RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Introduction
M. Najam ul Islam
Department of Electrical Engineering
Bahria University, Islamabad
Email:
najam@bahria.edu.pk
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Contact Information

M. Najam ul Islam
Office: Level 5, Office # 13

Wednesdays & Fridays

(Only on schedule)
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 Coure Information

• Pre-requisite
• None

• Course meeting times

• Lectures: 1 session/week (Wednesday)

• Course Resources
• Lectures slides, assignments, solutions to problems, projects, and
announcements will be uploaded on LMS.
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 Reference Material

• Research Methodology, S.S. Vinod Chandra, S. Anand Hareendran

• Research Methods for Engineers: David V. Thiel
• Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches ,
John W. Creswell
• Research Methodologies – A step by step guide for beginners, Ranjit Kumar
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• Engineering Research Methodology-A Computer Science and Engineering and
Information and Communication Technologies Perspective. Krishnan Nallaperumal
 Class Composition

Lectures Readings Hands-on Training

Assignments Research Proposal 5

 Evaluation Criteria

• 2-3 Assignments
• 2-3 Assessments
• Semester Project: Proposal Document + Presentation
• Midterm
• Final

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 Course Objectives
• To familiarize students with fundamentals of research
• To facilitate students to identify their area/problem of interest
• To provide students a guideline regarding the following:
• Formulating research question and hypothesis
• Conducting literature survey
• Identifying gaps in the state-of-the-art
• Designing the experimental protocol
• Data collection and analysis
• To help students prepare the research proposal based on the
guidelines of BU
• To assist students to comprehend the importance of research ethics
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 Course Contents
•Introduction to scientific research process
•Classification of research methods
•Quantifying research
•Choosing a research problem
•Research methods: Choosing a suitable research methodology
•How to carry out research
•Formulation – Problem statement, Literature Review
•Design - Methodology
•Analysis - Data analysis and interpretation
•Ethics of research
•Plagiarism
•Intellectual property rights
•Presenting your research
•Writing a research paper
•Writing your thesis/dissertation
•Planning/delivering a scientific presentation
•Organizing conference/workshop/Reviewing papers

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 What is Research?
“A detailed study of a subject, especially in order to
discover (new) information or reach a (new)
understanding.”

Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 1

“A diligent and systematic inquiry or investigation into a

subject in order to discover or revise facts, theories,
applications, etc.”
Dictionary.reference.com 2

“Studious inquiry or examination; especially: investigation

or experimentation aimed at the discovery and
interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws
in the light of new facts, or practical application of such
new or revised theories or laws.”
Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary3 9
 What is Research?

A Systematic effort to gain New knowledge

-Redman and Mory

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 What is research?

• “Research is a tool for getting you from point A to

point B. You wish to prove an idea – research it.
You wish to disprove an idea – research it. You
think that fact ABC is incorrect – research it, or
that fact ABC is correct – research it. Research is
simply a method for investigating and collecting
information.” (Coombes 4)

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 Why People Research?

• Most people are forced to do research… 

• Academics
• ‘publish or perish’ is the law of the academic world.
• Governmental/Organizational Directives
• Career Benefits
• And there are those who,…
• Find intellectual joy in doing creative work
• Seek recognition
• Aspire to take the challenge of solving a previously unsolved problem
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 Task # 1:

• State the reason why you intend to

pursue research.

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 Without research?
• Development might go backwards
• We must continue to innovate to meet the evolving needs of the masses.
• Pathogens develop resistance to prevention and control mechanisms.
New diseases emerge and others can become more virulent and cause
disease.
• Natural disasters and shocks can have a devastating impact on people’s
lives and livelihoods.
• We need to understand how best to deliver effective services at large
scales.
• We need to understand key development questions to support best
policy choices
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 Research Objectives
• To investigate new and innovative aspects of any branch of
knowledge
• To generate new knowledge
• To construct a new procedures or systems
• To review or synthesize existing knowledge
• To enhance it
• To redefine problems, and to suggest solutions or solution approaches
• To investigate some existing situation or problem from a new
perspective
• To explain a phenomenon
• To formulate hypothesis and then validate or negate the hypothesis via
derivations or experimentation
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• To collect and analyze data and deduce a new conclusion

 What is ‘NOT’ a research…
• Research isn’t information gathering:
• A person collecting information on a specific subject is not research.
• Research isn’t the transportation of facts:
• Merely transporting facts from one resource to another doesn’t constitute research.
• No contribution to new knowledge although this might make existing knowledge
more accessible.
• Unsubstantiated claims aren’t research
• Proving ‘Common Sense’ matter isn’t research
• Explaining a phenomenon based on:
• Hunches or intuitions
• Personal experiences
• Authority
• Tenacity (traditions)
isn’t research
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Discovery, invention, innovation &
Research

Discovery, invention and innovation can be accidental, or as a result of

rigorous efforts in a planned or unplanned way.

Research is always systematic and planned.

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 What is research?
• Quest for an answer driven by a specific question

• Originates with a new question, new idea or a problem with no

acceptable solution so far (Research Problem/Question)
• Requires clear articulation of a goal (Research Objectives)
• Follows a specific plan or procedure (Research
Process/Methodology)
• Bounded by critical assumptions
• It is evaluated by peers
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Outcomes of a research are …

• Systematically obtained
• Hunch is not research
• Logically obtained
• Should either be deduced or induced from
existing knowledge

• Empirically obtained
• Provides means of validity
• Replicable
• Can be reproduced by repeating the same 19

steps
Types of Research

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 Application
Some researchers focus on using research to advance the knowledge (Basic),
whereas others use it to solve specific problems (Applied).

Pure Applied
•Type of research that may have limited • Designed to solve practical
direct applications and is mostly conducted
for the purpose of acquiring knowledge
problems of the modern world,
•Also known as Base or Fundamental rather than to acquire
research knowledge for knowledge's
•Driven by a scientist's curiosity or interest sake.
in a scientific question.
•The main motivation is to expand man's • Intended to bring about some
knowledge , not to create or invent direct benefit to humankind
something.
•There is no direct commercial value to the
discoveries that result from basic research.
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 The grey zone

• Example
• A fair amount of research has been underway on developing
fusion reactors to provide a controlled energy source for
cities
• There is a clear applied goal to this work, yet there are so
many technical obstacles to overcome that it may be another
30 to 50 years before we see a functional fusion reactor in
use.
• The development of fusion energy could be regarded as
both basic and applied research.
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 Applied or Basic??

• Research conducted to:

(a) improve agricultural crop production (Applied)
(b) treat a specific disease (Applied)
(c) determine the genetic code of fruit fly (Basic)
(d) reduce carbon footprint of modern technology (Applied)
(e) determine the equation for the universe (Basic)
(f) explain the causes of yawning (Basic)
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 Objective
• Descriptive:
• Describes a phenomenon, presents a picture of the specific details of a situation,
phenomenon, social setting,
• Researchers have no control over variables and can only observe and report e.g.
Historical Events.
• Surveys conducted to determine buyer preference, human behavior etc.
• Exploratory:
• Explore a new topic, initial research conducted to clarify the nature of the problem
• Explanatory:
• Generally builds on exploratory research and goes on to identify the reasons for
something that occurs
• Correlational:
• To find relation between variables Analytica
l
• Comparative:
• To compare the effect of variable(s) 24
 Descriptive or Analytical??
• Research conducted to:
• (a) determine how many people like coffee with sugar (Descriptive)
• (b) measure the efficacy of the new medicine (Analytical)
• (c) see if changing the packaging will increase the sales (Analytical)
• (d) determine the impact of population explosion on global warming
(Analytical)
• (e) determine the effectiveness of the renewed foreign policy
(Descriptive/Analytical)
• (f) determine the impact of revised curriculum on student learning
(Analytical)
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Exploratory/Explanatory/Correlational/
Comparative??
• A company is conducting research to determine:
• (a) Why the sales of a product are dropping?
(Exploratory)
• (b) How the company can improve the sales?
(Explanatory)
• (c) Will increasing advertisement impact sales?
(Correlational)
• (d) Which department is generating less revenews?
(Comparative) 26
 Information Analysis

Qualitative Quantitative
• Data typically in the form of words • Data that can be expressed
or pictures and can be analyzed numerically and subjected to
through informed judgement
statistical analysis
• Unstructured data
• Structured data
• Summarization
• Subjective conclusions • Statistical Analysis
• Field Research, Case Study, Focus • Experiments, Surveys, Using
Group Discussion Existing Statistics
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 Example of Quantitative Data
Analysis
• A study in a University
• A standardised item on a questionnaire:
Providing on-campus boarding facilities is likely to increase the
number of applicants.
_____ 1. strongly agree
_____ 2. agree
_____ 3. disagree
_____ 4. strongly disagree

• Responses can be easily aggregated for analysis

• Standardized and easily presented in a short space. 28
 Example of Qualitative Data Analysis
• An open-ended question:
Question: Provide your comments on providing on-campus
boarding facilities to the students.

Response: Boarding is one of the major concerns of students taking

admission in Universities outside their native towns. This issue is
more serious for female candidates as compared to male students. It
would be a good idea to provide on-campus hostel facilities as out
station students constitute a major proportion of our total student
strength. However, this will also require additional facilities
including 24 hours cafeteria, laundry and medical services etc.

• Qualitative responses are longer, more detailed and analysis is difficult

because responses are neither systematic nor standardized.
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 Quantitative or Qualitative??

• (a) How many hours of study can improve grades? (Quantitative)

• (b) What percentage of students fail in Research Methodology?
(Quantitative)
• (c) Is the new brand more successful? (Qualitative/Quantitative)
• (d) Are people of Pakistan more friendly than most nations of the
world? (Qualitative)
• (e) Is this neighborhood safer for children? (Qualitative)
• (f) Is the cost of living in Islamabad more than Peshawar?
(Quantitative)

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 Data Collection

Primary Secondary
• Self conducted • Conducted by others
• Often necessary to answer • Necessary to understand what
specific questions research has already been
• Expensive and time consuming conducted

• Surveys, Interviews, Simulations • Relatively cheaper and less time

consuming

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 Key players in a research

• Researcher
• Conducts research
• Supervisor
• Guides the researcher
• Evaluator
• Evaluates the research

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 The Researcher
• Discuss with your supervisor what work schedule is good for
both of you.
• Discuss problems regularly but don’t expect the supervisor to
solve everything for you.
• Stick with the schedule.
• Submit written material to supervisor with enough time to read.
• Don’t ignore criticisms or guidance from the supervisor.
• Make sure you don’t do anything illegal.
• Remember you are the driver.
• Do your best.
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 The Supervisor

• Know the rules and standards of the organization

regarding research

• Make sure the supervisees know the rules and standards

• Discuss dates and work schedules

• Give needed guidance

• Continuously update skill set

• Schedule regular meetings

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The Evaluator

Being an
evaluator can
improve your
own research

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The material in these slides is based on the following resources

References
• Lecture Notes of Dr. Momina Moetesum, Department of Computer Sciences, Bahria University, Islamabad.
• http://dictionary.cambridge.org
• http://dictionary.reference.com
• http://www.merriam-webster.com
• Coombs Hilary. Chapter 1: Getting Started. In: Research Using IT.
• Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; PALGRAVE Study Guides: 2001. pg 1.
• Virtual Academy: Research Methodology
• Methodologies for research in computer science, Lionel Brunie, LIRIS –INSA, Lyon, France
• Introduction to research process, Dr Muhammad Hanif, Workshop on research methodologies, MCS-NUST
• Scientific Research in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, Doctoral Seminar, Nayda G. Santiago
• Basic vs Applied research – Retrieved August 2011 from
http://www.lbl.gov/Education/ELSI/research-main.html
• Labuschagne, A. (2003, March). Qualitative research - Airy fairy or fundamental? The Qualitative Report,
8(1). Retrieved August 2011, from http://www.nova.edu
• Content from slideshare.net 36