First, according to the purpose of research, it can be divided into exploratory research, narrative research and causal research.
1, exploring research
Exploratory research is a kind of research that makes a preliminary understanding of the research object or problem in order to gain a preliminary impression and perceptual knowledge, and provide the foundation and direction for more thorough and in-depth research in the future. The situation of using this type is: for some research problems, there is a lack of previous research experience, the relationship between variables is not clear, and there is no theoretical basis. In this case, careful study will lead to the problem of ignoring one thing or generalizing, as well as wasting time, money and manpower. There are many ways of this kind of research, such as participating in observation, unstructured interviews, consulting literature, analyzing cases and so on. This is often a small-scale research activity.
2. Descriptive research.
Descriptive research, also known as narrative research, refers to the research whose result is to correctly describe the characteristics or overall picture of a certain group of people or a certain phenomenon. Its task is to collect data from chaotic phenomena, find out the situation, provide information and describe the main laws and characteristics. The focus is not on why there is such a distribution, but on the accuracy and generality of describing (narrating) the distribution. The difference between descriptive research and exploratory research lies in its systematicness, structure and comprehensiveness, and the large sample size of the research. Generally, it is a planned, purposeful and directional research with a detailed outline. The data are mainly collected by questionnaires with closed questions, and processed by statistical methods, and all kinds of numerical results are obtained, which are inferred to the whole, and the overall situation is illustrated by the sample data studied. Many studies in education are suitable for narrative research. There are many research methods belonging to this type, such as investigation, case study, comparative study, related research and development research.
3. Explain the method.
Interpretation method is also called causality study. This kind of research mainly discusses the causal relationship between a hypothesis and conditional factors, that is, on the basis of understanding what a phenomenon is and what its situation is, to further clarify or understand why things and phenomena are like this. Interpretation method refers to exploring the reasons behind the phenomenon, revealing the inherent law of the occurrence or change of the phenomenon, and answering why the scientific research type. Causality is complex, including causality between a certain condition and a certain phenomenon, and causality between various conditions and a certain phenomenon. Causality in education mostly belongs to the latter. It usually starts from theoretical assumptions, involves experiments or goes deep into the field, collects data, tests the assumptions through statistical analysis of the data, and finally achieves the purpose of theoretical explanation of things or problems. In the design of the experiment, besides being as systematic and thorough as descriptive research, it is more rigorous and targeted. In analysis methods, it is often necessary to carry out binary or multivariate statistical analysis. There are experimental and non-experimental studies on this causal relationship. Experimental research can be divided into laboratory research and field (or natural) experimental research.
Second, according to the research content, scientific research can be divided into basic research and applied research.
1. Basic research Basic research refers to experimental and theoretical research conducted to obtain basic principles and new knowledge about phenomena and observable facts, and is not aimed at any special or specific application or use.
The characteristics of basic research are:
(1) aims at understanding phenomena and discovering and opening up new knowledge fields. Through experimental analysis or theoretical research, analyze the physical properties, structure and relationship of things, deepen the understanding of objective things, explain the essence of phenomena, reveal the laws of material movement, or put forward and verify various ideas, theories or laws.
(2) There is no specific application or purpose. When conducting research, I can't see the results, I can't tell what it is useful, or although it will definitely be useful, I don't know the technical ways and methods to achieve the application purpose.
(3) It is generally undertaken by scientists, who have great freedom in determining research topics and arranging work.
(4) Research results usually have universal or universal correctness, and the results often show universal principles, theories or laws and are published in scientific journals or exchanged at academic conferences in the form of papers.
Therefore, when the purpose of research is to fully understand phenomena in the broadest sense, and/or when the purpose is to discover new scientific research fields without considering their direct application, it is regarded as basic research.
Basic research can be divided into pure basic research and directional basic research.
The differences between pure basic research and directional basic research are as follows:
Pure basic research is to promote the development of knowledge, regardless of long-term economic or social benefits, and is not committed to applying its results to practical problems or transferring them to departments responsible for application.
The purpose of directional basic research is to produce a wide knowledge base and provide information for solving the current, future or possible problems that have been seen or predicted.
2. Applied research
Applied research refers to creative research for acquiring new knowledge, mainly aiming at specific practical purposes or goals. The characteristics of its research are:
(1) has a specific practical purpose or application goal, which is embodied in: determining the possible uses of basic research results, or exploring new methods (principles) or new ways to achieve the predetermined goals.
(2) around a specific purpose or goal, acquire new knowledge in the research process and provide scientific basis for solving practical problems.
(3) The research results generally only affect the limited scope of science and technology, which is special. For a specific field, problem or situation, the results are mainly scientific papers, monographs, principle models or invention patents.
3. The main criteria for distinguishing basic research from applied research:
First, basic research is to understand phenomena and acquire knowledge about the basic principles of phenomena and facts, regardless of their direct application; Applied research has a specific application purpose in the process of acquiring knowledge.
Second, basic research has no specific application purpose or goal, which is mainly manifested in the following aspects: when conducting research, the practical application prospect of its results is not very clear; Apply research or develop basic research results to determine their possible uses, or determine new methods and ways to achieve specific and predetermined goals.
Third, according to the nature of scientific research, it can be divided into stereotyped research and quantitative research.
1, qualitative research
Logically speaking, qualitative research is based on descriptive research, which is essentially an inductive process, that is, drawing general conclusions from special situations. Qualitative research focuses on and relies on the description and understanding of the meaning, characteristics, metaphors and symbols of things.
Qualitative research is a method or angle to study things from the internal laws of things according to the contradictory changes of social phenomena or things' attributes and movements. It describes and explains what it studies from the perspective of contradiction, based on accepted axioms, a set of deductive logic and a large number of historical facts. To conduct qualitative research, we should directly grasp the main aspects of the characteristics of things according to certain theories and experiences, and temporarily ignore the quantitative differences of homogeneity.
2. Quantitative research
Quantitative research is a research process that mainly collects quantitative data or information, quantifies, tests and analyzes the data, and then draws meaningful conclusions. According to certain standards, it measures the characteristic value of the object by comparing the characteristics of the object, or finds out the variation law of the quantity between some factors. Because its purpose is to answer the quantitative properties of things and their movements, it is called quantitative research.
Quantitative research is closer to deductive process, that is, it extends from general principles to special situations. Quantitative research focuses on and relies more on the measurement and calculation of things.