Purpose of Research

The   purpose    of this website is to assist individuals who are interested in research conducted at Sault College. In addition to knowing what studies have been conducted at our educational institution in the past, this website also provides links to resources a researcher will use for future planning to collect data from anyone associated with work at our College, and/or anyone who may desire to analyze data about our College, administration, faculty, staff, and/or students.

WHAT KIND OF RESEARCH IS BEING DONE AT SAULT COLLEGE?

There are two categories of research done at institutions of higher education across Canada. Basic research is triggered by the need to expand our understanding and the base of knowledge about a certain object of study.  Basic research is intended to seek new knowledge or construct a new theory. The second type, applied (or action) research is focused on a specific and concrete problem where the researcher seeks to gain answers that can be used for direct application to the identified problem (Polit & Beck, 2017, p.14). Although both types of research are equally important, basic research tends to be more abstract and theoretical, while applied (or action) research is more practical and pragmatic in nature.

Both basic and applied research studies are triggered by a research question. Although the topic under study may be the same in each category, the research questions would appear differently in their focus. As an example, if you wanted to study foreign language in postsecondary educational settings, your research questions may look like the following for each research category:
          Basic Research Question: “How do humans acquire a foreign language?” (global focus)
          Applied Research Question: “How can we effectively teach foreign languages in a college classroom?” (problem focus)

Although there are no restrictions as to the type of research that can be conducted in institutions of higher education across Canada, Community Colleges have been given the mandate to become more involved with applied research activities.

                             Polit, D., & Beck, C. (2017). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (10th ed.). 
Philadelphia, PA: WoltersKluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkin