As the name suggests, the sources of knowledge are the avenues a student of research can look for in the initial stages of the research. The sources are looked for to find potential problems of research to take up. They also serve as the means to learn more about the present status in the chosen topic of research interest and the way forward. Different sources of knowledge prove handy in different kinds of research and at different stages of the work. Awareness of the nature of each of these sources of knowledge saves time and effort during the research.
I. Empirical Methods: When the source of knowledge the previous experience or observation of the researcher, then the applied methods are called empirical in nature. They involve total reliance on the data observed and the conclusions drawn from them. The advantage of this method is that it is objective and anybody can reproduce this source of knowledge for convincing oneself and the others. The researcher here makes certain hypothesis based on his or her experience or observation and then designs experiments to gather facts, which ultimate accept or reject the formed hypothesis. The researcher is in complete control of the variables and voluntarily changes the independent or predictor variable to study the changes in dependent or criterion variable.
II. Non-Empirical Methods: When the sources of knowledge are theories and abstract ideas, then they are called Non-empirical in nature. Some of the non-empirical or conceptual methods of knowledge gathering are review of literature, scenario building and simulation.
III. Authority: Here, the source of knowledge is an expert in the field of interest. The student researcher approaches the expert according to an appointment in a designated time and venue and interviews him or her. The comments made by the expert are recorded either verbally or in written. The experts shares all the expertise possessed by him or her in her relevant area of interest to the student researcher.
IV. Inductive and Deductive Reasoning: When the researcher starts from a specific idea and intends to generalize it on a larger scale, then it is called inductive reasoning. Instead, if a general statement is taken and tried to be applied specifically, then it is deductive reasoning.
V. The Scientific Approach: It involves the following stages namely, observation, hypothesis, experiment, data analysis and conclusion. It is a cyclic process.
I. Empirical Methods: When the source of knowledge the previous experience or observation of the researcher, then the applied methods are called empirical in nature. They involve total reliance on the data observed and the conclusions drawn from them. The advantage of this method is that it is objective and anybody can reproduce this source of knowledge for convincing oneself and the others. The researcher here makes certain hypothesis based on his or her experience or observation and then designs experiments to gather facts, which ultimate accept or reject the formed hypothesis. The researcher is in complete control of the variables and voluntarily changes the independent or predictor variable to study the changes in dependent or criterion variable.
II. Non-Empirical Methods: When the sources of knowledge are theories and abstract ideas, then they are called Non-empirical in nature. Some of the non-empirical or conceptual methods of knowledge gathering are review of literature, scenario building and simulation.
III. Authority: Here, the source of knowledge is an expert in the field of interest. The student researcher approaches the expert according to an appointment in a designated time and venue and interviews him or her. The comments made by the expert are recorded either verbally or in written. The experts shares all the expertise possessed by him or her in her relevant area of interest to the student researcher.
IV. Inductive and Deductive Reasoning: When the researcher starts from a specific idea and intends to generalize it on a larger scale, then it is called inductive reasoning. Instead, if a general statement is taken and tried to be applied specifically, then it is deductive reasoning.
V. The Scientific Approach: It involves the following stages namely, observation, hypothesis, experiment, data analysis and conclusion. It is a cyclic process.
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