are interested in. the types of Descriptive Research are: Observation / Participant Observation, Surveys, Interviews, Focus Groups, Experiments, Secondary Data Analysis / Archival Study, Mixed Methods (combination of some of the above). The most common descriptive research method is the survey, which includes questionnaires, personal interviews, phone surveys and nominative surveys.