Solving problems is a traditional activity. This activity has got tremendous momentum as a result of the development of electronic devices, mainly the computer. Computers may now correctly and quickly solve problems that could not previously be solved due to the sheer volume of computations required. In today's world, computer use is widespread. Using a computer to analyse complex data had, in the researcher's opinion, made complex research designs feasible. Students conducting study in the humanities, the physical and behavioural sciences now cannot function without electronic computers.
As the name suggests, a computer is just a computing device. In this view, any device that allows for mathematical manipulation, regardless of sophistication, qualifies as a computer. Today, a computer is a device that operates electrically and is used to perform calculations.
Important Characteristics of Computers
Speed: Computers can do calculations that would take humans weeks to complete by hand in just a few seconds. This has led to many scientific projects which were previously impossible..
Diligence: Because it is a machine, a computer does not experience human qualities like fatigue and lack of focus. If two million calculations need to be made, it will do so with the same level of precision and speed as the initial calculation.
Accuracy:- The computer’s accuracy is consistently high. Errors may occur very rarely but it can detected very easily. The errors are due to the imprecise thinking by the programmer or due to in accurate poorly designed systems.
Automation:- Once a programme is in computers memory all that is needed is the individual institution to it which are transferred one after the other, to the control unit of execution. The CPU follows these instructions until it meets a last instruction which says “ stop programme execution”.
Binary Digits: - Computers use only the binary number system and thus operates to the base of two compared to the ordinary decimal arithmetic which operates on a base of ten.
Storage: - Just as the human brain chooses and retains what it deems to be important and regulates unimportant details to the back of the mind or just forgets them, the internal memory of the CPU is only large enough to retain a certain amount of information even when the storage capacity of the modern computer is much greater than its earlier counterpart. As a result, it is difficult to keep all potential types of information in computer records. If necessary, all unnecessary information and data can be kept in auxiliary storage devices and sent to the computer's primary internal memory as and when needed for processing.
One of the most useful research instruments in modern times is the computer since it can perform computations practically as speedily as light. Large-scale research projects' data analysis is best handled by computers. Large-scale data storage, quick data retrieval when needed, and data processing using a variety of methodologies are the main concerns of researchers. Computers are incredibly useful in all of these operations. Aside from speeding up the research process, its utilization has decreased human labor and improved the caliber of research activity.
In research methodology, techniques incorporating the trial-and-error process are commonly used. There are numerous calculations and repetitive tasks involved in this. The greatest tool for such procedures is a computer, which lessens the researchers' laborious work while quickly generating the desired outcome. Computers enable researchers to access several scenarios in a fraction of the time that would have formerly taken days or even months. The storage facility which the computers provide is of immense help to a researcher for he can make use of stored data whenever he requires to do so.
Thus, computers do facilitate the research work. Innumerable data can be processed and analyzed with greater ease and speed. Moreover, the results obtained are generally correct and reliable. Not only this, even the design, pictorial graphing, and report are being developed with the help of computers. Hence, researchers should be given computer education and be trained in the line so that they can use computers for their research work.