research methodology 101 · 2012. 8. 7. · typical methodology 1.identification of research...
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Research Methodology
An Overview
Dr. J.Letha
Director of Tech. Education
Govt. of Kerala
“Research is to see what
everybody has seen and to think
what nobody else had thought.”
What is Research ?
Creative work undertaken on a systematic
basis in order to increase the stock of
knowledge, including knowledge of man,
culture and society, and the use of this
stock of knowledge to devise new
applications
Systematic investigation to establish facts
A carefully planned and performed
investigation, searching for previously
unknown facts.
Basic Requirements
Number ONE Requirement…
• You need to have an inquisitive and
imaginative mind
• You need a Questioning attitude
• Wonder why?
►THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
IMPOSSIBLE AND POSSIBLE
LIES IN A PERSON’S
DETERMINATION
►AS YOU GO UP THE LADDER ,
SEE THAT IT IS LEANING
AGAINST THE RIGHT WALL
Factors of Success
Three Dimensions:
• Attitude
• Commitment
• Creativity
Attitude
►Skeptical optimism
►Emotional detachment
►Try to do new things
►…
Commitment
“It has been my experience that the most unattractive problem becomes absorbingly interesting when one digs into it ... when you really get acquainted with a problem, you are apt to fall in love with it”
Testimonial from student
Multiple attempts as a materialization
of commitment
There is nothing wrong in failing or
“if it does not kill us, it makes us stronger”
Failures is a good experience to
learn from
Failures is an INTEGRAL part of the
ultimate success (e.g., PhD
Thesis)
• Autonomy
• Flexibility and Openness
Levels of Creativity
Autonomy
• Know what you don’t know
• Know what to ask
• Know when to ask
• Know where is the boundary
Flexibility and Openness
Flexibility:
maintain context, be ready to
change context
Openness:
new ideas may come from
boundary between areas
Creativity
1. Originality (newness)
2. Usefulness (basic vs. applied)
3. Transformation Property
4. Condensation Property
Transformation Property
Forces us to “see” reality in a new way
Example 1: Example 2:
3 wheels, some
wood on the top
witch connects them
I have built
a truck
It’s a new
concept
Transformation Property
Knowledge
Time
Creation of a
new concept
Condensation Property
You must answer to:
• what have you done?
• what is the key idea?
• what characterize the work?
Through a Minimal Explanation “One paper (thesis, talk, ...) one message”
How Extraordinary Creative Ideas
Occur?
►Sudden spontaneous visions
►Dreams
►Cross-pollination from different fields
Nurturing Creativity
►Exploring in depth a new area
►Think creatively on a regular basis
►Know when to work more deeply or to
move on
►Daily meditation
►Practicing observation and describing
►Practicing imagination
What It Takes?
►Creativity
►Open mind
►Curiosity
►Patience
►Persistence
►Positive Attitude
►Discipline and focus
Basic and applied
Philosophical
Empirical Theoretical / Conceptual
Categories of Research
Categories of research
3.1. Basic Research:
2. Applied Research:
Study about application or
applicability of one or more
techniques in problem domain
23
Types of Research Exploratory Research:
►undertaken with the aim of clarifying ambiguous
problems
►general problems usually known but not
sufficiently understood
► the purpose is to get more information, not to
uncover specific courses of action (subsequent
research)
Determining a specific course of action to follow
is not a purpose of exploratory research!
24
Types of Research
Descriptive Research:
►undertaken with the aim of determining
the characteristics of a population or
phenomenon
►Previous knowledge of problem exists
►High degree of precision or accuracy
required
Types of Research
Experimental Research
◦Laboratory based
◦Field based
Analytical Research
◦Conceptual
◦Computational
Positive Aspects of Descriptive/Qualitative Research
►Naturalistic; allows for subjects to interact with environment
►Can use statistical analysis
►Seeks to further develop theory (not to influence action); Prescientific
►Coding schemes often arise from interplay between data and researcher’s knowledge of theory
Problems with Descriptive / Qualitative Research
►Impossible to overlay structure
►Impossible to impose control
►Subject pool often limited, not representative
►Seen as more “subjective,” less rigorous
►Beneficial only in terms of initial investigation to form hypothesis
Positive Aspects of Experimental Research
►Tests the validity of generalizations
►Seen as rigorous
►Identifies a cause-and-effect relationship
►Seen as more objective, less subjective
►Can be predictive
Problems with Experimental Research
►Generalizations need to be qualified according to limitation of research methods employed
►Controlled settings don’t mirror actual conditions; unnatural
►Difficult to isolate a single variable
►Doesn’t allow for self-reflection (built-in)
Stages in the Research Process
Topic selection
(Literature Review)
Problem formulation &
definition
(Literature Review)
Planning a
Research Design
Gathering
the Data
Processing and
Analysing the Data
Conclusions
and Report
Forward and Backward Linkages
Forward Linkage – The earlier stages of a research project determine the design at a later stage
Example: The goal of the research project will determine the selection of the sample and the way data is collected
Backward Linkage – The later stages of a research project determine how its earlier stages are conducted
Basic steps of a research project
►Find a topicWhat, When
►Formulate questionsWhat, Why
►Define populationWho, When
►Select design & MeasurementHow
►Gather evidenceHow
►Interpret evidenceWhy
►Tell about what you did and found out
Figuring out your study
►What?
►Who?
►When?
►Why?
►And How?
Typical Methodology
1.Identification of research Problem
2.Review of literature -state of the art
3.Definition & scope of the research problem
4.Propose approach to address problem
5.Execute experimental / Analytical method
6.Analysis & Evaluation of results
7.Validation of results
8.Conclusions and Future work
►1. TOPIC SELECTION
►2. PROBLEM FORMULATION
►3.DEFINITION OF PROBLEM
IDENTIFICATION OF
RESEARCH PROBLEM
How is a research topic selected?
• Researchers interest in a topic
• National or agency priorities
• Urgency of an issue
• Availability of research funds
• Availability of supervision
Ask yourself these questions:
►Start the process by asking
yourself:
● What is my research question?
● Am I looking at: Theory
Methodology
Policy
Qualitative or Quantitative research
TOPIC SELECTION
TOPIC SELECTION
►Broad enough for there to be
material on it
►Narrow enough for relevant
articles
Characteristics of good topics
1.Interesting – keeps the researcher interested in it
throughout the research process
2. Researchable – can be investigated through the
collection and analysis of data
3. Significant – contributes to the improvement and
understanding of educational theory and practice
4. Manageable – fits the level of researcher’s level
of research skills, needed resources, and time
restrictions
5. Ethical – does not embarrass or harm participants
Problem Formulation
►Asking the right questions
►Developing analytical models
►Designing algorithmic descriptions
►Discussions and brain storming with the supervisor and group
Formulate Research Problem
Three Levels:
1. There is the problem and
you don’t see it
2. There is the problem, you see
it but you don’t know how to
solve it
3. There is the problem, you see
it and you know how to solve it
Difficulty:
Problem Definition
•Defining the Appropriate Problem is the Most Important
Step
•Interest & Aptitude
•Resource Availability
•Problem Sizing (Small or Large)
•Field Relevance/Applicability
• Career Development
•Publication/patent potential
Why define the Research Problem?
• Defining your destination before beginning
a journey.
• It determines,
– what you will do,
– will it withstand scientific scrutiny,
– how you will do it, and
– what you may achieve!
A good research question
• Clear and concise
• Grounded and researchable
• Literature supported
• Derived from practical/theoretical
Considerations
• Raises and indicates the nature and direction
of relationships between variables/themes
• Contributes to knowledge building –
theoretical and practical implications
Research Planning
►Time and resource planning
►Planning of research processes
►Planning of developing new skills
►Planning of presentations
►Costly waste of resources
►Difficult statistical analysis
►Data for which interpretation is
controversial
►An experiment which is precise but
which answers the wrong questions
Good Planning Can Prevent:
The Literature Review plants the seeds that will grow
your study from those that came before it.
Build on Others Work Using
existing work as a basis for
future work is acceptable.
Researcher is able to go further
If I have seen further than
other men,' said Isaac Newton,
'it is because I have stood on
the shoulders of giants.
What is a Literature Review
“The literature review is a
critical look at the existing
research that is significant to
the work that you are
carrying out…”
Why do a Lit Review?
The purpose is to:
► define your research problem: find
a gap, ask a question, continue
previous research, explore counter-
claims
►read every source relevant to your
research problem. *
►offer an overview of significant
literature published on a topic
Example
If you were a lawyer arguing a case,
you wouldn’t expect the jury to
believe what you said without using
evidence or citing case law.
Getting Started for
Literature Survey
► Read to learn; read to analyze
● About research methodology
● Studies on similar topics
● Interesting studies
● Non-library studies
Literature Survey
►Recognizing new problems
►Important to read outside the area
►Books, journal and conference
papers
►IEEE Internet Explore
The inverted pyramid concept
Broad introduction to
topic
Your research
question
At the end of your
literature review the
reader must have only
one thought in their
heads…….
That this research
question must be
answered!
level of detail
Collecting data- Getting
Started
►Data collection involves agreement
& consent
►Forge partnerships
►At some point you will need to
leave the comfort zone of reading
and literature gathering and …
PRIMARY VS SECONDARY DATA
Primary data: Data originated by a
researcher for the specific purpose of
addressing the problem at hand.
Secondary data: Data collected for some
purpose other than the problem at hand.
METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION
I.COLLECTION OF PRIMARY DATA
(i)observation method
(ii) interview method
(iii) through questionnaires
(iv) through schedules and
(v) Through experiments
Experiment
• LAB BASED
• FIELD MEASURED
Collection of primary data
Experiment
• Planned experiment
• Unplanned experiment
Planned experiments
►Design
►Plan
►Execute
Unplanned experiment
►Learning from failures!
►Forensic Engineering– scientific and
legalistic investigations and
deductions to detect the causes as
well as the process of distress in a
structure.
COLLECTION OF SECONDARY DATA
•Secondary data means data that are already
available
•Secondary data may either be published data
or unpublished data.
•Researcher must be very careful in using
secondary data.
PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
The data, after collection, has to be processed
and analysed
Processing implies editing, coding, classification
and tabulation of collected data so that they are
amenable to analysis
The term analysis refers to the computation of
certain measures along with searching for patterns
of relationship that exist among data-groups.
Types of Analysis
►QuaLitative Measures
● Descriptive
● Numbers not the primary focus
● Interpretive, ethnographic, naturalistic
►QuaNtitative Measures
● N for numbers
● Statistical
● Quantifiable
Modeling
Conceptual Model
Mathematical Model
Numerical Model
Try for incremental progress
(think small!)
• Brainstorm or deconstruct the “state of the art”
in your very specific area and choose ONE [OR
MAYBE TWO] GOOD IDEA(S) to pursue
• Reduce the scope of your project to the
minimum necessary to make progress
HOW TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS?
•Use of graphical presentations
•Use of statistical analyses
•Sharing data among colleagues and receiving
constructive feedback
• Critically analyzing data and results
Be Critical About Numbers
►How was the choice for the measurement made?
►What type of sample was gathered & how does that affect result?
►Is the statistical result interpreted correctly?
►If comparisons are made, are they appropriate?
►Are there competing statistics?
Time to write!
It is now time to write. Remember you
are synthesizing/summarizing the
research…whether or not you like it
is not the point!
Communication of Research
Findings
►Seminars
►Conference papers
►Journal papers
►Theses
►Books
Writing Papers
►Focus on innovation
►Paper structure
►Make it readable and interesting
►Where to publish?
►Ethics and integrity
►Quality counts more than quantity
Research Output
•Publications
•Field Practice
•Patents
Characteristics of a good research
► State of the art – Current stage of technological development
► absolutely up to date.
► Innovative.
► Rigour, systematic, thorough, exact, appropriate, controllable,
unbiased.
► Credibility - accuracy, validity, reliability.
► Research Output
► New Knowledge/Product/Service.
► Addition to previous knowledge.
► Correction/change in existing knowledge.
What else does research teach you ?
•Art of planning.
•Hope.
•Patience.
•Art of management.
•Broad outlook.
•Pleasure of getting to a truth
Research Ethics
What is ethics in research ?
When are we violating ethical
practices ?
What is Plagiarism ?
A project’s objectives may
be ethically questionable
For example, research into:
Weapons of mass destruction
Biological warfare
Nuclear weapons
Environmentally destructive technologies
Ethical Behavior Considerations:
Researchers
No deception, be forthright and do not conceal the
true purpose of the research
Maintain objectivity, courtesy and high professional
standards through scientific process
No falsification, alteration or misrepresentation of
data for political or other purposes
Protect the confidentiality of the research subjects
and research sponsors
No faulty conclusions
No inclusion or use of information or ideas
contained in competing research proposals
Just get out and do it!
Questions?