A Systemic Inquiry as a Research Process - Assignment Example

By the use of the metaphor wheel, it indicates that research process is never linear; rather it is circuitous and complex in that different steps are eventually repeated over time until the final answer is available. This also means that questions are never-ending, and one answer to a research question will generate another question, leading to another research process. Most commonly, the entry point into this wheel is an empirical observation leading to the possibility of selection of a topic base on the objective of the research from a huge number of possible topics.

The existence of a question would justify this selection. With the help of inductive logic, the researcher then utilizes this observation to propose a topic. This is a way to connect the specific topic to a broader context. Obviously, this proposition connects to the informed assumptions and goals of the researcher. In the second stage of the research wheel, the proposition is developed in its fullest form and is expressed as a statement in the context of an established relationship. Since relationships are usually based on theory, these propositions will tend to follow a theoretical or conceptual framework.

However, the researcher is not unique, since there is a high possibility that many researchers have already worked on this topic to explore many unknown facts about this theoretical relationship. Therefore, the researcher has the responsibility to clarify the relationship between the propositions, connect with the previous research, and relate to the context of the theory in the broader context.This has the very important implication of identifying the conceptual and theoretical framework in relation to the proposition or the research question.

While conceptual framework has been defined as a less developed form of the theory, it actually serves the purpose of linking the abstract concept to data derived empirically.