Why is research being conducted? Research is classified into different types according to function.

 Research as Exploration

            When the purpose of a research is to provide a foundation for future studies, it is called exploratory research. It seeks to find more information about a topic and broader perspective or additional knowledge to what is currently known. A research may explore a new topic of interest or explore new angles of a theory. Exploring new topics may lead to the discovery of unexpected things, ideas, or phenomenon. More so, a researcher may also on other perspectives or other processes aside from what is currently know, like exploring a better process or finding new ways to deal with a particular process.

Research as Description

            The aim of descriptive research is to give additional information on newly discovered ideas which were results of explorations. Descriptive research fills in the details and the gaps regarding a particular idea to expand understanding. Here, much more information is needed to be supplied in order to answer the ‘what’ and ‘how’ questions instead of formulating unsure explanations.

Research as Explanation

                   Once the newly discovered idea was described in detail, it is imperative that we understand ‘why’ it came into existence and connect these ideas to know the cause and effect. Explanatory research looks on how things are connected together and how things interact. This type of research aims to explain relationships existing between variables.