The term “research warrant” is not commonly used among most academics, but it is essential to familiarize yourself with it when you reach the publishing or conference presentation stage, because at that stage, everyone will ask you whether you have a research warrant. In English dictionaries, a warrant is defined as a justification for one’s actions, feelings, or beliefs. If a particular action is warranted, then a sound rationale backs it up. A warranted act/action is usually deliberate, well-planned, and strategic. And we all know these are three terms every researcher needs to live by through their entire academic career. How does a warrant fit into research? Every researcher wishes to share their findings at the end of their research. But, your research findings have no credibility without a research warrant. Your research has to be defendable in “process” and “product.” Every aspect of your research should have a strong rationale behind it. A research warrant connects the rationale behind our study, methods, data analysis, results, and claims we make at the end of our research. The research warrant questions different aspects of the various stages of our research, which are as follows: Research design: Did we use a credible tradition? Was our research perspective explicit? Can our readers view our perspective clearly? Did our methods actually help answer our research question? Was our sample size sufficient? Conducting the research: Was the entire research conducted appropriately? Was the analysis all-encompassing and justifiable? Were all the ethical requirements met during the entire study? Logic linking our claims to our research: Are our claims based on and in alignment with our findings? Have we presented the steps involved in the data analysis and our results logically and sequentially? Is the argument behind our study findings clear? Awareness of our own study: Have we considered our limitations? Are we aware and insightful about the implications of our study? Research warrant can also be specific to a research tradition or discipline. For example, providing raw data, records of data analysis, and our rationale behind our decisions gives your results a research warrant for reliability and transferability. A long term involvement by the researchers in ethnographic studies gives your study a research warrant for credibility. Therefore, ensure you have your research warrant before you decide to take your research public!
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