1. Applied Research: purpose to solve an immediate, practical problem.

Example: Why is the wolf eating only half of his normal daily allocation of food?

2. Basic Research: of a more broad, general nature. Completed to add to an existing body of knowledge.

Example: change the diet of a healthy wolf to determine the effect of the change.

Type	Characteristics	Questions asked
Experimental	At least one variable is changed to determine the effect of the change.	What is the effect of the experimental variable?
Ex post facto	Variables are studied as they occur in a natural setting, because they have already occurred or are not changed.	What are the relationships and possible effects among the variables?
Survey	The incidence, relationships and distributions of variables are studied.	What are the characteristics of the variables?
Historical	A description of past events or facts is developed.	What was or what happened?
Ethnographic	A holistic description of present phenomena is developed.	What is the nature of the phenomena?

(Wiersma, 1986, p. 17)

Research Components:

A. Introduction Chapter: Identify the Problem. The Problem statement must be specific enough so as to be clear on what is actually under investigation.

Problem must give direction as to the constants and variables driving the research. Problem provides focus and direction. May be stated in declarative, descriptive or in question form. Variables may be dependent and/or independent. What will be measured and collected as data?

Preliminary hypotheses need to be developed. A hypothesis is not a guess. A hypothesis is a reasonable explanation or prediction of results based on known facts. Hypotheses may take many forms but should always give an indication of the variable to be applied and the resulting units of measurement to be collect as data.

B. Review of Literature Chapter: A collection of information related to the problem and hypotheses used to give deeper insight into the problem. The new information may lead to the development of additional hypotheses or the refinement of existing hypotheses. All information is reference cited (APA format) so as to give credit to its source and lend credible strength to the research as it is conducted. A good review of literature will allow a reader to form the same basic hypotheses formed by the researcher by providing a clear explanation and direction for the study.

Develop & State Hypotheses: Hypotheses are a refinement of the problem. Each hypothesis will be tested in an effort to refute or support each of the proposed hypotheses. Each hypothesis test will include a Null and an Alternative hypothesis. The null usually takes the form of the most obvious or the simplest of the solutions to the problem at hand.

C. Experimental Methodology & Design Chapter: A quality experimental design explains the process in such a way that an independent researcher could repeat the experiment and get the same results (reliability). A quality experimental design measures what it was intended to measure (validity). Can the results be generalized?

Control Groups and Experimental Groups are identified and selected. Data are collected in an organized consistent manner.

D. Results Chapter: Include the results of the hypotheses being tested. What hypotheses were refuted and which were supported by the data. The data are shown visually in a form which makes the results easy to understand: graphs, histograms, scattergrams, etc.

E. Conclusion Chapter: explains the results of the study. Each hypothesis is revisited and generalizations are inferred/drawn from the results. Additional hypotheses are identified and further testing is formulated.

F. Appendix: raw data, charts, graphs, approval forms, photos, construction plans, etc.

G. References: All sources of information are listed following APA format.

References:

Wiersma, W. (1986). Research methods in education an introduction. (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.