Research goes hand-in-hand with development, something that most students may overlook. There will be no evolution of the specializations of dentistry, or no advances in the editions of books without research. Since research is too vague, I'll try and compress a discussion on one blog entry in the context of making a dental research.
Research is "a careful study that is done to find and report new knowledge about something" or "the activity of getting information about a subject". So without research, the field of dentistry will cease to develop and the world might still be using twigs as toothbrushes or crude, rudimentary paleolithic instruments in the restorative processes.
Now that we have established the importance of research, let's delve further into the details. Research entails the acquisition of a problem and sub-problems, inferring, anchoring a theory, collection of data, data analysis, and then conclusions and findings will be drafted. Research can be broadly categorized into Quantitative and Qualitative. Simply put, in Quantitative Research data will be represented in numeric means, while Qualitative Research will utilize the data in thematic significance. There are several specific types of research. The most commonly used type of research by SWU dental students are experimental and descriptive correlational survey. While I wouldn't discourage students to pursue an experimental research, I personally find descriptive correlational surveys easier to implement. Moreover, this is my forte and my master's thesis as well as doctorate dissertation are in this format. On the other hand, I do believe on the capacity and expertise of Dr. Esguerra in producing experimental research.
To elaborate more on the tediousness of an experimental research, here are the reasons:
- Countless permits are needed. (e.g. DENR, DOST, DOH)
- Dreary culturing of microorganisms may be involved.
- Collaborations are painstaking. (e.g. Med. Tech. for cultures and Pharmacy for concoctions)
- Maintaining subject viability could be a problem.
- Expensive instruments or equipment might be used.
The descriptive correlational survey is not without a drawback. On the grounds of reliability and research bias, respondents' reactions might be a problem. Going to remote locales as opposed to staying at a laboratory is a turn-down. But then again, I'd personally choose surveys at any given day.
Let's now tackle how to go about with the research. Usually, a researcher would choose a problem and go from there. In choosing an issue, choose something that would entice or will tickle your fancy. At the end of the day, what you want to find out is the best motivation to cling on if you want to continue your research. After selecting a phenomenon or a problem, find out what theory or theories you can anchor your research in. If you can't find a theory, don't fret. Not all issues are anchored in a theory, for some, you can just present related studies. This part of research can be called "Theoretical Background", if you have a theory, or "Review of Related Literature", if related studies are used instead of a theory.
Here are the different software that I use to expedite the encoding of my researches:
- Harzing's Publish or Perish - for validating the credibility of authors and finding related references
- RefME - to compile references easily and format them in APA style
Researches should follow the Research Proposal and Oral Defense Guidelines.