MSc ISRMResearch Methods

School of Computer Science 2 May 2023

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Problem Domain

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Literature Review

• Refine your research question and objectives

• Provide justification for the project• Categorise and characterise existing

research• Contextualise your research within existing

research

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Literature Review

• Identify research possibilities and “gaps” in the literature

• Identify research methods/strategies for your own work

• Avoid “re-inventing the wheel”• Provide a starting point for other

researchers following in your footsteps

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A Model of the literature survey process

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Basic formats of literature• Thesis: PhD, MPhil, MSc, BSc• Book• Journal article• Conference proceedings• Workshop/Symposium paper• Technical report• Non-academic: newspaper, magazine,

internet, software manuals, etc - handle with care

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Good or Bad Literature• Academic Papers are not all the same:

– note different levels of quality/peer review– journal >>> conference >> position paper >

workshop– Citations - can indicate influential or key

papers• Google scholar• citeseer

• Try to get a feel for the main authors/research groups in your field

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Epistemology• The theory of knowledge

– What is knowledge?– How is knowledge acquired?– What do people know?– How do we know what we know?– Why do we know what we know?

• In the context of an MSc programme you do not need a full grounding in epistemology

• However you need to be aware of how your methods are/can be influenced by it

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Your Research Method• Ultimately you engage in a problem domain

about which you should know the boundaries and your place within the domain

• If not perfectly, then to some degree• Your research method is then based on ‘best fit’

(given that you cannot know everything)• How you do this is generally dependent upon

your view of reality• And upon your ontological standpoint (what

does it mean to exist?)

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Reality1. There is a reality ‘out there’ which is

apprehendable and measurable in an objective way

2. There is a reality ‘out there’, but it is one which is only imperfectly comprehensible. Any findings are probable at best; the best one can hope for in terms of certainty is falsification of existing hypotheses

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Reality3. Any reality which is ‘out there’, for human

beings at least, is ineradicably shaped by social, political, cultural and economic values. These crystallise over time and determine what can be seen and how it is seen

4. There is no reality ‘out there’: we come to situations and ‘construct’ realities because of social, political, cultural and economic filters and values. What exists is nothing more than multiple realities constructed locally

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Definitions of reality

• These viewpoints are equally valid• You might not like them• The foundations of human knowledge and

the science of truth is based upon the great minds having a view on where their reality is founded

• Typical representation is a continuumObjectivism Relativism

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Where do you stand?• Strong Objectivism

– The World is underpinned by eternally true facts and values, which are revealed to us in one way or another to guide us through this world

• Common Objectivism– There are certain eternally true facts and values which

can be relied upon as pillars of certainty• Subjectivism

– Knowledge of the truth of facts and values is limited by ones viewpoint, but there are ways of judging the worth of one viewpoint against another

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Where do you stand?• Common Relativism

– The ‘truth’ of most facts and values is dependent upon ones point of view, and can never be ultimately proved to be better than any others

• Strong Relativism– There is no such thing as ‘truth’ : it is the feelings of

individuals and groups about their own experiences. Life is a choice of journeys; no one better than any other

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A Hierarchy of Truth

• Consider the following 12 propositions• For each one try to categories the nature

of the ‘truth’ presented in the statement• Try to apply a single word to each

statement

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Hierarchy of Truth• Axiomatic

– By definition • Empirical

– Measurable• Historical

– Unique and unrepeatable

• Aesthetic– Verified by experts

• Ethical– A shared truth

• Religious– Belief driven

• Your research method(s) must acknowledge the truth you are trying to establish

• And inform your chosen method

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Research Methods• In the context of an MSc Project your chosen

Research Method must fall out of a series of questions

• What is going to be investigated– The main issues / questions / problem

• Why are these issues important– Justification in terms of

• Literature• Your experience• Practicality and feasibility

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Research Methods• The biggest question you need to answer

– Is your interest to measure an issue or situation• Typical questions – How much, how many, to what

extent...– Or is it to understand a situation better?

• Typical question – Why?• Your Methodology design should therefore

– Say how you are planning to answer your research question(s)

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Methodology Types• Typically three options• Quantitative

– About measurement– Typically involve numbers (or scales)

• Qualitative– About developing understanding– Can involve feelings / attitudes

• Mixed– Explore the nature of a problem then measure

its extent

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Quantitative Methods• Typically Quantitative methods involve

– Questionnaires– Structured Interviews– Structured Observations– Statistical Analysis of findings

• Typically resulting in one of 3 types of number– Nominal (it is or it is not – e.g. Pregnancy)– Ordinal (ranking – e.g. A horserace)– Interval (scaled – e.g. Temperature)

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Quantitative Methods• Key questions

– What data are needed– What instruments will be needed to gather data– How will the data be analysed– When do you do the data analysis– Can you test whether your analysis of the

results can inform your main research question(s)

• All of these involve negotiation with your supervisor

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Qualitative Methods• Typically Qualitative methods involve

– Interviews (semi / unstructured)– Participatory observation

• The findings are likely to be– Words not numbers– Full of Subjective meaning– Open to Interpretation

• And therefore prevent categorisation (mostly)

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Bias and Data Gathering• Yes Prime Minister

– BBC TV Programme Episode 2 – The Ministerial Broadcast (Anthony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, 1986)

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Milgram’s Experiment

• A study in the early 1960’s which would be illegal now

• Three people• E – The

experimenter• T – The teacher• L – The learner

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Milgram’s Experiment• When the ‘Teacher’ expressed

concern four statements of increasing force were used:– Please continue– The experiment requires that you

continue– It is absolutely essential that you

continue– You have no other choice, you must

go on

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Milgram’s Experiment• Before doing the experiment

Milgram polled 104 Yale professors

• 2% believed that the ‘Teacher’ would administer the maximum voltage

• Of the 37 original participants• 26 of them ‘killed’ the learner• Only one refused before 300V

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Milgram’s Experiment• The experiment has been

replicated many times• More recently in TV shows

whose ethics on research are not so stringent

• “How violent are you” BBC Horizon programme in 2009 (9/12)

• Derren Brown “The Heist” (65%)