Research Methodology

Dr Budditha Hettige

Department of Computer Engineering

1

Types of Research

• Fundamental researches

– Highly conceptual/abstract researches

– Building the Knowledge

– Applicable to all subject areas

– These researches do not happen regularly

– These are Nobel prize wining researches

• Empirical Science researches

– Based on experiments

– Mostly used in area like Physics, Chemistry, etc.

– Special equipments are required for such researches

Types of Research..

• Design and innovations

– Engineering and Technological researches

– Involve design, prototyping, simulations, etc

– Rather costly and heavy

– Computer-based simulations have set a new trend

• Applied Researches

– Use of available theories in a novel way

– Very much used in engineering and technology

– They are motivated by today’s need

– Does not come under Nobel prize wining category

Types of Research..

• Survey-based researches– Studies based on readings

– Surveys/feedbacks

– Applicable to many areas

– Use statistical techniques for conclusions

• Observation-based research– Rather unstructured

– Need to live in certain communities to gather data

– Studies about beggars, vaddas, fishermen, crew, troop

– Ethnographic interviews

Approaches do Research

• Approaches to do researches are called

research methodologies

• There are many approaches including

– Input-Process-Output (IPO)

– Problem-Methodology-Solution (PMS)

– Introduction-Method-Results-Discussion (IMRD)

– Scientific Method

– Milestones Approach

• Of course, they are comparable

Approaches do a research - IPO

• Doing a project/research can be thought as follows

• The development of Process is the actual research

• According to this approach, at the beginning we should have some clue about the output.

• Otherwise, we cannot set the process• IPO is appropriate for design/innovation type

research in Computing, Engineering, Technology, etc

Input Process Output

Activity 01

• Using IPO discuss how you do a research

to design an electric coconut scraper.

• Discuss the followings

– Input

– Output

– Process

Approaches do a research - PMS

• A research can also be through as follows

• Methodology/theory/technology transform the problem to a solution

• How you use/invent Methodology/theory/technology would be the real research

• PMS is applicable for all types of domains

Problem Methodology Solution

Activity 02

• Using PMS discuss how you do a

research to design an electric coconut

scraper.

• Discuss the followings

– Problem

– Methodology

– Solution

• Compare IPO vs PMS

Approaches do a research - IMRD

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

What am I studying?

Why I am studying?

How am I studying?

What I have found

What is the significance

findings?

What were the problems?

What couldn’t I touch?

What are the future research

More suitable for

survey-type research

Scientific Method

• Observations

• Preliminary study

• Problem definition

• Theoretical framework

• Hypothesis

• Experimental design

• Data gathering

• Data Analysis

• Conclusion

Steps in detail

• Observation

– An observation energizes/motivates a research

– This could something you feel, hear, see, experience, etc.

• Preliminary study

– Do a study about the observation

– Get information from correct source

– Study converts the observation to a problem

– 30 years of way as an observation, what may be the problem

Steps in detail

• Problem definition

– Derive the problem based on the problems identified in the study

– Note problem are addressed by treating variables that describe the problem

– For example, the headache as a problem has variables as stress, fever, high blood pressure, etc.

• Theoretical Framework

– A network of variables and their relationships

Steps in detail• Hypothesis development

– Hypothesis is a testable statement combining variables from the TF

– It is a kind of assumption

– “Killing bad drivers, traffic can be reduced” is not a hypothesis. Why?

• Experimental Design

– An Environment to test an hypothesis

– It includes variables to be measured

– Experiment design could be expensive, risky, rigorous etc.

– For example, no direct experiment to test dengue

Steps in detail

• Data collection

– Experiment design generates data

– These data are the values for the variables

• Data Analysis

– To check whether hypothesis can be substantiated

– You can do statistical testing for the confidence of the conclusion

• Conclusion

– Whether the hypothesis has been substantiated

Example: Mother does a research

• Observation - Children refuse homemade food

• Study - (discuss from whom?)

• Problem definition - (food is not tasty)

• Hypothesis development - (Mass spicy will solve)

• Experiment - (discuss about the experiment)

• Data Collection - (who should be used)

• Data Analysis - (who/how analysis to be done)

• Conclusion - (whether Mass can solve the issue)

Technician does a research

• Observation – Car does not start

• Study - (discuss what a technician asks)

• Problem definition - (issue in electrical system)

• Hypothesis development - (battery is bad)

• Experiment - (checking battery using a suitable test)

• Data Collection - (discuss what kind of data)

• Data Analysis - (how they are analyzed)

• Conclusion -(is it to do with battery)

Activity 03

Some robberies had taken place at night

near the entrance of the Southern campus,

explain how police uses the scientific

method to attend this matter and come up

with a reliable conclusion. You should

describe the process with reference to

steps in the scientific method.

Millstones Approach

Approach

Design

Implementation

System in

Pratice

Evaluation

Conclusion &

Further Work

Others’ Work

Technology

Others’

workMy work

Problem

Milestones approach

• This approach looks at the research in terms of

– Others’ work

– My work

• Comparable with the Scientific Method

– Others’ work reveals problem and technology to be used

– My work is about Problem definition and onward in SM

– My work is modeled under many subtopics such as approach, design, implementation, evaluation & conclusion

– They are the steps in the software engineering process

– These steps can be used as chapters of a thesis as well

Study of Others’ work

• Also known as Literature Review

• It reveals

– achievements and issues with previous work

– Key people/projects in the area of research

– More papers to be read

• Literature Review enables to

– identify a research problem

– Technologies to solve the problem

Approach

• This gives the overall picture of the project

• We should describe the following points

– State the hypothesis

– Inputs to the system

– Outputs

– Process converting inputs to the outputs

– Users of the system

– Features (e.g. low-cost, web-based)

Design

• Design expands on the Process in the approach

• Defines the different modules, components and their inter-connections

• Explain What each component does• Illustrate with a Design Diagram

Component

B

Component

C

Component

A

Component

D

Implementation

• Specify How each module/component

stated in the design being implemented

• Each module may include

– Software

– Hardware

– algorithms

– Flowcharts

– …

System in Practice

• This may be optional

• It is about evidence of your completed work

• It can include

– Screenshots

– Photos of use of the system

– User feedback

– …

• This help a reader to appreciate your work

before a formal evaluation

Evaluation

• Assessment of whether hypothesis can be supported

• We use the software artifact that have been developed

• Specify the evaluation process

– Participants

– Design of the test to assess the achievement of objectives. They are inputs, outputs and features.

– How to conduct the test

– statistical analysis of data

– Results

• Presents the evaluation results: tables/chartes/diagrams

Conclusion & Further Work

• Interpret the results of the evaluation

• State the overall conclusion (percentage, etc)

• Also state objective-wise conclusion

• State limitations and how they can be addressed

• Addressing limitations can be Further Work

Hint

• Doing a research is similar to shopping

where we collect items such as

– Problem, solution, software, hardware, input.

Features, outputs, process, technology,

modules, algorithms, hypothesis, citations,

references, results, testing, objectives,

motivation, curiosity

• See the next page to understand what you

collect during the research process

Shopping @Milestone Supermarket

HW

Introduction

Activity 04

• Using Millstones Approach, discuss how to do a research to design an electric coconut scraper.

• Discuss each steps including

– How to do a review

– Make suitable approach

– Design and Implementation

– Evaluation

– Conclusion and further works

Activity 05

• Explain why evaluation is very important in

a research

• Assume that some how you are already

developed a fully automated electric

coconut scraper. Explain a test plan to

evaluate your product

• Explain ways to present the evaluation

results

Activity 06

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Source: http://excelcharts.com/classification-chart-types/