Research has got tremendous scope for the human society. The materials for social research are endless. Every social phenomena, every phase of human life and every development in a society provides enormous opportunities for research. Especially as the society is becoming more and more complex research becomes inevitable and indispensable.
All progress is born of inquiry. Inquiry leads to invention. Research is a vital component any system. As Gandhi stated India
Facilitate Government policies: Indian economy is a planned economy. Planning involves through research. It is research that finds solution to problems and locates areas that need policy interventions. Research is crucial both at the level of planning, formulation, implementation and at the evaluation levels. Researches also help in the formulation of proposals and to study the impact of various schemes. In fact researches have greatly facilitated government policies.
Facilitate the various Agencies: There are number of agencies that involved in rural development. They do conduct on going research at various levels. Mostly their researches are action research or operational research. These researches not only help the people but also enhance their efficiency and their effectiveness. The researches may be on the people or on their own functioning. All those who prefer a scientific approach to their involvement go in for research.
Facilitates Social Scientists: First of all research provides them with the intellectual satisfaction. Researches are of two kinds. One is pure research that is undertaken with the aim furthering the cause of the intellectual community. Such researches add to the existing knowledge. The other kind of research is applied research that is application oriented. Social Scientists do engage in these two kinds researches. In fact this double emphasis is perhaps especially appropriate in the case of social science research.
Promotes Career Advancement: For those who do their Ph.D thesis it helps them to attain a degree, which in turn enhances their career advancement.
Research is the fountain of knowledge for the sake of knowledge and an important source of providing guidelines for solving different issues. It is a sort of formal training which enables one to understand the new development in one’s field in a better way.
LIMITATIONS
Research in social sciences has certain limitations compared to research in physical sciences. We shall highlight some of those limitations.
Scientist- a part of what is studied: If society is the subject of social research the person who investigates the society is part of the society. This naturally brings in certain limitation. There is a fear that this may hinder objectivity to some extend. There is space for distortion in such works.
Complexity of the subject matter: Human society and human behaviour is too complex subject to be studied in a systematic way. The multiplicity and complexity complicates any controlled experiment and measurement.
Human problems: Unlike the physical sciences the social science researches have certain inherent limitations. For example the respondent may refuse to answer or improper understanding of the question, loss of memory, reluctance to furnish certain information etc. All these can invalidate the research findings and conclusions.
Personal values: People who undertake researches are human beings. They have their own values that will surely influence their research process. One needs to be aware of this.
Wrong Decisions: The quality of research findings depends much on the researcher. Researcher needs to have sound judgment. At every stage of the research process he needs to make right decisions. Any mistake in this may mislead the researcher.
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