“Why we can’t see the wind”? Or “Why do fish swim” are some upheld questions of a child. He is curious to get through his multiple questions to explore the world. For him everything is new and therefore he explores them according to his experience, questions and views. One out of two things is possible in this case either his inquisitiveness gets the right way or may fall wrong. The former is good to know, but if later happens the child will build up a wrong concept. This may be solved later in his lifetime through framing hypothesis, redesigning the thought process and then reaching up to the final result.
None other example of exploratory research could be better than the one discussed above. “Exploratory research” is a research done on a topic that is not much studied and therefore needs exploration. Exploratory research answers the questions like why, what, how and when? Any topic, aiming to solve such interrogations is researched through the exploratory lay mount. However, collecting data on such research is relatively tough as the research is in its preliminary stage. This shows that result of such studies comes only after extreme attentiveness. Therefore, selecting an exploratory research topic is tough, below mentioned are some supporting points for the same:
- Analyze the depth of the topic- Will you dive in a pool without knowing its depth? For sure ‘No’, similarly, in an exploratory research topic, it’s essential to analyze the depth of the topic before you prepare questionnaire or conduct survey of the same. This will help you with framing relevant and comprehensive questionnaire, which otherwise will be missed.
- Frame open ended question – If we use close ended questions it will limit the respondent to answer with much narrowed aspect of the raised query. This in turn may force a respondent to answer being biased that leads to surrogate information biases. Therefore, open-ended questions should be preferred as they are exploratory in nature and help in exploring the bigger picture of the study undertaken.
- Survey design – Suppose you are doing a survey on the satisfaction of those visiting hotels with an aim to work on area of improvements. Being a surveyor you may take some points like a reception area response, room service, and cleanliness while misses others like the location of the hotel and its parking. However, what if the visitors may have issues in the area that are missed? Of course, your survey goals will never be met, therefore survey designs needs to be exploratory in nature with a preliminary base. This again is a challenge while choosing an exploratory research topic.
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