Research methods have two basic functions; 1) Hypothesis testing, and 2) Theory building.
Hypothesis testing is usually associated with statistical measurements.
The researcher starts out with an idea, based on background research and knowledge, that has not been proven
empirically.
The researcher then designs a study around the question s/he wants to answer, in order to get the evidence needed to potentially disprove a theory. It is
important to note here that a theory can never be actually proven, since there may somewhere be an exception, we can't get perfect information. So the goal
of hypothesis testing then is to look for evidence that would DISPROVE our hypothesis. Hypothesis testing uses deductive logic, that is it starts from
general principles and uses them to describe particular events.
Theory
building on the other hand, uses inductive logic, it attempts to go from particular cases and generate general principles from them. This
type of research is usually associated with qualitative research. A qualitative researcher starts out with a research question that may not have been
studied before, so there may be little or no background information to guide the study. They will then go into the field to observe first hand what the people
involved in the phenomenon are thinking and doing. From the data collected, the researcher can then begin to build a theory that explains that category
of events.
There has been an ongoing debate over which is the better method. Quantitative research tends to have a higher rate of reliability, while qualitative research
tends to have a higher validity, but truely, we need both if we are going to have a viable science.