Research Methods, Guidelines and Formats

March 2009

Prof. Dr. Ing.Taffa Tulu

P.O.Box 1888
Adama University
Adama / Ethiopia
Fon +251-221-100053
FAX +251-221-100046
Mobile +251-911-350085
VPResearch@adama-university.net

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Table of Content

Table of Content_______________________________________________________ 2
Research ____________________________________________________________ 5
1. Research processes__________________________________________________ 5
1.1. Scientific Research (Scientific Method) ................................................................ 5
1.2. Historical (Historical Method)................................................................................ 7
2. Research methods ___________________________________________________ 7
2.1. Action research .................................................................................................... 8
2.2. Cartography.......................................................................................................... 8
2.3. Case Study........................................................................................................... 8
2.3.1. Case Selection............................................................................................... 9
2.3.2. Generalizing from Case Studies .................................................................. 10
2.4. Categorization .................................................................................................... 10
2.4.1. The classical view........................................................................................ 11
2.4.2. Conceptual clustering .................................................................................. 11
2.4.3. Prototype Theory ......................................................................................... 12
2.5. Citation Analysis................................................................................................. 12
2.6. Consumer Ethnocentrism ................................................................................... 12
2.7. Content Analysis ................................................................................................ 13
2.7.1. Uses of content analysis .............................................................................. 13
2.7.2. The process of a content analysis ............................................................... 13
2.8. Delphi Method .................................................................................................... 14
2.8.1. Key Characteristics...................................................................................... 14
2.9. Ethnography ....................................................................................................... 15
2.10. Experience and Intuition ................................................................................... 16
2.11. Experiment ....................................................................................................... 17
2.11.1. Design of Experiments............................................................................... 17
2.11.2. Controlled Experiments.............................................................................. 18
2.11.3. Natural Experiments .................................................................................. 19
2.11.4. Observational Studies................................................................................ 20
2.11.5. Field Experiments ...................................................................................... 20
2.12. Googling ........................................................................................................... 20
2.13. Interview ........................................................................................................... 20
2.14. Mathematical Model ......................................................................................... 21
2.14.1. Building Blocks .......................................................................................... 21
2.14.2. Classifying Mathematical Model ................................................................ 21
2.14.3. Priori Information ....................................................................................... 22
2.14.4. Subjective Information ............................................................................... 23

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 2.14.5. Complexity ................................................................................................. 23
2.14.6. Training...................................................................................................... 24
2.14.7. Model Evaluation ....................................................................................... 24
2.14.8. Fit to Empirical Data .................................................................................. 24
2.14.9. Scope of the Model.................................................................................... 24
2.14.10. Philosophical Considerations................................................................... 25
2.15. Participant Observation .................................................................................... 25
2.15.1. Method and Practice .................................................................................. 25
2.15.2. Variations and Related Methods................................................................ 26
2.16. Phenomenology ............................................................................................... 26
2.16.1. Phenomenology in Physical Sciences ....................................................... 26
2.16.2. Phenomenology in Social Statistics ........................................................... 26
2.17. Q Methodology ................................................................................................. 27
2.18. Questionnaire ................................................................................................... 28
2.19. Simulation......................................................................................................... 28
2.19.1. Simulation in Education and Training ........................................................ 28
2.19.2. Clinical Healthcare Simulators ................................................................... 29
2.19.3. Engineering Technology or Process Simulation ........................................ 29
2.20. Statistics ........................................................................................................... 30
2.20.1. Statistical methods..................................................................................... 31
2.20.2. Statistical techniques ................................................................................. 32
2.21. Statistical Surveys ............................................................................................ 32
2.21.1. Structure and standardization .................................................................... 32
2.21.2. Serial Surveys............................................................................................ 33
2.21.3. Modes of Data Collection........................................................................... 33
2.21.4. Sampling.................................................................................................... 33
3. Writing Research Paper ______________________________________________ 34
3.1. Genre ................................................................................................................. 34
3.2. Topic................................................................................................................... 35
3.3. Scope ................................................................................................................. 35
3.4. Thesis................................................................................................................. 36
3.5. Research ............................................................................................................ 36
3.5.1. Understand the types of resources .............................................................. 37
3.5.2. Critically read and evaluate the sources ...................................................... 37
3.5.3. Note-take effectively .................................................................................... 39
3.6. Developing an Outline ........................................................................................ 40
3.7. First Draft............................................................................................................ 41
3.8. Revision.............................................................................................................. 41
3.9. Proofreading....................................................................................................... 43
4. Proposal Writer's Guide ______________________________________________ 44

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 4.1. Introduction......................................................................................................... 44
4.2. Parts of a Proposal............................................................................................. 45
4.2.1. Research Proposals .................................................................................... 45
4.2.2. Proposals for Academic Programs .............................................................. 49
4.3. Inquiries to Private Foundations ......................................................................... 50
4.4. Why Proposals Are Rejected?............................................................................ 51
5. Writing, Approval and Defense Examination of M.Sc and Ph.D Thesis Proposals _ 53
5.1. General Framework of Writing Thesis Proposal ................................................. 53
5. 2. Theses Research Approval Processes.............................................................. 57
5.3. Procedures and Decision Guidelines on M.Sc. Thesis ....................................... 58
5.3.1. Procedures .................................................................................................. 58
5.3.2. Decision ....................................................................................................... 59
5.3.3. Graduation ................................................................................................... 61
5.4. Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Examination procedures......................................... 61
5.4.1. Procedure .................................................................................................... 61
5.4.2. Decision ....................................................................................................... 62
5.5. Thesis Advisor’s Remuneration Scheme............................................................ 63
6. Initiation, Submission and Approval of Research Proposals __________________ 64
References __________________________________________________________ 66
Appendix A __________________________________________________________ 68
Appendix B __________________________________________________________ 74
Appendix C__________________________________________________________ 80
Appendix D__________________________________________________________ 81
Appendix E __________________________________________________________ 84

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Research

Research is defined as human activity based on intellectual application in the

investigation of matter. Research deals with discovering, interpreting, and the
development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a
wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe. It may be classified as
scientific and historical research. The scientific research can be sub-divided into basic
and applied research. Basic research (also called fundamental or pure research) has as
its primary objective the advancement of knowledge and the theoretical understanding
of the relations among variables. It is exploratory and often driven by the researcher’s
curiosity, interest, and intuition. Therefore, it is sometimes conducted without any
practical end in mind, although it may have unexpected results pointing to practical
applications. Applied research provides scientific information and theories for the
explanation of the nature and the properties of the world around us. It makes practical
applications possible. Historical research is embodied in the historical research.

1. Research processes

1.1. Scientific Research (Scientific Method)

Generally, research is understood to follow a certain structural process. Though step

order may vary depending on the subject matter and researcher, the following steps are
usually part of most formal research, both basic and applied:
¾ Formation of the topic
¾ Hypothesis
¾ Conceptual definitions
¾ Operational definitions
¾ Gathering of data
¾ Analysis of data
¾ Test, revising of hypothesis
¾ Conclusion, iteration if necessary

A hypothesis consists either of a suggested explanation for an observable phenomenon

or of a reasoned proposal predicting a possible causal correlation among multiple
phenomena. The term was derived from the Greek word “hypotithenai” meaning "to put
under" or "to suppose." The scientific method requires that one can test a scientific
hypothesis. Scientists generally base such hypotheses on previous observations or on
extensions of scientific theories. Even though the words "hypothesis" and "theory" are
often used synonymously in common and informal usage, a scientific hypothesis is not
the same as a scientific theory. A Hypothesis is never to be stated as a question, but
always as a statement with an explanation following it. It is not to be a question because
it states what he/she thinks or believes will occur. A common misunderstanding is that

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by this method a hypothesis can be proven or tested. Generally a hypothesis is used to
make predictions that can be tested by observing the outcome of an experiment. If the
outcome is inconsistent with the hypothesis, then the hypothesis is rejected. However, if
the outcome is consistent with the hypothesis, the experiment is said to support the
hypothesis. This careful language is used because researchers recognize that
alternative hypotheses may also be consistent with the observations. In this sense, a
hypothesis can never be proven, but rather only supported by surviving rounds of
scientific testing and, eventually, becoming widely thought of as true (or better,
predictive), but this is not the same as it having been proven. A useful hypothesis allows
prediction and within the accuracy of observation of the time, the prediction will be
verified. As the accuracy of observation improves with time, the hypothesis may no
longer provide an accurate prediction. In this case a new hypothesis will arise to
challenge the old, and to the extent that the new hypothesis makes more accurate
predictions than the old, the new will supplant it.

A conceptual definition is an element of the scientific research process, in which a

specific concept is defined as a measurable occurrence. It basically gives you the
meaning of the concept. It is mostly used in fields of philosophy, psychology,
communication studies. This is especially important when conducting a content
analysis. Examples of ideas that are often conceptually defined include intelligence,
knowledge, tolerance, and preference. Following the establishment of a conceptual
definition, the researcher must use an operational definition to indicate how the abstract
concept will be measured.

Operational Definition is a demonstration of a process — such as a variable, term, or

object — relative in terms of the specific process or set of validation tests used to
determine its presence and quantity. Properties described in this manner must be
sufficiently accessible that persons other than the definer can independently measure or
test for them at will. An operational definition is generally designed to model a
conceptual definition. The most operational definition is a process for identification of an
object by distinguishing it from its background of empirical experience. The binary
version produces either the result that the object exists, or that it doesn't, in the
experiential field to which it is applied. The classifier version results in discrimination
between what is part of the object and what is not part of it. This is also discussed in
terms of semantics, pattern recognition, and operational techniques, such as
regression. For example, the weight of an object may be operationally defined in terms
of the specific steps of putting an object on a weighing scale. The weight is whatever
results from following the measurement procedure, which can in principle be repeated
by anyone. It is intentionally not defined in terms of some intrinsic or private essence.
The operational definition of weight is just the result of what happens when the defined
procedure is followed. In other words, what's being defined is how to measure weight for
any arbitrary object, and only incidentally the weight of a given object. Operational
definitions are also used to define system states in terms of a specific, publicly
accessible process of preparation or validation testing, which is repeatable at will. For
example, 100 degrees Celsius may be crudely defined by describing the process of

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heating water until it is observed to boil. An item like a brick, or even a photograph of a
brick, may be defined in terms of how it can be made. Likewise, iron may be defined in
terms of the results of testing or measuring it in particular ways. One simple, every day
illustration of an operational definition is defining a cake in terms of how it is prepared
and baked (i.e., its recipe is an operational definition). Similarly, the saying, if it walks
like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be some kind of duck, may be regarded as
involving a sort of measurement process or set of tests

1.2. Historical (Historical Method)

The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use
historical sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. There are
various history guidelines commonly used by historians in their work, under the
headings of external criticism, internal criticism, and synthesis. This includes higher
criticism and textual criticism. Though items may vary depending on the subject matter
and researcher, the following concepts are usually part of most formal historical
research:

¾ Identification of origin date

¾ Evidence of localization
¾ Recognition of authorship
¾ Analysis of data
¾ Identification of integrity
¾ Attribution of credibility

2. Research methods

The goal of the research process is to produce new knowledge, which takes three main
forms (although, as previously discussed, the boundaries between them may be fuzzy):

¾ Exploratory research, which structures and identifies new problems

¾ Constructive research, which develops solutions to a problem
¾ Empirical research, which tests the feasibility of a solution using empirical evidence

Research can also fall into two distinct types:

¾ Primary research
¾ Secondary research
Primary research (also called field research) involves the collection of data that does not
already exist. This can be through numerous forms, including questionnaires and
telephone interviews amongst others. This information may be used in such things as
questionnaires, magazines, and Interviews. Secondary research (also known as desk
research) involves the summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research rather
than primary research, where data is collected from, for example, research subjects or
experiments. Research methods used by scholars include:

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1. Action research
2. Cartography
3. Case study
4. Classification
5. Citation Analysis
6. Consumer ethnocentrism and CETSCALE
7. Content or Textual Analysis
8. Delphi method
9. Ethnography
10. Experience and intuition
11. Experiments
12. Googling
13. Interviews
14. Mathematical models
15. Participant observation
16. Phenomenology
17. Q methodology
18. Questionnaires
19. Simulation
20. Statistical analysis
21. Statistical surveys

2.1. Action research

Action research is a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by individuals

working with others in teams or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way
they address issues and solve problems. Action research can also be undertaken by
larger organizations or institutions, assisted or guided by professional researchers, with
the aim of improving their strategies, practices, and knowledge of the environments
within which they practice.

2.2. Cartography

Cartography or mapmaking (in Greek chartis = map and graphein = write) is the study
and practice of making representations of the Earth on a flat surface. Cartography
combines science, aesthetics, and technical ability to create a balanced and readable
representation that is capable of communicating information effectively and quickly.

2.3. Case Study

A case study is one of several ways of doing research whether it be social science
related or even socially related. Other ways include experiments, surveys, multiple
histories, and analysis of archival information. Rather than using samples and following
a rigid protocol to examine limited number of variables, case study methods involve an

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in-depth, longitudinal examination of a single instance or event: a case. They provide a
systematic way of looking at events, collecting data, analyzing information, and
reporting the results. As a result the researcher may gain a sharpened understanding of
why the instance happened as it did, and what might become important to look at more
extensively in future research. Case studies lend themselves to both generating and
testing hypotheses. Another suggestion is that case study should be defined as a
research strategy, an empirical inquiry that investigates a phenomenon within its real-
life context. Case study research means single and multiple case studies, can include
quantitative evidence, relies on multiple sources of evidence and benefits from the prior
development of theoretical propositions. Case studies should not be confused with
qualitative research and they can be based on any mix of quantitative and qualitative
evidence. Single-subject research provides the statistical framework for making
inferences from quantitative case-study data.

2.3.1. Case Selection

When selecting a case for a case study, researchers often use information-oriented
sampling, as opposed to random sampling. This is because the typical or average case
is often not the richest in information. Extreme or atypical cases reveal more information
because they activate more basic mechanisms and more actors in the situation studied.
In addition, from both an understanding-oriented and an action-oriented perspective, it
is often more important to clarify the deeper causes behind a given problem and its
consequences than to describe the symptoms of the problem and how frequently they
occur. Random samples emphasizing representativeness will seldom be able to
produce this kind of insight; it is more appropriate to select some few cases chosen for
their validity.

Three types of information-oriented cases may be distinguished:

1. Extreme or deviant cases

2. Critical cases
3. Paradigmatic cases.

Extreme case: The extreme case can be well-suited for getting a point across in an
especially dramatic way, which often occurs for well-known case studies.

Critical case: A critical case can be defined as having strategic importance in relation
to the general problem. Via this type of strategic sampling, one can save both time and
money in researching a given problem.

Paradigmatic case: A Paradigmatic case may be defined as an exemplar or prototype.

There exists no predictive theory for how predictive theory comes about. A scientific
activity is acknowledged or rejected as good science by how close it is to one or more
exemplars; that is, practical prototypes of good scientific work. A paradigmatic case of
how scientists do science is precisely such a prototype. It operates as a reference point
and may function as a focus for the founding of schools of thought.

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2.3.2. Generalizing from Case Studies

The case study is effective for generalizing using the type of test called falsification,
which forms part of critical reflexivity. Falsification is one of the most rigorous tests to
which a scientific proposition can be subjected: if just one observation does not fit with
the proposition it is considered not valid generally and must therefore be either revised
or rejected. For example, the proposition "All swans are white," would be falsified by just
one observation of a single black swan. This can have general significance and
stimulate further investigations and theory-building. The case study is well suited for
identifying "black swans" because of its in-depth approach: what appears to be "white"
often turns out on closer examination to be "black."

For instance, Galileo’s rejection of Aristotle’s law of gravity was based on a case study
selected by information-oriented sampling and not random sampling. The rejection
consisted primarily of a conceptual experiment and later on of a practical one. These
experiments, with the benefit of hindsight, are self-evident. Nevertheless, Aristotle’s
incorrect view of gravity dominated scientific inquiry for nearly two thousand years
before it was falsified. In his experimental thinking, Galileo reasoned as follows: if two
objects with the same weight are released from the same height at the same time, they
will hit the ground simultaneously, having fallen at the same speed. If the two objects
are then stuck together into one, this object will have double the weight and will
according to the Aristotelian view therefore fall faster than the two individual objects.
This conclusion seemed contradictory to Galileo. The only way to avoid the
contradiction was to eliminate weight as a determinant factor for acceleration in free fall.
Galileo’s experimentalism did not involve a large random sample of trials of objects
falling from a wide range of randomly selected heights under varying wind conditions,
and so on. Rather, it was a matter of a single experiment, that is, a case study.

Galileo’s view continued to be subjected to doubt, however, and the Aristotelian view
was not finally rejected until half a century later, with the invention of the air pump. The
air pump made it possible to conduct the ultimate experiment, known by every pupil,
whereby a coin or a piece of lead inside a vacuum tube falls with the same speed as a
feather. After this experiment, Aristotle’s view could be maintained no longer. What is
especially worth noting, however, is that the matter was settled by an individual case
due to the clever choice of the extremes of metal and feather. One might call it a critical
case, for if Galileo’s thesis held for these materials, it could be expected to be valid for
all or a large range of materials. Random and large samples were at no time part of the
picture. However it was Galileo's view that was the subject of doubt as it was not
reasonable enough to be Aristotelian view. By selecting cases strategically in this
manner one may arrive at case studies that allow generalization.

2.4. Categorization

Categorization is the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated
and understood. Categorization implies that objects are grouped into categories, usually

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for some specific purpose. Ideally, a category illuminates a relationship between the
subjects and objects of knowledge. Categorization is fundamental in language,
prediction, inference, decision making and in all kinds of environmental interaction.
There are many categorization theories and techniques. In a broader historical view,
however, three general approaches to categorization may be identified:

1. Classical categorization
2. Conceptual clustering
3. Prototype theory

2.4.1. The classical view

Classical categorization comes to us first from Plato, who, in his Statesman dialogue,
introduces the approach of grouping objects based in their similar properties. This
approach was further explored and systematized by Aristotle in his Categories treatise,
where he analyzes the differences between classes and objects. Aristotle also applied
intensively the classical categorization scheme in his approach to the classification of
living beings (which uses the technique of applying successive narrowing questions
such as "Is it an animal or vegetable?", "How many feet does it have?", "Does it have
fur or feathers?", "Can it fly). The classical Aristotelian view claims that categories are
discrete entities characterized by a set of properties which are shared by their
members. In analytic philosophy, these properties are assumed to establish the
conditions which are both necessary and sufficient to capture meaning.

According to the classical view, categories should be clearly defined, mutually exclusive
and collectively exhaustive. This way, any entity of the given classification universe
belongs unequivocally to one, and only one, of the proposed categories.

2.4.2. Conceptual clustering

Conceptual clustering is a modern variation of the classical approach, and derives from
attempts to explain how knowledge is represented. In this approach, classes (clusters or
entities) are generated by first formulating their conceptual descriptions and then
classifying the entities according to the descriptions. Conceptual clustering developed
mainly during the 1980s, as a machine paradigm for unsupervised learning. It is
distinguished from ordinary data clustering by generating a concept description for each
generated category. Categorization tasks in which category labels are provided to the
learner for certain objects are referred to as supervised classification, supervised
learning, or concept learning. Categorization tasks in which no labels are supplied are
referred to as unsupervised classification, unsupervised learning, or data clustering. The
task of supervised classification involves extracting information from the labeled
examples that allows accurate prediction of class labels of future examples. This may
involve the abstraction of a rule or concept relating observed object features to category
labels, or it may not involve abstraction (e.g., exemplar models). The task of clustering
involves recognizing inherent structure in a data set and grouping objects together by

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similarity into classes. It is thus a process of generating a classification structure.
Conceptual clustering is closely related to fuzzy set theory, in which objects may belong
to one or more groups, in varying degrees of fitness.

2.4.3. Prototype Theory

Categorization can be viewed as the process of grouping things based on prototypes. It

has also been suggested that categorization based on prototypes is the basis for human
development, and that this learning relies on learning about the world via embodiment.
A cognitive approach accepts that natural categories are graded (they tend to be fuzzy
at their boundaries) and inconsistent in the status of their constituent members.
Systems of categories are not objectively "out there" in the world but are rooted in
people's experience. Conceptual categories are not identical for different cultures, or
indeed, for every individual in the same culture. Categories form part of a hierarchical
structure when applied to such subjects as taxonomy in biological classification: higher
level: life-form level, middle level: generic or genus level, and lower level: the species
level. These can be distinguished by certain traits that put an item in its distinctive
category. But even these can be arbitrary and are subject to revision. Categories at the
middle level are perceptually and conceptually the more salient. The generic level of a
category tends to elicit the most responses and richest images and seems to be the
psychologically basic level. Typical taxonomies in zoology for example exhibit
categorization at the embodied level, with similarities leading to formulation of "higher"
categories, and differences leading to differentiation within categories.

2.5. Citation Analysis

Citation analysis is the examination of the frequency, patterns and graphs of citations in
articles and books. It uses citations in scholarly works to establish links to other works
or other researchers. It is one of the most widely used methods of bibliometrics.
Automated citation analysis has changed the nature of the research allowing millions of
citations to be analyzed for large scale patterns. Co-citation coupling and bibliographic
coupling are specific kinds of citation analysis.

2.6. Consumer Ethnocentrism

Consumer ethnocentrism is derived from the more general psychological concept of

ethnocentrism. Basically, ethnocentric individuals tend to view their group as superior to
others. As such, they view other groups from the perspective of their own, and reject
those which are different while accepting those which are similar. This in turn is derived
from earlier sociological theories of in-groups and out-groups. Consumer ethnocentrism
specifically refers to ethnocentric views held by consumers in one country, the in-group,
towards products from another country, the out-group. Consumers may believe that it is
not appropriate, and possibly even immoral, to buy products from other countries.
Purchasing foreign products may be viewed as improper because it costs domestic jobs

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and hurts the economy. The purchase of foreign products may even be seen as simply
unpatriotic.

2.7. Content Analysis

Content analysis is a methodology in the social sciences for studying the content of
communication. It is most commonly used by researchers in the social sciences to
analyze recorded transcripts of interviews with participants. Content analysis is also
considered a scholarly methodology in the humanities by which texts are studied as to
authorship, authenticity, of meaning. This latter subject includes philology,
hermeneutics, and semiotics.

2.7.1. Uses of content analysis

There are three major uses of content analysis:

1. make inferences about the antecedents of a communication
2. describe and make inferences about characteristics of a communication
3. make inferences about the effects of a communication.

2.7.2. The process of a content analysis

Six questions must be addressed in every content analysis:

Which data are analyzed?
How are they defined?
What is the population from which they are drawn?
What is the context relative to which the data are analyzed?
What are the boundaries of the analysis?
What is the target of the inferences?

The assumption is that words and phrases mentioned most often are those reflecting
important concerns in every communication. Therefore, quantitative content analysis
starts with word frequencies, space measurements (column centimeters/inches in the
case of newspapers), time counts (for radio and television time) and keyword
frequencies. However, content analysis extends far beyond plain word counts, e.g. with
keyword in context routines words can be analyzed in their specific context to be
disambiguated. Synonyms and homonyms can be isolated in accordance to linguistic
properties of a language. Qualitatively, content analysis can involve any kind of analysis
where communication content (speech, written text, interviews, images ...) is
categorized and classified. In its beginnings, using the first newspapers at the end of
19th century, analysis was done manually by measuring the number of lines and
amount of space given a subject. With the rise of common computing facilities like PCs,
computer-based methods of analysis are growing in popularity. Answers to open ended
questions, newspaper articles, political party manifestoes, medical records or
systematic observations in experiments can all be subject to systematic analysis of

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textual data. By having contents of communication available in form of machine
readable texts, the input is analyzed for frequencies and coded into categories for
building up inferences.

2.8. Delphi Method

The name "Delphi" was derived from the Oracle of Delphi. The Delphi method was
developed at the beginning of the cold war to forecast the impact of technology on
warfare. The Delphi method is a systematic, interactive forecasting method which relies
on a panel of independent experts. The carefully selected experts answer
questionnaires in two or more rounds. After each round, a facilitator provides an
anonymous summary of the experts’ forecasts from the previous round as well as the
reasons they provided for their judgments. Thus, participants are encouraged to revise
their earlier answers in light of the replies of other members of the group. It is believed
that during this process the range of the answers will decrease and the group will
converge towards the "correct" answer. Finally, the process is stopped after a pre-
defined stop criterion (e.g. number of rounds, achievement of consensus, stability of
results) and the mean or median scores of the final rounds determine the results. Delphi
is based on the principle that forecasts from a structured group of experts are more
accurate than those from unstructured groups or individuals. Delphi has been widely
used for business forecasting and has certain advantages over another structured
forecasting approach, prediction markets.

2.8.1. Key Characteristics

The following key characteristics of the Delphi method help the participants to focus on
the issues at hand and separate Delphi from other methodologies:

Structuring of information flow: The initial contributions from the experts are collected
in the form of answers to questionnaires and their comments to these answers. The
panel director controls the interactions among the participants by processing the
information and filtering out irrelevant content. This avoids the negative effects of face-
to-face panel discussions and solves the usual problems of group dynamics.

Regular feedback: Participants comment on their own forecasts, the responses of

others and on the progress of the panel as a whole. At any moment they can revise
their earlier statements. While in regular group meetings participants tend to stick to
previously stated opinions and often conform too much to group leader, the Delphi
method prevents it.

Anonymity of the participants: Usually all participants maintain anonymity. Their

identity is not revealed even after the completion of the final report. This stops them
from dominating others in the process using their authority or personality, frees them to
some extent from their personal biases, minimizes the "bandwagon effect" or "halo

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effect", allows them to freely express their opinions, encourages open critique and
admitting errors by revising earlier judgments.

Role of the facilitator: The person coordinating the Delphi method can be known as a
facilitator, and facilitates the responses of their panel of experts, who are selected for a
reason, usually that they hold knowledge on an opinion or view. The facilitator sends out
questionnaires, surveys etc. and if the panel of experts accept, they follow instructions
and present their views. Responses are collected and analyzed, then common and
conflicting viewpoints are identified. If consensus is not reached, the process continues
through thesis and antithesis, to gradually work towards synthesis, and building
consensus.

Use in forecasting: First applications of the Delphi method were in the field of science
and technology forecasting. The objective of the method was to combine expert
opinions on likelihood and expected development time, of the particular technology, in a
single indicator. Later the Delphi method was applied in other areas, especially those
related to public policy issues, such as economic trends, health and education. It was
also applied successfully and with high accuracy in business forecasting.

2.9. Ethnography

Ethnography (Greek ἔθνος ethnos = people and γράφειν graphein = writing) is a genre
of writing that uses fieldwork to provide a descriptive study of human societies.
Ethnography presents the results of a holistic research method founded on the idea that
a system's properties cannot necessarily be accurately understood independently of
each other. The genre has both formal and historical connections to travel writing and
colonial office reports. Several academic traditions, in particular the constructivist and
relativist paradigms, employ ethnographic research as a crucial research method. Many
cultural anthropologists consider ethnography the essence of the discipline.

1. Cultural and social anthropology: Cultural anthropology and social anthropology

were developed around ethnographic research and their canonical texts which are
mostly ethnographies. Cultural & social anthropologists today place such a high
value on actually doing ethnographic research that ethnology—the comparative
synthesis of ethnographic information—is rarely the foundation for a career. Within
cultural anthropology, there are several sub-genres of ethnography. Beginning in the
late 1950s and early 1960s, anthropologists began writing "bi-confessional"
ethnographies that intentionally exposed the nature of ethnographic research.
Cultural anthropologists study and interpret cultural diversity through ethnography
based on field work. It provides an account of a particular culture, society, or
community. The fieldwork usually involves spending a year or more in another
society, living with the local people and learning about their ways of life.

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 Ethnographers are participant observers. They take part in events they study
because it helps with understanding local behavior and thought.

2. Other Related Fields: Psychology, economics, sociology, geography and cultural

studies also produce ethnography. Education, Ethnomusicology, Performance
Studies, Folklore, and Linguistics are others fields which have made extensive use
of ethnography.

3. Design Ethnography: Anthropologists have used ethnographic data to answer

academic questions about consumers and consumption. Businesses, too, have
found ethnographers helpful for understanding how people use products and
services, as indicated in the increasing use of ethnographic methods to understand
consumers and consumption, or for new product development (such as video
ethnography). Ethnographers' systematic and holistic approach to real-life
experience is valued by product developers, who use the method to understand
unstated desires or cultural practices that surround products. Where focus groups
fail to inform marketers about what people really do, ethnography links what people
say to what they actually do—avoiding the pitfalls that come from relying only on
self-reported, focus-group data.

4. Techniques:

Direct, first-hand observation of daily behavior: This can include participant observation.

Conversation with different levels of formality: This can involve small talk to long
interviews.

The genealogical method: This is a set of procedures by which ethnographers discover

and record connections of kinship, descent and marriage using diagrams and symbols.

¾ Detailed work with key consultants about particular areas of community life
¾ In-depth interviewing
¾ Discovery of local beliefs and perceptions
¾ Problem-oriented research
¾ Longitudinal research: This is continuous long-term study of an area or site.
¾ Team research
¾ Case studies

Not all of these techniques are used by ethnographers, but interviews and participant
observation are the most widely used.

2.10. Experience and Intuition

Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of

some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or

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event. The concept of experience generally refers to know-how or procedural
knowledge, rather than propositional knowledge.

2.11. Experiment

In scientific inquiry, an experiment (Latin: ex- periri, "to try out") is a method of
investigating particular types of research questions or solving particular types of
problems. The experiment is a cornerstone in the empirical approach to acquiring
deeper knowledge about the world and is used in both natural sciences as well as in
social sciences. An experiment is defined, in science, as a method of investigating less
known fields, solving practical problems and proving theoretical assumptions.

2.11.1. Design of Experiments

An experiment can be thought of as a specific type of method used in scientific

inquiries, and personal questioning, usually to study causality, series of activities using
some materials or variables to find an answer to a question. Often the objective is to
test a hypothesis: i.e. a tentative explanation of a phenomenon or mechanism of
causality. The essence of an experiment is to introduce a change in a system (the
independent variable) and to study the effect of this change (the dependent variable).
Two fundamental considerations of experimental design are:

¾ That the independent variable is the only factor that varies systematically in the
experiment; in other words, that the experiment is appropriately controlled - that
confounding variables are eliminated; and
¾ That the dependent variable truly reflects the phenomenon under study (a question
of validity) and that the variable can be measured accurately (i.e., that various types
of experimental error, such as measurement error can be eliminated).

In a very strict application of the experimental method, hypotheses are tested by critical
experiments: ones that can falsify the hypothesis in the case of a non-result (i.e., an
experiment showing that the independent variable did not affect the dependent variable
as predicted). Such pure applications are rare, however, in part because a result can
sometimes be challenged on the basis that an experiment was not sufficiently
controlled, that the dependent variable was not valid, or that various forms of error
compromised the experiment. The scientific method, as a result, builds in the need for
reproducibility (usually termed "replication") and convergent evidence (see also:
external validity). The design of experiments attempts to balance the requirements and
limitations of the field of science in which one works so that the experiment can provide
the best conclusion about the hypothesis being tested. In some sciences, such as
physics and chemistry, it is relatively easy to meet the requirements that all
measurements be made objectively, and that all conditions can be kept controlled
across experimental trials. On the other hand, in other cases such as biology, and
medicine, it is often hard to ensure that the conditions of an experiment are performed

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consistently; and in the social sciences, it may even be difficult to determine a method
for measuring the outcomes of an experiment in an objective manner.

For this reason, sciences such as physics and several other fields of natural science are
sometimes informally referred to as "hard sciences", while social sciences are
sometimes informally referred to as "soft sciences"; in an attempt to capture the idea
that objective measurements are often far easier in the former, and far more difficult in
the latter. In addition, in the social sciences, the requirement for a "controlled situation"
may actually work against the utility of the hypothesis in a more general situation. When
the desire is to test a hypothesis that works "in general", an experiment may have a
great deal of "internal validity", in the sense that it is valid in a highly controlled situation,
while at the same time lack "external validity" when the results of the experiment are
applied to a real world situation. One of the reasons why this may happen is the
Hawthorne effect; another is that partial equilibrium effects may not persist in general
equilibrium.

As a result of these considerations, experimental design in the "hard" sciences tends to

focus on the elimination of extraneous effects, while experimental design in the "soft"
sciences focuses more on the problems of external validity, often through the use of
statistical methods. Occasionally events occur naturally from which scientific evidence
can be drawn, which is the basis for natural experiments. In such cases the problem of
the scientist is to evaluate the natural "design".

2.11.2. Controlled Experiments

A controlled experiment generally compares the results obtained from an experimental

sample against a control sample, which is practically identical to the experimental
sample except for the one aspect whose effect is being tested. In many laboratory
experiments it is good practice to have several replicate samples for the test being
performed and have both a positive control and a negative control. The results from
replicate samples can often be averaged, or if one of the replicates is obviously
inconsistent with the results from the other samples, it can be discarded as being the
result of an experimental error (some step of the test procedure may have been
mistakenly omitted for that sample). Most often, tests are done in duplicate or triplicate.
A positive control is a procedure that is very similar to the actual experimental test but
which is known from previous experience to give a positive result. A negative control is
known to give a negative result. The positive control confirms that the basic conditions
of the experiment were able to produce a positive result, even if none of the actual
experimental samples produce a positive result. The negative control demonstrates the
base-line result obtained when a test does not produce a measurable positive result;
often the value of the negative control is treated as a "background" value to be
subtracted from the test sample results. Sometimes the positive control takes the
quadrant of a standard curve.

Controlled experiments can be performed when it is difficult to exactly control all the
conditions in an experiment. In this case, the experiment begins by creating two or more

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sample groups that are probabilistically equivalent, which means that measurements of
traits should be similar among the groups and that the groups should respond in the
same manner if given the same treatment. This equivalency is determined by statistical
methods that take into account the amount of variation between individuals and the
number of individuals in each group. In fields such as microbiology and chemistry,
where there is very little variation between individuals and the group size is easily in the
millions, these statistical methods are often bypassed and simply splitting a solution into
equal parts is assumed to produce identical sample groups. Once equivalent groups
have been formed, the experimenter tries to treat them identically except for the one
variable that he or she wishes to isolate. Human experimentation requires special
safeguards against outside variables such as the placebo effect. Such experiments are
generally double blind, meaning that neither the volunteer nor the researcher knows
which individuals are in the control group or the experimental group until after all of the
data has been collected. This ensures that any effects on the volunteer are due to the
treatment itself and are not a response to the knowledge that he is being treated.

In human experiments, a subject (person) may be given a stimulus to which he or she

should respond. The goal of the experiment is to measure the response to a given
stimulus by a test method.

2.11.3. Natural Experiments

The term "experiment" usually implies a controlled experiment, but sometimes

controlled experiments are prohibitively difficult or impossible. In this case researchers
resort to natural experiments, also called quasi-experiments. Natural experiments rely
solely on observations of the variables of the system under study, rather than
manipulation of just one or a few variables as occurs in controlled experiments. To the
degree possible, they attempt to collect data for the system in such a way that
contribution from all variables can be determined, and where the effects of variation in
certain variables remain approximately constant so that the effects of other variables
can be discerned. The degree to which this is possible depends on the observed
correlation between explanatory variables in the observed data. When these variables
are not well correlated, natural experiments can approach the power of controlled
experiments. Usually, however, there is some correlation between these variables,
which reduces the reliability of natural experiments relative to what could be concluded
if a controlled experiment were performed. Also, because natural experiments usually
take place in uncontrolled environments, variables from undetected sources are neither
measured nor held constant, and these may produce illusory correlations in variables
under study.

Much research in several important science disciplines, including economics, political

science, geology, paleontology, ecology, meteorology, and astronomy, relies on quasi-
experiments. For example, in astronomy it is clearly impossible, when testing the
hypothesis "suns are collapsed clouds of hydrogen", to start out with a giant cloud of
hydrogen, and then perform the experiment of waiting a few billion years for it to form a
sun. However, by observing various clouds of hydrogen in various states of collapse,

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and other implications of the hypothesis (for example, the presence of various spectral
emissions from the light of stars), we can collect data we require to support the
hypothesis. An early example of this type of experiment was the first verification in the
1600s that light does not travel from place to place instantaneously, but instead has a
measurable speed. Observation of the appearance of the moons of Jupiter were slightly
delayed when Jupiter was farther from Earth, as opposed to when Jupiter was closer to
Earth; and this phenomenon was used to demonstrate that the difference in the time of
appearance of the moons was consistent with a measurable of speed.

2.11.4. Observational Studies

Observational studies are very much like controlled experiments except that they lack
probabilistic equivalency between groups. These types of experiments often arise in the
area of medicine where, for ethical reasons, it is not possible to create a truly controlled
group. For example, one would not want to deny all forms of treatment for a life-
threatening disease from one group of patients to evaluate the effectiveness of another
treatment on a different group of patients. The results of observational studies are
considered much less convincing than those of designed experiments, as they are
much more prone to selection bias. Researchers attempt to compensate for this with
complicated statistical methods such as propensity score matching methods.

2.11.5. Field Experiments

Field experiments are so named in order to draw a contrast with laboratory experiments.
Often used in the social sciences, and especially in economic analyses of education
and health interventions, field experiments have the advantage that outcomes are
observed in a natural setting rather than in a contrived laboratory environment.
However, like natural experiments, field experiments suffer from the possibility of
contamination: experimental conditions can be controlled with more precision and
certainty in the lab.

2.12. Googling

Googling refers to using the Google search engine to obtain information on the Web.

2.13. Interview

An interview is a conversation between two or more people (the interviewer and the
interviewee) where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from
the interviewee.

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2.14. Mathematical Model

A mathematical model uses mathematical language to describe a system. Mathematical

models are used not only in the natural sciences and engineering disciplines (such as
physics, biology, earth science, meteorology, and electrical engineering) but also in the
social sciences (such as economics, psychology, sociology and political science). A
mathematical model usually describes a system by a set of variables and a set of
equations that establish relationships between the variables. The values of the variables
can be practically anything; real or integer numbers, boolean values or strings. The
variables represent some properties of the system, for example, measured system
outputs often in the form of signals, timing data, counters, and event occurrence
(yes/no). The actual model is the set of functions that describe the relations between the
different variables.

2.14.1. Building Blocks

There are six basic groups of variables: decision variables, input variables, state
variables, exogenous variables, random variables, and output variables. Since there
can be many variables of each type, the variables are generally represented by vectors.
Decision variables are sometimes known as independent variables. Exogenous
variables are sometimes known as parameters or constants. The variables are not
independent of each other as the state variables are dependent on the decision, input,
random, and exogenous variables. Furthermore, the output variables are dependent on
the state of the system (represented by the state variables). Objectives and constraints
of the system and its users can be represented as functions of the output variables or
state variables. The objective functions will depend on the perspective of the model's
user. Depending on the context, an objective function is also known as an index of
performance, as it is some measure of interest to the user. Although there is no limit to
the number of objective functions and constraints a model can have, using or optimizing
the model becomes more involved (computationally).

2.14.2. Classifying Mathematical Model

Many mathematical models can be classified in some of the following ways:

Linear vs. nonlinear: Mathematical models are usually composed by variables, which
are abstractions of quantities of interest in the described systems, and operators that
act on these variables, which can be algebraic operators, functions, differential
operators, etc. If all the operators in a mathematical model present linearity, the
resulting mathematical model is defined as linear. A model is considered to be nonlinear
otherwise. The question of linearity and nonlinearity is dependent on context, and linear
models may have nonlinear expressions in them. For example, in a statistical linear
model, it is assumed that a relationship is linear in the parameters, but it may be

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nonlinear in the predictor variables. Similarly, a differential equation is said to be linear if
it can be written with linear differential operators, but it can still have nonlinear
expressions in it. In a mathematical programming model, if the objective functions and
constraints are represented entirely by linear equations, then the model is regarded as a
linear model. If one or more of the objective functions or constraints are represented
with a nonlinear equation, then the model is known as a nonlinear model. Nonlinearity,
even in fairly simple systems, is often associated with phenomena such as chaos and
irreversibility. Although there are exceptions, nonlinear systems and models tend to be
more difficult to study than linear ones. A common approach to nonlinear problems is
linearization, but this can be problematic if one is trying to study aspects such as
irreversibility, which are strongly tied to nonlinearity.

Deterministic vs. probabilistic (stochastic): A deterministic model is one in which

every set of variable states is uniquely determined by parameters in the model and by
sets of previous states of these variables. Therefore, deterministic models perform the
same way for a given set of initial conditions. Conversely, in a stochastic model,
randomness is present, and variable states are not described by unique values, but
rather by probability distributions.

Static vs. dynamic: A static model does not account for the element of time, while a
dynamic model does. Dynamic models typically are represented with difference
equations or differential equations.

Lumped vs. distributed parameters: If the model is homogeneous (consistent state

throughout the entire system) the parameters are lumped. If the model is
heterogeneous (varying state within the system), then the parameters are distributed.
Distributed parameters are typically represented with partial differential equations.

2.14.3. Priori Information

Mathematical modeling problems are often classified into black box or white box
models, according to how much a priori information is available of the system. A black-
box model is a system of which there is no a priori information available. A white-box
model (also called glass box or clear box) is a system where all necessary information
is available. Practically all systems are somewhere between the black-box and white-
box models, so this concept only works as an intuitive guide for approach. Usually it is
preferable to use as much a priori information as possible to make the model more
accurate. Therefore the white-box models are usually considered easier, because if you
have used the information correctly, then the model will behave correctly. Often the a
priori information comes in forms of knowing the type of functions relating different
variables. For example, if we make a model of how a medicine works in a human
system, we know that usually the amount of medicine in the blood is an exponentially
decaying function. But we are still left with several unknown parameters; how rapidly
does the medicine amount decay, and what is the initial amount of medicine in blood?
This example is therefore not a completely white-box model. These parameters have to
be estimated through some means before one can use the model.

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In black-box models one tries to estimate both the functional form of relations between
variables and the numerical parameters in those functions. Using a priori information we
could end up, for example, with a set of functions that probably could describe the
system adequately. If there is no a priori information we would try to use functions as
general as possible to cover all different models. An often used approach for black-box
models are neural networks which usually do not make assumptions about incoming
data. The problem with using a large set of functions to describe a system is that
estimating the parameters becomes increasingly difficult when the amount of
parameters (and different types of functions) increases.

2.14.4. Subjective Information

Sometimes it is useful to incorporate subjective information into a mathematical model.

This can be done based on intuition, experience, or expert opinion, or based on
convenience of mathematical form. Bayesian statistics provides a theoretical framework
for incorporating such subjectivity into a rigorous analysis: one specifies a prior
probability distribution (which can be subjective) and then updates this distribution
based on empirical data. An example of when such approach would be necessary is a
situation in which an experimenter bends a coin slightly and tosses it once, recording
whether it comes up heads, and is then given the task of predicting the probability that
the next flip comes up heads. After bending the coin, the true probability that the coin
will come up heads is unknown, so the experimenter would need to make an arbitrary
decision (perhaps by looking at the shape of the coin) about what prior distribution to
use. Incorporation of the subjective information is necessary in this case to get an
accurate prediction of the probability, since otherwise one would guess 1 or 0 as the
probability of the next flip being heads, which would be almost certainly wrong.

2.14.5. Complexity

In general, model complexity involves a trade-off between simplicity and accuracy of the
model. While added complexity usually improves the fit of a model, it can make the
model difficult to understand and work with, and can also pose computational problems,
including numerical instability. For example, when modeling the flight of an aircraft, we
could embed each mechanical part of the aircraft into our model and would thus acquire
an almost white-box model of the system. However, the computational cost of adding
such a huge amount of detail would effectively inhibit the usage of such a model.
Additionally, the uncertainty would increase due to an overly complex system, because
each separate part induces some amount of variance into the model. It is therefore
usually appropriate to make some approximations to reduce the model to a sensible
size. Engineers often can accept some approximations in order to get a more robust
and simple model. For example Newton's classical mechanics is an approximated
model of the real world. Still, Newton's model is quite sufficient for most ordinary-life
situations, that is, as long as particle speeds are well below the speed of light, and we
study macro-particles only.

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2.14.6. Training

Any model which is not pure white-box contains some parameters that can be used to fit
the model to the system it shall describe. If the modeling is done by a neural network,
the optimization of parameters is called training. In more conventional modeling through
explicitly given mathematical functions, parameters are determined by curve fitting.

2.14.7. Model Evaluation

A crucial part of the modeling process is the evaluation of whether or not a given
mathematical model describes a system accurately. This question can be difficult to
answer as it involves several different types of evaluation.

2.14.8. Fit to Empirical Data

Usually the easiest part of model evaluation is checking whether a model fits
experimental measurements or other empirical data. In models with parameters, a
common approach to test this fit is to split the data into two disjoint subsets: training
data and verification data. The training data are used to estimate the model parameters.
An accurate model will closely match the verification data even though this data was not
used to set the model's parameters. This practice is referred to as cross-validation in
statistics. Defining a metric to measure distances between observed and predicted data
is a useful tool of assessing model fit. In statistics, decision theory, and some economic
models, a loss function plays a similar role. While it is rather straightforward to test the
appropriateness of parameters, it can be more difficult to test the validity of the general
mathematical form of a model. In general, more mathematical tools have been
developed to test the fit of statistical models than models involving Differential
equations. Tools from nonparametric statistics can sometimes be used to evaluate how
well data fits a known distribution or to come up with a general model that makes only
minimal assumptions about the model's mathematical form.

2.14.9. Scope of the Model

Assessing the scope of a model, that is, determining what situations the model is
applicable to, can be less straightforward. If the model was constructed based on a set
of data, one must determine for what systems or situations the data is a typical set of
data from. The question of whether the model describes well the properties of the
system between data points is called interpolation, and the same question for events or
data points outside the observed data is called extrapolation. As an example of the
typical limitations of the scope of a model, in evaluating Newtonian classical mechanics,
we can note that Newton made his measurements without advanced equipment, so he
could not measure properties of particles travelling at speeds close to the speed of light.
Likewise, he did not measure the movements of molecules and other small particles,
but macro particles only. It is then not surprising that his model does not extrapolate

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well into these domains, even though his model is quite sufficient for ordinary life
physics.

2.14.10. Philosophical Considerations

Many types of modeling implicitly involve claims about causality. This is usually (but not
always) true of models involving differential equations. As the purpose of modeling is to
increase our understanding of the world, the validity of a model rests not only on its fit to
empirical observations, but also on its ability to extrapolate to situations or data beyond
those originally described in the model. One can argue that a model is worthless unless
it provides some insight which goes beyond what is already known from direct
investigation of the phenomenon being studied. An example of such criticism is the
argument that the mathematical models of Optimal foraging theory do not offer insight
that goes beyond the common-sense conclusions of evolution and other basic principles
of ecology.

2.15. Participant Observation

Participant observation is a set of research strategies which aim to gain a close and
intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals (such as a religious, occupational, or
sub-cultural group, or a particular community) and their practices through an intensive
involvement with people in their natural environment, often though not always over an
extended period of time. It is similar to ethnography but often involves a shorter time in
the field.

2.15.1. Method and Practice

Such research usually involves a range of methods: informal interviews, direct

observation, participation in the life of the group, collective discussions, analyses of
personal documents produced within the group, self-analysis, and life-histories.
Although the method is generally characterized as qualitative research, it can (and often
does) include quantitative dimensions. Participant observation is usually undertaken
over an extended period of time, ranging from several months to many years. An
extended research time period means that the researcher will be able to obtain more
detailed and accurate information about the people he/she is studying. Observable
details (like daily time allotment) and more hidden details (like taboo behavior) are more
easily observed and understandable over a longer period of time. A strength of
observation and interaction over long periods of time is that researchers can discover
discrepancies between what participants say -- and often believe -- should happen (the
formal system) and what actually does happen, or between different aspects of the
formal system; in contrast, a one-time survey of people's answers to a set of questions
might be quite consistent, but is less likely to show conflicts between different aspects of
the social system or between conscious representations and behavior.

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2.15.2. Variations and Related Methods

A variant of participant observation is observing participation. The sociological methods

known as grounded theory (Glazer and Strauss) overlap significantly with the more
formalized versions of participant observation.

2.16. Phenomenology

The term phenomenology in science is used to describe a body of knowledge which

relates several different empirical observations of phenomena to each other, in a way
which is consistent with fundamental theory, but is not directly derived from theory. It is
a theory which expresses mathematically the results of observed phenomena without
paying detailed attention to their fundamental significance.

2.16.1. Phenomenology in Physical Sciences

There are cases in physics when it is not possible to derive a theory for describing
observed results using first principles (such as Newton's laws of motion or Maxwell's
equations of electromagnetism). There may be several reasons for this: For example,
the underlying theory is not yet understood or non-existent or the mathematics to
describe the observations is too complex. Sometimes different length, mass and time
scales are used to build a phenomenological theory. In these cases sometimes simple
algebraic expressions may be used to model observations or experimental results and
used to make predictions about the results of other observations or experiments,
despite the fact that the expressions themselves cannot be (or have not yet been)
derived from the fundamental theory of that domain of knowledge. Another way of
describing phenomenology is that it is intermediate between experiment and theory. It is
more abstract and includes more logical steps than experiment, but is more directly tied
to experiment than theory. The boundaries between theory and phenomenology, and
between phenomenology and experiment, are somewhat fuzzy and to some extent
depend on the preconceptions of the scientist describing these and the particular field in
which the scientist works.

2.16.2. Phenomenology in Social Statistics

In the science of Statistics, the collection of quantifiable data from people involves a
phenomenological step. In order to obtain that data, survey questions must be designed
to collect measurable responses which are categorized in a logically sound and
practical way, such that the form in which the questions are asked does not bias the
results. If this is not done, data distortions due to question-wording effects (response
error) occur, and the data obtained may have no validity at all, because observations
are counted up which do not have the same meaning (it would be like "adding up apples
and pears"). A prerequisite of a good survey is that all respondents are really able to

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give a definite and unambiguous answer to the questions, and that they understand
what is asked of them in the same way. One could for example ask farmers "How much
risk do you run on your farm?" with a scale of response options ranging from e.g. "a lot
of risk" to "no risk". But this yields quantitatively meaningless data which is not
objective, since the interpretations of risk by farmers could focus on e.g. on the number,
size, frequency, severity or consequence of risks, and each farmer will have his own
idiosyncratic idea about that. All farmers may suffer e.g. from a lack of rainfall, but some
will personally consider it a large risk, others a low risk and some not a risk at all.
Furthermore, in actually asking the questions of respondents and subsequently coding
the responses to numerical values, a technique must be found to ensure that no
misinterpretation occurs of a type that would lead to errors. In other words, in designing
the survey instrument, the researcher must somehow find a satisfactory "bridge" of
meaning between the logical and practical requirements of the survey statistician, a
statistical classification scheme, the awareness of respondents and the processors of
the raw data. Finding this "bridge" involves an abstraction process which necessarily
goes beyond logical inference, theory and experiment and involves an element of "art",
because it must establish an appropriate connection between the language used, the
inter-subjective interactions between the surveyor and the respondent, and how
respondents and those who process the data construct the meaning of what is being
asked of them. For this cognitive process, it is impossible to provide a standard
procedure which will always work, only "rules of thumb"; it requires a "practical" human
insight.

2.17. Q Methodology

Q Methodology is a research method used in psychology and other social sciences to

study people's "subjectivity" -- that is, their viewpoint. Q was developed by psychologist
William Stephenson. It has been used both in clinical settings for assessing patients, as
well as in research settings to examine how people think about a topic. The name "Q"
comes from the form of factor analysis that is used to analyze the data. Normal factor
analysis, called "R method," involves finding correlations between variables (say, height
and age) across a sample of subjects. Q, on the other hand, looks for correlations
between subjects across a sample of variables. Q factor analysis reduces the many
individual viewpoints of the subjects down to a few "factors," which represent shared
ways of thinking. It is sometimes said that Q factor analysis is R factor analysis with the
data table turned sideways. While helpful as a heuristic for understanding Q, this
explanation may be misleading, as most Q methodologists argue that for mathematical
reasons no one data matrix would be suitable for analysis with both Q and R.

One salient difference between Q and other social science research methodologies,
such as surveys, is that it typically uses many fewer subjects. This can be strength, as
Q is sometimes used with a single subject. In such cases, a person will rank the same
set of statements under different conditions of instruction. For example, someone might
be given a set of statements about personality traits and then asked to rank them
according to how well they describe herself, her ideal self, her father, her mother, etc. In
studies of intelligence, Q factor analysis can generate consensus based assessment

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(CBA) scores as direct measures. Alternatively, the unit of measurement of a person in
this context is his factor loading for a Q-sort he or she performs. Factors represent
norms with respect to schemata. The individual who gains the highest factor loading on
an Operant factor is the person most able to conceive the norm for the factor.

2.18. Questionnaire

A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other

prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although they are
often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always the case.
Questionnaires have advantages over some other types of surveys in that they are
cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner as verbal or telephone
surveys, and often have standardized answers that make it simple to compile data.
However, such standardized answers may frustrate users. Questionnaires are also
sharply limited by the fact that respondents must be able to read the questions and
respond to them. Thus, for some demographic groups conducting a survey by
questionnaire may not be practical. As a type of survey, questionnaires also have many
of the same problems relating to question construction and wording that exist in other
types of opinion polls.

2.19. Simulation

Simulation is the imitation of some real thing, state of affairs, or process. The act of
simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or
behaviors of a selected physical or abstract system. Simulation is used in many
contexts, including the modeling of natural systems or human systems in order to gain
insight into their functioning. Other contexts include simulation of technology for
performance optimization, safety engineering, testing, training and education.
Simulation can be used to show the eventual real effects of alternative conditions and
courses of action. Key issues in simulation include acquisition of valid source
information about the referent, selection of key characteristics and behaviors, the use of
simplifying approximations and assumptions within the simulation, and fidelity and
validity of the simulation outcomes.

2.19.1. Simulation in Education and Training

Simulation is often used in the training of civilian and military personnel. This usually
occurs when it is prohibitively expensive or simply too dangerous to allow trainees to
use the real equipment in the real world. In such situations they will spend time learning
valuable lessons in a "safe" virtual environment. Often the convenience is to permit
mistakes during training for a safety-critical system.
Training simulations typically come in one of three categories:
¾ "live" simulation (where real people use simulated (or "dummy") equipment in the
real world);

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¾ “virtual" simulation (where real people use simulated equipment in a simulated world,
or virtual environment, or
¾ "constructive" simulation (where simulated people use simulated equipment in a
simulated environment). Constructive simulation is often referred to as "war gaming"
since it bears some resemblance to table-top war games in which players command
armies of soldiers and equipment that move around a board.

In standardized tests, "live" simulations are sometimes called "high-fidelity", producing

"samples of likely performance", as opposed to "low-fidelity", "pencil-and-paper"
simulations producing only "signs of possible performance”, but the distinction between
high, moderate and low fidelity remains relative, depending on the context of a particular
comparison. Simulations in education are somewhat like training simulations. They
focus on specific tasks. The term 'micro-world' is used to refer to educational
simulations which model some abstract concept rather than simulating a realistic object
or environment, or in some cases model a real world environment in a simplistic way so
as to help a learner develop an understanding of the key concepts.

2.19.2. Clinical Healthcare Simulators

Medical simulators are increasingly being developed and deployed to teach therapeutic
and diagnostic procedures as well as medical concepts and decision making to
personnel in the health professions. Simulators have been developed for training
procedures ranging from the basics such as blood draw, to laparoscopic surgery and
trauma care. They are also important to help on prototyping new devices for biomedical
engineering problems. Currently, simulators are applied to research and development of
tools for new therapies, treatments and early diagnosis in medicine. Many medical
simulators involve a computer connected to a plastic simulation of the relevant anatomy.
Sophisticated simulators of this type employ a life size mannequin that responds to
injected drugs and can be programmed to create simulations of life-threatening
emergencies. In other simulations, visual components of the procedure are reproduced
by computer graphics techniques, while touch-based components are reproduced by
haptic feedback devices combined with physical simulation routines computed in
response to the user's actions. Medical simulations of this sort will often use 3D CT or
MRI scans of patient data to enhance realism. Some medical simulations are developed
to be widely distributed (such as web-enabled simulations that can be viewed via
standard web browsers) and can be interacted with using standard computer interfaces,
such as the keyboard and mouse. Another important medical application of a simulator
— although, perhaps, denoting a slightly different meaning of simulator — is the use of
a placebo drug, a formulation that simulates the active drug in trials of drug efficacy.

2.19.3. Engineering Technology or Process Simulation

Simulation is an important feature in engineering systems or any system that involves

many processes. For example in electrical engineering, delay lines may be used to
simulate propagation delay and phase shift caused by an actual transmission line.

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Similarly, dummy loads may be used to simulate impedance without simulating
propagation, and is used in situations where propagation is unwanted. A simulator may
imitate only a few of the operations and functions of the unit it simulates. Contrast with:
emulate. Most engineering simulations entail mathematical modeling and computer
assisted investigation. There are many cases, however, where mathematical modeling
is not reliable. Simulation of fluid dynamics problems often requires both mathematical
and physical simulations. In these cases the physical models require dynamic
similitude. Physical and chemical simulations have also direct realistic uses, rather than
research uses; in chemical engineering, for example, process simulations are used to
give the process parameters immediately used for operating chemical plants, such as
oil refineries.

2.20. Statistics

Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection, analysis, interpretation

or explanation, and presentation of data. Also with prediction and forecasting based on
data. It is applicable to a wide variety of academic disciplines, from the natural and
social sciences to the humanities, government and business. Statistical methods can be
used to summarize or describe a collection of data; this is called descriptive statistics. In
addition, patterns in the data may be modeled in a way that accounts for randomness
and uncertainty in the observations, and are then used to draw inferences about the
process or population being studied; this is called inferential statistics. Descriptive,
predictive, and inferential statistics comprise applied statistics. There is also a discipline
called mathematical statistics, which is concerned with the theoretical basis of the
subject. Moreover, there is a branch of statistics called exact statistics that is based on
exact probability statements.

In applying statistics to a scientific, industrial, or societal problem, one begins with a

process or population to be studied. This might be a population of people in a country,
of crystal grains in a rock, or of goods manufactured by a particular factory during a
given period. It may instead be a process observed at various times; data collected
about this kind of "population" constitute what is called a time series. For practical
reasons, rather than compiling data about an entire population, one usually studies a
chosen subset of the population, called a sample. Data are collected about the sample
in an observational or experimental setting. The data are then subjected to statistical
analysis, which serves two related purposes: description and inference.

¾ Descriptive statistics can be used to summarize the data, either numerically or

graphically, to describe the sample. Basic examples of numerical descriptors include
the mean and standard deviation. Graphical summarizations include various kinds of
charts and graphs.
¾ Inferential statistics is used to model patterns in the data, accounting for
randomness and drawing inferences about the larger population. These inferences
may take the form of answers to yes/no questions (hypothesis testing), estimates of
numerical characteristics (estimation), descriptions of association (correlation), or

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 modeling of relationships (regression). Other modeling techniques include ANOVA,
time series, and data mining.

The use of any statistical method is valid only when the system or population under
consideration satisfies the basic mathematical assumptions of the method. Misuse of
statistics can produce subtle but serious errors in description and interpretation —
subtle in the sense that even experienced professionals sometimes make such errors,
serious in the sense that they may affect, for instance, social policy, medical practice
and the reliability of structures such as bridges. Even when statistics is correctly
applied, the results can be difficult for the non-expert to interpret.

2.20.1. Statistical methods

A. Experimental and observational studies

A common goal for a statistical research project is to investigate causality, and in

particular to draw a conclusion on the effect of changes in the values of predictors or
independent variables or dependent variables on response. There are two major types
of causal statistical studies: experimental studies and observational studies. In both
types of studies, the effect of differences of an independent variable (or variables) on
the behavior of the dependent variable are observed. The difference between the two
types lies in how the study is actually conducted. Each can be very effective. An
experimental study involves taking measurements of the system under study,
manipulating the system, and then taking additional measurements using the same
procedure to determine if the manipulation has modified the values of the
measurements. In contrast, an observational study does not involve experimental
manipulation. Instead, data are gathered and correlations between predictors and
response are investigated.

The basic steps of an experiment are;

1. Planning the research, including determining information sources, research subject

selection, and ethical considerations for the proposed research and method.
2. Design of experiments, concentrating on the system model and the interaction of
independent and dependent variables.
3. Summarizing a collection of observations to feature their commonality by
suppressing details. (Descriptive statistics)
4. Reaching consensus about what the observations tell about the world being
observed. (Statistical inference)
5 Documenting / presenting the results of the study.

B. Levels of measurement

There are four types of measurements or levels of measurement or measurement

scales used in statistics: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. They have different

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degrees of usefulness in statistical research. Ratio measurements have both a zero
value defined and the distances between different measurements defined; they provide
the greatest flexibility in statistical methods that can be used for analyzing the data.
Interval measurements have meaningful distances between measurements defined, but
have no meaningful zero value defined (as in the case with IQ measurements or with
temperature measurements in Fahrenheit. Ordinal measurements have imprecise
differences between consecutive values, but have a meaningful order to those values.
Nominal measurements have no meaningful rank order among values.

Since variables conforming only to nominal or ordinal measurements cannot be

reasonably measured numerically, sometimes they are called together as categorical
variables, whereas ratio and interval measurements are grouped together as
quantitative or continuous variables due to their numerical nature.

2.20.2. Statistical techniques

Some well known statistical tests and procedures are:

¾ Student's t-test
¾ chi-square test
¾ Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
¾ Mann-Whitney U
¾ Regression analysis
¾ Factor Analysis
¾ Correlation
¾ Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient
¾ Spearman's rank correlation coefficient
¾ Time Series Analysis
¾ Mean Square Weighted Deviation MSWD

2.21. Statistical Surveys

Statistical surveys are used to collect quantitative information about items in a

population. Surveys of human populations and institutions are common in political
polling and government, health, social science and marketing research. A survey may
focus on opinions or factual information depending on its purpose, and many surveys
involve administering questions to individuals. When the questions are administered by
a researcher, the survey is called a structured interview or a researcher-administered
survey. When the questions are administered by the respondent, the survey is referred
to as a questionnaire or a self-administered survey.

2.21.1. Structure and standardization

The questions are usually structured and standardized. The structure is intended to
reduce bias. For example, questions should be ordered in such a way that a question

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does not influence the response to subsequent questions. Surveys are standardized to
ensure reliability, generalizability, and validity. Every respondent should be presented
with the same questions and in the same order as other respondents.

2.21.2. Serial Surveys

Serial surveys are those which repeat the same questions at different points in time,
producing time-series data. They typically fall into two types:
¾ Cross-sectional surveys which draw a new sample each time. In a sense any one of
survey will also be cross-sectional.
¾ Longitudinal surveys where the sample from the initial survey is re-contacted at a
later date to be asked the same questions.

2.21.3. Modes of Data Collection

There are several ways of administering a survey, including:

Telephone

Mail
¾ the questionnaire may be handed to the respondents or mailed to them, but in all
cases they are returned to the researcher via mail.
¾ not suitable for very complex issues
¾ no interviewer bias introduced
¾
Online surveys
¾ can use web or e-mail
¾ often inexpensive to administer
¾ very fast results
¾ easy to modify
¾ data creation, manipulation and reporting can be automated and/or easily exported
into a format which can be read by PSPP, DAP or other statistical analysis software
¾ data sets created in real time

2.21.4. Sampling

Sample selection is critical to the validity of the information that represents the
populations that are being studied. The approach of the sampling helps to determine the
focus of the study and allows better acceptance of the generalizations that are being
made. Careful use of biased sampling can be used if it is justified and as long as it is
noted that the resulting sample may not be a true representation of the population of the
study. There are two different approaches to sampling in survey research, namely non-
probability and probability samplings.

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Non-probability sampling does not guarantee the chance that all the elements involved
in the research will be included in the sample. We can not calculate the probability that
each element will be represented. The most commonly used non-probability sampling
method is the convenience sampling approach. With this method, it only samples those
who are available and willing to participate in the survey. The use of this approach
allows for convenience for the researcher and a possible small sample while possibly
losing data validity due to the lack of representation.

The probability sampling approach for research methods gives each element an equal
chance of being included in the sample. This method is closer to a true representation
of the population. It can be difficult to use due to size of the sample and cost to obtain,
but the generalizations that come from it are more likely to be closer to the a true
representation of the population. Probability sampling includes specific sampling
procedures such as simple random sampling and stratified random sampling that allow
the sample to represent the population more than the non-probability approach.

¾ Simple random sampling approach, each element of the population has an equal
chance of being included in the sample.
¾ Stratified random sampling approach, the population is divided into subpopulations
(called strata) and the random samples are then drawn from the strata. This
approach increases the representation of the population.

Research is often conducted using the hourglass model. The hourglass model starts
with a broad spectrum for research, focusing on the required information through the
methodology of the project (like the neck of the hourglass), then expands the research
in the form of discussion and results.

3. Writing Research Paper

Despite the illusion, the research-paper writing process (as with any writing process) is
quasi-linear at best. The entire process will require a lot of hard work on your part, but
the results will be more than satisfying if you give it your best.

3.1. Genre

Usually at the post-secondary level, when it finally comes time to write your first real
research essay--or "paper" as it's more commonly called--you may find yourself
confronted with confusion, resentment, panic, and a touch . True research papers are
more than a loose collection of anecdotal memories or a patchwork of data pulled from
several books. But while new to most first-year students, a research paper can be
incredibly exciting, rewarding, and even comforting to write because it finally allows you
to really get into a subject you care about with both hands while having added security--
a proverbial squad car of "back up" to support you while you explore those dark
alleyways of future knowledge. Research papers come in all shapes, sizes, forms, and
disciplines.

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3.2. Topic

Remember: unless otherwise specified that you must only choose from the options
given to you, take the initiative to propose an appropriate topic based on your own
motivation. Have faith in your own smarts and course work. You'll start the research in
the next step. Nobody's expecting you to be an expert or get your paper published in a
journal, so just start jotting down ideas about things related to your topic. You may even
want to keep a journal to keep everything in one place. So step one is to relax. Be sure
though not just to put down things you think you should write about or might want to
write about but basically just anything that comes to mind when you look at the topic.
The important thing here is not to edit your meanderings; this is not the step for second-
guessing what you've written. Connotations, associations, related concepts,
connections--that's what you're looking for to get a topic. The real key to successful
papers that you can actually enjoy writing is motivation, which is why your topic choice
is so important. During your idea-generation activities, once you have started seeing
great things jumping out at you, finish your "session" and then make a list of why a
potential topic is important.

To do this:
First think of yourself--is this something you believe in? that sounds fun? that you
sincerely want to learn more about? that intrigues you? Even when you're given a set
topic in advance, you can always frame it to suit your needs and style--so get something
out of it.

Then think of the audience - will other people familiar with this subject care to read
what you're writing? Do you have something to say or are you babbling and wasting
space?

3.3. Scope

After the chaotic armchair free-for-all of the previous step, this step basically covers (1)
preliminary research and then (2) some real refining of your topic.
Why does preliminary research before the real nitty-gritty stuff a couple steps away?
Some of the functions include:
¾ library familiarization: getting to know where things are and dipping your toes into the
whole research pool before diving in head-first
¾ fascination with a topic that you'd like to pursue further but don't know enough about
¾ examination of the available resources--even if you're familiar with the general
subject area and the library--to see how feasible delving further into the topic will
prove

Preliminary research though is the first real time in the whole process where you'll be
forced to match the internal (what comes from your mind during the previous step) with
the external (the realities you're going to be faced with).

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3.4. Thesis

Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing:

¾ An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts,
evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the
audience.
¾ An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.
¾ An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with
specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an
evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the
argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on
the evidence provided.
If you are writing a text which does not fall under these three categories (ex. a
narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph could still be
helpful to your reader.
2. Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will
discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.
3. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.
4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis
statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

3.5. Research

With tentative thesis statement or research question in hand, you've got what will likely
become the focal point of your paper. You have a focus, a goal, a purpose--in essence,
the bones of your essay. But now you need flesh for those bones; that's where research
comes in.

Before jumping into that pool, you may be asking, "Why not do an outline first?" If you're
doing an argumentative paper, chances are that you already have some mental notes
about your topic's "sub-components" (the ones that might eventually break down into
supporting paragraphs); it was probably those informal sub-points or reasons that
helped you formulate your argument in the first place. Research-question writers
probably have only vague ideas of what they might possibly come across in the debates
they're analyzing. In either case though, we suggest putting together an outline after you
do research. You don't want to narrow yourself too much at this point. A very clear
thesis or question gives you enough direction to keep you on task, but still leaves you
open to new angles on the subject.

To conduct research, follow the advice outlined in these three important steps:

¾ Understand the types of resources

¾ Critically read and evaluate those sources

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¾ Note-take effectively

3.5.1. Understand the types of resources

Your sources, or the materials which supply you information, are your resources. It is
useful to enter the research process with the positive attitude that your sources are in
your corner to help you flesh out your paper and open your eyes to a "collective wealth"
of knowledge (the second definition of resource!), not just in there as paper
requirements. For argumentative papers, sources act as evidence to back up your
thesis. For analytical papers, sources act more as possible answers to your research
question. For the sake of simplicity, we will refer to this dual function of sources with one
word: support. There are two types of support: primary and secondary. A primary
source is an original document or account that is not about another document or
account but stands on its own. For example, any novel, poem, play, diary, letter, or
other creative work is a primary source. The data from a research study also constitutes
a primary source because it comes straight from the participants' replies. Interviews, not
of experts but of people actually experiencing something "on the scene," are also
primary sources. Secondary sources are ones that interpret primary sources or are
otherwise a step removed. A journal article or book about a poem, novel, or play or a
commentary about what an interview signifies is a secondary source. Your paper will
likewise become a secondary source.

3.5.2. Critically read and evaluate the sources

Now that you have some materials in front of you, either at the library or at home, it's
time to critically analyze them. You need to know what is happening in the text before
you take formal notes since part of analyzing means sifting the good resources from the
bad. Read the sources critically. Structure, purpose, audience, and author are four
important dimensions of the text to pay close attention to.

Structure

If you're starting with a book, look at the table of contents. See the shape of what's to
come and identify places that your thesis or question might be most directly addressed.
Notice the subsections. Is there anything very obviously missing? Skim the Preface or
Introduction to establish context for the discussion and determine the author's intent.
The author's thesis statement just may pop up here; be on the lookout for it. Or, it may
be implied; if so, why?

Glance at any appendices, diagrams, tables, or figures and see what kinds of things
make it into the Endnotes section if there is one. Look at the topics listed in the Index at
the back. Which of the entries has the most page numbers listed next to it? This will
give you an indication of the subjects that contribute to the real scope of the book.

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For a journal article, read the "abstract" for a summary. If it seems to address your
question or thesis, then read the Background or Introduction section which will normally
have some kind of "literature review" or summary of what others have said. This context
is useful for seeing how and why the issue has evolved over time. Conclusions or
Discussions are a great place to turn to next before getting bogged down in minute
detail. Did the author answer the research question or support the thesis? If you can
clearly see where the article was intending to go and where it ended up, then you can
go back and read the body for details. Starting with the intro and conclusion is a good
strategy for analyzing essays as well, online or otherwise.

Purpose

Examine the title and first few paragraphs. What is the author trying to do? What is his
or her bias? Any assumptions to be challenged? Look at the publisher or
institutional/organizational affiliation of the author. Does the person have a vested
interest in swaying you one way or another? A book on management style will be
markedly different if it comes from some corporate management committee compared
to union representatives. It would even be different presented by a professor of
economics rather than a professor specializing in human relations and organizational
psychology. Authors should be upfront about the angles they take in their discussions.
Is yours?

Audience

Who does the intended audience appear to be? How narrow or broad is it? To answer
this, look at stylistic choices such as diction and tone. For instance, are there a lot of
technical words? If so, look them up. And finally, what stake does the target audience
have in the issue? In other words, why would the audience be reading the text? Who
would you be imagining yourself talking to in your paper?

Author

Who is the author? Is it someone your professor has mentioned or whom you've come
across in your course readings? Has the person been mentioned in other texts or
bibliographies of other texts? Presence in the scholarly community is one of the ways to
establish authority. Another is education and/or expertise. Is the person a teacher or
researcher from a reputable academic institution? Does the person have considerable
knowledge of what he or she is talking about? Is the author respected and well-
received? You wouldn't let just anyone off the street walk into your home, so make your
sources establish rapport and trust with you before you just let them walk on into your
research paper.

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3.5.3. Note-take effectively

You already started the process of note-taking in the previous section, even before
putting pen to paper. How? Well, to take notes, you need to know what to take notes on;
by analyzing the text, you've likely already located the sections or chapters most useful
to you.

¾ What should my notes look like?

¾ What should I write down?
¾ Specific tips to avoid plagiarism
¾ Specific tips to facilitate comprehension later on

What should my notes look like?

The point-form or sentences debate (on loose-leaf or on 3x5 index cards for easy
shuffling) is simply a matter of preference. Some students are comfortable with points;
others prefer summarizing and paraphrasing right into rough sentences to make drafting
easier. Try both methods and see which one you prefer. Note-taking involves writing.
Highlighting can be an important first step, but used alone, it's simply too passive.

So what should I write down?

Write down anything and everything that will flesh out your thesis statement or research
question. Remember that it's fine to copy down duplicating facts. You may need them
later on to defend your thesis. For major issues, having more than one person who
agrees with you strengthens your point. Just make sure to record who said what each
time. It's also okay to copy down contradictory information. Analytical papers often
include opposing views and even for argumentative papers, acknowledging an opposing
viewpoint that is easily disproved by its counterpoint is always a good rhetorical tool.
Whatever you take notes on, be sure to take them from more than one or two key
sources. Using a variety will lend weight to your argument, broaden your horizons on
the topic when you need varying viewpoints anyway, and demonstrate to your professor
the thoroughness of your research.

The final piece of data to record is a working bibliography of all the sources you consult.
Begin jotting one down as soon as you begin researching so that you won't forget when
it comes time to draft the paper (a common error and stress-inducer). Therefore, before
you even take notes, neatly record all the pertinent bibliographical information you'll
need for any citation format you decide to use (author, title, (editor, translator, and/or
edition number if there is one), publisher, city of publication, year of publication, issue
number, volume, and page numbers).

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3.6. Developing an Outline

You should follow these four suggestions to create an effective outline. The examples
are taken from the Sample Outline handout.

1. Parallelism: Each heading and subheading should preserve parallel structure. If the
first heading is a verb, the second heading should be a verb. Example:
¾ Choose desired colleges
¾ Prepare application
("Choose" and "Prepare" are both verbs. The present tense of the verb is usually
the preferred form for an outline)

2. Coordination: All the information contained in Heading 1 should have the same
significance as the information contained in Heading 2. The same goes for the
subheadings (which should be less significant than the headings). Example:
¾ Visit and evaluate college campuses
¾ Visit and evaluate college websites
ƒ Note important statistics
ƒ Look for interesting classes
(Campus and websites visits are equally significant. They are part of the main
tasks you would need to do. Finding statistics and classes found on college
websites are parts of the process involved in carrying out the main heading
topics.)

3. Subordination: The information in the headings should be more general, while the
information in the subheadings should be more specific. Example:
¾ Describe an influential person in your life
ƒ Favorite high school teacher
ƒ Grandparent
(A favorite teacher and grandparent are specific examples from the generalized
category of influential people in your life.)

4. Division: Each heading should be divided into 2 or more parts. Example:

¾ Compile resume
ƒ List relevant coursework
ƒ List work experience
ƒ List volunteer experience
(The heading "Compile resume" is divided into 3 parts.)
Technically, there is no limit to the number of subdivisions for your headings;
however, if you seem to have a lot, it may be useful to see if some of the parts
can be combined.

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3.7. First Draft

Before you begin writing, you should have a thesis or question that you're comfortable
with and an outline that gives you structure on what you need to say and where. Now
just take pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and write. "Sure, easier said than done,"
you might be thinking. Fair enough, but we aren't asking you to come up with polished
prose. It can be as rough as you want it to be. And with practice, it does get easier and
faster. Believe it or not, drafting should be the least time-consuming step in the research
paper process. Invention should take longer. Research should take longer. And revising
should definitely take longer. If it's taking you a month of Sundays just to eke out a
thousand words, two things could be happening:

1. You don't have any clue what you should be saying (in which case you don't have a
focal point or outline yet and so are starting too early!) or . . .
2. You're revising while you draft so that you end up with one sentence an hour. If it's the latter
(as it often is), separate your duties out. Within every writer, there is a Creator and a
Critic. Write a letter to your Critic telling him or her to go to sleep for this step and
wake up for the next one. Let your Creator shine for now.

3.8. Revision

Now is the time to become your own audience and evaluate your work. After letting your
draft sit for a few days, look at your work with a new critical eye, critical for what doesn't
work and what does. Before you go over the heuristic we've devised below to help you
revise, remember that revision is not proofreading. Revision deals with underlying
issues and content while proofreading deals largely with surface details and
presentation. Like a funnel, you have to start at "higher order" concerns (how the essay
and individual paragraphs hold together) and then move down to "lower order" concerns
(sentences, word choice, mechanics).

ASK YOURSELF . . .

Does your title give readers a good idea of what's to come? (Have you even come up
with one yet?
Is your thesis statement or research question clearly stated?
Is there enough lead-ins in the introduction to establish the importance of and context
for the statement/question? Is there too much? Too little? By the end of the introduction,
is it clear to the audience what kind of material will follow? If so, are these expectations
fulfilled, that is, do you follow through?
Is it clear where your introduction ends and body begins and where the body ends and
the conclusion begins? In other words, are your paragraph indents meaningful?

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At the same time, are there transitions between all sections and paragraphs to create
flow and unity?
Does each body paragraph have a topic sentence? If you took your thesis/question and
all your topic sentences, would that correspond to what you want to say in your paper?
If not, do you need to revise your thesis/question or re-examine your sub-points?
Do the topic sentences (1) make a connection back with the thesis/question, (2)
establish a link with the previous paragraph's content (perhaps the chronological
relationship, any comparisons/contrasts?) and (3) give enough information that the
audience could guess where a particular paragraph's development would lead?
With or without a formal concluding sentence, do you somewhere near the end of each
paragraph remind readers why you are saying what you are saying by moving back up
to abstract, general terms?
Does the order of paragraphs make sense? (e.g., maybe the transitions seem forced
because they aren't in the right order)
Are your paragraphs too short (say, fewer than 4 sentences) or too long ( longer than
about 8)? Is there some combining or separating of issues that needs to take place? Or
do you simply need to generate more content or delete irrelevant material?
Are your examples reliable, representative, and convincing? Are there enough of them
(or too many) to develop the main idea of the paragraph in the word count you have
available?
Are your sources convincing? Is there enough balance between your own insights and
expert opinions?
Is anything that should be referenced, referenced?
Are all sources and direct quotations explained or have you left them standing on their
own?
Has anything that goes off topic or is not essential (given your word limit) been cut?
(TIP: whenever you know you have to cut something but you're finding it hard to do, cut
and paste it in a separate file so that you feel it hasn't been obliterated. In a couple of
weeks, you'll probably go back and wonder why you were so attached to the passage in
the first place!)
Does the conclusion say something different from your introduction? Does it leave a
good lasting impression or is it wishy-washy?

There are 4 basic actions that will occur during the revisions you now hopefully plan to
make:

ADD. Insert needed words, sentences, and paragraphs. If your additions require new
content, return to the idea-gathering techniques.

CUT. Get rid of whatever goes off the topic or repeats what has already been said.

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REPLACE. As needed, substitute new words, sentences, and paragraphs for what you
have cut.

MOVE MATERIAL AROUND. Change the sequence of paragraphs if the material is not
presented in logical order. Move sentences.

All of these actions are easily done electronically, but try not to do all your revision on
the computer. Alternating between "screen" and "paper" copy is a great way to achieve
perspective.

Now what about 'lower order' concerns? These issues are highly individualized so look
through old marked papers for comments you received at the level of sentences and
diction (word choice). Are there any trends you notice? Bring in a writing sample to a
tutor and we can examine a piece for you and look for things you both do well and seem
to have difficulty with. The most common mistakes are a lack of clarity (perhaps
because you're trying to sound "academic" or have forgotten that you're writing to an
audience) and general wordiness.

3.9. Proofreading

Believe it or not, now that you've hopefully finished major revisions, the hardest part is
really over! Your goal at this point is not so much to focus on content but on nitpicky
copyediting which is so great for catching those careless mistakes that distract your
readers from your main ideas. Here's a checklist for some finishing touches:
Check out your verb tenses. Don't feel you have to completely avoid the "passive" tense
(e.g., "the ball was caught") but definitely try to have MORE subject-verb "active"
sentences; they add power and agency to your writing (e.g., "Billy caught the ball").
Also make sure your verbs are in the right tense. If you're talking about literature,
keep the tense in what is called "the literary present." So a sentence in your essay to
set up an example would read "When Hana tells Caravaggio about the English
patient..." If you're writing a historical paper though, past tense is more suitable.
Check for non-sexist language, especially in pronoun situations (e.g., "What does an
artist look for in his (er, her...er, their...ARRRGHHH) imagery?"). The best way is to talk
to your professors. You'll find some that say they don't mind the awkward "him/her" (or
"him or her") split, others who prefer one over the other, and still others who want you to
avoid the sticky scenario altogether. Figure out preferences.
Read your essay out loud to listen for either awkward or long sentences that could be
clarified or broken up to read better.
Check your punctuation.
Look for glaring grammatical flaws.
Check your diction (word choice). If you're looking for a better word, look up some
possibilities in dictionary.

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Prepare a Works Cited or References list. Set up footnotes or endnotes if you need
them too.
Now you can check your spelling both with a computer spell-checker and with your
own eyes to catch those words that are spelled right but used in the wrong context (like
there vs. their vs. they're).
Work on the presentation of your paper: use a laser-printer if you can (or else your
best ink-jet) on 8.5 x 11 inch paper, double space your lines, maintain 1 inch margins,
start numbering pages on the second page of actual text, and prepare a title page with
an original title somewhere in the centre and your vital student info in the bottom right
hand corner. Also make sure your font is very readable (Times New Roman is the most
common) and in 12 point.

4. Proposal Writer's Guide

4.1. Introduction

Writing a proposal for a sponsored activity such as a research project or a curriculum

development program is a problem of persuasion. It is well to assume that your reader
is a busy, impatient, skeptical person who has no reason to give your proposal special
consideration and who is faced with many more requests than he can grant, or even
read thoroughly. Such a reader wants to find out quickly and easily the answers to these
questions.
What do you want to do, how much will it cost, and how much time will it take?
How does the proposed project relate to the sponsor's interests?
What difference will the project make to: your university, your students, your discipline,
the state, the nation, the world, or whatever the appropriate categories are?
What has already been done in the area of your project?
How do you plan to do it?
How will the results be evaluated?
Why should you, rather than someone else, do this project?
These questions will be answered in different ways and receive different emphases
depending on the nature of the proposed project and on the agency to which the
proposal is being submitted. Most agencies provide detailed instructions or guidelines
concerning the preparation of proposals (and, in some cases, forms on which proposals
are to be typed); obviously, such guidelines should be studied carefully before you
begin writing the draft.

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4.2. Parts of a Proposal

Proposals for sponsored activities follow generally a similar format, although there are
variations depending upon whether the proposer is seeking support for a research
grant, a training grant, or a conference or curriculum development project. The following
outline and explanation concern chiefly the components of a research proposal. This
section concludes with a discussion of certain variations in format required if one is
seeking support for other kinds of academic programs.

4.2.1. Research Proposals

Typical parts of a research proposal are: Title (or Cover) Page Abstract Table of
Contents Introduction (including Statement of Problem, Purpose of Research, and
Significance of Research)Background (including Literature Survey)Description of
Proposed Research (including Method or Approach)Description of Relevant Institutional
Resources List of References Personnel Budget

Title (or Cover) Page

Most sponsoring agencies specify the format for the title page, and some provide
special forms to summarize basic administrative and fiscal data for the project.
Generally, the principal investigator, his or her department head, and an official
representing the University sign the title page. In addition, the title page usually includes
the University's reference number for the proposal, the name of the agency to which the
proposal is being submitted, the title of the proposal, the proposed starting date and
budget period, the total funds requested, the name and address of the University unit
submitting the proposal, and the date submitted. Some agencies want the title page to
specify whether the proposal is for a new or continuing project. And some ask to which
other agencies the proposal is being submitted. A good title is usually a compromise
between conciseness and explicitness. Although titles should be comprehensive
enough to indicate the nature of the proposed work, they should also be brief. One good
way to cut the length of titles is to avoid words that add nothing to a reader's
understanding, such as "Studies on...," "Investigations...," or "Research on Some
Problems in...."

Abstract

Every proposal, even very brief ones, should have an abstract. Some readers read only
the abstract, and most readers rely on it initially to give them a quick overview of the
proposal and later to refresh their memory of its main points. Agencies often use the
abstract alone in their compilations of research projects funded or in disseminating
information about successful projects. Though it appears first, the abstract should be
written last, as a concise summary (approximately 200 words) of the proposal. It should

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appear on a page by itself numbered with a small Roman numeral if the proposal has a
table of contents and with an Arabic number if it does not. To present the essential
meaning of the proposal, the abstract should summarize or at least suggest the
answers to all the questions mentioned in the Introduction above, except the one about
cost (which is excluded on the grounds that the abstract is subject to a wider public
distribution than the rest of the proposal). Certainly the major objectives of the project
and the procedures to be followed in meeting these objectives should be mentioned.
The abstract speaks for the proposal when it is separated from it, provides the reader
with his first impression of the request, and, by acting as a summary, frequently
provides him also with his last. Thus it is the most important single element in the
proposal.

Table of Contents

Very brief proposals with few sections ordinarily do not need a table of contents; the
guiding consideration in this is the reader's convenience. Long and detailed proposals
may require, in addition to a table of contents, a list of illustrations (or figures) and a list
of tables. If all of these are included, they should follow the order mentioned, and each
should be numbered with lower-case Roman numerals. If they are brief, more than one
can be put on a single page.
The table of contents should list all major parts and divisions (including the abstract,
even though it precedes the table of contents). Subdivisions usually need not be listed.
Again, the convenience of the reader should be the guiding consideration.

Introduction

The introduction of a proposal should begin with a capsule statement of what is being
proposed and then should proceed to introduce the subject to a stranger. You should
not assume that your reader is familiar with your subject. Administrators and program
officers in sponsoring agencies want to get a general idea of the proposed work before
passing the proposal to reviewers who can judge its technical merit. Thus the
introduction should be comprehensible to an informed layman. It should give enough
background to enable him to place your particular research problem in a context of
common knowledge and should show how its solution will advance the field or be
important for some other work. Be careful not to overstate, but do not neglect to state
very specifically what the importance of your research is. In introducing the research
problem, it is sometimes helpful to say what it is not, especially, if it could easily be
confused with related work. You may also need to explain the underlying assumption of
your research or the hypotheses you will be using. If the detailed exposition of the
proposed research will be long or complex, the introduction may well end by specifying
the order and arrangement of the sections. Such a preview helps a reviewer begin his
reading with an orderly impression of the proposal and the assurance that he can get
from it what he needs to know. The general tone of the introduction should reflect a

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sober self-confidence. A touch of enthusiasm is not out of place, but extravagant
promises are anathema to most reviewers.

Background Section

This section may not be necessary if the proposal is relatively simple and if the
introduction can present the relevant background in a few sentences. If previous or
related work must be discussed in some detail, however, or if the literature of the
subject must be reviewed, a background or literature review section is desirable.
A background discussion of your own previous work usually can be less detailed than
the customary "progress report." Here you should not attempt to account for time and
money spent on previous grants but rather point your discussion to the proposed new
(or continuing) research. Sufficient details should be given in this discussion (1) to make
clear what the research problem is and exactly what has been accomplished; (2) to give
evidence of your own competence in the field; and (3) to show why the previous work
needs to be continued. Some sponsors want to know also who has funded the previous
work.

Literature reviews should be selective and critical. Reviewers do not want to read
through a voluminous working bibliography; they want to know the especially pertinent
works and your evaluation of them. A list of works with no clear evidence that you have
studied them and have opinions about them contributes almost nothing to the proposal.

Discussions of work done by others should therefore lead the reader to a clear
impression of how you will be building upon what has already been done and how your
work differs from theirs. It is important to establish what is original in your approach,
what circumstances have changed since related work was done, or what is unique
about the time and place of the proposed research.

Description of Proposed Research

The comprehensive explanation of the proposed research is addressed not to laymen

but to other specialists in your field. This section, which may need several subsections,
is, of course, the heart of the proposal and is the primary concern of the technical
reviewers. Research design is a large subject and cannot be covered here, but a few
reminders concerning frequently mishandled aspects of proposals may be helpful.
Be realistic in designing the program of work. Overly optimistic notions of what the
project can accomplish in one, two, or three years or of its effects on the world will only
detract from the proposal's chances of being approved. Probably the comment most
frequently made by reviewers is that the research plans should be scaled down to a
more specific and more manageable project that will permit the approach to be
evaluated and that, if successful, will form a sound basis for further work. In other
words, your proposal should distinguish clearly between long-range research goals and
the short-range objectives for which funding is being sought. Often it is best to begin this

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section with a short series of explicit statements listing each objective, in quantitative
terms if possible.
If your first year must be spent developing an analytical method or laying groundwork,
spell that out as Phase 1. Then at the end of the year you will be able to report that you
have accomplished something and are ready to undertake Phase 2.
Be explicit about any assumptions or hypotheses the research method rests upon.
Be clear about the focus of the research. In defining the limits of the project, especially
in exploratory or experimental work, it is helpful to pose the specific question or
questions the project is intended to answer.
Be as detailed as possible about the schedule of the proposed work. When will the first
step be completed? When can subsequent steps be started? What must be done before
what else, and what can be done at the same time? For complex projects a calendar
detailing the projected sequence and interrelationship of events often gives the sponsor
assurance that the investigator is capable of careful step-by-step planning.
Be specific about the means of evaluating the data or the conclusions. Try to imagine
the questions or objections of a hostile critic and show that the research plan anticipates
them.
Be certain that the connection between the research objectives and the research
method is evident. If a reviewer fails to see this connection, he will probably not give
your proposal any further consideration. It is better here to risk stating the obvious than
to risk the charge that you have not thought carefully enough about what your particular
methods or approach can be expected to demonstrate.

Description of Relevant Institutional Resources

The nature of this section depends on your project, of course, but in general this section
details the resources available to the proposed project and, if possible, shows why the
sponsor should wish to choose this University and this investigator for this particular
research. Some relevant points may be the institution's demonstrated competence in
the pertinent research area, its abundance of experts in related areas that may indirectly
benefit the project, its supportive services that will directly benefit the project, and its
unique or unusual research facilities or instruments available to the project.

References

If a list of references is to be included, it is placed at the end of the text proper and
before the sections on personnel and budget. The items should be numbered and
should be in the order in which they are first referred to in the text. In contrast to an
alphabetical bibliography, authors' names in a list of references should not be reversed.
In the text, references to the list can be made in various ways; a simple way is to use a
raised number at the appropriate place, like this.1 Such numbers should be placed
outside any contiguous marks of punctuation. The style of the bibliographical item itself

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depends on the disciplinary field. The main consideration is consistency; whatever style
is chosen should be followed scrupulously throughout.

Personnel Section

This section usually consists of two parts: an explanation of the proposed personnel
arrangements and the biographical data sheets for each of the main contributors to the
project. The explanation should specify how many persons at what percentage of time
and in what academic categories will be participating in the project. If the program is
complex and involves people from other departments or colleges, the organization of
the staff and the lines of responsibility should be made clear. Any student participation,
paid or unpaid, should be mentioned, and the nature of the proposed contribution
detailed. If any persons must be hired for the project, say so, and explain why, unless
the need for persons not already available within the University is self-evident. The
biographical data sheets should follow immediately after the explanatory text of the
“personnel" section, unless the agency guidelines specify a different format. For
extremely large program proposals with eight or more participants, the data sheets may
be given separately in an appendix. All biographical data sheets within the proposal
should be in a common format.

Budget Section

Sponsors customarily specify how budgets should be presented and what costs are
allowable.

Research Proposals -- The Appendices

Some writers are prone to append peripheral documents of various kinds to their
proposals on the theory that the bulk will buttress their case. Reviewers almost never
read such appendices, and may resent the padding. The best rule of thumb is: When in
doubt, leave it out.
Appendices to proposals are occasionally used for letters of endorsement or promises
of participation, biographical data sheets (when there are too many--say, eight or more--
to be conveniently placed in the "personnel" section), and reprints of relevant articles. If
two or more appendices are included in a proposal, they should be designated
Appendix A, Appendix B, etc.

4.2.2. Proposals for Academic Programs

It may be that your need is not for a research grant, but for outside sponsorship of an
academic program involving a new curriculum, a conference, a summer seminar, or a
training activity. If so, once again your best guide in proposal preparation is to consult
any guidelines that the sponsoring agency provides. In the event that none is available,

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however, the following outline may be followed. The Introduction, including a clear
statement of need, and the Background section, describing the local situation and
developmental activities to date, should begin the request. These should be followed by
a section entitled Planning. This section details the activities that will occur after the
grant is received and before the institution of the new courses, training activities, or
seminar. A Program Description should come next. This section lists the courses or
instructional sessions to be offered, the interrelationship of parts, and the program
leading to certification or a degree. It discusses the students or participants to be
selected and served by the program, as well as plans for faculty retreats, negotiation
with cooperating institutions, released time to write instructional materials, and so on.

Before concluding with the Institutional Resources, Personnel, and Budget sections,
special attention should be given to a section entitled Institutional Commitment. Here
the agreements made by various departments and cooperating institutions are clarified,
and the willingness of the home institution to carry on the program once it has proven
itself is certified. This section is crucial to the success of curriculum development
programs because, in contrast to research programs, they have a profound impact on
the host institution. Funding agencies need to be reassured that their funds will not be
wasted by an institution that has only responded to a funding opportunity without
reflecting soberly upon the long-range commitments implied.

4.3. Inquiries to Private Foundations

Proposals to foundations have a better chance of succeeding if they are preceded by an

informal contact. This contact is usually a brief (not more than two pages) letter outlining
the proposed project, suggesting why the foundation should be interested in it, and
requesting an appointment to discuss it in further detail. Such a letter permits an
investigator to make inquiries to several foundations at once and gives an interested
foundation the chance to offer suggestions before receiving the formal proposal.

The initial letter of inquiry should demonstrate that the investigator is acquainted with
the work and purposes of the particular foundation being approached and should point
out a clear connection between these and the proposed project. A letter so generally
phrased that it could be a form letter is almost certain to be disregarded. An effective
letter will discuss the significance or uniqueness of the project: Who will benefit? Who
cares about the results? What difference will it make if the project is not funded? It will
give enough indication of step-by-step planning to show that the project has been
thought through and that pitfalls have been anticipated. It will demonstrate the writer's
grasp of the subject and his credentials to undertake the project. It will emphasize at the
same time that this is a preliminary inquiry, not a formal proposal, and that the
investigator will send further details if the foundation wishes, or, better yet, will visit the
foundation to discuss the project in depth. It is unnecessary in the preliminary inquiry to
include a detailed budget, although an overall cost estimate should be mentioned.

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4.4. Why Proposals Are Rejected?

Assuming that funds are available, that geographical distribution is not a criterion, and
that political considerations are not present, the success of a proposal will depend both
on the quality of the project itself and the quality of its presentation in the proposal.
Different reviewers, of course, will weigh merits and defects differently but the following
list of short-comings is worth pondering.

A. Problem

The problem is not of sufficient importance or is unlikely to produce any new or useful
information.
The proposed research is based on a hypothesis that rests on insufficient evidence, is
doubtful, or is unsound.
The problem is more complex than the investigator appears to realize.
The problem has only local significance, or is one of production or control, or otherwise
fails to fall sufficiently clearly within the general field of health-related research.
The problem is scientifically premature and warrants, at most, only a pilot study.
The description of the nature of the research and of its significance leaves the proposal
nebulous and diffuse and without a clear research aim.

B. Approach

The proposed tests, or methods, or scientific procedures are unsuited to the stated
objective.
The description of the approach is too nebulous, diffuse, and lacking in clarity to permit
adequate evaluation.
The overall design of the study has not been carefully thought out.
The statistical aspects of the approach have not been given sufficient consideration.
The material the investigator proposes to use is unsuited to the objective of the study or
is difficult to obtain.
The number of observations is unsuitable.

C. Investigator

The investigator does not have adequate experience or training for this research. (32.6)
The investigator appears to be unfamiliar with recent pertinent literature or methods.
The investigator's previously published work in this field does not inspire confidence.

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The investigator proposes to rely too heavily on insufficiently experienced associates.

SECTION B:

Research in Adama University

In all higher institutions training, research and extension are the most important
components of learning-teaching process. The decisive factor in all higher education is
an instructor. The experience, capacity and capability of an instructor directly affect the
qualities of both teaching and learning processes and hence the qualification of the
graduates. A good instructor should be well equipped with both theory and practice. The
theoretical background can be developed through intensive reading while the practical
one through doing and researching. That is why equal weight should be given to both
research and academics. An instructor with no research experience is hard to be
branded as a qualified instructor.

Adama University (AU) is under the process of fast transformation based on the
framework “Setting up Adama University”, which had been initiated by the renowned
German Scientist, Prof. Dr. Dr. Herbert Eichele, and was endorsed by the Ministries of
Education and Capacity Building. In line with this framework, Adama University has
recently started offering master and Ph.D. degrees by research.

Adama University, in its commitment to ensure and maintain quality post graduate
research, uses a rigorous thesis research proposal reviewing and approval processes.
The process briefly include (1) reviewing of thesis research proposals by professionals;
(2) presenting and defending the proposed thesis by candidates at respective
Department Graduate Committee (DGC); (3) Checking the inclusion of comments,
suggestions, etc by the respective Schools; and (4) submitting to the office of Research
Vice-President for the final approval by the Managing Board.

The great majority of the teaching staff is not participating in the research activities and
consultancy services for unidentified reasons. The major reasons may be lack of
qualified senior staff, lack of research culture and less attention to its importance. The
research activity in AU is based the general purposes to:

identify of research priorities, aligned with governmental policies and matching them
with the University internal capabilities;
encourage partnerships and multidisciplinary research tradition among the staff; and
strengthen the University’s research and consultancy capacity.

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5. Writing, Approval and Defense Examination of M.Sc and
Ph.D Thesis Proposals

5.1. General Framework of Writing Thesis Proposal

Cover page

Adamd University

School of _________________

Title _____________________

M.Sc (PhD) research proposal By

MR._______________________

Department ________________

Major advisor_______________

Co-Advisor ________________

Month Year

Adama

Title:-

The title of the thesis should be selected carefully. It should be concise, specific, and
descriptive enough to contain key words or phrases indicating the contents of the thesis.

List of table
List of figures
Acronyms and abbreviations

Abstract (optional):- ) about half page

This appears on the second page after the title. The abstract should reflect the content
of the paper. It should not exceed 200 words and must include the reason for the study,
objectives, methods used and the expected results. The abstract should be in the same

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font as the text written in smaller size font (11 point) key words (up to five, separated by
a comma and in alphabetical order) not reflected in the title of the thesis should be given
next to the abstract on a separate line.

1. Introduction:- Maximum 4 pages

This part of the paper should provide background information on the subject,
justification or underlying hypothesis for doing work and the major objectives of the
research or investigation. Formulate a maximum of four specific objectives.

2. Literature Review

An adequate review of literature, limited to information essential to orient the reader

should be provided.

3. Materials and Methods

Under this heading a brief and concise description of the study site (area); the
procedures, techniques and experimental designs to be used for the data collection;
and the methods of data analysis should be given.

4. Work Plan

5. Logistics

6. References

References are listed alphabetically by the author’s last name. References should be
selected based on their relevance. As much as possible recent references should be
cited and the numbers kept to a minimum. It is the responsibility of authors to check the
accuracy of references. References should be presented in the author-year style thus in
the text reference to papers by one or two authors are given as shown in the examples
below:

IN the case of Ethiopian names, the author’s given (first) name precedes that of the
father’s name, e.g. Solomon Kassa and not Kassam S. Ethiopian names should not be
abbreviated.

(Abebe Kebede and Ketema Hailu 1989)

(Hartmann and Kester,1975, andersson et al..) 1993 Darwin and Morgan,1993)
chronologically.
According to Abebe Kebede and Ketema Hailu (1989),

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For three or more authors, use et al. (no italics) i.e. Abiy Astatke et al. (1989) in the text
(but spell out all authors names in the reference list).

Examples of acceptable formats for listing references in the reference section are
shown below. References should be in smaller font and hanging paragraph (i, e only the
first line of a paragraph should start flush left while the remaining line are indented) No
space between consecutive references.

Journal article

Mahli, S.S Harapiak, J.Nybiorg M. and N.A Flore.1991. Soil chemical properties after
long term N fertilization of broom grass nitrogen rate. Communications in soil science
and plant analysis 22 1447-1458.

Gezahegn Ayele and Tekalign Mamo1995. Determinants of demand for fertilizer in

vertisol cropping system in Ethopia. Tropical Agriculture ( Trinidad) 72: 165-169

Book

Chapman, D.H. and P.F. pratt. 1961. Methods of Analysis for soils plants and waters.
University of California, Riverside, California.(N.B initials appear before last authors
family name).

Chapter in book

Loegering, W.Q.1984 \. Genetics of the pathogen host association pp.165-192. In willian

R. Bushnell and Alan P. Roelfs (eds) The cereal rusts, Vol 1. Academic press Orlando
Florida.

Paper in proceedings

Mesfin Abebe.1992. An investigation into the cause of wilt in cotton. pp. 129-139. In :
proceedings of symposium on cotton production under irrigation in Ethiopia Melka
Werer, Ethiopia 21-22 October 1982, Institute of Agricultural Research Addis Ababa

Provide full names of periodicals in the reference list do not abbreviate.

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Unpublished materials

Citation of unpublished and other source materials not readily available in libraries
should not be included in the reference list but should be mentioned in parentheses in
the text or as a footnote.

Typing and paper size

The thesis must be typed, double spaced on one side of an A4 sheet (21 by 29.7 cm)

Margins and page numbers

Leave margins of 2.5 cm at the top and sides and 4cm at the bottom of each page.
Number all pages.

Headings

Main text headings (A- level) should be centered and typed in bold capitals. Major side
headings (B-level) should be bold lowercase letters. Sub headings (C- level) should be
light font, lower case letters. Minor sub headings (D-level) should be light font italics.

Table

Table should facilitate comparisons, reveal relationships and save space. Do not repeat
information in the text presented in the tables or in charts or graphs. Tables should be
numbered consecutively as Table 1, Table 2, etc. in the order in which they are first
cited in the text. Each table with its heading should be typed using a smaller font than
the text (11 point, similar to the abstract to references). Column heads should be light,
not bold.

Units

All measurements are to be reported in SI units. For example, do not use quintal (q) but
use Kg or t instead. Units should be written leaving one space after the figures, e.g 2 kg,
3 m, 6.2 cm etc.

Papers based on theses

Papers based on theses should be presented with the thesis adviser(s) and co-
author(s), and should indicate the institution, the year the work was done, and the full
title of the thesis.

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5. 2. Theses Research Approval Processes

In this approval process, six important steps: namely formulation, submission,

reviewing, presentation, correcting presented proposal and final approval are described.
1. Formulation: The postgraduate student in close association with his/her thesis
research advisor(s) should identify researchable topic. Advisors are expected to
critically assess thesis research proposal before the student submit to the
department for reviewing. The assessment includes every section of the proposal
such as the title, relevance of the problem it is addressing, objectives set to address
the problem, relevant literature review, materials methods or approaches used to
meet the objectives set appropriateness of data analysis method to be used, work
plan, the project cost, budget source reference.

2. Submission:- student should submit three hard copies signed by him/her and the
advisor(s) of the research proposals written in accordance of the thesis research
proposal writing guidelines set by the office of RVP to their respective department
head (DGC chairperson) at least ten days before presentation at DGC level.

3. Reviewing:-The DGC chairperson gives the submitted thesis proposal in writings to

three professionals to review and tell their comments suggestion and questions
during the proposal presentation by the student at the DGC. The main objective of
the reviewing is to make the proposal improved, relevant to the standard, and
feasible.

4. Presentation: the presentation is a teaching learning processes where the student

will have an opportunity to let others know what he/she plans to research and why.
The presentation is not aimed to examine the student. It is rather to improve the
proposal, teach, help and encourage the student. The DGC chairperson sets a
schedule for the student where and when to present his/her proposal. The
chairperson has also a responsibility to facilitate the required resource materials
(computer, overhead, projector, etc) to be used by the student for the presentation.
Advisor(s) and at least two of the reviewers of the proposal should attend the
presentation. The reviewers could submit their comments to DGC chairperson or
come with their comments to the presentation. The student will present his/her
proposal briefly for 15 - 20 minutes. The presentation includes title; brief introduction
and objectives; materials and methods (experimental site, experiment descriptions,
data collection and analysis); work plan; and logistics (budget breakdown and
summary). After the presentation, questions, comments suggestions, and answers
will be entertained for about 30 minutes. Priority to comment will be given for the
reviewers of the proposals.

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5. Correcting the presented proposal: The student in association with his/her advisor(s)
should include all agreed corrections and suggestions during the presentation at the
DGC level. The corrected version of the proposal should be signed by the student
and his/her advisors) and submitted in five copies to the DGC chairperson. The
chairperson in association with the DGC secretary thoroughly checks for the
inclusion of the agreed corrections and suggestions. The DGC chairperson should
sign on the seven copies of the corrected and accepted proposal and send to the
respective School in writing with approved minutes attached.

6. Final Approval: The School assesses the proposal in terms of the guidelines used
and the correctness of the procedures used. The Dean signs on complete proposals,
and sends to the Research Vice-President for the final approval by the Managing
Board, where the logistic is critical examined. Incomplete proposals shall be sent
back to respective department for correction and completeness. The completed
proposal shall be sealed and sent to the sponsor (i.e. AU/RVP), with a copy to
advisor(s), department, Knowledge and Technology Interchange (KTI) unit and the
student. The schools will be briefed about the status of the students concerning
their thesis proposal, who are involved in advising them, their sponsors and the
same will be documented in School’s minutes.

5.3. Procedures and Decision Guidelines on M.Sc. Thesis

Defense Examination

All master (M.Sc. and Med) degree graduate study programs require an original
research based thesis. The thesis prepared in 5-6 copies is presented to board of
examiners appointed by the School Founder Dean and composed of a chairperson,
advisor(s), internal and external examiners. All members of the board of examiners
evaluate all aspects of the thesis (title, abstract, introduction, literature review, materials
and methods, results discussion, summary and conclusion).

5.3.1. Procedures

The following salient points constitute the procedural guidelines to be followed in the
administration of the thesis open defense examination.

1. The thesis defense is open to all interested.

2. The Board of examiners, which is nominated by the department graduate committee

(DGC) and endorsed by the School Dean, will examine the candidate.

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3. The chairperson of the board of examiners opens the meeting by introducing the
members of the board and inviting the advisor to introduce the candidate and her/his
graduate work

4. The advisor introduces and invites the candidate to present his thesis research work.

5. The candidate presents for 20-30 minutes the main results of her/his research work.

6. The members of the board of examiners examine the candidate for about 30-45
minutes on the subject of her/his thesis.

7. About 5 minutes are given to the audience to give comments and ask questions.

8. Based on the result of the open defense examination and assessment of the thesis
write up by each member of the board of examiners, an evaluation PASS /FAIL will
be given in both the thesis defense evaluation and the performance certification
forms, which are accordingly signed by the members.

9. An average letter grade of B or above B denotes Pass and an average letter grade
of below B denotes fail. Thesis defense examination grades of B and B+ are
equivalent of Good, A is very good and A+ is an excellent.

10. The chairperson announces the decision of the board of examiners to the candidate
and the audience.

5.3.2. Decision

The decision of the board of examiners is based on the thesis write up, presentation
and the defense examination. The following six decisions are open to the board of
examiners.

1. Accepted

Thesis may or may not require typographical and/or minor editorial corrections to be
made to the satisfaction of the advisor(s).

2. Accepted with minor modifications

Thesis requires major editorial changes which are to be made to the satisfaction of
committee designated by the board of examiners from among its members and the
advisor(s). The examining Board’s report must include a brief outline of the nature of the
changes required and must indicate the time by which the changes are to be completed.

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3. Accepted with major modification

Thesis requires minor changes in substance and major editorial changes, which are to
be made to the satisfaction of committee designated by the board of examiners from
among its members, and at least one of the examiners should be a member. The
examining board’s report must include a brief outline of the nature of the changes
required and must indicate the time by which the changes are to be completed.

4. Deferred

Thesis requires modification of substantial nature the need for which makes the
acceptability of the thesis questionable. The examining board’s report must contain brief
outline of the modification expected and should indicate the time by which the changes
are to be completed. The revised thesis must be resubmitted to the School Dean for re-
examination. The reexamination will follow the sane procedures as for the initial
submission except that the display period may be reduced or eliminated at the
discretion of the School Dean. Normally the same board of examiners will serve. A
decision to defer is open only once for each candidate.

4. Pending

If the board is not prepared to reach a decision concerning the thesis at the time of the
thesis defense, it is the responsibility of the chair person to determine and obtain what
additional information is required by board to reach a decisions and to call another
meeting of the board as soon as the required information is revived. Candidates should
not normally be required to present themselves to the board of examiners at the second
meeting. If all but one member of the board agrees on a decision, the decision shall be
that of the majority except when the one dissenting vote is that of the external examiner.
In this case the occurrence must be reported to Research Vice-President through the
School Dean. If two or more dissenting votes are recorded, the case must be also
referred to the Research Vice-President through the School Dean.

5. Rejection

Thesis may be rejected if it does not maintain the standard due to methodologies used
in execution, analysis and interpretation. The board of examiners shall report the
reasons for rejection and advice on the future opportunity of the candidate to complete
his study

6. Appeal

Candidates have the right to appeal their complaints in writing on their own or with
consent of the advisor(s) to the CGS through SGS when thesis is differed or rejected by

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the Board of examiners. The CGS will examine the candidate’s appeal VIS a vis the
Board of examiners decision by establishing a committee of professionals and pass a
final verdict which will be communicated to the candidate and the Board of examiners.

5.3.3. Graduation

The candidate has to incorporate the necessary corrections into the thesis in
accordance with the decisions of the board of examiners. This thesis thus revised shall
then be submitted to the DGC. The DGC should make sure that all the relevant
requests have been accommodated in the revised version of the thesis. The
chairpersons of the DGC may solicit help from any member of the board of examiners in
this process. The DGC should formally deliberate on thesis prior to submitting its
recommendations to the Dean of the respective School.

On the basis of the board of examiners report and their own records of the candidate’s
progress in her/ his assigned program of study, the DGC members decide whether the
candidate has fulfilled the requirements for the master degree. If the decision positive,
the supporting documentation ( hard and soft copies of final thesis) will be forwarded to
the School with the request that she or he is recommend to be awarded the degree. The
Dean examines this request in light of the report from the chairperson of the board of
examiners, and will present to the Research Vice-President, to recommend to the MB
that the candidate be awarded the degree.

5.4. Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Examination procedures

PhD degree requires an original research based dissertation. The dissertation prepared
in six copes should be submitted to DGC for approval at least three months before the
proposed date of defense examination. Dissertations can be submitted either as
monograph or compilation of published articles for the work done from the approved
dissertation research proposal and or manuscripts. The DGC proposes board of
examiners (BOE). The BOE is composed of a chairperson from AU, an internal
examiner from AU and an external examiner outside AU. The external examiner could
be from abroad or within Ethiopia. The examiners are expected to be holding a
professorial rank or Associate professor or equivalent with long experience having
supervised Ph.D. students. The proposed BOE would be approved by the School
Graduate Council (SGC). The BOE members will have a copy of the dissertation at
least two months before the proposed date of examination. The members including the
chairperson evaluate all aspects of the dissertation (abstract, introduction, literature
review, materials and methods, results, discussion, summary and conclusion).

5.4.1. Procedure

The following salient points constitute the procedural guidelines to be followed in the
administration of the dissertation open defense examination

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1. The dissertation defense examination is open to all interested and it will be for a
maximum of three hours.

2. The Head of the department from which the candidate is defending opens the
defense examination forum by introducing the members of the BOE (name
qualification, field of study, position, and institutional affiliation), the advisors and
invites the chairperson to invite the major advisor to introduce the candidate.

3. The major advisor introduces the candidate and his/her research work briefly and
then invites the candidate to present her/his dissertation research work.

4. The candidate presents for a maximum of one hour the main findings of her/his
research work.

5. The chairperson invites the external and internal examiners to present their
evaluation assessment of the dissertation for a maximum of 15 minutes each.

6. The chairperson invites the candidate for the reaction to the evaluation assessment.

7. The chairperson invites the examiners to examine the candidate. This examination
would be for a maximum of one hour.

8. About 15 minutes are given to the audience including advisors to give comments
and ask question.

9. Based on the result of the assessment of the dissertation write up and open defense
examination by the BOE, an overall evaluation PASS/FAIL will be given in both the
dissertation defense evaluation and the performance certification forms, which are
accordingly signed by the BOE.

10. An average letter grade of B or above denotes PASS and an average letter grade
below B denotes FAIL. Dissertation defense examination grade of B and B+ is
equivalent to good, A is very good and A+ is an excellent.

11. The chairperson announces the decision of the BOE to the candidate and the
audience.

5.4.2. Decision

The decision of the BOE is based on the dissertation write up assessment, presentation
and the defense examination. The following decisions are open to BOE.
1 Accept the dissertation is accepted as it is.

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2. Accepted subject to major editorial changes in unpublished articles to the
satisfaction of the internal examiner and major advisor

3. Differed: the dissertation requires modification of a substantial nature the need for
which makes the acceptability of the dissertation questionable. The BOE’s report
must contain a brief outline of the modifications expected and should indicate the
time by which the changes are to be completed. The revised dissertation must be
resubmitted to the School Graduate Council (SGC) through DGC for reexamination.
The re- examination will follow the same procedures as for the initial submission
except that the display period may be reduced or cancelled at the discretion of the
Dean, SGC. Normally the same BOE will serve. A decision to differ is open only
once for each candidate.

4. Pending: If the board is not prepared to reach a decision concerning the dissertation
at the time of dissertation defense, it is the responsibility of the chairperson to
determine and obtain what additional information is required by the Board to reach a
decision and to call another meeting of the board as soon as the required
information is received. The candidate should not normally be required to present
himself to BOE at the second meeting. If all but one member of the board agrees on
a decision, the decision shall be that of the majority except when the one dissenting
vote is that of the external examiner. In this case the dissenting vote must be
reported to RVP through SGC. If there is no agreement or dissenting vote is from the
external examiner, the dean School will report the case to the RVP for deliberation
and decision.

5. Rejection: Dissertation may be rejected if it does not maintain the standard due to
methodologies used in execution, analysis and interpretation. The BOE shall report
the reasons for rejection and advice on the future opportunity of the candidate to
complete her/his study.

6. Appeal: A candidate has the right to appeal in writings on his own or with consent of
the advisor(s) to the VPR through the SGC when the dissertation is differed or
rejected by the BOE within one month after the defense examination. The RVP will
examine the candidates appeal vis a vis the BOE decision by establishing a
committee of professionals and pass a final verdict which will be communicated to
the candidate and the BOE within three months of appeal by the student.

5.5. Thesis Advisor’s Remuneration Scheme

1. An M.Sc. thesis research sole advisor both from AU and outside will be paid a
remuneration amounting to 6000.00 (six thousand) Birr on successful completion of
advisory service evidenced at the end of thesis defense examination. When a co-

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 advisor is involved the major advisor will be remunerated 4000 (67% of 6000) Birr
and the co-advisor birr 2000 (33% of 6000).

2. The proposed remuneration rate is based on the current consideration of a thesis

advisor ship load as 1 credit which equals about 32 credit hr.

3. Students are advised to include thesis advisors remuneration cost in their thesis
proposal. Sponsors should pay such cost directly to AU and there should not be any
deal about the payment between the student and advisors.

4. The advisor(s) will not have any role in selecting the board of examiners and will not
be members of the examining board. The department graduate committee (DGC) is
expected to appoint the right professionals to examine the thesis. The procedures of
appointing board of examiners and thesis defense examination will be prepared and
ratified by SGC.

5. At the end of thesis defense examination, if the verdict of the board of examiners is
that the thesis is deferred or passed with major modification, because of the content,
write-up methodology, analysis, or interpretation, the advisor (s) are not entitled to
the remuneration proposed in no 1 above. If the thesis is deferred only due the
candidate’s incompetence to defend the thesis the advisor (s) shall be remunerated.

6. The role of thesis advisor (s) during the thesis defense examination would be limited
to introducing the candidate and explaining some issues when requested by the
examiners. The advisor(s) may ask the student on certain issues, but should not
behave in an offending manner by arguing with other members of the board. The
advisor(s) will be in the audience and will not have any role in the process of verdict
about the thesis defense. This is to exclude that advisors should not argue on behalf
of their advisees and influence the examining board during passing verdict.

7. For those advisors who fail to discharge their duties up to standard, the DGC are
commissioned to suggest possible measures.

8. Advisor(s) shall be paid full remuneration for re-defended and qualified thesis which
has been deferred on first defense examination.

6. Initiation, Submission and Approval of Research Proposals

Research proposals may be initiated by any university member(s) individually or in

group (Fig. 1) and be submitted to the respective department head. The department
head is responsible for the facilitation of research activities in the department. He should
clearly convince the teaching staff members that there will be no academic promotion
without research project and publication. The department head will arrange

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Departmental Annual Research Review Day on which all new research proposals are
presented for further amendments, comments, adjustments, etc or even for rejection.
Those amendments, comments and adjustments are incorporated in the qualified
research proposals and be sent to the Knowledge and Technology Transfer Unit (KTI).
The KTI will arrange University Annual Research Review Day, on which new, on-
going and completed researches are presented. Internal and external experts are
invited for critical evaluation of the research proposal. The KTI will form an ad hoc
committee consisting of senior researchers, which will evaluate the new research
proposals on the date of the presentation. For this purpose, evaluation sheet will be
distributed to the evaluators on that date. The results of the evaluation will be collected
by KTI. The originators of the successful research proposals are communicated to
incorporate the constructive amendments, comments, adjustments, etc given on the
Annual Review Day. The enriched research proposals will be resubmitted to the office
of KTI unit in two copies. The KTI office will submit to the office of the Research Vice-
President for further endorsement by the Managing Board. The Managing Board can
reject, make some financial modifications or fully accept as it is. After getting the
approval of the Managing Board, the principal investigator will be communicated
through KTI office to submit four copies of the final draft of the proposal and sign
contractual agreement with the University (VPR). Finally, the archive, the principal
investigator, the KTI and the RVP will each get one copy of sealed research document.

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 Research Proposal

Research Proposal (student) Research Proposal (Staff)

Department Head

KTI

VPR

MB

Fig.1. Research application procedures

References

Bauer, Henry H., Scientific Literacy and the Myth of the Scientific Method, University of
Illinois Press, Champaign, IL, 1992

Bernstein, Richard J., Beyond Objectivism and Relativism: Science, Hermeneutics, and
Praxis, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA, 1983.

Bozinovski, Stevo, Consequence Driven Systems: Teaching, Learning, and Self-

Learning Agents, GOCMAR Publishers, Bitola, Macedonia, 1991.

Brody, Baruch A., and Grandy, Richard E., Readings in the Philosophy of Science, 2nd
edition, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1989.

Brody, Thomas A. (1993), The Philosophy Behind Physics, Springer Verlag, ISBN 0-
387-55914-0 . (Luis De La Pena and Peter E. Hodgson, eds.) Burks, Arthur W.,

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Chance, Cause, Reason — An Inquiry into the Nature of Scientific Evidence, University
of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1977.

Bynum, W.F.; Porter, Roy (2005), Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations, Oxford,
ISBN 0-19-858409-1 .

Chomsky, Noam, Reflections on Language, Pantheon Books, New York, NY, 1975.

di Francia, G. Toraldo (1981), The Investigation of the Physical World, Cambridge

University Press, ISBN 0-521-29925-X .

Earman, John (ed.), Inference, Explanation, and Other Frustrations: Essays in the
Philosophy of Science, University of California Press, Berkeley & Los Angeles, CA,
1992.

Fleck, Ludwik (1975), Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact, Univ. of Chicago,
ISBN 0-226-25325-2 . (written in German, 1935, Entstehung und Entwickelung einer
wissenschaftlichen Tatsache: Einführung in die Lehre vom Denkstil und Denkkollectiv)

Gadamer, Hans-Georg, Reason in the Age of Science, Frederick G. Lawrence (trans.),

MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1981.

Giere, Ronald N. (ed.), Cognitive Models of Science, vol. 15 in 'Minnesota Studies in the
Philosophy of Science', University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 1992.

Glen, William (ed.) (1994), The Mass-Extinction Debates: How Science Works in a
Crisis, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-2285-4 .

Godfrey-Smith, Peter (2003), Theory and Reality: An introduction to the philosophy of

science, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-30063-3.

Gauch, Hugh G., Jr., Scientific Method in Practice (2003), Cambridge University Press,
2003, ISBN 0521017084, 435 pages

Hacking, Ian, Representing and Intervening, Introductory Topics in the Philosophy of

Natural Science, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1983.

Kuhn, Thomas S., The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, University of Chicago Press,
Chicago, IL, 1962. 2nd edition 1970. 3rd edition 1996.

Maxwell, Nicholas, The Comprehensibility of the Universe: A New Conception of

Science, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998. Paperback 2003.

McComas, William F., ed. The Principal Elements of the Nature of Science: Dispelling
the MythsPDF (189 KiB), from The Nature of Science in Science Education, pp53-70,
Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands 1998.

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McElheny, Victor K. (2004), Watson & DNA: Making a scientific revolution, Basic Books,
ISBN 0-7382-0866-3 .

Mill, John Stuart, "A System of Logic", University Press of the Pacific, Honolulu, 2002,
ISBN 1-4102-0252-6.

Newell, Allen, Unified Theories of Cognition, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA,
1990.

Ørsted, Hans Christian (1997), Selected Scientific Works of Hans Christian Ørsted,
Princeton, ISBN 0-691-04334-5 . Translated to English by Karen Jelved, Andrew D.
Jackson, and Ole Knudsen, (translators 1997).

Peirce, C.S. (1998), The Essential Peirce, Selected Philosophical Writings,

Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press , Peirce Edition Project (eds.), Volume 1
(1867–1893) is ISBN 0-253-32849-7, Volume 2 (1893–1913) is ISBN 0-253-33397-0

Salmon, Wesley C. (1990), Four Decades of Scientific Explanation, University of

Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.

Shimony, Abner, Search for a Naturalistic World View: Vol. 1, Scientific Method and
Epistemology, Vol. 2, Natural Science and Metaphysics, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, UK, 1993.

Ziman, John (2000). Real Science: what it is, and what it means. Cambridge, Uk:
Cambridge University Press.

List of Appendices

Appendix A: Guidelines for reviewers

Appendix B: Adama University’s research fund grant agreement form
Appendix C: Activity plan and financial request form for release of the first tranche
Appendix D: Expenditure report and request form for additional payment
Appendix E: Form for thesis research proposal work plan and budget items

Appendix A

Guidelines for Reviewers

Adama University has already started Master and Ph. D by research for up grading of
the teaching staff based on the Framework “Setting up Adama University”, which was
developed by a highly experienced German Scientist, Prof. Dr. Dr. Herbert Eichele,. The

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fund focuses on selected high priority topics within the framework of the AU and
national priorities. The University also invites research proposals by university
community, which help the transformation process of the University. It relies on peer
reviewers to review and rate research proposals and make recommendations that form
the basis for final selection of research proposal for funding. In addition the reviewers
provide written feed-back for submission by the University to the researcher for each
research proposal. To assist in the process of reviewing research proposals, Adama
University has prepared guidelines outlined below. In addition a proposal rating sheet
has been prepared for qualitative and quantitative assessment of the proposal.

Part A: Guidelines

Reviewers reports

Reviewer’s critiques (excluding reviewer’s name) i.e. Form B could be forwarded to

principal investigator to provide him/her with the feedback on the result of the review of
the proposal. No material would be included which might allow the applicant to identify
the reviewer.

Confidentiality

Adama University receives research proposals in confidence and is responsible for

protecting the confidentiality of their contents. For this reason a reviewers is requested
to respect this confidence and to refrain from copying, quoting or otherwise using
material from the proposal.

Reviewer- Applicant Contact

It is not expected that a reviewer will contact an applicant directly to discuss a research
proposal. If significant contact is inevitable or occurs, it should be noted as part of the
confidential report ( Form A)

Review and Rating of Proposals

The attached proposal rating sheet should be used for qualitative and quantitative
assessment of each proposal using the following descriptive points as a checklist

------ Appendix A continued -----

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I. Content (Scientific soundness, methodology….etc)

Title

Is the title appropriate & clear?

Does it reflect the content of the proposal adequately?

Literature Review

Is there adequate information to demonstrate the feasibility of the project?

Has the researcher demonstrated awareness of the previous and alternate approaches
to the problem identified in the proposal?

Objectives

Are the objectives relevant & Clear?

Do they synchronize with the title of the proposal?

Research Design and Methodology

Is the research design strategy or methodology in accordance with acceptable scientific

protocols to meet the objectives?
Does the work plan/ implementation timetable follow the most logical approach?
Is the methodology fully described, suitable and feasible

Dissemination of Information/ Results

¾ Does the proposal show an effective methodology for dissemination of findings to

the end users?

II. Relevance

Focus

Is the research project proposal demand driven

Is it unique or original?
Does it aim at a fuller exploitation of available technologies and how (e.g. How to
enhance productivity from existing released technologies etc.)?

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Is the research testing a sound scientific hypothesis, developing a new technology,
seeking to improve or document a new technique, technology, or policy?

Contribution

How large is the target group, which will utilize the results or the technology generated?

------ Appendix A continued -----

Results

Will the anticipated results have an impact in AU transformation framework?

Is the impact measurable?
What is the probability of the success of the project?

III Budget request

Is the budget request appropriate, relevant and realistic for the need of the research
project?
Is it cost effective
Is the benefit anticipated from the project related to the cost of the research?

Review’s Recommendations

For each proposal, the reviewer should summarize the recommendation in terms of the
final action that the Managing Board (MB) should consider. The final recommendation
should be in one of the following categories as indicated in the proposal rating sheet:
Recommended for funding
Recommended for funding after minor corrections/ revisions have been made
Proposal recommended for revision and resubmission
Not recommended

Reviewer’s response

A reviewer’s early response will be greatly appreciated. If for any reason a reviewer
cannot assess a proposal, or may not mail or fax an assessment to reach the Research
Vice-President (RVP) within the required time, then he/she should return immediately
the research proposal to RVP.

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Correspondence

All correspondence should be addressed to

Research Vice-President
Adama University
P.O.Box 1888
E-mail:VPResearch@Adama-university.net
Tel. 022 110 00 53 (Direct)
Fax 022 110 00 46
Adama

------ Appendix A continued -----

Part B: Proposals rating sheet for AU

Project Code: ___________________________

Qualitative evaluation Quantitative evaluation

A.1 Tick(x) the most appropriate rating A. Write the appropriate score( final
in the space provided score in the scale of 100 points)
I. Content (Scientific soundness, I. content ( Scientific soundness
methodology, flow…etc) methodology, flow …etc)
__________highly appropriate 0-35 points
__________Reasonably Appropriate ___________Score
__________Inappropriate
II. Relevance II Relevance
________Highly relevant 0-35 points
________reasonably relevant ___________Score
________irrelevant
III. Budget request III. Budget request
________highly realistic 0-15
________reasonably realistic ___________Score
________Unrealistic
IV. Resource( other than finance) IV Resources ( other than finance)
(competence of applicants and ( Competence of applicant/s and
availability of support facilities Availability of support Facilities )
___________Likely high 0-15
___________Average Score_______________
___________Low
Total Score : ________________/100
------ Appendix A continued -----

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Summary recommendation

Recommended
Recommended but minor corrections/ revisions to be made
Revise and submit
Not recommended
Reviewer’s Name Signature Date

Form A:

Comments and confidential suggestions for ARF secretariat use only

Form B
Comments and suggestions for the consumption of principal investigator (PI) to improve
the quality of the project proposal according to the guidelines provided.

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Appendix B

Adama University’s research fund grant agreement form

Agreement dated between Adama University (herein after

referred to as “AU” address: P. O. Box 1888, Adama, Ethiopia, Telephone 022 110 00
53, Fax 022 110 00 46 on the one part and the principal investigator (name of applicant
hereinafter referred to as “PI” Address
P.O. Box and telephone

Whereas:

The PI has requested a research grant from AU for the purpose of financing the project
entitled and described as per the attached project document;
a) The grant is to be administered by AU and AU has agreed to allocate Birr
( )to the PI upon the terms and conditions
hereinafter set forth

Now therefore, the parties hereby agree as follows:

Article 1

Undertaking by the Principal Investigator

The principal investigator shall:

Section 1.01: Undertake the project in accordance with the terms and conditions set
forth in this agreement

Section 1.02: Undertake the project within ______weeks after the release of the initial
research grant.

Section 1.03: Identify another investigator in the proposal in case he fails to carry out
the project for any reason.

Section 1.04: Submit quarterly (in applicable) semi annual and completion reports as
per Article 5 of this agreement

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Article 2

Amount of Grant

Section 2.01: AU agrees to allocate a sum of Birr

( ) to the PI for the period of

------ Appendix B continued -----

Years commencing this day of

Section 2.02: The fund shall be administered through the AU rules and regulations.

Article 3

Accountability of Adama University

Section 3.01: AU shall administer the researcher project and Provide all services and
facilities consistent with the terms and Conditions stated in the agreement.

Section 3.02: AU shall be responsible for the proper administration of the fund
allocated for the project. Fund disbursements are made in accordance with the project
document, Fund disbursement are valid and supported by adequate documentation, An
appropriate system of internal control is maintained and can be relied upon. Financial
and progress reports are fair and accurately presented and Uncommitted fund is
returned to AU at the end of the project life.

Section 3.03: AU shall administer the funds under its financial regulations, rules,
practices and procedures

Section 3.04: As part of fulfilling its judiciary responsibility for the management of the
allocated resources, AU shall designate authorized officials and provide written
certification thereon for Withdrawal from the special account, Requests for advances of
project funds, and Requests for AU to disburse project funds directly

Section 3.05: AU shall ensure maintenance of proper accounts and records of the
allocated resources for the project to enable the PI to prepare accurate report on the
financial status of funds

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Article 4

Disbursement and Accounting of Fund

Section 4.01: The PI will submit a formal request for an advance of payments for the
first six months according to the approved work plan and budget using AU form

Section 4.02: Subsequent request for satisfactory & scheduled progress and financial
reports and the audit utilization certificates of earlier released funds should accompany
release of funds as necessary and appropriate

Section 4.03: The research fund from the AU is subject to auditors. The result will be
published and copies will be made available to all stakeholders.

Section 4.04: Unless otherwise agreed by the parties involved, any unutilized balance
must be refunded to AU by the end of the project life.

Article 5

Submission of Reports

Section 5.01: The PI shall submit progress and financial reports in 2 copies, every
three months and final report one month after the completion of this agreement.

Article 6

Utilization of the Fund

Section 6.01: The fund granted shall be utilized in accordance with the budget break
down presented on the project document

Section 6.02: AU’s accounting & procurement procedures will apply for the
administration and management of the fund.

Section 6.03: The PI shall not utilize the fund for purposes other than what is stated in
the attached project documents

Section 6.04: Unutilized funds shall be either earmarked for the continuation of the
same research/project for the next stage of its development with the consent of MB, or
shall be returned to the AU.

Section 6.05: After the completion of this agreement, any equipment or materials
acquired from this research fund shall be the property of the institute.

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Section 6.06: AU furnishes with a report listing non expendable property purchased
during the project period within 30 days following the end of the project

Article 7

Monitoring and Evaluation

Section 7.01: AU shall follow the progress of the research activity and ensure that work
schedules the production of targeted outputs and required actions are proceeding
according to plan

Section 7.02: A quarter/semi-annual progress report should be submitted by the PI in

relation to the objectives set about the schedule of actions, constraints and plans for the
next phases of activities. Failure to submit reports will enforce directives to cease
expenditure of funds until the report is received.

Section 7.03: All reports would be examined and reviewed for completeness,
attachment of required documentation by AU Knowledge and Technology
Interchange

(KTI) unit as appropriate and if further actions were required the PI may be asked to
provide explanations.

Section 7.04: Reports should be submitted according to the guidelines for performance
and progress report formats. A complete final report should be submitted showing
results of the undertaking and expected impact.

Article 8

Publication and Ownership of Intellectual Property Right

Section 8.01: AU does not claim rights to any publications, inventions or patents arising
out of the project other than due acknowledgement on publications and information on
any meaningful applications of the research result.

Article 9

Change in the Project Documents

Section 9.01: Any major change such as change in the objective(s), methodology, work
plan, etc. in the project document shall be reported to KTI.

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Article 10

Breach of Agreement

Section 10.01: Utilization of the fund granted partially or wholly for purposes other than
what is stated in the project document.

Section 10.02: Failure in the submission of progress, financial, and final reports.

Article 11

Effect of Breach of Agreement

Section 10.01: The PI shall be liable partially or wholly if there exists a breach of
agreement pursuant to Article 10 of this agreement.

Section 10.02: The PI shall be liable for non performance of his/her responsibilities
stated in this agreement

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Article 12

Effective Date of the Agreement

This agreement shall come into force on the date of its signature this day of

For Adama University The PI

Name Name
KTI representative

Signature Signature

Date Date

Witnesses

1. Name Name
Research Vice-President
Signature Signature

2. Name Signature

3. Name Signature

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Appendix C

Activity plan and financial request form for release of the first tranch

No Planned activities Associated Remark

exp.
Req(Birr)

Total

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Appendix D

Expenditure report and request form for additional payment

(To be submitted quarterly with certified copies of accounting and progress reports)

Project Title
Principal investigator:
Contract No Tranche No
Host institution:
Part A: Expenditure Report of Tranche No .

Months(identify as months 1,2,3………etc)

Month Month______ Month______ Total_________
1.Wages/fees/allownace
2. Travel
a) Domestic
i) per -diem
ii) transport
b) International
3. Equipment
4. Expendable supplies
5.Pistage/Tel.charge
6. Literature
7. Printing/Publishing
8.Seminars/Workshops
9. Maintenance
10 Miscellaneous
Total

Part B: Budget request form for the next ( ) trenche

a) Amount disbursed in the last tranche( Birr):

b) Total expenditure of current report( Birr)
c) Current Balance (a - b) birr

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d) Request for additional payment to cover the following three months:
Month birr
Month birr
Month birr
Total additional payment requested (birr):
e) Amount to be paid (total additional payment requested less balance) (d - c)
Birr ( )

------ Appendix D continued -----

f) Certification

a) I certify that the funds have been used according to the approved work plan and
reporting make as part of accomplishment of the indicated project.
Signed Name Date

b) I certify that the funds have been used on eligible items in the approved work
plan and that the funds have been accounted for according to the institutions
account system
Signed __________________name ________________Date

g) Examination

I have examined the expenditure detailed above and hereby make the following
observations and recommendations

Observations
Recommendation (s)

Signed name date

(Accountant AU)

H. Authorization
According to the observations and recommendation(s) made under(I) I hereby authorize
payment of Birr: ( )
Signed: Name Date
(AU)

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 Signed: Name Date
(RVP)
Signed Name Date
Finance specialist (AU)

------ Appendix D continued -----

Summary of Financial And activity Report*

Project Code:
Executed Tranche No
Duration of period to
Planned activities / associated Exp. Made Milestones Ass. Exp made
Milestones Request (birr) Conditions for release (birr) Remark
Name of PI: signature date
For: RVP use only
Recommendation
a) High performance recommended for release
b) Medium performance but can be released under close supervision
c) Low performance, immediate evaluation is needed before release
d) Poor performance, stop release and report to the MB for termination
Signature Date

Attach details of work plan by month and related expenditure in a separate paper.

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Appendix E

Form for thesis research proposal work plan and budget items

Work Plan

SN Activities Duration
1 Seed preparation
2 Land preparation
3 Planting
4 Field supervision and data collection
5 Laboratory data collection
6 Data analysis and thesis write-up
7 Thesis submission

The research work plan should include the time schedule for the accomplishment of the
major activities and planned in such a manner that the student will be able to complete
his MSc or Med studies within the stipulated period of two years.

Logistics:

A. Personnel Expenses

Total
Daily payment
S.N Activity Unit No Payment
(Birr)
( birr)
1 Land preparation Man days
2 Seed preparation Man days
3 Planting Man days
3 Bird scaring Man days
4 Guard Man days
5 Data collection Man days
6 Harvesting Man days
7 Field assistants Man days
8 Enumerators Man days
9 Supervision fee Man days
Sub total

The different field activities enumerated in the above table are expected to be modified
depending on the program and the research project. The man days required for each

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activity will depend on the scope of the research project and is variable between
projects. However the supervision fee of 6000 birr is common for all graduate research
projects.

------ Appendix E continued -----

B. Per diem

SN Person No of days Daily rate Total

1 Student 90
2 Advisor(s) 10
3 Co- advisor 10
4 Driver
Sub total

The per diem request by students should not exceed 90 days under any circumstances.
The per diem request for major advisor and co advisor need not exceed 10 days each.

C. Transport Expense

No of Cost trip Total cost (

No Person Departure Destination
trips ( Birr) Birr)
1 Student
2 Advisor
3 Co-advisor
Sub total

The expense under this title include that required for the transport cost of advisors to
visit the graduate students research site and the transport costs required by the student
to travel occasionally between the research site and Adama University or location of
laboratories in which sample analysis are conducted. If vehicle is used for transport,
detailed fuel and lubricants requirement to the distance traveled and costs required for
the purpose should be included in the table.

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D. Stationery

Total
Unit price
SN Item Unit Quantity Price
(Birr)
(Birr)
1 Floppy Dist 1.5 Packet 1
2 Re-writeable CD disk No 1
3 Flash Disk No 1 500 50
4 LaserJet cartridge No 1 1000 1000
5 Printing paper Packet 3
6 Photocopy paper Packet 2
7 Note book ( big) No 2
8 Note book (small) No 2
9 Marker Packet 1
10 Transparency Packet 1
11 Pen Packet 1
12 Staples Packet 2
13 Scotch tape No 1
14 Box file No 2
15 File with fastener No 10
Sub-total

Graduate students undertaking field survey as a part of their research can request
additional four packets of duplicating paper. The costs for purchasing the flash disk and
toner cartridge should not exceed that indicated on the table. The quantities of materials
that have to be approved as per the graduate students request should not exceed than
what is given in the table.

E. Supplies

Unit Total
SN Items Unit Quantity price price
(Birr) ( Birr )
1 Cloth bag (Abujedi)
2 Chemical Fungicides
3 Paper bag
4 Fertilizer (urea)
5 Fertilizer ( DAP) packet 2
6 Color film
Sub total

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The list of materials under this category cannot be complete since it differs between
graduate studies program and the nature of research conducted in each program. The
department graduate committee (DGC) is expected to stream line the materials and
associated costs.

F. Laboratory analysis cost

Type of
Total sample Unit cost sample Total Cost Birr
analysis
DM
Ash
ADF
NDF
ADL
CP
IVDMD
subtotal

The items under this cost title are variable between programs and research projects.
Each department DGC is expected to evaluate the laboratory costs objectively.
Students are expected to undertake all the laboratory analytical work arising from the
conduct of their research unless facilities are limiting in the department.

G. Miscellaneous

SN Item or service required Price ( Birr)

1 Film processing and development 100
2 Communications and photocopy services 1000
Subtotal

The costs given in the above list are the maximum that can be approved for each item.

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H. Budget summary

No Descriptions Sub total(Birr)

1 Personnel expense
2 Perdiem
3 Travel expense
4 Stationery
5 Supplies
6 Laboratory cost
7 Miscellaneous
8 Contingency (1-5%)
Total 28,000

Budget source: Indicate the sponsor who will cover the cost of the research project.

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