Non-practicing preacher and non-practicing naked man By Prof Dr Sohail Ansari A

bdullah ibn ‘Amr (RA) says that Rasulullah (SAW) said: “Four traits whoever possesses them is a hypocrite and whoever possesses some of them has an element of hypocrisy until he leaves it: the one who when he speaks he lies, when he promises he breaks his promise, when he disputes he transgresses and when he makes an agreement he violates it.” (Muslim and Bukhari)

Walking that is not preaching may not deliver but selling does

·        Same words of non practicing preacher and naked man selling a shirt ‘do what I say but do not do what I do’ prove different things. They prove the former fool as he is not benefited from beneficial; and the latter clever as he is not harmed from thing he is claiming to be beneficial.

Quotes:

It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching. Francis of Assisi

Preaching is effective as long as the preacher expects something to happen-not because of the sermon, not even because of the preacher, but because of God. John Hines

To be a writer does not mean to preach a truth, it means to discover a truth. Milan Kundera

Basic Research Designs

This module will introduce the basics of choosing an appropriate research design and the key factors that must be considered.

Learning Objectives

·         Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative research methods.

·         Identify whether or research project is qualitative or quantitative in nature.

·         List the key factors that must be considered when choosing a research design.

Once the research question has been formulated, it is critical that the researcher select the appropriate research methodology to answer the question.   The type of research question will typically dictate the methodology that will be employed.  The reliability and validity of the results depends on upon proper selection of the research approach and design.

Descriptive Analytics, which use data aggregation and data mining to provide insight into the past and answer: “What has happened?” Descriptive Analytics: Insight into the past Descriptive analysis or statistics does exactly what the name implies they “Describe”, or summarize raw data and make it something that is interpretable by humans. They are analytics that describe the past. The past refers to any point of time that an event has occurred, whether it is one minute ago, or one year ago. Descriptive analytics are useful because they allow us to learn from past behaviors, and understand how they might influence future outcomes.

Predictive Analytics, which use statistical models and forecasts techniques to understand the future and answer: “What could happen?”

 Predictive Analytics: Understanding the future

Predictive analytics has its roots in the ability to “Predict” what might happen. These analytics are about understanding the future. Predictive analytics provides companies with actionable insights based on data. Predictive analytics provide estimates about the likelihood of a future outcome. It is important to remember that no statistical algorithm can “predict” the future with 100% certainty. Companies use these statistics to forecast what might happen in the future. This is because the foundation of predictive analytics is based on probabilities.
 Prescriptive Analytics, which use optimization and simulation algorithms to advice on possible outcomes and answer: “What should we do?”

 Prescriptive Analytics: Advise on possible outcomes

The relatively new field of prescriptive analytics allows users to “prescribe” a number of different possible actions to and guide them towards a solution. In a nut-shell, these analytics are all about providing advice. Prescriptive analytics attempt to quantify the effect of future decisions in order to advise on possible outcomes before the decisions are actually made. At their best, prescriptive analytics predicts not only what will happen, but also why it will happen providing recommendations regarding actions that will take advantage of the predictions.

These analytics go beyond descriptive and predictive analytics by recommending one or more possible courses of action. Essentially they predict multiple futures and allow companies to assess a number of possible outcomes based upon their actions. Prescriptive analytics use a combination of techniques and tools such as business rules, algorithms, machine learning and computational modelling procedures. These techniques are applied against input from many different data sets including historical and transactional data, real-time data feeds, and big data.

Formative research is research that occurs before a program is designed and implemented, or while a program is being conducted. Formative research can help. • define and understand populations at greatest risk for HIV. • create programs that are specific to the needs of those populations.
Summative research or conclusion research, is done at the end of a project and is used to determine its success. It can also gauge customer satisfaction or aid in the development of future projects. Summative research is used to frame the outcome of an investigative process. 

Forms of Research

Research is a systematic inquiry used to describe, explain, predict or control some observed phenomenon - the research topic.  Research can be classified into four main forms based on the specific purpose:

·         Basic Research - This research is descriptive in nature and is used to understand and explain a phenomenon.  This type of research is often conducted for the sake of increasing and advancing a knowledge base.

·         Applied Research - The purpose of this research is to provide information that can be used and applied in an effort to help people understand and control their environment.  This type of research is more prescriptive in nature and seeks to offer potential solutions to problems.

·         Evaluation Research - The purpose of evaluation research is to examine the processes and outcomes associated with a particular solution to a problem.  The research may be formative in that it attempts to improve the intervention or solution or it may be summative and attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of solution or program.

·         Action Research - This research is often conducted within a program, organization or community and the researchers are involved in gathering data and studying themselves.

Regardless of the purpose of the research, the process is similar.  Researchers begin by selecting a broad research topic and conducting a literature review to build up the researcher's knowledge base and to ensure the significance of the research.  The researcher will then develop a research problem related to the topic and create a specific question.  The research design will then be developed and the procedures for analyzing the data will be identified.  The results of the research will hopefully lend themselves to the publication of a scholarly article.

Quantitative and Qualitative Designs

There are two main approaches to a research problem - quantitative and qualitative methods. 

Quantitative methods are used to examine the relationship between variables with the primary goal being to analyze and represent that relationship mathematically through statistical analysis.  This is the type of research approach most commonly used in scientific research problems.  Qualitative methods are chosen when the goal of the research problem is to examine, understand and describe a phenomenon.  These methods are a common choice in social science research problems and are often used to study ideas, beliefs, human behaviors and other research questions that do not involve studying the relationship between variables. Once the main approach to the research problem has been determined, there are several research designs for each type of approach that may be considered.  

 Choosing a Design

The following table lists and describes the most common research designs used at Grand Canyon University.  Different research books will use different terms for similar types of research.  However, the research designs identified in this document are fairly common in terms of their use and their terminology.

Types of Research Designs

Quantitative Designs		Qualitative Designs
Design	Focus	Design	Focus
Correlational	Explore the relationship between two or more variables through a correlational analysis. The intent is to determine if and to what degree the variables are related.  It does not imply one causes the other.	Case Study And Historical	Intent is to study and understand a single situation, which could be a leader, a classroom, a process, program, activity. Collect a variety of material in a specific and bounded time period.  This is also used for historical studies, when collecting historical data to understand and learn from the past.
Causal Comparative	Compare two groups with the intent of understanding the reasons or causes for the two groups being different.	Narrative	Describe the lives of individual(s) to get meaning from them.
Experimental	Test an idea, treatment, program to see if it makes a difference. There is a control group and a test group. Individuals are randomly assigned to the two groups.  One group gets the treatment (test group) and the other group (control group) does not get the treatment. There is a pre and post-test for both groups in a traditional experimental design.	Grounded Theory	The focus is to develop an understanding of a phenomenon or situation in order to be able to develop a theory/model for items such as factors, a form of interaction, or a process.
Quasi-experimental	It is the same as experiment in that there is a control and test group. However, current groups are used as is rather than randomly assigning people to the two groups. Both groups receive the pre and post- test in a traditional design.	Phenomenology	Studies a human experience at an experiential level such as understanding what it means for a woman to lose a child. It is about understanding the essence or meaning of the experience.