There are an amazing number of types of research methods. This number has increased tenfold in the recent years with the development and honing of technology, in particular the internet. Nearly every topic you can think of can be researched online.

There are several basics concerning research methods. Scientific research. This method takes an idea or topic and uses the application of science to determine the answers to questions, typically through experimentation. This type of research method is very hands on and relies on result over documentation

Historical research. This method of research relies on the past research results to determine answers to current questions.

When discussing scientific methods of research we would talk about such things as formation of topics, followed by a hypothesis or theory of the outcome, conceptual definitions, meaning what the idea of the process is to be, operational definations, meaning how they will get there, then the gathering of date, followed by anlayisis of th data, followed by testing and changing the hypothesis as you go along until you reach a conclusion.

When discussing a historical method of research you talk of identification of the start date of your topic, then evidence of its location and recognition of the originator of the history, followed by analysis of the data.

Additional methods of research are Exploratory research, meaning identifies the problems to be researched, Constructive research, which finds solutions to problems, Empirical research which tests solutions to see if the do indeed solve the problems.

You can also break research in to two types of research, the primary research and the secondary research.

Research is something that has evolved in the manner in which it is done. This having been said the basics of how research is undertaken has remained the same only using the vast technology to make these processes take half the time.

When researching a question you will always start with the defining the question, hypothesizing of an answer, gathering of data, testing the answer and redefining your hypothesis until the true answer is reached. This repetitive process applies across the board.