<s>
Descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
is	O
used	O
to	O
describe	O
characteristics	O
of	O
a	O
population	O
or	O
phenomenon	O
being	O
studied	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
We	O
now	O
take	O
for	O
granted	O
the	O
periodic	O
table	O
,	O
yet	O
it	O
took	O
descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
to	O
devise	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
generally	O
precedes	O
explanatory	O
research	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hence	O
,	O
descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
cannot	O
describe	O
what	O
caused	O
a	O
situation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
cannot	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
a	O
causal	B-Application
relationship	I-Application
,	O
where	O
one	O
variable	O
affects	O
another	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
other	O
words	O
,	O
descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
said	O
to	O
have	O
a	O
low	O
requirement	O
for	O
internal	O
validity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Often	O
the	O
best	O
approach	O
,	O
prior	O
to	O
writing	O
descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
,	O
is	O
to	O
conduct	O
a	O
survey	O
investigation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
the	O
conceptualizing	O
of	O
descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
(	O
categorization	O
or	O
taxonomy	O
)	O
precedes	O
the	O
hypotheses	O
of	O
explanatory	O
research	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
For	O
a	O
discussion	O
of	O
how	O
the	O
underlying	O
conceptualization	O
of	O
exploratory	O
research	O
,	O
descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
and	O
explanatory	O
research	O
fit	O
together	O
,	O
see	O
:	O
Conceptual	O
framework	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
statistical	O
research	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
is	O
mainly	O
done	O
when	O
a	O
researcher	O
wants	O
to	O
gain	O
a	O
better	O
understanding	O
of	O
a	O
topic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
exploration	O
of	O
the	O
existing	O
certain	O
phenomena	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Descriptive	O
science	O
is	O
a	O
category	O
of	O
science	O
that	O
involves	O
descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
;	O
that	O
is	O
,	O
observing	O
,	O
recording	O
,	O
describing	O
,	O
and	O
classifying	O
phenomena	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Descriptive	B-General_Concept
research	I-General_Concept
is	O
sometimes	O
contrasted	O
with	O
hypothesis-driven	O
research	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
focused	O
on	O
testing	O
a	O
particular	O
hypothesis	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
experimentation	O
.	O
</s>
