Research Made Easy

Book excerpt: You are welcome to Research Made Easy - Second Edition. This book is a guide for researchers and students carrying out a research project or working on long essays, theses and dissertations. It is aimed at being used in teaching and hence, it adopts an interactive approach requiring the reader/student to participate in the learning process. What are the elements of a good research? Most often than not we face a dilemma in seeking answers to this question. The challenge becomes pronounced when we begin to evaluate the different requirements of the diverse academic audiences in the social sciences and business. So what really makes a good research? In this book, I attempt to provide a general outline which can be considered as being essential for a good research thesis. Though this is not exhaustive, it will be of help, especially to young researchers. The purpose is not to create a 'one best format', but to offer guidelines in starting a research project and the preparation of long essays, theses and dissertations for submission. The second edition extends the discussion on case study research design and presents a new section on thematic analysis. This book is essential for anyone involved in business and social science studies. On completion, the reader would have acquired practical research skills to select a research topic, review literature, identify research gaps, conceptualize research designs, and conduct data collection and analysis to address research gaps.