Why another book on research methods? There are a few books that are over cited by students in East Africa. These books tend to be absolutised by teachers and examiners. What is important in research is the scientific approach. Not everything is written on rock. Moreover, research goes beyond the mere fulfilment of an academic requirement in terms of producing a thesis or a dissertation. This book focuses on a scientific approach that insists on an internal consistency. The book also proposes that research should go beyond a thesis.
When I started teaching research methods, I realised that students in East Africa have a phobia for research, as they have for maths. I wanted to challenge that fear. I came up with a set of notes that demystifies research. As a result, several of my students produced excellent research projects, appreciated by international scholars. This book provides those set of notes. It includes examples drawn from East African contexts. It has several tables and boxes for easy illustration.
Of course, some of my students could not overcome that fear that perhaps came from their primary education through secondary levels – a lack of focus on the process of science rather than the content of science. How do we make science and maths enjoyable for our kids? This still remains an open question in East Africa. This book attempts not to absolutise the contents of science but draw the attention of the reader to the methodology of science. We can produce science too.
I wish research method will cease to be an overwhelming dragon for the students in universities. I wish they will enjoy the process of discovering new knowledge, and not to delegate that pleasure to some money-minded agents who produce ready-made theses. I wish examiners in so called defences of theses will see a larger picture of the research proposals and reports, focusing on the core of the scientific methodology, rather than to absolute the peripheral styles.
How do we know something is scientific? This is my criterion: what gets published in international peer-reviewed journals, particularly those that are published by learned associations and renowned universities, even if they are outsourced to academic publishing companies such as Taylor & Francis (Routledge), Sage, Springer. This book captures criteria that emerge from highly ranked journals.
The book is sold by Pauline Publications (at Catholic Book Shops) across Africa.