ABSTRACT
REFLECT: Before you read the chapter, think about how you would answer the questions above with your current knowledge.
What Are the Research Components and Why Are They Important?
Th is book briefl y defi nes, discusses, and provides applications of the central theoretical components of research and their applications in order to give both novice and experienced researchers common ground from which to work. As we said in the preface, there is a critical lack of consistency across research communities, perspectives, and paradigms about what reports on research should look like and contain. Although researchers seem to agree that certain components are essential, they do not oft en defi ne those components so that readers and other
researchers can identify their perceptions, or they do not include some of the components that would allow readers to comprehend in a holistic way the import of the study. Th is is not a book on how to do research or on specifi c research methodologies-there are already many fi ne texts that address these issues. Rather, it is an attempt to clear the air, to come to a common understanding of the jargon of research and the components that are important to the research process regardless of a particular perspective. It reaches across viewpoints to address the ideas that all studies should include in order for readers not only to understand the research but to be able to make educated judgments about it.
