Combining and using source material Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Combining and using source material - Essay Example e Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2003), and Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2004) define research as a learning of an object in order to get new data. Howard and Sharp (1983), in his â€Å"Doing Your Research Project†, and Wisker (2008), in his â€Å"The Postgraduate Research Handbook†, have a similar view but add that there must be methodological processes which can gain benefit for research. These fairly general definitions are further expanded by Nunan (1994), â€Å"Research Methods in Language Learning†, who argues that research must include three elements or components such as 1. a question, problem or hypothesis, 2. data, 3. analysis and interpretation of data. For Wisker what is key is that research has an effect on the world, which is in research results, and finds the realization in our behavior in society. Dawson(2002), however, gives a less general definition and focusses specifically on the purposeful examining of the cond uct of other people with the aim of better understanding them or adding new information to knowledge. For the purposes of this essay, the word â€Å"research† will be used to mean specific studying of an object with a particular aim and special