Exploratory research is "the preliminary research to clarify the exact nature of the problem to be solved." It is used to ensure additional research is taken into consideration during an experiment as well as determining research priorities, collecting data and honing in on certain subjects which may be difficult to take note of without exploratory research. It can include techniques, such as:
*
secondary research
Secondary research involves the summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research. Secondary research is contrasted with primary research in that primary research involves the generation of data, whereas secondary research uses primary res ...
- such as
reviewing available literature and/or data
* informal qualitative approaches, such as discussions with consumers, employees, management or competitors
* formal
qualitative research
Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...
through in-depth interviews,
focus group
A focus group is a group interview involving a small number of demographically similar people or participants who have other common traits/experiences. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are ...
s, projective methods,
case studies
A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular fi ...
or
pilot studies
A pilot study, pilot project, pilot test, or pilot experiment is a small-scale preliminary study conducted to evaluate feasibility, duration, cost, adverse events, and improve upon the study design prior to performance of a full-scale research pro ...
According to Stebbins (2001) "Social Science exploration is a broad-ranging, purposive, systematic prearranged undertaking designed to maximize the discovery of generalizations leading to description and understanding". His influential book argues that exploratory research should not use confirmatory mechanisms like hypotheses. It should be qualitative and rely on inductive research methods like grounded theory introduced by Glaser and Strauss Qualitative exploratory research which use inductive approach do not use priori theorizing or build on previous research. Casula, Rangarajan and Shields (2020) argue that exploratory research should not be limited to inductive approaches. They propose the
working hypothesis
A working hypothesis is a hypothesis that is provisionally accepted as a basis for further ongoing research in the hope that a tenable theory will be produced, even if the hypothesis ultimately fails.See in "hypothesis", ''Century Dictionary Suppl ...
is a useful framework for deductive exploratory research that should be part of the social scientist's tool bag.
Exploratory research can add quality and insightful information to a study, and is vital to a study. research allows for the researcher to be creative in order to gain the most insight on a subject. Next, an outside audience will be used for this research, so it is a good opportunity for the researcher to know what works or what is not a productive method to use. Third, it allows for a better understanding on what a research team's objectives should be throughout the duration of a project. Having this information in mind will be beneficial to anyone conducting research from outside sources.
Regardless of what field research needs to be done in, exploratory research can be used in a multitude of fields. However, as a result of this it is important to acknowledge how the different fields will impact any research that will be conducted. Comparing and contrasting different techniques, such as secondary research, discussions, or qualitative research through focus groups, surveys or case studies will be useful to observe. Within exploratory research, the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
allows for research methods that are more interactive in nature. For example:
*
RSS
RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...
feeds efficiently supply researchers with up-to-date information
* services such as
Google Alerts
Google Alerts is a content change detection and notification service, offered by Google. The service sends emails to the user when it finds new results—such as web pages, newspaper articles, blogs, or scientific research—that match the user's ...
may send major
search-engine search results by
email
Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...
to researchers
* services such as
Google Trends
Google Trends is a website by Google that analyzes the popularity of top search queries in Google Search across various regions and languages. The website uses graphs to compare the search volume of different queries over time.
On August 5, 20 ...
track comprehensive search results over lengthy periods of time
* researchers may set up
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...
s to attract worldwide feedback on any subject
When research aims to gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to acquire new insight into it in order to formulate a more precise problem or to develop a hypothesis, exploratory studies (also known as formulative research) come in handy. If the theory happens to be too general or too specific, a hypothesis cannot be formulated. Therefore, a need for an exploratory research may be realized and instituted to gain
experience
Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these conscious processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involv ...
that may help in formulating a relevant hypothesis for more definite investigation.
The results of exploratory research are not usually useful for decision-making by themselves, but they can provide significant insight into a given situation. Although the results of
qualitative research
Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...
can give some indication as to the "why", "how" and "when" something occurs, they cannot reveal "how often" or "how many".
Exploratory research is not typically generalizable to the
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
at large.
Social exploratory research "seeks to find out how people get along in the setting under question, what meanings they give to their actions, and what issues concern them. The goal is to learn 'what is going on here?' and to investigate social phenomena without explicit expectations." This methodology is also at times referred to as a
grounded theory
Grounded theory is a systematic methodology that has been largely applied to qualitative research conducted by social science, social scientists. The methodology involves the construction of hypotheses and theories through the collecting and anal ...
approach to
qualitative research
Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...
or interpretive research, and is an attempt to unearth a theory from the data itself rather than from a predisposed
hypothesis
A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obse ...
.
Earl Babbie identifies three purposes of social-science research: exploratory, descriptive and explanatory.
* Exploratory research takes place when problems are in a preliminary stage. Exploratory research is used when the topic or issue is new and when data is difficult to collect. Exploratory research is flexible and can address research questions of all types (what, why, how). Exploratory research is often used to generate formal hypotheses.
Shields
A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...
and Tajalli link exploratory research with the
conceptual framework
A conceptual framework is an analytical tool with several variations and contexts. It can be applied in different categories of work where an overall picture is needed. It is used to make conceptual distinctions and organize ideas. Strong conceptu ...
working hypothesis
A working hypothesis is a hypothesis that is provisionally accepted as a basis for further ongoing research in the hope that a tenable theory will be produced, even if the hypothesis ultimately fails.See in "hypothesis", ''Century Dictionary Suppl ...
.
Skeptics, however, have questioned the usefulness and necessity of exploratory research in situations where prior analysis could be conducted instead.
Applied research
Applied research
Applied science is the use of the scientific method and knowledge obtained via conclusions from the method to attain practical goals. It includes a broad range of disciplines such as engineering and medicine. Applied science is often contrasted ...
in administration is often exploratory because there is need for flexibility in approaching the problem. In addition there are often data limitations and a need to make a decision within a short time period. Qualitative research methods such as case study or
field research
Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct fie ...
are often used in exploratory research.
There are three types of objectives in a marketing research project:
* Exploratory research or formulative research
*
Descriptive research
Descriptive research is used to describe characteristics of a population or phenomenon being studied. It does not answer questions about how/when/why the characteristics occurred. Rather it addresses the "what" question (what are the characterist ...
*
Causal research Causal research, is the investigation of (research into) cause-relationships. To determine causality, variation in the variable presumed to influence the difference in another variable(s) must be detected, and then the variations from the other va ...
(also referred to as
explanatory research Causal research, is the investigation of (research into) cause-relationships. To determine causality, variation in the variable presumed to influence the difference in another variable(s) must be detected, and then the variations from the other va ...
)
Exploratory research or formulative research: The objective of exploratory research is to gather preliminary information that will help define problems and suggest hypotheses.
[Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong (2006), Principles of marketing, p. 122.]
Descriptive research: The objective of descriptive research is to describe the characteristics of various aspects, such as the market potential for a product or the demographics and attitudes of consumers who buy the product.
Causal research: The objective of causal research is to test hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships.
If the objective is to determine which variable might be causing a certain behavior, i.e. whether there is a cause and effect relationship between variables, causal research must be undertaken. In order to determine causality, it is important to hold the variable that is assumed to cause the change in the other variable(s) constant and then measure the changes in the other variable(s). This type of research is very complex and the researcher can never be completely certain that there are not other factors influencing the causal relationship, especially when dealing with people's attitudes and motivations. There are often much deeper psychological considerations, that even the respondent may not be aware of this is not true.
There are two research methods for exploring the cause and effect relationship between variables:
# Experimentation, and
#
Simulation
A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...
[Nandan.]
References
Bibliography
* Russell K. Schutt, ''Investigating the Social World'', 5th ed,
Pine Forge Press
SAGE Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American independent publishing company founded in 1965 in New York by Sara Miller McCune and now based in Newbury Park, California.
It publishes more than 1,000 journals, more than 800 books ...
.
* Robert A. Stebbins, Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001.
* Exploratory Research: 3 Reasons to Conduct More of It. (2019, September 16). Retrieved from
https://www.gutcheckit.com/blog/3-reasons-conduct-exploratory-research/
* Zahl, H. A., & Reilley, E. M. (1958). Exploratory Research. American Institute of Physics, 11(8). doi: 10.1063/1.3062684
* Gellar, L., Druker, S., Osganian, S. K., Gapinski, M. A., LaPelle, N., & Pbert, L. (2012). Exploratory Research to Design a School Nurse-Delivered Intervention to Treat Adolescent Overweight and Obesity. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 44(1), 46–54. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2011.02.00
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Social science methodology