An investigator is someone who loves knowledge. someone who looks for small evidences that give a little light to an elusive, complex and changing and often chaotic reality. Saying it in a less poetic but more universal way, a researcher is a person who creates original knowledge. In order to create this knowledge that does not exist before its intervention, the researcher must have competences and skills that can be developed.
There are many steps to follow that a researcher must take into account to obtain the best results. Here I mention the most important
The Formulation of a Research Problem
: The researchers organize their research by formulating and defining a research problem. This helps them focus on a specific environment with specific conditions. Research problems generally seek answers to questions that no one has raised before, however there are also investigations that are derived from other research and its main purpose is to extend knowledge, raise a new theory, among others.
Hypothesis
: In research, a hypothesis is a suggested explanation of a phenomenon. A null hypothesis is a hypothesis that the researcher tries to refute. Normally, the null hypothesis represents the current view or explanation of an aspect of the world that the researcher wishes to challenge. The methodology of the research consists of the researcher providing an alternative hypothesis, a research hypothesis, as an alternative way of explaining the phenomenon.
Read, read and continue reading
: Before starting research in the field, it is necessary for the researcher to read as much as possible about the work to be done, this will allow him to discard ideas and create action plans.
Theoretical framework
: The functions of the theoretical framework can be summarized as: helps to prevent errors that have been made in other investigations, guides how the study will be carried out, broadens the horizon of the study, guides the researcher to focus on the problem, leads to the statement of hypotheses that will later be tested in reality, inspires new areas of research and provides a framework for interpreting the results of the study.
Literature review
: It consists of detecting, obtaining and consulting the bibliography and other materials extracting and compiling the relevant and necessary information. It must be selective in relation to the most recent.
Define the type of research: There are several types of research, and depending on the purposes pursued, the researchers settle for a type of method or the combination of more than one. There are several types of research but the ones that stand out are the descriptive, the exploratory and the explanatory.
Methodological design: the methodological design can be defined as the action plan that the researcher will carry out. This action plan must take into account different aspects such as the subjects of study, the place where the study will be carried out, the type of tools that will be used and the time designated. During the methodological design, the reliability that the results will produce and the possibility of validating the information must be taken into account.
There are many other steps to follow in order for a researcher to obtain the best results but those mentioned above are the initial steps for an investigation. In addition to the steps to follow, a researcher must have certain qualities such as: curiosity, desire to learn, dedication, thoroughness, be good working in a team, be patient, among others.
