ScientificMethod Part II HCMUT-HCMUNS v2

Lectures on Scientific Research Methods
Scientific Research Methods:

Processes, Techniques, Models and Practices
Part II
Prof. Dr. DUONG Nguyen Vu

Affiliate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
HCM University of Technology
Academic Advisor, Faculty of Information Technology

University of Natural Sciences, Vietnam National University HCM
Senior Scientific Advisor, EUROCONTROL EEC

Co-Director, Complex System Modeling & Cognition Joint Research Lab
Professor, Charge de Conferences Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Sorbonnes Paris.
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© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 1

Contents
 Selecting a research topic:

 Searching a research problem,
 Research Plan: Goals and Elements,
 Defining a Research Hypothesis,
 Forms: declarative, negative (null), interrogative.
 Expected Results: extended scope, boundaries, precision, assumptions
 Criteria of Good Hypotheses: Scientific Validity, Testability, Clarity, Coherency,
Consistency.
 Planning and Methodology,
 Estimating Feasibility of an Investigation:
 Domains of Investigation, availability of expertise and data, etc.
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First Step
« The difference between a trivial project and

a significant project
is not the amount of work required to carry it out,
but the amount of thought that you apply
in the selection and definition of your problem. »
David P. Beach & Torsten K.E. Alvager

Handbook for Scientific and Technical Research,
Prentice-Hall, 1992, p. 29
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Formulating a Problem
The process of problem formulation implies a series of reiterated

actions:
Original Problem
Decision about
The Subject
Discussions:
Modified Problem
Bibliographic ∃ literature
Search
or public ?
Finalized Problem
Research Planning BK
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Innovative Research Area, EEC
I. Formulating a Problem and

Posing Research Hypotheses
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation

Problem Formulation
 First step in all research projects.

 Generally, most difficult element of this process is the starting point:
origin idea / topic.
 Usually, a research topic is suggested by the research
director/supervisor: the topic is often chosen among the set of
problems that has been actively investigated by the group for a while.
 Even though, initial idea is usually vague or brut, and necessitates
improvements and/or developments.
 For these reasons, this is the stage where experience, creativity,
originality,etc. are more than necessary.
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Research a Research Problem
 A Doctoral research consists normally to:

 Develop a new theory, a new formalism, or
 Contribute to an existing theory or formalism.
 Creativity, Originality?
 Classroom discussion: Are these capacities natural?
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Developing Creativity
 Lateral Thinking:
 Search in the falsified domains,
 Negation of a norm or standard that has been accepted as an evidence,
 Find a replacing solution to the negation.
 Example: « restaurant - menu »
 Menu-less Restaurant
 What are the replacing solutions?
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Exercise
 Form groups of 4-5 students,

 Discuss a research topic using lateral thinking approach,
 Refine the topic though the problem formulation process
(hypothesis definition, literature search) as an initial research
idea that fulfils the originality criteria.
 The selected research topic will be used as a mini-research
topic at all stages of the course.
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Formulating a Problem
The process of problem formulation implies a series of reiterated

actions:
Original Problem
Decision about
The Subject
Discussions:
Modified Problem
Bibliographic ∃ literature
Search
or public ?
Finalized Problem
Research Planning BK
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Refining a Research Topic
 Topics that are too vague or imprecise require a large quantity

of work.
 Mathematically, a problem leading to more than one solution is
called “ill-posed problem.”
Problem Space Solution Space
Constraints
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Hypothesis
 Hypothesis expresses the elements of a research problem.

 Therefore, the hypotheses define the set of experiments to be
conducted during the research.
 In practice, a research topic contains more than one unknown.
During the scientific or technologic research process, the
researcher drives for the clarification of this unknown with
irrefutable evidences or proofs.
 It is important that these hypotheses be well-posed.
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Forms of Hypotheses (1)
 Declarative
 Expresses the relations between variables that investigators expect to
converge.
 e.g., «There’s significant increase in the consumption of a car using
multi-viscosity oil comparing with those using mono-viscosity oil. »
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 Negative (null or falsified):

 Expresses the nonexistence of relations between experimental variables.
 Doesn’t necessarily represent what the experimenter expected but often used
due to natural fitting with statistical techniques many of which aim at measuring
the unlikelihood (that a found difference be higher than zero).
R(Vi,Vj) ∀(Vi,Vj) : R(Vi,Vj) ⊥ ∅

Vi V ⇔ PR(vi, vj) ≈ 0
j
 Attention to confusion because expression is contrary to
expectation.
 Example: «The increase in the consumption of a car using multi-viscosity
oil is not significant comparing to those using mono-viscosity oil. »
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 Interrogative:
 Under the form of questions, the hypothesis interrogates about the the
possible possible between experimental variables.
 More natural for beginners,
 Example : «Is there any significant increase in the consumption …. ? »
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Validity of a hypothesis
 Results of the experiments demonstrate the validity of a hypothesis.

 An hypothesis is not necessarily true to be valid.
 Transporting an information that contributes is sufficient.
 In practice, many hypotheses have been validated because they provide
significant information despite their falsified results.
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Results of a Hypothesis
 Hypothesis providing experimentations for a theory, through an

affirmation or an invalidation/disqualification of the specific
predictions established from this theory, must be tested in one
of 4 ways:
 For an extended scope of the theory,
 For the limits of the applicability of the theory,
 For an improved exactitude of the theory,
 For the validation of the basic assumptions of the theory.
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Hypothesis Validating a Theory
 Test for an extended scope:

 A theory is often applicable to sole certain restricted situations or
conditions. The theory can become more “powerful” if it is demonstrated
to be applicable to other instances.
 In the contrary, it reinforces the limits of the applicability of the theory.
 Test for the limits of the applicability:
 E.g., Einstein’s theory of relativity doesn’t falsify Newton’s mechanic. It
only describes the limits to which the theory is applicable.
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Hypothesis Validating a Theory
 Test for improving the exactitude of the theory,

 Theories are often a generalization of observed facts, via objective
measurements issued from heuristics analysis.
 Generalization and Application are not always bijective.
 Exactitude of a theory is always desired.
 Test for validating or invalidating a basic assumption,
 Is a baseline assumption correct? Why?
 A theory could become ridiculous if its basic assumptions doesn’t have
any scientific value or are not convincing vis-à-vis scientific community.
 Scientific “Warfare”!!
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Criteria for “Good-Hypotheses”
 Its “raison d’être,”

 Its testability or valid-ability,
 Its concise description,
 Clarity,
 Simplicity,
 Briefness.
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Raison d’être of a Hypothesis
 Investigator must have irrefutable reasons, based either on the

theory upon which the research is defined, or on observed
facts, to define a hypothesis.
 The facts or theoretical elements serving the definition of a
hypothesis come from:
 Literature review,
 Detailed knowledge dealing with the research’s related works.
 Normally, a hypothesis must not in conflict with major theories.
 In reality, innovation often occurs from conflicts with accepted
standards or theories (ref. lateral thinking).
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Testability of a Hypothesis
 A hypothesis must be «testable», i.e. :

 Measurable,
 Quantifiable,
 Observable.
 Example of relations between variables : « significant

augmentation … »
 augmentation of consumption is measurable,
 Significant augmentation is to be quantified, and is observable.
 Significant differences between parametric measures are affirmed by T-
test or ANOVA; non-parametric: Wilcoxon, Mann-Withney U-test,
Friedman, Kruskal-Wallis conditions.
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Identifying a Research Topic
 Several ways in which researchers often gain some insight into their
topic when beginning:
 Draft a brief title for the study: initial hypothesis or “working title;” Tracking
evolution of hypothesis or working title.
 Another strategy for topic development is to pose the topic as a brief question
(interrogative form of hypothesis).
 Newtonian approach - Practical recommendation:
 Write down “My study is about …” ; Avoid complex and erudite language.
 Consider a title no longer than 12 words, eliminate most articles and prepositions,
and make sure that it includes the focus of the key topic of the study.
 Wordings in “hypothesis” or “working title” must be defined
 Process of defining the terms leads to literature review.
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Literature Review
Bibliographic Search
24

Review of the Literature
 Literature reviews help researcher limit the scope of their inquiry.

They convey the importance of studying a topic to readers.
 Literature review is an integral part of the decision/selection of a
research topic.
 At this point, researchers also need to consider whether the topic can and
should be investigated.
 Must identify an initial topic of research (by the researcher instead of the
advisor).
 Literature review relates a study to the larger on-going dialogue in the
literature about a topic, filling in gaps and extending prior theories.
 Provides a framework for establishing the importance of the study as well as
a benchmark for comparing the results of a study with other findings.
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Bibliographic Research
 Bibliographic Search is necessary to inquire the literature, where is found

public domain knowledge, about related works to dress up the horizon
describing similar studies over time.
 It is important to note that a crucial ingredient in research is that the
knowledge to be uncovered from the study must be new or original.
 A study whose results are a priori known in public domain, and that are only
beneficial to one person or a small group of persons, will not be qualified as
a research.
 Several researches have been interrupted in their initial phases for diverse
reasons, but a large portion is stopped because their research topics were
not sufficiently “convincing.” It’s not unusual to evolve the research topic to
findings from the literature.
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Steps in Conducting a Literature Review
“A literature review for a proposal or a research study means locating and

summarizing the studies about the topic.”
Ref. John W. Creswell (2003) - Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches, 2nd Edition. Sage Publications Inc. California, USA
Step 1: Begin by identifying keywords useful in locating materials. These keywords

may emerge in identifying a topic.
Step 2: Searching the materials in library databases with identified keywords.
Step 3: Trying to locate about 50 reports and articles (or books) related to research
topic. Setting priority on journal and conference articles.
Step 4: Proof reading the selected documents with care on the abstracts and core
results to obtain a sense of whether the document will make a useful contribution
to your understanding of the literature.
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Steps in Conducting a Literature Review
Step 5: For each selected document, write maximum 10 lines to describe what
you have understood from your reading, e.g. your understanding about its
contribution to the related research topic.
Step 6: Designing a “literature map,” a visual picture of the research literature
on the topic. This map provides a useful organizing device for positioning
your research within the larger body of the literature on the topic.
Step 7: At the same time with (6), beginning to draft summaries of the most
relevant articles using the results in (5). These summaries are combined
into the final literature review for the research proposal. Make sure to
include precise references.
Step 8: Discussing with peers and supervisors about your research; either
reiterate the process or finally, assemble the literature review in which the
literature is organized or structured by its addressed concepts. Ending with
a summary of major themes found before suggesting further needed
research along the lines of your research topic.
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Using the Internet
 The Internet is not a library.

 Books and journals in a library have editors and publishers.
 Anyone can put anything on the internet.
 Must pay attention to the credibility of the source (sponsored by institutions,
reputable private organizations, governmental agencies, etc).
 Must be able to separate the wheat from the chaff of the internet.
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Guidelines for Evaluating Information (1)

Ref. Elizabeth Kirk (2002) - Johns Hopkins University Library Web page
www.library.jhu.edu/elp/useit/evaluate/index.html
AUTHORSHIP
 Is the author a well-known authority?
 If not, is the author’s work cited approvingly by a known authority?
 If not, can you find bibliographical information that would validate the author’s
credentials?
PUBLISHING BODY
 Who sponsors the web site?
 Is the site linked to a respected organization? Information that exists only on a
personal website should be considered highly suspect.
POINT OF VIEW
 Does the organization sponsoring the website have a point of view?
Note: Information provided by corporations should be considered advertisements.
Be especially wary of information provided by advocacy groups.
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Guidelines for Evaluating Information (2)
CONNECTION TO THE LITERATURE

 Are there references to other works in the field?
 Are the appropriate theories discussed?
 Are controversies acknowledged?
VERIFIABILITY
 Is there information that would allow you to verify the methodology?
CURRENCY
 Is there a date on the document that would allow you to evaluate the timeliness
of the information?
SEARCH ENGINE
 How the search engine determines the order of hits?
 Some search engines sell space to advertisers. How does the search engine
you see determine the order of information listed?
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Critical Evaluation
32

Estimating Feasibility (1)
 If the chance of success or failure of an investigation could be

anticipated as precise as possible at the research definition
phase, then useless efforts could be saved.
 A research problem shall be evaluated, for its feasibility, under
the following angles:
 Investigation domains: is the research topic the development of a
thought, an idea, or a mixture of both? What are the associated
scientific domains? Do we have enough knowledge to evaluate it?
 Research Problem: Can we illustrate the topic by a simple description
(with short and concise wordings) under the form of a question?
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Estimating Feasibility (2)
 Availability of Basic Data: do we have access to basic data that would

be needed?
 Familiarization with raw data,
 Data Sources,
 Data Collection Method,
 Requirement for Specific Equipments,
 Operating Specific Equipments.
 Qualification: what are the primary and secondary scientific or
technological fields that would be needed in the search for the
solutions? Are we capable to perform research in these fields?
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Decision Criteria
 Primary Criterion:
 Personal Interests: research topic must stimulate imagination,
creativity. The researcher must “be in.”
 Size of the study: research topic must be manageable.
 Competence / qualification of the «research team»
 Potentiality for original contribution.
 Mastering of the domains related to the research topic.
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Decision Criteria
 Advanced Decisional Criterion:

• Timing : Is the subject “hot?”
• Originality: Has it been treated before?
• Solidity: Is the research proposal complete? Is there any contradiction?
• Utility: What is the scope of the study? Is it useful? For which audience?
Probable application domains?
• Morality: is there any moral or ethical issues?
• Feasibility: What are the associated constraints?
• Human Resources? Time?
• Financial Resources? Cost?
• Availability of initial data?
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Research Proposal
• Contents of a research proposal :

• Characteristics of the research; Objectives and Context.
• (use decision criteria to establish skeleton)
• Contents and Organization:
• Information to be highlighted, keywords
• Executive Summary,
• Introductory Notes,
• Major elements of the Proposal,
• Deliveries and Annexes.
• Financial Proposal,
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Summary of Principal Points
38

Premier Step
« The difference between a trivial project and the significant project is not
the amount of work required to carry it out, but the amount of thought
that you apply in the selection and definition of your problem. »
David P. Beach & Torsten K.E. Alvager

Handbook for Scientific and Technical Research,
Prentice-Hall, 1992, p. 29
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Hypothesis
 Hypothesis:
 Is the central component of a research.
 Expresses the objective of a research.
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Planning
 Research Planning:
 To evaluate several aspects before and during the research
process:
 Obligating researcher to cite or refine the ideas or thoughts
supporting the research hypothesis and the relationships between
different components of the research topic.
 Allowing observers to criticize and to provide suggestions that may
enhance the design of experiments.
 Governing the researcher’s activities and guaranteeing the
inclusion of appropriate procedures to different stages of the
research.
 Providing a «baseline» with which the researcher evaluates the
completion and the validity of the project.
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Ethical Considerations in Research
Excerpt from “The Ethics of Scientific Research: Values

and Principles”
The Committee for Ethics in Science and Intellectual Property, c/o
Prof. Asa Kasher, Tel-Aviv University.
42

Truth and Freedom
 Truth
 The scientist is concerned with the expansion of human knowledge,the
deepening of human understanding of its aspects, and the
enhancement of human ability to exploit this knowledge for the
achievement of goals vital to humanity, or having social merit.
 The scientist served these goals, in every branch of science, by acting
in accordance with methods of scientific research in each branch, and
the rules of conduct in the scientific community in general.
 Freedom
 The scientist undertakes the obligation to comply with practical
restrictions imposed upon freedom of scientific research for the
adequate safeguarding of human life, welfare, dignity.
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Responsibility
 Responsibility
 The scientist bears full responsibility for every scientific research or
experiment he/she conducts, particularly with regards to its direct effect on
human lives and on human physical and mental health, welfare, dignity and
liberty.
 The scientist bears special responsibility for such direct effects upon those
participating as patients or subjects, in scientific research or
experimentation.
 The scientist pays real heed to considerations regarding the very need to
use animals in planned or conducted research and experimentation, and to
considerations regarding the lives and welfare of the animals being used.
 The scientist acts out of a sense of responsibility, on grounds of which they
constantly take into account in the knowledge that the results of his/her
research may be used to attain goals within a wide range, from the beneficial
to humanity to the the criminal and abhorrent.
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Integrity
 Integrity
 The scientist performs every scientific act in accordance will all of the
requirements of the scientific method within the framework of which
he/she works, and at the highest standards.
 The scientist analyzes data and, generalizations, experiments and
theories, whether his/her own or another’s, equitably, and within the
requisite scope, depth and precision.
 The scientist presents his/her data in full, precisely, frankly, and fairly.
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Collaboration
 Collaboration
 Acts within a universal framework of scientific collaboration, based on
the shared scientific goals.
 Fosters scientific collaboration by maintaining an atmosphere of
openness, mutual assistance and trust among scientists, their
assistants and students.
 Merits individual, collective and institutional credit and may possess
pursuant rights to intellectual property, for scientific achievements to
which he/she has made a unique or significant contribution.
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Professionalism
 Professionalism
 Engages in his/her scientific pursuits in a wholly professional manner,
making judicious and continual use of the special knowledge, particular
to his/her area of expertise.
 Strives to keep abreast of developments in his/her area of expertise and
in every area of knowledge pertinent to his/her work.
 Draws practical contributions in the field of ethics of scientific research
from the values and principles of scientific research.
 Imparts values and principles of Scientific research to all those
conducting research or experiment under his/her supervision,
particularly to students in every course of study serving to prepare them
for professional activity within the scientific community.
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Writing a Research Proposal
 Before writing a proposal, it is important to consider how to

write it:
 Which topics will better convey the needs and the importance of the
proposed research?
 Which style will better convince the readers (supervisors or a scientific
committee) about the rationale of the proposed research.
Practice writing style, draft your thoughts. Ideas must be conveyed

through written words, discussions are not sufficient.
Analyze the styles in some selected articles or papers from your
literature review bibliography.
Be inventive. Sometimes journalistic style helps!
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Writing Research Proposal
 Pretty similar to the Introduction of a journal article + more details.

 Writing a Research Proposal is only considered when you have
already accomplished the followings:
1. Preliminary literature reviews (locating your research problem within the
“perspective.”)
2. Considerations to ethics.
3. Organization of your ideas (designing your writing style.)
Writing a proposal to meet with your advisor’s request without iteratively

identifying your research hypothesis is a waste of your time.
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Contents of a Research Proposal
 Information to convey:
 Background information to propose a framework of the research so
that readers can understand how it is related to other research.
 Settings the issue or concern leading to the research.
 Suggested Model
From Creswell, 2002, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches. 2nd Edition, Sage Publications, CA, USA.
1. The research problem,
2. The studies that have addressed the problem,
3. The deficiencies in the studies,
4. The importance of the study for an audience, and
5. The purpose statement. (important stuff!!)
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Assignment
 Pick up one article in the Proceedings of the 4th ICCS

(RIVF’06) that you have just been attending;
 Analyze the Introduction section;
 Identify the five depicted elements in this section (use markers
to quote the research problem, related works, deficiency of
other works, rationale of the research problem, and the
purpose statement.)
 Classroom discussion !!
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Purpose Statements
 Advices:
 Use words such as “purpose,” “intent,” “objective,” “aims,” to signal attention to
this statement as the central controlling idea in a study.
 Focus on a single phenomenon, concept or idea. Don’t be too ambitious!! In
sciences, we’d better do well on one focused topic than flying over several
ones.
 Use action verbs to convey how learning will take place. Action verbs and
phrases, such as “describe,” “understand,” “develop,” “examining the meaning
of,” or “discover,” “uncover,” etc. keep the inquiry open and convey an
emerging design.
 Some professors suggest the use of “scripts.” I do not!
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Lectures on Scientific Research Methods

Scientific Research Methods:

Prof. Dr. DUONG Nguyen Vu

Academic Advisor, Faculty of Information Technology

Senior Scientific Advisor, EUROCONTROL EEC

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 1

 Selecting a research topic:

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 2

« The difference between a trivial project and

David P. Beach & Torsten K.E. Alvager

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 3

The process of problem formulation implies a series of reiterated

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 4

I. Formulating a Problem and

European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation

 First step in all research projects.

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 6

Research a Research Problem

 A Doctoral research consists normally to:

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 7

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 8

 Form groups of 4-5 students,

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 9

The process of problem formulation implies a series of reiterated

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 10

Refining a Research Topic

 Topics that are too vague or imprecise require a large quantity

Problem Space Solution Space

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 11

 Hypothesis expresses the elements of a research problem.

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 12

Forms of Hypotheses (1)

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 13

Forms of Hypotheses (2)

 Negative (null or falsified):

R(Vi,Vj) ∀(Vi,Vj) : R(Vi,Vj) ⊥ ∅

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 14

Forms of Hypotheses (3)

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 15

 Results of the experiments demonstrate the validity of a hypothesis.

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 16

 Hypothesis providing experimentations for a theory, through an

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 17

Hypothesis Validating a Theory

 Test for an extended scope:

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 18

Hypothesis Validating a Theory

 Test for improving the exactitude of the theory,

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 19

Criteria for “Good-Hypotheses”

 Its “raison d’être,”

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 20

Raison d’être of a Hypothesis

 Investigator must have irrefutable reasons, based either on the

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 21

 A hypothesis must be «testable», i.e. :

 Example of relations between variables : « significant

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 22

Identifying a Research Topic

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 23

European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation

Review of the Literature

 Literature reviews help researcher limit the scope of their inquiry.

© University of Technology & University of Sciences - VNU HCM (2007) 25