The analytical research method It is a form of study that involves skills such as critical thinking and the evaluation of facts and information related to the research that is being carried out. The idea is to find the main elements behind the topic being analyzed to understand it in depth.
As with any other type of research, the main objective of the analytical method is to discover relevant information on a topic. To achieve this, first all the data available on the subject are collected; and once they have been collected, they are examined to test a hypothesis or support a certain idea.
Thus, using critical thinking tools, and examining data and hypotheses to see if they are valid or not, researchers are able to reach conclusions about the topic they are dealing with and generate new ideas. Evidence obtained in this way helps advance knowledge about many different subjects..
In the research world, the analytical method is used primarily to find evidence to support ongoing research to make it more reliable, or to form new ideas about a particular subject. Some of the ways in which it is carried out are meta-analyzes and scientific trials.
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As with most serious research methods, there is a procedure to follow whenever you want to use the analytical model. The way in which it is applied will be slightly different in each case, but the steps to be carried out will always be the same.
Regardless of what problem we want to analyze or in which field we are applying this method, the steps to follow will be the following: observation, description, critical examination and decomposition of the phenomenon, and the enumeration of the parts and classification. Next we will see each of them.
The first step to carry out when you want to carry out an analytical investigation is to examine in depth the object of study at hand. For this, it is possible to resort to both direct observation or other more indirect techniques, such as reviewing the existing literature on the subject..
Depending on the nature of the object of study, the observation will be more or less complicated. In the natural sciences, such as biology or chemistry, you can generally observe a phenomenon directly. However, in other disciplines such as psychology or sociology, observation can be considerably more complicated.
In cases where the phenomenon to be observed is not so easy to see with the naked eye, the most common is to resort to experiments and research previously carried out. In this way, the first step of the analytical method would consist of reviewing the data previously collected on the subject to be studied..
The second step of the analytical research method involves collecting all the data that have been obtained in the first and using it to establish a coherent narrative about what is being studied.
This base allows a first formal approach to the phenomenon, as well as the deepening of knowledge about it in the following stages..
Generally, the description within the analytical method involves trying to create a general theory about how the phenomenon to be studied works. This theory has to be based as much as possible on evidence, rather than hypothesis. Therefore, the work done in the first part is essential to carry out this step..
Probably the most important step in the analytical research method occurs once all the existing information on the subject to be studied has been gathered. When this happens, the next stage is to examine all the available data and try to understand in greater depth the phenomenon that is being observed..
Within this stage, the main objective of the researcher is to find the elements that make up the subject of his study. For example, if the phenomenon of personality is being analyzed, the researcher would have to find the common elements mentioned in all the investigations to divide it into its fundamental components.
The main characteristic of these elements is that they cannot have causal relationships with each other; that is, they must be independent. Continuing with the phenomenon of personality, the traits of extroversion and openness to experience vary independently, so they could be considered fundamental elements.
Even so, each of these elements can generally be subdivided into smaller ones, so it would be possible to apply the analytical method again to the results of an investigation of this type..
Finally, researchers who are following the analytical method have to examine all the constituent elements that they have found and classify them according to their characteristics. In this final step, new knowledge is built that can be used by other scientists in future studies..
One of the most important aspects to take into account regarding the analytical research method is that its results are always open to modification if new data is obtained or new research is carried out. This is something that occurs to a greater or lesser extent with all scientific methods, but especially with this.
The problem is that, while with other tools such as the experimental method it is possible to affirm causality and therefore obtain solid evidence about what causes a phenomenon, the analytical method does not allow to do this. No matter how much data we have on the subject to study, these will always be incomplete.
In this way, any researcher can try to refute the results obtained from an analytical research process. Of course, to achieve this, new studies must be carried out that contradict the results obtained, or that shed new light on the subject..
Although it seems a contradiction to the previous point, the analytical research method is one of the most reliable when studying any type of natural process. Thus, for example, meta-analyzes (one of the most common procedures of this method) are considered one of the best study methods..
How is it possible that the evidence of the analytical method is the most powerful, and at the same time it can be refuted? This apparent paradox is due to the fact that the basis of science is precisely the possibility of changing any already established theory whenever new data is provided or new research is carried out..
Even so, carrying out an analytical research process collects all the existing data on a topic. Due to this, it is very difficult for its results to be refuted without carrying out some other experiment that provides very contradictory data, something that does not usually happen in science.
In this way, within the hierarchy established in science based on the reliability of the results obtained, the analytical method would be in second position. The only other method that would provide more reliable data would be the experimental one, whose results in principle can only be refuted if a study is replicated and other different ones are obtained..
One of the main advantages of the analytical research method is that to carry it out, it is necessary to draw on many different sources of information. The researcher's job, therefore, is to compare the data provided by all of them and try to find common ground..
Thanks to this procedure, scientists can discard all those data that could be wrong or on which more evidence would be needed. At the same time, it is possible to find the points that the different investigations have in common, thus finding the elements that are most likely to be true..
We have already seen that, through the analytical method of investigation, the phenomena studied are decomposed into their most fundamental parts. One of the results of this type of analysis is that new data and theories are obtained that allow continuing to carry out scientific work.
Thus, once the basic components of a phenomenon have been found, it is much easier to develop investigations that allow them to be studied in greater depth..
At the same time, the topic being worked on is better understood, so scientists can modify existing theories based on new results..
All of this makes the analytical research method very useful for generating new data, even if by itself this is not one of its main functions..
Possibly the greatest disadvantage of the analytical method is that it cannot be carried out in most situations, since it requires a huge amount of prior information on a topic before it can be studied in this way. Therefore, it is generally only used in subjects in which we already have enough evidence..
However, even in cases where the lack of data makes it impossible to draw solid conclusions, the analytical method allows us to detect gaps in our knowledge on a topic. In this way, scientists can more easily decide what new research to carry out..
The analytical method is used in a large number of different disciplines; but in general, it is more common in those that deal with complex phenomena and that are not easy to observe directly, such as psychology or nutrition.
In this section we will see a real example of an analytical study that will help you better understand what this research method consists of..
In his study "Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and pro-social behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature", published in the journal Psychological Science, Anderson and Bushman wanted to study the available data on the relationship between video games and violence.
In their literary review, the authors realized that more than half a century of research on the effects of exposure to violent series and movies has yielded the following results:
- Even brief exposure to violence in the media produces significant increases in the frequency of aggressive behavior.
- Children who are repeatedly exposed to violence are more likely to become aggressive adults.
However, there is not enough data on whether video games cause a similar effect. The authors tried to answer two questions through their meta-analysis: Are violent video games associated with an increase in aggression? And, if this is true, how would this process work?
To collect as much data as possible on this topic, the scientists examined more than 35 research articles on topics such as video games, violence, hostility, and prosocial or helpful behaviors. In total, more than 50 independent samples were collected, with more than 4,000 participants..
The meta-analysis showed that there seems to be a direct relationship between exposure to violent video games and some factors such as aggressive behaviors, violent thoughts, or aggressive feelings. Although the cause of this relationship is not known, the results seem to indicate that it actually exists.
However, due to the limitations of this research method, we cannot affirm that exposure to violent video games is the cause of the increase in the frequency of aggressive behaviors. We know that both elements occur at the same time, but there could be another known as "strange variable".
A strange variable it is a factor that simultaneously affects the two elements that are to be related in a scientific investigation, and that for various reasons has not been taken into account. The only type of research with which it can be affirmed that there are no strange variables is experimental.
In this case, it is possible for example that children exposed to violent video games play with them because their environment is full of aggressions. In this way, they would seek to reproduce what they see around them both by playing these types of games and behaving aggressively at the same time..
The conclusion of the meta-analysis on the relationship between video games and violence seems to prove that this relationship really exists. However, it is necessary to collect more data on the cause of this influence, ideally using the experimental method..
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