Types of Research and their differences

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Research and science go hand in hand, but the main foundation of research is the curiosity to know new things. When we talk about science, the other word that comes to our mind is research. Research helps in scientific discoveries. Every new medicine is a product of long research. But the word research is now not limited to the field of science. In almost every discipline, different types of research are present.

Research is a vital part of the development and discovery of new things in all academic subjects. From science to psychology, every subject now has some kind of research work in it. Today, with the help of this blog by AllAssignmentHelp, let’s shed some light on the different types of research and why researching is an important part of students’ lives. With a proper understanding of different types of research, students may easily plan their projects and complete their work successfully.

Also Read: Top Food Research Topics In 2025

What is Research?

Research is a systematic inquiry on a specific topic that includes inductive and deductive methods. When you want to get information on a particular topic or solution for a problem, you follow a process to enhance your knowledge. For that, you need to explain, predict, and describe your topic of research. When you use the inductive method, it helps you to overall observe the entire problem, while when you use the deductive method, it gives verification for the problem.

There are different types of research out there. But it depends on you what type you prefer. A lot of casual research these days begins with a Google query like, Who, what, and how? and you will end up on a wiki page. Getting informative data is comparatively easy. The knowledge already exists. You just have to search for a trustworthy source for it.

The interesting part of research is that it is not just limited to researchers and scientists. All of us do some kind of research in our daily lives. Researching the different types of phones and their features before buying a new one is also research. Searching for who I should pay to take my online class for me on the internet is also a type of research. The main purpose of research is to investigate thoroughly before concluding. One might research the phones as they want to buy the best one for themselves. Students verify online class help services as they don’t want to end up with scammers. In simple words, we all do some research on our end to develop knowledge and to avoid any kind of risks.

Different Types of Research

Research is a key factor that helps in better decision-making. It helps analyze benefits and challenges, investigates problems, and provides correct solutions. Research plays an important role in different businesses, like marketing. It helps address the demands of customers, address business challenges, and identify better opportunities.

Daily research helps students develop a habit and interest in analyzing and reading new topics. It keeps them updated with the latest information about anything and everything. The students who know how to do research can produce the best assignments. Especially if you are a student from a science background, you can use this knowledge to work on your physics, chemistry, and biology assignments. Moreover, you can simplify the assignment writing process by hiring assignment writers. Students struggling to research information for their chemistry assignments can easily get chemistry assignment help at an affordable price and submit well-researched assignments. The expert writer has years of knowledge and can help you produce a unique and researched assignment.

As a student, a good knowledge of different types of research is necessary. It will help you fulfill all your study goals. Refer to the information below to learn more about the different types of research.

Pure Research

This research is carried out to generate updated information, and it is considered to be fundamental research. To uncover new facts or fundamental principles, pure research is necessary. Pure research is based on experimentation and observation. The results of your research are published in peer-reviewed journals.

The primary goal of pure research is to explore and expand the boundaries of human knowledge by seeking answers to fundamental questions and uncovering new facts or principles about the natural world.
It is a type of research that helps in gaining new knowledge without any practical application.
Curiosity and theoretical and exploratory a+
re some of the characteristics of pure research.

Examples of pure research

Explain how cell function is affected by DNA mutations
Understand the fundamental force of nature
Investigate how memories and emotions are processed by the brain

Applied Research

This type of research borrows ideas and techniques from pure research to serve a specific real-world goal. Goals could include creating a super soldier, improving the quality of hospital care, or finding new ways to market any product. While ethics are as important, methods can be more relaxed. By this, I mean changing the questions you ask while conducting a study or making the most of an imperfect sample group because you’re tight on time. Your research is successful only to the extent that it contributes to the stated goal. As with pure research, sometimes you accidentally discover something valuable you weren’t even looking for, and that’s a fantastic bonus.

While pure research focuses on expanding theoretical understanding, applied research focuses on providing real-world solutions.
Problem-solving and practical application are some of the characteristics of applied research.

Examples of Applied Research

Developing a new drug
Testing a new vaccine
Improving health therapies
Conducting market research
As a student, you may evaluate different time management strategies to improve your learning.
Find ways to reduce procrastination habits and submit your assignments.

Applied research is an important part of academia. With applied research knowledge, students can practically apply their knowledge in their assignments. If you are from a STEM background, having this knowledge will help you in your assignments. Moreover, if you don’t know how to use it in your assignments, get assistance from expert writers. Biology students can always get help with biology assignment and submit the best assignments on time. Professional biology assignment helpers have in-depth knowledge about applied research and can assist you in the best possible way.

Generative Research

The main purpose of this research is to explore and generate new ideas. Moreover, this research also aids in finding new opportunities to solve people’s dilemmas. Don’t view it solely as the earliest stage of research. Even when you are working on an existing product or service, you may still be searching for ideas. You require ideas for additional new features.

Generative research includes activities such as conducting interviews, reviewing existing literature, and engaging in field observation. It truly helps in addressing user needs.

Examples of Generative Research

Find some examples of generative research.

Several challenges of online learning make students wonder, can I pay someone to take my online exam for me? In generative research, you can conduct interviews to help students overcome their challenges in online learning. This way, you may help them perform better in their academic career. One of the best ways to overcome online learning challenges is to hire online helpers for your assistance. They can assist you with your online classes, exams, and discussions.
You can perform a study on how to reduce the academic stress of students.
Research ways to guide students in choosing the right career paths.

Exploratory Research

Exploratory research, as the name suggests, aims to explore or investigate the research questions. Its purpose is not to provide conclusive or final solutions for the existing problems. Instead, exploratory research is conducted to study problems for which solutions are not yet known, to understand the nature of these problems. While it does not offer conclusive evidence, it significantly helps in a better understanding of the problems. Researchers conducting exploratory research must remain open to changing their approach when new data emerges.

Exploratory research never gives you the final or conclusive answers to your research questions. But it explores the research topic on different levels. It has been seen that exploratory research is an initial stage of research. Exploratory research provides a basis for conclusive research.

Qualitative methods and open-ended exploration are some of the parts of exploratory research.
It helps in understanding patterns.
It does not provide conclusive answers.

Examples of Exploratory Research

Group study or solo study, which one is best?
Digital notes or handwritten notes, which one is suitable for students?
Second degree or career paths that students would pursue after a bachelor’s degree
How does social media use result in anxiety?
Internships or online certifications: which is more suitable for more students?
How can artificial intelligence affect the assignment writing of the student?

Descriptive Research

Descriptive research involves conducting surveys and fact-finding inquiries of various kinds. The primary reason to carry out descriptive research is to describe the current state of affairs. In social science and business research, when we engage in descriptive research, we often use the term ex post facto research for illustrative research work. A key feature of this method is that researchers do not have control over the variables; they can only report on what has occurred or is currently happening.

Most of the ex post facto research projects are conducted for descriptive studies. In these studies, the researcher seeks to measure various items such as the frequency of shopping, preferences of people, or similar data. Ex post facto studies also count attempts by researchers to discover causes, even when controlling variables is out of their hands. The research methods commonly used for descriptive research include survey methods, including comparative and correlational approaches.

It helps in gathering information.
It is used in surveys and case studies
Descriptive research can provide a clear understanding of the subjects
It helps in identifying patterns and does not manipulate variables
It helps in answering all “wh” questions

Examples of Descriptive Research

Examine customer preferences for different smartphone brands
Analyze which is most popular learning styles
Describe the cause of academic stress
Analyze the job satisfaction rate among employers
Identify the urban planning and policy-making of a particular city
Analyze the frequency of social media usage trends
Identify the dietary habits and physical activity levels

Applied and Fundamental Research

Research can be of two types. One is applied (or action) research. Second is fundamental (to basic or pure) research. Applied research works by finding a solution to an immediate problem. These problems are faced by society or by industry. Whereas fundamental research is primarily concerned with the formulation of a theory. “Gathering knowledge for knowledge’s sake is termed ‘pure’ or ‘basic’ research.” Research that is more concerned with a natural phenomenon or relating to pure mathematics is fundamental. Those research studies that are based on human behavior are also examples of fundamental research.

However, applied research is based on conclusions. These conclusions are facing a concrete social or business problem. Applied research is used to identify social, economic, or political trends. These trends may affect a particular institution’s copy research or marketing research. Thus, the basic aim of applied research is to find a solution to practical problems. Fundamental research, on the other hand, is for finding information that has a broad base of applications. It is an add-on to the already existing scientific knowledge.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is recognized by its name. It is the measurement of quantity or amount. It applies to all things that we can measure in terms of quantity.

It focuses on numerical data.
Quantitative research is used in surveys and experiments

Examples of Quantitative Research

Track the employee productivity of a popular business brand
Investigate the impact of the new advertisement on sales
Analyze university students’ academic performance
Review the subscription membership of new customers
Discuss how the implementation of AI can increase customer engagement and purchases
Measure the blood sugar level of 1000 patients
Analyze the effect of a new drug on a group of people

Also Read: Types of Research Papers: Power-Up Your Skills!

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is simply meant to be quality. Something related to or involving quality or kind is qualitative research. For example, when we investigate the reason behind human behavior. This type of research aims to discover underlying motives and desires, using in-depth interviews for the purpose. Other techniques of such research are sentence completion tests, word association tests, and story completion tests.

Attitude or opinion research is also an example of a kind of qualitative research. Other examples are how people feel about a particular institution. Behavioral science has an important place for qualitative research. This research type aims to discover the motives of human behavior. Through this research, we can analyze the factors affecting behavior. This will further help to motivate people to behave properly. There are basic things you should know about qualitative research methods, and explore them to know them better.

It focuses on understanding human experiences.
Qualitative research can provide rich insights
It can be helpful in exploratory studies
This research can help capture emotions

Examples of Qualitative Research

Understand the experience of academic burnout
Analyze how to engage students with different learning styles
How a group project can benefit students in their learning
Explore the social media usage of students through interviews
Investigate how students can meet parental and societal expectations
How mentorship programs benefit students
Understand the internship experiences of students
Explain how social media usage affects the mental health of students
Research how new teaching methods motivate online learners

Conceptual Research

Conceptual research is related to some abstract ideas or theories. It is mostly used by thinkers and philosophers to develop new concepts or to reinterpret existing ones.

It is used to explore abstract concepts
It focuses on developing new ideas
It analyzes existing information

Examples of Conceptual Research

The role of ChatGPT in assignment writing
How gamification increases students’ engagement
Analyze how mindfulness helps in increasing students’ focus on learning
How peer influence boosts the academic growth of students
Investigate why students seek assignment help online from professional writers
Analyze how artificial intelligence boosts career prospects
Develop a new study method to assist students in their online learning
Explore how social media affects students’ productivity

Empirical Research

Empirical research relies on experience or observation alone, often without due regard for system and theory. It is data-based research, coming up with conclusions that are capable of being verified by observation or experiment. We can also call it an experimental type of research; in such research, it is necessary to get the facts first, at their source, and actively go about doing certain things to stimulate the production of desired information. In such research, the researcher must first provide himself with a working hypothesis or guess as to the probable results. He then works to get enough facts (data) to prove or disprove his hypothesis. He then sets up experimental designs that he thinks will manipulate the persons or the materials concerned to bring forth the desired information.

Such research is thus characterized by the experimenter’s control over the variables under study and his deliberate manipulation of one of them to study its effects. Empirical research is appropriate when the proof is sought that certain variables affect other variables in some way. Evidence that is gathered through empirical studies or experiments is today considered to be the most powerful support possible for a given hypothesis.

Examples of Empirical Research

Conducting research on which one is best for students. Directly taking classes in the classroom or virtually through a laptop.
Analyzing how long breaks can affect the concentration level of students.
Measuring the relationship between sleep patterns and academic growth.
Studying how long exposure to laptop screens affects the physical health of students.
Analyzing the impacts of extracurricular activities on the academic growth of students.
Analyzing the hydration level of students.

Empirical research is a part of physics assignments at higher education levels. In this research, you will use empirical evidence in direct and indirect observation or experience. This is a great way to understand both your theory and practicals together. However, conducting empirical research is time-consuming as it involves fieldwork and observation in science. If in any case you get busy doing empirical research and miss your physics assignment, get physics assignment help at the last minute. They can complete your assignments in a few hours before the deadline and ensure timely submission.

Also Read: Different Types of Research and Research Skills

Laboratory Research

This is a kind of research that happens in laboratories and not in the field of classes. This type of research has a strict kind of attachment to certain types of conditions involved in laboratory research. It includes chemical research, pharmacological research, and physics research.

Examples of Laboratory Research

How microscopic analysis identifies bacterial growth
How wavelengths affect plant growth
Analyze the chemical composition of different types of plastics
Conducting experiments on concentration levels
Testing pH levels
Investigating inclined plane experiments
Conducting sound wave experiments

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: What are the types of research?

Answer: Exploratory, quantitative, and qualitative research are some of the different types of research.

Question 2: What are the different types of research methods?

Answer: Interviews, surveys, and observation are some of the research methods.

Question 3: What are the three types of scientific research?

Answer: Quantitative, qualitative, and exploratory are the types used in scientific research that help in collecting data and solving research problems.

Question 4: What are the three basic types of research used in psychology?

Answer: Experimental, descriptive, and correlational research are used in psychology.