Without research, life can only be imagined. Research informs us. From the beginning of existence, humans have embarked on more or less systematic methods of finding out better ways of living.
This persistent search has led to advancement in medicine, humanities, technology, and in all other aspects of life.
Newer and better drugs and vaccines, improved species of grains and plants, newer Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are a few witnesses to the direct consequences of research on human living.
Research requires constant effort and methodical approach by trained people before it can yield significant fruit.
However, knowing is not a recent phenomenon at all. Human beings have consistently sought to know more and more since creation. They have done this through five methods which might be called traditional methods of research.
Research is about using established methods to investigate a problem or question in detail with the aim of generating new knowledge about it.
It is a vital tool for scientific advancement because it allows researchers to prove or refute hypotheses based on clearly defined parameters, environments and assumptions. Due to this, it enables us to confidently contribute to knowledge as it allows research to be verified and replicated.
There are various types of research, Traditional, Experimental, Correlation, Naturalistic Observation. Survey, and Case Study Research. Knowing the types of research and what each of them focuses on will allow you to better plan your project, utilizes the most appropriate methodologies and techniques and better communicate your findings to other researchers and supervisors.
This article will address the main methods traditional research for the purpose of information and regarding their use in an educational environment, as well provide explanations and their uses in an education setting.
Traditional research are often the generalizations about a concern or problem. This type of research is similar to the scientific method. First, one must identify the problem. Secondly, form a question, then perform the research. Third, predict response to the question such as a hypothesis.
The problems with methods of traditional research or means of knowing is that they kill the spirit of enquiry, they have problems of verification and evaluation and they’re subjective.
Five Main Methods of Traditional Research
Traditionally, there are five main research methods, approaches that traditional researchers may adopt in their research. They are known as:
1. Appeal to Authority
A formal fallacy in which it is argued that because a perceived authority figure (or figures) believes a proposition (relevant to their authority) to be true, that proposition must therefore be true. This is known as an appeal to authority.
The appeal to authority is a fallacy in argumentation, but deferring to an authority is a reliable heuristic that we all use virtually every day on issues of relatively little importance. There is always a chance that any authority can be wrong, that’s why the critical thinker accepts facts provisionally
Appeal to authority is one of the methods of traditional research adopted by researchers. If a notable person says something, people tend to uphold it as truth. In other words, people rely on the authority of the source to determine what is true.
For example, in some cultures, the elders are always right and their words must not be contested. We often believe people such as parents, teachers, religious leaders, elderly people and community leaders.
2. Tenacity
Tenacity mean mental or moral strength to resist opposition, danger, or hardship. courage implies firmness of mind and will in the face of danger or extreme difficulty.
Tenacity as the methods of traditional research involves holding on to ideas and beliefs simply because they have been accepted as facts for a long time or because of superstition. Therefore, the method of tenacity is based on habit or superstition. Habit leads us to continue believing something we have always believed.
People hold fast to whatever they have believed to be true over a long period of time, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Personal experience and those of other people, or the way we interpret them, form a basis for tenacity as a means of knowing. Tenacity as an unsophisticated and idiosyncratic way of finding answers to questions or solving problem.
3. Intuition
The major role of intuition traditional research is to provide a conceptual foundation that suggests the directions which new research should take.
This method of knowing is based on reason (thinking) and not necessarily experience.
The idea of intuition is based on the (erroneous) belief that people are rational and so are able to arrive at the truth by reasoning.
People really do not have explanation as to why something is true when using intuition as a basis other than because it “makes sense.”
4. Custom and Tradition
Custom and Traditions is a sense of security. This method of research rely on certain rituals and events that unify us and bring back memories of the past. The players of the event may change, but the tradition remains the same and keeps us connected to the past, in addition to building memories of the present.
Some enduring beliefs are handed down from one generation to another without raising any question about their truthfulness or validity.
It is held to be true because it has always been held so. Some of such beliefs are sexist, racist or stereotypes while some are not as problematic.
5. Superstitions
Undoubtedly, superstitious is one of main methods of traditional research. The notion of superstitious can provide a basic background for understanding such notions as illusions and beliefs.
In an attempt to make sense of events for which we do not have humanly plausible explanation, we often resort to mystery.
Fortune telling, horoscope, divination, necromancy, and all such things for which an uninitiated person cannot verify fall under this category.
Even in modern times, people still hold on to some of these things as true and use them as guide for living.
