RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Course Code: PROJ- CS601

Prepared by,
Mr. Amit Khan
RCCIIT
 Recommended Books
1. Kothari, C.R., 1990. Research
Methodology: Methods and Techniques.
New Age International.

2. Garg, B.L., Karadia, R., Agarwal, F.

and Agarwal, U.K., 2002. An
introduction to Research Methodology,
RBSA Publishers.
 What is Reserach ?
• Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge.

• Once can also define research as a scientific and systematic search

for related information on a specific topic.

• In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation.

• The meaning of research as “a careful investigation or inquiry

specially through search for new facts in any branch of
knowledge.”
 What is Reserach ? [Contd...]

• Redman and Mory define research as a “systematized effort to

gain new knowledge.”

• Some people consider research as a movement, a movement from

the known to the unknown.

• Research is the systematic process of collecting and analyzing

information (data) in order to increase our understanding of the
phenomenon about which we are concerned or interested.

• Research provides the needed information that guides managers to

make informed decisions to successfully deal with problems.
 What is Reserach ? [Contd...]

• Research is an academic activity and as such the term should be

used in a technical sense.

• Research is, thus, an original contribution to the existing stock of

knowledge making for its advancement.

• In short, the search for knowledge through objective and systematic

method of finding solution to a problem is research.

• The systematic approach concerning generalisation and the

formulation of a theory is also research.
 Motivation In Research
• Desire to get a research degree along with its consequential
benefits.

• Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved problems,

i.e., concern over practical problems initiates research.

• Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative work.

• Desire to be of service to society.

• Desire to get respectability.

 Motivation In Research [Contd...]
• However, this is not an exhaustive list of factors motivating
people to undertake research studies.
• Many more factors such as
– directives of government,
– employment conditions
– curiosity about new things
– desire to understand causal relationships, social thinking
and awakening
– and the like may as well motivate (or at times compel)
people to perform research operations.
 Objectives of Research
The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the
application of scientific procedures.
The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and
which has not been discovered as yet.

The objectives are:

To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it –

Exploratory or Formulative Research.
To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual,
situation or a group – Descriptive Research.
To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it
is associated with something else – Diagnostic Research.
To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables –
Hypothesis-Testing Research.
 Characteristics of Research
Research is directed towards the solution of a problem.
 Research demands accurate observation and description.
Research involves gathering new data from primary sources or using
existing data for a new purpose.
Research activities are characterized by carefully designed procedures.
Research requires expertise i.e., skill necessary to carryout investigation,
search the related literature and to understand and analyze the data gathered.
Research is objective and logical – applying every possible test to validate
the data collected and conclusions reached.
Research involves the quest for answers to unsolved problems.
Research requires courage.
Research is characterized by patience and unhurried activity.
Research is carefully recorded and reported.
 Types Of Research

 Descriptive vs Analytical Research

Descriptive Research is a fact finding
investigation which is aimed at describing the
characteristics of individual, situation or a group (or)
describing the state of affairs as it exists at present.
• Descriptive Research is an Ex Post Facto research i.e.
after-the-fact research.
• It is often used for business and social science research.
• There is no control over the variables.
• In descriptive studies researchers seeks to measure such
items such as frequency of shopping, preferences of
people, or similar data.
• Methods of research used in descriptive reserach are
survey method.
 Types Of Research [Contd...]
 Descriptive vs Analytical Research

• In analytical research, on the other hand, the

researcher has to use facts or information already
available, and analyze these to make a critical evaluation
of the material.
• While descriptive reserach attempts to determine, describe
or identify what is, While analytical reserach attemts to
establish why it is that way or how it came to be.
• Analytical reserach usually concerns itself with cause
effect relationship.
 Example

• Examing the fluctuations of U.S International trade balance

during 1974-1995 is an example of descriptive research ;
While explaining why and how U.S trade balance move in a
particular way over time is an example of analytical research.
 Types Of Research [Contd...]
 Applied vs Fundamental Research
Applied Research or Action Research is carried out to
find solution to a real life problem requiring an action or policy
decision.
Fundamental Research which is also known as basic or
pure research is undertaken for the sake of knowledge without
any intention to apply it in practice.
It is undertaken out of intellectual curiosity and is not
necessarily problem-oriented.
Research concerning some natural phenomenon or
relating to pure mathematics are examples of fundamental
research.
Research aimed at certain conclusions (say, a solution)
facing a concrete social or business problem is an example of
applied research.
 Types Of Research [Contd...]
 Quantitative vs Qualitative Research

Quantitative Research is employed for measuring

the quantity or amount of a particular phenomena by the
use of statistical analysis.

Qualitative Research is a non-quantitative type of

analysis which is aimed at finding out the quality of a
particular phenomenon.

For instance, when we are interested in

investigating the reasons for human behaviour (i.e., why
people think or do certain things), we quite often talk of
‘Motivation Research’, an important type of qualitative
research.
 Types Of Research [Contd...]
 Conceptual vs Empirical Research
Conceptual Research is that related to some
abstract idea(s) or theory. It is generally used by
philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or to
reinterpret existing ones.
Empirical Research relies on experience or
observation alone, often without due regard for system
and theory. It is data-based research, coming up with
conclusions which are capable of being verified by
observation or experiment. We can also call it as
experimental type of research.
In Empirical Research, the researcher must first
provide himself with a working hypothesis or guess as to
the probable results. He then works to get enough facts
(data) to prove or disprove his hypothesis.
 Some other types of research...
 One-time Research – Research confined to a single time
period.
 Longitudinal Research – Research carried on over several
time periods.
 Diagnostic Research – It is also called clinical research
which aims at identifying the causes of a problem,
frequency with which it occurs and the possible solutions
for it.
 Exploratory Research – It is the preliminary study of an
unfamiliar problem, about which the researcher has little
or no knowledge. It is aimed to gain familiarity with the
problem, to generate new ideas or to make a precise
formulation of the problem. Hence it is also known as
formulative research.
 Some other types of research [Contd..]
 Experimental Research – It is designed to assess the effect
of one particular variable on a phenomenon by keeping
the other variables constant or controlled.

 Historical Research – It is the study of past records and

other information sources, with a view to find the origin
and development of a phenomenon and to discover the
trends in the past, inorder to understand the present and to
anticipate the future.
 Criteria of a Good Research
 The purpose of the research should be clearly defined and
common concepts be used.

 The research procedure used should be described in sufficient

detail to permit another researcher to repeat the research for
further advancement, keeping the continuity of what has
already been attained.

 The procedural design of the research should be carefully

planned to yield results that are as objective as possible.

 The researcher should report with complete frankness, flaws in

procedural design and estimate their effects upon the findings.
 Criteria of a Good Research [Contd...]
 The analysis of data should be sufficiently adequate to reveal
its significance and the methods of analysis used should be
appropriate. The validity and reliability of the data should be
checked carefully.

 High ethical standards applied.

 Limitations frankly revealed.

 Findings presented unambiguously.

 Conclusions justified.

 Researcher’s experience reflected.

 Criteria of a Good Research [Contd...]
 In other words, we can state the qualities of a good research as
under:

1. Good research is systematic: It means that research is

structured with specified steps to be taken in a specified sequence
in accordance with the well defined set of rules.

2. Good research is logical: This implies that research is guided

by the rules of logical reasoning and the logical process of
induction and deduction are of great value in carrying out
research.

3. Good research is empirical: It implies that research is related

basically to one or more aspects of a real situation.

4. Good research is replicable: This characteristic allows research

results to be verified by replicating the study and thereby building
a sound basis for decisions.
 Problems in Research (Mainly in India)
1. The lack of a scientific training in the methodology of research is a
great impediment for researchers in our country. There is paucity of
competent researchers. Many researchers take a leap in the dark without
knowing research methods. Most of the work, which goes in the name
of research is not methodologically sound. Research to many researchers
and even to their guides, is mostly a scissor and paste job without any
insight shed on the collated materials

2. There is insufficient interaction between the university research

departments on one side and business establishments, government
departments and research institutions on the other side.

3. Most of the business units in our country do not have the confidence
that the material supplied by them to researchers will not be misused and
as such they are often reluctant in supplying the needed information to
researchers.
 Problems in Research (Mainly in India)
[contd...]
4. Research studies overlapping one another are undertaken quite often
for want of adequate information.

5. There does not exist a code of conduct for researchers and inter-
university and inter-departmental rivalries are also quite common.
Hence, there is need for developing a code of conduct for researchers
which, if adhered sincerely, can win over this problem.

6. Library management and functioning is not satisfactory at many

places and much of the time and energy of researchers are spent in
tracing out the books, journals, reports, etc., rather than in tracing out
relevant material from them.
7.There is also the problem that many of our libraries are not able to get
copies of old and new Acts/Rules, reports and other government
publications in time. This problem is felt more in libraries which are
away in places from Delhi and/or the state capitals.
 Problems in Research (Mainly in India)
[contd...]
8.There is also the difficulty of timely availability of published data from
various government and other agencies doing this job in our country.

9. There may, at times, take place the problem of conceptualization and

also problems relating to the process of data collection and related
things.

10. Time and money

11. Human tendencies

 Scope / Significance of Research
 Research inculcates scientific and inductive thinking and it
promotes the development of logical habits of thinking and
organisation
 The role of research in several fields of applied economics,
whether related to business or to the economy as a whole, has
greatly increased in modern times.
 Research provides the basis for nearly all government policies in
our economic system
 Research has its special significance in solving various
operational and planning problems of business and industry.
 Research is equally important for social scientists in studying
social relationships and in seeking answers to various social
problems.
Scope / Significance of Research [Contd...]
The significance of research can also be understood keeping in view
the following points:
• To those students who are to write a master’s or Ph.D. thesis,
research may mean a careerism or a way to attain a high
position in the social structure.
• To professionals in research methodology, research may mean a
source of livelihood.
• To philosophers and thinkers, research may mean the outlet for
new ideas and insights.
• To literary men and women, research may mean the
development of new styles and creative work.
• To analysts and intellectuals, research may mean the
generalisations of new theories.
 Research Methods vs Methodology
– Research methods may be understood as all those methods/techniques that
are used for conduction of research.
– Research methods or techniques, thus, refer to the methods the researchers
use in performing research operations.
– In other words, all those methods which are used by the researcher during the
course of studying his research problem are termed as research methods.
– Research methods can be put into the following three groups:
• In the first group we include those methods which are concerned
with the collection of data. These methods will be used where the
data already available are not sufficient to arrive at the required
solution.
• The second group consists of those statistical techniques which are
used for establishing relationships between the data and the
unknowns.

• The third group consists of those methods which are used to evaluate
the accuracy of the results obtained.
Research Methods vs Methodology [Contd..]
– Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research
problem.
– It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done
scientifically.
– In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in
studying his research problem along with the logic behind them.
– It is necessary for the researcher to know not only the research
methods/techniques but also the methodology.
– we can say that research methodology has many dimensions and research
methods do constitute a part of the research methodology.
– The scope of research methodology is wider than that of research methods.
– Thus, when we talk of research methodology we not only talk of the
research methods but also consider the logic behind the methods we use in
the context of our research study and explain why we are using a particular
method or technique and why we are not using others so that research
results are capable of being evaluated either by the researcher himself or by
others.
 Role of Research in Decision Making
♪ Decision-making is the process of selecting the best
alternative from the available set of alternatives.

♪ Management is chiefly concerned with decision-making

and its implementation.

♪ These decisions should be based on appropriate studies,

evaluations and observations.

♪ Research provides us with knowledge and skills needed to

solve the problems and to meet the challenges of a fast
paced decision-making environment.
 According to Herbert A Simon, decision-
making involves three activities:

 Intelligence Activity - scanning the environment for

identifying conditions necessary for the decision.

 Designing Activity - identifying, developing and analyzing

the alternative courses of action.

 Choice Activity - choosing the best course of action from

among the alternatives.
Factors that affect managerial decisions
 INTERNAL FACTORS – factors present inside an
organisation such as resources, technology, trade unions,
cash flow, manpower etc.
 EXTERNAL FACTORS – factors present outside the
organisation such as government policies, political factors,
socio-economic factors, legal framework, geographic and
cultural factors etc.
 QUANTITATIVE FACTORS – factors that can be measured
in quantities such as time, resources, cost factors etc.
 QUALITATIVE FACTORS – factors that cannot be
measured in quantities such as organizational cohesiveness,
sense of belonging of employees, risk of technological
change etc.

 UNCERTAINITY FACTORS – factors which cannot be

 Research Process
• Research process consists of series of actions or steps necessary to
effectively carry out research and the desired sequencing of these
steps.
 Research Process: Steps
The following order concerning various steps provides a useful
procedural guideline regarding the research process:
(1) formulating the research problem;
(2) extensive literature survey;
(3) developing the hypothesis;
(4) preparing the research design;
(5) determining sample design;
(6) collecting the data;
(7) execution of the project;
(8) analysis of data;
(9) hypothesis testing;
(10) generalisations and interpretation, and
(11) preparation of the report or presentation of the results,
i.e., formal write-up of conclusions reached
 Step1: Defining Research Problem
What is a research problem?

 The term ‘problem’ means a question or issue to be examined.

 Research Problem refers to some difficulty /need which a

researcher experiences in the context of either theoretical or
practical situation and wants to obtain a solution for the same.
How do we know we have a Research problem?
Customer complaints
 Conversation with company employees
 Observation of inappropriate behaviour or conditions in
the firm
 Deviation from the business plan
 Success of the firm’s competitor’s
 Relevant reading of published material (trends, regulations)
 Company records and reports.
 Step1: Defining Research Problem [Contd...]
The first step in the research process – definition of the problem
involves two activities:

Identification / Selection of the Problem:

Formulation of the Problem

 Identification / Selection of the Problem
• This step involves identification of a few problems and
selection of one out of them, after evaluating the alternatives
against certain selection criteria.

• Sources of Problems:
 Reading
 Academic Experience
 Daily Experience
 Exposure to Field Situations
 Consultations
 Brainstorming
 Research
 Intuition
 Criteria of Selection
The selection of one appropriate researchable problem out of
the identified problems requires evaluation of those
alternatives against certain criteria. They are:

 Internal / Personal criteria – Researcher’s Interest,

Researcher’s Competence, Researcher’s own Resource:
finance and time.
 External Criteria or Factors – Researchability of the problem,
Importance and Urgency, Novelty of the Problem, Feasibility,
Facilities, Usefulness and Social Relevance, Research
Personnel.
Definition / Formulation of the Research Problem
 Formulation is the process of refining the research ideas into
research questions and objectives.
 Formulation means translating and transforming the selected
research problem/topic/idea into a scientifically researchable
question. It is concerned with specifying exactly what the
research problem is.
 Problem definition or Problem statement is a clear, precise and
succinct statement of the question or issue that is to be
investigated with the goal of finding an answer or solution.
 There are two ways of stating a problem:
1) Posting question / questions
2) Making declarative statement / statements
 Criteria of a Good Research Problem
 Clear and Unambiguous
 Empirical
 Verifiable
 Interesting
 Novel and Original
 Availability of Guidance
 Defining Problem, Results in
Clear Cut Research Objectives..

Symptom Detection

Analysis of
the Situation

Problem Definition

Statement of
Research Objectives
 Establishment of Research Objectives
 Research Objectives are the specific components of the research
problem, that you’ll be working to answer or complete, in order
to answer the overall research problem.
- Churchill, 2001
 The objectives refers to the questions to be answered through
the study. They indicate what we are trying to get from the
study or the expected results / outcome of the study.
 Research Objectives should be clear and achievable, as they
directly assist in answering the research problem.
 The objectives may be specified in the form of either statements
or questions.
 Generally, they are written as statements, using the word “to”.
(For example, ‘to discover …’, ‘to determine …’, ‘to establish
…’, etc. )
 Step 2:Review of Literature
 Literature Review is the documentation of a comprehensive
review of the published and unpublished work from secondary
sources of data in the areas of specific interest to the
researcher.

 The main aim is to find out problems that are already

investigated and those that need further investigation.

 It is an extensive survey of all available past studies relevant to

the field of investigation.

 It gives us knowledge about what others have found out in the

related field of study and how they have done so.
 Purpose of Review
 To gain a background knowledge of the research topic.

 To identify the concepts relating to it, potential relationships

between them and to formulate researchable hypothesis.

 To identify appropriate methodology, research design, methods

of measuring concepts and techniques of analysis.

 To identify data sources used by other researchers.

 To learn how others structured their reports.

 How to conduct the Literature Survey?
 Identify the relevant sources:the abstracting and indexing
journals and published or unpublished bibliographies are the
first place to go to.
 Academic journals, conference proceedings, government
reports, books etc., must be tapped depending on the nature of
the problem
 A good library will be a great help to the researcher at this
stage.
 Extract and Record relevant information.
 Write-up the Literature Review.
 Literature Survey: Why ?

 What approaches have others used?

 What are the gaps?
 What difference are you making?
 Novelty in familiarity and familiarity in novelty
 Placing in current contex
 Avoiding duplication
 Clarification of controversal results
 State of art: extend and build on the work of others.
 Literature Survey: Why ? [Contd...]
 Essentially the first requirement that we need to do is
every scientist cannot replicate the entire history of
how a particular topic has evolved. So, we must use
approaches that are going beyond what others have
done till now; which means that we must know what
others have used; what kind of approaches people have
used;
 Where are the gaps that have come up; and, where is it
that we can contribute.
 And then, what is the difference that we are making to
the existing knowledge.
 And, very often a very novel technique used in a very
familiarized area would be a good addition to the
literature. And, sometimes a very familiar technique
used in a totally novel area of research would also be
valuable. So, novelty in familiarity as well as familiarity
in novelty require you to know what is familiar and
 Literature Survey: Why ? [Contd...]
 And then, very often a study is valuable or seen as
valuable by our peers when we are able to place that
study in a current context, where people look at it as
valuables.
 So, it is important to avoid duplication; and, it is also
important to clarify certain controversial results that
may be coming up.
 And, if you want to know what is the state of the art in
the literature that is currently there and we want to
extend and build on the work of others, definitely we
need to know what is done till now.
 And, literature survey should help us in getting that
status quo of the subject we are a trying to do research
on. So, literature survey that way is a very important
aspect.
 It should be done not only at the beginning of the
research but also throughout. But, at the beginning, it
 Literaure survey in context of thesis
 Thesis should be based on original research.
 Unintentional duplication is not acceptable.
 To gain the knowledge of the background work.
 To establish context of your work.
 To questions, point out anomalies/gap.
 Literaure survey in context of thesis [Contd...]
 Literature survey in the context of making a Ph.D. thesis or a
research-based degree is important, because very often the
research degrees are given based upon original work that is done
by the student.
 And, duplication is not acceptable even if it is not intentional. So,
it is important to know what is out there, what have people done
elsewhere in the world on the research area that we are working
on.
 And, sometimes it’s also important to establish the context for
your work, and its also important to have a background
knowledge of the topic that we are working on.
 And, to also point out anomalies and gaps, we must know what
has been done till now. So, in the context of a research thesis also
research analysis and literature survey is very important.
 Soure of Literature
 Open access
 INDEST arrangement
 Your library subscriptions
 Peer sharing resource: ResearchGate, academia.edu
 Soure of Literature [Contd...]
Open Access:
 So, where do we look up this literature? So, very often we have
various ways.
 The first way is obviously what is available for everyone in the
world – open access.
 Unfortunately, the cost of keeping a journal publication or a
conference proceeding in an archival manner, that is available in
a reproducible manner over a long period of time is going to
make the respective publishers spend money for that;
 so, which means that there is a subscription cost associated with
every journal access.
 And therefore, open access - that is publicly available
information from scientific archival data - is very limited.
 But, definitely, they are increasing in number as we go along.
 Soure of Literature [Contd...]
INDEST arrangement: (Indian National Digital Library in
Engineering Sciences and Technology (INDEST) Consortium)
 In India, there is an arrangement made by the Ministry of Human
Resources Development under the so-called INDEST program,
which is being coordinated by IIT, Delhi, which provides access
to a large number of literature sources to various education
institutes in the countries.
 They are categorized into various groups: tier 1, tier 2, tier 3, etc.
And, which means, that if your research organization or
university is funded by government, then most probably, quite a
few of literature survey can be done using the sources that are
paid for by INDEST program.
 Very often the literature sources that are subscribed by INDEST
are not adequate.
 Soure of Literature [Contd...]
Your library subscriptions:
 Some libraries do spend additional amount of money to make
subscriptions beyond that set.
 And, this is something that will be available from your library.
 So, you definitely must get in touch with your librarian and find
out what are all the journals that are subscribed by your library
Peer sharing resource:
 There has been also an effort to use some of the possibilities of
authors being allowed to share their own publications on a portal,
where upon request, it is possible to have the literature shared.
So, these are called as peer sharing sources.
 Research Gate and academia.edu are such peer sharing sources,
which also may be able to provide some amount of literature.
 Source of Literature: Types
There are mainly 2 types literature sources are available.
1. Primary sources of literature
2. Secondary sources of literature
 Primary Sources of Literature
• Periodicals
• Research Report
• Conference Proceedings
• Official Publications
• Standards
• Thesis, Dissertations
• To be published Works
 Secondary Sources of Literature
• Complilations
• Reviews
• Reference Books/Handbooks/Encyclopedia/Dictionaries
• Textbooks/Monographs
• Indexing/Abstarcting services

Tertiary Sources:
• Directories
• year book
• Biblographies
 Some Terminology
• International Standard Book Number(ISBN)
• International Standard Serial Number(ISSN)
• Digital Object Indentifier(DOI) Number: online publication
• Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) catalogue:Books
• Research Information Services(RIS) format:Biblographic info
• BibTeX(.bib) format: Biblographic information
 International Standard Book Number(ISBN)
 Every book that we want to refer to must contain what is
called an ISBN number – International Standard Book
Number.
 This number is basically going to allow anybody in the world
to identify the book and also possibly source it if it is available
in print.
 Any book that does not have an ISBN, is essentially not
traceable after sometime. And, it is important to note it down
whenever we want to refer a book.
 International Standard Serial Number(ISSN)
 Similarly, any journal that we want to refer to should have an
ISSN number.
 And, these are also applicable for newspapers.
 ISSN number is going to be in ranges. We must pay attention
to this when we are also referring to conference proceedings,
which will usually have an ISSN number.
 Digital Object Indentifier(DOI) Number
 Today in the digital world, we would like to have an
identity for each document such that we will be able
to access them directly. And, such an initiative is now
available and the number is going by a name called
Digital Object Identifier, namely, the DOI number.
 So, every document that is available online in the
literature - open literature -will have a DOI number.
 There is an agency which translates the DOI number
into a URL, where that particular full text resource is
available.
 Whenever the full text resource moves, the mapping
will be modified by the agency – DOI agency.
 Therefore, we will be able to access the resource as
the resource keeps moving its actual location; and
that means that if you are going to refer to an online
resource, make sure that you have a DOI number for
the particular resource, so that you can refer to it by
 Universal Decimal Classification (UDC)
catalogue:Books
 There are also other things that we must be familiar. They are
something called UDC catalog.
 This is basically to physically be able to refer to that book in a
library.
 Journal Imapct Factor
 There also some other things that we must be aware of while doing
literature survey. One such thing is journal impact factor.
 What we mean by journal impact factor is that to see how many
times the articles in a particular journal are being referred by other
journals and other articles.
 It basically gives you a sense of how often these articles are being
read and being used by other scientists.
 So, if you want to compare two journals in a particular area, then the
one with the higher impact factor is being accessed, read, and
referred more often.
 And, this is a number which is controversial; one cannot compare
these impact factors across research areas. Very often it is seen that a
research area in which the research is very actively being pursued,
there are a large number of researchers that who are working. Then,
normally, it will have journal impact factors, a little bit on the higher
side.
 Strategies to Search
• Keyword search: Systematic manual search
• Backward Chronological Search: Snowball or back reference method
• Forward Chronological Search: Citation search
 Keyword search: Systematic manual search
 Its very important for a new researcher to be very effective in
searching the literature in his or her area, because the amount of
time available to come to the focus area is very limited. And, we
must identify the gaps very quickly, so that we can focus on the
research that we want to pursue.
 So, there are three major strategies that we can use to search
literature.
 The first strategy is basically using a keyword. What we mean by
a keyword search is using a word to identify the topic of the
research result that we are looking for, or to use the author’s
name.
 We could also use a keyword that is mentioned by the article
itself. So, essentially, it is like coming up with words that would
describe and identify a particular research paper
 Backward Chronological Search or back
reference method
 Identify the latest paper in your area
 Look up each of the reference listed
 Repeat to extend the tree backword

 The backward chronological search basically means that we

are going to look at an article, and see what are all the papers
that it is referring to, which will be basically older than the
article. And then, look at among those references, what are
relevant for that topic, and then, going recursively back in
time. So, this way actually we can go and discover the entire
background of a particular research area.
 Forward Chronological Search: Citation search
• Indentify the citation classic of your area
• Look up which all paper refer to it
• Find out which of these are well cited
• Repeat to extend the tree forward
 Forward Chronological Search: Citation search
[Contd...]
 In forward chronological search, we basically first identify a very
important paper in our area of research, and then, we will see what all
those publications that are citing this particular paper, which means that
they are going to come in the future.
 Let us say we have identified a very good paper in 1994, then all those
papers that are published after ‘94, which are referring to this particular
paper. And, among those there will be some which will be very relevant
to us. And then, we are going to pick them, and then, we will see which
of the papers after those have cited those particular papers.
 And, that way we can go forward in time.
 Obviously, we can come only up to the year that we are searching,
because the paper that will be published in future are not yet available
to us at this point. Maybe by the volume number wise may be one year
ahead, we may be able to see the papers that are coming in, but not
beyond.
 Citation Information

Website
Thomson ISI/Web of science (isiknowledge.com)
SciFinder (www.cas.org)
Scopus(www.scopus.com)
Scitation(scitation.aip.org)

 So, what are the kind of information sources that we can use,
where the citation information will be available. So, here again
subscription is required, and two such important sources one is
the Thomson ISI company’s Web of Science and the other is
Scopus. And, these two are seen as the most popular resources
of information for citation.
 Major Publishers
• Elsevier
• Springer
• Taylor and Francis
• Nature
• APS(American Physical Society),AIP(American Institute
of Physics),ASM,IEEE,ACM etc
 Literature Survey using Web of Science
URLs-- two different tabs in your browser
• http://apps.webofknwledge.com/
• http:/myendnoteweb.com/
 The two URLs that we will require to access while we do the
literature survey using Web of Science are given here: Web of
Knowledge and End Note Web.
 And these two URLs should be opened simultaneously in two
different tabs in your browser, because we will be logging into
both the portals and we will need the information to be seen
simultaneously in both the portals.
 And if the URLs are changed by the vendor at any point of
time from now, then you need to identify the correct URLs
using a web search engine and you could that yourself at a
later point.
Literature Survey using Web of Science[Contd...]
Literature Survey using Web of
Science[Contd...]
 Literature Survey using Web of
Science[Contd...]
In case you do have access, then when you open this portal
on your browser, in your desktop, then this is how it looks
like; you do have immediately a search possibility, a box
that will let you type in the keywords, and then a search
button there. So, which means that you are ready to start
your literature survey.