CGCR 501 – Research Methods

Assoc. Prof. Dr. İbrahim Kahramanoğlu

Postharvest Expert | Horticultural Scientist
Lecture Contents
Weeks Contents
Week 1 Introduction / description of course outline
Week 2 Research steps, basic concepts and ethics
Week 3 Scientific Research & Literature Review
Week 4 Selecting a research topic
Week 5 Searching literature
Week 6 Research Types
Week 7 Qualitative and quantitative research methods
Week 8 Primary and secondary data collection methods
Week 9 Plagiarism
Week 10 Preparing bibliography
Week 11 Writing a research proposal
Week 12 Student presentations
Week 13 Student presentations
Week 14 Student presentations
Let’s Remember…
 Research Steps
 • Noticing the problem
1
• Identifying the problem
2

• Review previous studies

3 • Estimation of solutions for the problem
• Determine the objective, the purpose

• Set up a hypothesis
4

• Development and/or selection of the research method

5 • factors to be imposed, variables to be observed (monitored, measured)
• Experimental design, statistical model, etc.

• Carry out the experiment and data collection

6

• Process the data, evaluate hypothesis, discuss the results, and write the research report
7
 Scientific Research
 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) defines research as
 systematic and creative actions taken to increase knowledge about humans,
culture, and society and to apply it in new areas of interest.
 Scientific research is the research performed by applying systematic and
constructed scientific methods to obtain, analyze, and interpret data.
 Scientific Research
 Scientific research is the neutral, systematic, planned, and multiple-step
process that uses previously discovered facts to advance knowledge that
does not exist in the literature.
 It can be classified as observational or experimental with respect to data
collection techniques, descriptive or analytical with respect to causality, and
prospective, retrospective, or cross-sectional with respect to time.
 Scientific Research
 All scientific investigations start with a specific research question and the
formulation of a hypothesis to answer this question.
 Hypothesis should be clear, specific, and directly aim to answer the research
question.
 A strong and testable hypothesis is the fundamental part of the scientific
research.
 The next step is testing the hypothesis using scientific method to approve or
disapprove it.
 Scientific Research
 Data should be analyzed with the most appropriate statistical methods and
be rearranged to make more sense if needed.
 Unfortunately, results obtained via analyses are not always sufficiently
clear. Multiple reevaluations of data, review of the literature, and
interpretation of results in light of previous research are required.
 Only after the completion of these stages can a research be written and
presented to the scientific society.
 A well-conducted and precisely written research should always be open to
scientific criticism. It should also be kept in mind that research should be in
line with ethical rules all through its stages.
 Scientific Research
 Elements of a good Hypothesis
 When trying to come up with a good hypothesis for your own research or
experiments, ask yourself the following questions:
 Is your hypothesis based on your research on a topic?
 Can your hypothesis be tested?
 Does your hypothesis include independent and dependent variables?
 Before you come up with a specific hypothesis, spend some time doing
background research on your topic. Once you have completed a literature
review, start thinking about potential questions you still have. Pay attention
to the discussion section in the journal articles you read. Many authors will
suggest questions that still need to be explored.
 Scientific Research
 The basic format might be:
 "If {these changes are made to a certain independent variable}, then we will
observe {a change in a specific dependent variable}."
 A few examples:
 "Students who eat breakfast will perform better on a math exam than
students who do not eat breakfast."
 "Students who experience test anxiety prior to an English exam will get
higher scores than students who do not experience test anxiety."​
 "Motorists who talk on the phone while driving will be more likely to make
errors on a driving course than those who do not talk on the phone."
Scientific Research

 Some examples…

 I have tried to provide at least one example suitable to your topics. Even if the
examples does not fit to your department, the way of presentation is important to
see.. Please follow all.
 Management
Information System

 The quantity of electronic bank data grows exponentially with development of Information Technology (IT).
The size of these data is impossible for traditional database and human analyst to come up with interesting
information that will help in process of decision making. Management Information System (MIS) based Data
warehouse (DW) and Data Mining (DM) techniques support the development of IT and process of
management decision-making. But the traditional DW size make the query complex, which may cause
unacceptable delay in decision support queries. Thus, in this paper an Efficient Electronic Bank MIS
based DW and Mining Processing (EEBMIS-DWMP) was developed with cluster and non-cluster
indexed view to provide decision-makers with both best response time and precise information.
 Health
Management

 Background. The Down syndrome population has been disproportionately affected by Coronavirus
 2019 (COVID-19) in terms of experiencing severe illness and death. Societal efforts to curb the spread
of COVID-19 may also have taken a heavy toll on the daily lives of individuals with Down syndrome.
 Objective/hypothesis. The goal of the study was to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has
altered daily life (including residence, employment, and participation in adult disability day
programs) and influenced the mood and behavior of adults with Down syndrome.
 Methods. Between September 2020 and February 2021, caregivers of 171 adults with Down syndrome
(aged 22–66 years) located across the United States and in the United Kingdom enrolled in the
Alzheimer's Biomarker Research Consortium on Down Syndrome (ABC-DS) completed a survey.
 Horticulture

 Strawberry fruits are highly favoured by consumers because of their peerless flavour and
health benefits. Moreover, strawberry fruits are very sensitive to storage conditions and have
short postharvest life with texture softening, rapid spoilage and physiological disorders.

 The main goal of present research was to study the influence of lemongrass oil (0.2%)
and modified atmosphere packaging on the storage quality of strawberry fruits cv.
‘Florida Fortuna’, ‘Camarosa’, ‘Rubygem’ and ‘Sahara’.
 International
relations

 This paper examines international relations as perceived by the public in their social media conversations.

 It examines over 1.8 billion Facebook postings in English and 51 million Chinese posts on Weibo, to reveal the relations
among nations as expressed in social media conversations.

 It argues that social media represent a transnational electronic public sphere, in which public discussions reveal
characteristics of international relations as perceived by a foreign public.

 The findings show that the international relations in social media postings match the core-peripheral structure proposed in
the World Systems Theory. Overall, the study demonstrates the value of webometric data in revealing how international
relations are perceived by average citizens.
 Business
Administration

 This paper takes 174 documents of undergraduate teaching research of business administration major in
2001~2020 as a sample, and analyzes the research course and present situation of undergraduate teaching of
business administration by using the CNKI visual analysis system of Chinese knowledge network.

 According to the analysis results, the following conclusions are drawn: on the whole, the research on the
undergraduate teaching of business administration started late, the number of documents increased and the
development tended to be stable after 2010; The research focuses are mainly on the undergraduate course
setting, the practice teaching reform, and the undergraduate talent training model.
 Architecture

 This paper aims to contribute to the development of spatial criteria for adaptive capacity, which is
identified as one important factor for the transition towards more circular housing design.

 The paper focuses on the kitchen, as an important function of the home which is connected to large
resource flows and is exposed to frequent renovations and replacements.

 This paper identifies spatial characteristics of the kitchen and evaluates their potential to accommodate
circular solutions focusing on adaptive capacity.
 Computer
Engineering

 The problem of distinguishing natural images from photo-realistic computer generated ones either
addresses natural images versus computer graphics or natural images versus GAN images at a time. But
in a real-world image forensic scenario, it is highly essential to consider all categories of image
generation since in most cases image generation is unknown.

 We for the first time to our best knowledge, approach the problem of distinguishing natural images from
photo-realistic computer generated images as a three-class classification task classifying natural,
computer graphics and GAN images.
 Interior
Architecture

 The Interior Architecture education is examined based on “sketching and presentation” within the framework of
“design” by looking into the application patterns, materials used, education, processes and results of these two
methods and by providing relevant examples.

 In the study discusses the knowledge of design, universities providing education, interior architecture presentation
process, perspective and focuses on the role of expression techniques in the Interior Architecture education.

 In parallel, the expression techniques are associated with the concepts of design, sketching and presentation, their
essential role in Interior Architecture education and the need to convey this skill through education are highlighted.
 Law

 The article analyses the application of criminal-head guarantees to European Union legislation requiring
Member States to lay down rules on administrative fines.

 EU legislation requiring Member States to stipulate administrative fines for breaches of EU law has been on a
steady increase.

 The first part of the article analyses the application of the Engel criteria and the Jussila exception for offences
falling short of the hard-core of criminal law.

 The second part of the article assesses whether the case law of the ECJ provides similar results and to which
extent has the Union’s legislator harmonised or precluded procedural safeguards regarding administrative fines.
 Nursing

 This study aims at describing the preliminary findings about knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of
Albanian healthcare workers involved in the administration of childhood vaccines, therefore feeding the
scientific literature with more evidence on nursing staff’s confidence and hesitancy toward well-known
childhood vaccination in Albania.
 Nursing

 Background. Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and is often described as an emerging global
epidemic affecting an estimated 33.5 million people worldwide. Living with atrial fibrillation not only affects the patient
but also may negatively influence family members’ perceived health. The perspective of the family has previously been
understudied, and more knowledge on how patients and their family members cope and adjust to life with atrial
fibrillation may be helpful when developing future support for patients and their family members when coping with atrial
fibrillation.

 Aim. The aim of this study was to obtain insights from patients and their family
members on how families are living with atrial fibrillation.
 Nutrition and Diet

 Moringa stenopetala is used for medicinal and nutritional

purposes. This study was, therefore, conducted to assess the
contribution of Moringa stenopetala based diet in reducing under
nutrition in under-five children in four districts of Southern
Ethiopia.
 Health

 Background

 Maternal diet quality, obesity, and abdominal obesity are known risk factors for hypertension in women.

 Objectives

 This study assessed the factors associated with hypertension in women of child-bearing age in Odeda
local government area communities, Abeokuta.
 Communication
Studies

 Although the social implications of children’s media have been a central public concern for millennia,
there has been no systematic attempt to quantify the representation of other- versus self-serving values in
children’s literature.

 A coding scheme based on the model of intuitive motivations and exemplars was applied to
examine the representation of altruistic and egoistic motivations in popular children’s books.

 Examining differences by the target age of books revealed that altruistic motivations were more
prominent in books targeted at younger children, whereas egoistic motivations became more prominent
in content for older children.
 Psychology

 In China, undergraduate students face both academic and career selection pressures, sleep is an
important physiological process for them.

 Investigate the physical exercise, sleep quality of undergraduate students in the education stage in
Xuzhou City, and analyze the factors affecting their sleep quality, to promote the health education
and psychological health of undergraduate students.
 Education

 At-risk students are overrepresented in disadvantaged segregated primary schools. Often, these students begin with an
educational delay and have less parental support, which makes them more dependent on the quality of their education.

 Since quality of education depends in great measure upon mechanisms at the class level, it is crucial to gain insight
into the interrelations between class input, teacher process variables and student outcomes.

 A multilevel path analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between socioeconomic and ethnic class
composition, teacher trust in students, teaching learning strategies, and reading comprehension in socially and
ethnically disadvantaged segregated primary classes.
 Physiotherapy and
Rehabilitation

 Objectives. To investigate the feasibility and acceptability of conducting a future trial of physiotherapy
to manage urinary incontinence (UI) in athletic women.

 Participants. Adult women who i) lived locally, ii) provided informed consent iii) self-reported UI iv)
exercised at high/moderate intensity for over 150 minutes and over three times a week.
 Education
Administration

 This study centers the reflections of principals across the USA as they navigated the overwhelming stress
of closing and reopening schools during a global pandemic. Specifically, the authors explored how
school principals addressed self-care and their own well-being during the pandemic.
 Political Science
and Public
Administration

 China and Indonesia face the same maritime challenge in Asia.

 This research analyzes the maritime security threats China and Indonesia, include the current state of
China-Indonesia security cooperation, and proposes the following steps to strengthen security
cooperation, especially jointly countering maritime security threats.

 It also provides policymakers with theory and practice guidance. China and Indonesia can improve
security by strengthening their alliance.
 Two Types of Scientific Papers

 Research articles: contain the original data and conclusions

of the researchers who were involved in the experiments and
how the experiments were done.

 Review articles: give an overview of the scientific field or

topic by summarizing the data and conclusions from many
studies.
A Research Paper
 What is a Research
Paper?

 Document of scientific findings.

 Scientific papers are the heart of the scientific
community.
• A research paper is an expanded essay that presents ones
interpretation or evaluation or an argument.

• When anyone write’s a research paper they build upon what

they know about the subject and what other experts know.

• A research paper involves surveying a field of knowledge in

order to find the best possible information in that field.
 
What are the areas in which one can publish a
research papers?

 Science
 Arts
 Humanities
 Religion
 Management
 Language etc.
What is the essence of a science publication?

 Science is
 Public
 Objective
 Predictive
 Reproducible
 Systematic
 Cumulative
 Publication makes this possible
 Final step in discovery
 Scientific Research (Research Article)
Components of an Article
 Title (+subtitle)
 Authors and affiliations (with corresponding author)
 Abstract (or Summary)
 Key words
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussions (sometimes a combined section of Results and Discussions)
 Conclusion
 Acknowledgement (sometimes followed by Funding, Author contribution statement,
ethical statement, declaration of conflicting interests etc.)
 References
 Appendices (raw data or etc.)
 Scientific Research (Research Article)
 Title

 Characteristics of good titles

 Introduces the work
 First thing read
 Usually it is ONLY thing read
 Serves to entice intended readers
 Avoid
 Short, but specific (not an abstract!)
 Truly represents content
 Might…
 Be provocative or controversial
 Ask a question
 Make statement of conclusion
 Indexable
 Qualifiers, jargon, abbreviations, filler
 Scientific Research (Research Article)
 Abstract

 Brief summary of the study (150-300 words)

 Reflects the overall study

 Main aim (the hypothesis)

 Simple methodology

 Main findings

 Short conclusion
Scientific Research (Research Article)
 Introduction

 Broader to narrow

 Background (importance of the topic)

 Rationale or need of the study

 Hypothesis

 Objective of the study

 Scientific Research (Research Article)
 Materials and Methods

 Participants / Factors to be imposed  Operational definitions

 Place / Experimental design  Sample size calculation

 Study design  Equipment used

 Study setting  Data collection tools

 Duration of the study  Outcome measures

 Ethical approval / informed consent  Procedure

 Selection criteria: inclusion / exclusion  Data (statistical analysis)

 Scientific Research (Research Article)
 Results

 Tables and figures

 Data vs results (in numbers)

 Adverse events
Scientific Research (Research Article)
 Discussion

 From narrow to broader

 Starts by stating the objective or re-summarizing the results

 Hypothesis for the results (why did results occur? .. The mechanism)

 Comparison with previous studies

 Discussion about the confounders

 Strengths and limitations of the study

 Scientific Research (Research Article)
 Conclusion

 Summarize the results of the study

 Recommendations for the future studies

 Should be in line with the objective(s)

 Scientific Research (Research Article)
 Acknowledgements

 Who contributed to the study, but not in the author list

 Scientific Research (Research Article)
 References

 We will discuss later…

How do I read a research paper?
Read a scientific paper as a critic
 Understand the problem
 Understand the proposed solution
 Understand competing approaches / designs
 Evaluate the paper

 Peer review is the cornerstone of the scientific publishing

process
Evaluating a Paper

 What is the problem being solved?

 Is it important? Relevant? Why?
 What is the prior work in this area?
 Is the proposed solution clever?
 Cleverness is orthogonal to importance!
 Are the assumptions and model reasonable?
 Impact
 Easier to evaluate for older papers
 Does other work build on it? Do other papers uses techniques
and solutions proposed in this paper?
 Evaluation Process

 Read slowly, take notes as you read

 Question assumptions, importance of the problem
 Write questions to track what you don’t understand
 Sometimes what is not in the paper is more important than what is in it
 Is there something the authors have overlooked?
 Don’t let ideas or design details pass until you understand them!
 Do not assume the paper is correct, even if published in a prestigious
peer-reviewed venue
Ground Rules
 Try to understand
 Don’t be afraid to ask
 Be constructive
 Be polite
 Don’t be afraid to criticize (constructively!)
 This is only easy to
do if the paper is
organized properly.

 Introduction can be skimmed.

 The logical flow of papers goes straight from the
Introduction to Results.
 Then to Discussion for interpretation of the findings.
 How to read the results…

 Examine the figure

 take notes
 with each experiment/ figure you should be able to
explain:
 The basic procedure
 the question it sought to answer
 The results
 the conclusion &
 Criticism
How to read a discussion

Take notes and answer these questions:

 What conclusions did the authors draw?

 Opinion/ interpretation?

 Ask yourself why is this data significant?

 Does it contribute to knowledge or correct errors?
Reflection and Criticisms
 Do you agree with the authors’ rationale for setting up
the experiments as they did?
 Did they perform the experiments appropriately?
 Were there enough experiments to support the major
finding?
 Do you see trends/patterns in their data?
 Do you agree with the author’s conclusions?
 What further questions do you have?
 What might you suggest they do next?
 Struggle with the paper
 Active not passive reading.
 Use highlighter, underline text, scribble comments or
questions on it, make notes.
 If at first you don’t understand, read and re-read, spiraling in
on central points.
 Research Articles vs Literature Reviews
 Original report or study performed by the  Summary and critical analysis of books,
authors of the article. articles & other sources on a certain topic.

 Often includes a methodology/design  No original research.

section, data analysis (with statistics from  Conclusion based upon evaluation of all
the study) and conclusion the literature reviewed.
 Literature Review
 What is a literature review?

 The literature review is a written overview of major writings and other

sources on a selected topic.

 Sources covered in the review may include scholarly journal articles, books,
government reports, Web sites, etc.

 The literature review provides a description, summary and evaluation of each

source.

 It is usually presented as a distinct section of a graduate thesis or dissertation.

 Literature Review vs Review Paper/Article
 A review article can also be called as a literature review, or a review of
literature. It is a survey of previously published research on a topic. It
should give an overview of current thinking on the topic. And, unlike an
original research article, it will not present new experimental results.

 Writing a review of literature is to provide a critical evaluation of the data

available from existing studies. Review articles can identify potential
research areas to explore next, and sometimes they will draw new
conclusions from the existing data.
A Review Paper
 Literature Review (Review Paper/Article)
 The purpose of the literature review is to provide a critical written account
of the current state of research on a selected topic:
 Identifies areas of prior scholarship
 Places each source in the context of its contribution to the understanding of
the specific issue, area of research, or theory under review.
 Describes the relationship of each source to the others that you have
selected
 Identifies new ways to interpret, and shed light on any gaps in, previous
research
 Points the way forward for further research.
A literature review
surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources (e.g.
dissertations, conference proceedings) relevant

 to a particular issue, area of research, or theory.

 provides a short description and critical evaluation of work
critical to the topic.
 offers an overview of significant literature published on a
topic.
 Literature Review (Review Paper/Article)
 Components of the Literature Review
The literature review should include the following:
 Objective of the literature review
 Overview of the subject under consideration.
 Clear categorization of sources selected into those in support of your
particular position, those opposed, and those offering completely different
arguments.
 Discussion of both the distinctiveness of each source and its similarities
with the others.
Characteristics of Effective Literature
Reviews (Review Paper/Article)

 Outlining important research trends

 Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of existing
research
 Identifying potential gaps in knowledge
 Establishing a need for current and/or future
research projects
Literature Reviews are Conducted For
Various Reasons:

 For a review paper

 For the introduction (and discussion) of a research paper,

masters thesis or dissertation

 To embark on a new area of research

 For a research proposal

 Preparation of a literature review may be divided into four steps:
 Planning. Define your subject and the scope of the review. Search the
library catalogue, subject specific databases and other search tools to find
sources that are relevant to your topic.
 Research and Reading… and evaluate the sources and to determine their
suitability to the understanding of topic at hand.
 Analysing, interpret and discuss the findings and conclusions of the sources
you selected.
 Drafting, Revising and Finalizing
Planning
What Type of Literature Review
Am I Writing?
Planning

 Focus
 What is the specific thesis, problem, or research question that my
literature review helps to define?
 Identifying a focus that allows you to:
 Sort and categorize information
 Eliminate irrelevant information
 Type
 What type of literature review am I conducting?
 Theory; Methodology; Policy; Quantitative; Qualitative
Planning

 Scope
 What is the scope of my literature review?
 What types of sources am I using?

 Academic Discipline
 What field(s) am I working in?
Take a moment to answer each of the questions in
the “Planning” section of your packet about a
literature review you are currently working on or
plan to work on.

 How many of the questions could you answer?

 What questions did this short exercise raise for
you?
Researching and Reading
What Materials
Am I Going to Use?
 Evaluating Sources
 In assessing each source, consideration should be given to:
 What is the author's expertise in this particular field of study?
 Are the author's arguments supported by empirical evidence (e.g.
quantitative/qualitative studies)?
 Is the author's perspective too biased in one direction or are opposing
studies and viewpoints also considered?
 Does the selected source contribute to a more profound understanding of
the subject?
Reading and Researching
 Collect and read material.
 Summarize sources.
 Who is the author?
 What is the author's main purpose?
 What is the author’s theoretical perspective? Research methodology?
 Who is the intended audience?
 What is the principal point, conclusion, thesis, contention, or question?
 How is the author’s position supported?
 How does this study relate to other studies of the problem or topic?
 What does this study add to your project?
 Select only relevant books and articles.
 Scientific Research & Literature Review
 Science Direct – Elsevier
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/
 Taylor and Frances
 https://taylorandfrancis.com/
 Wiley
 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
 Springer
 http://www.springer.com/
 MDPI
 https://www.mdpi.com/
 Emerald
 http://emeraldgrouppublishing.com/
 Sage
 https://journals.sagepub.com/
Analyzing
How Do I Assess
Existing Research?
Analyzing Sources
 A literature review is never just a list of studies—it
always offers an argument about a body of research
 Analysis occurs on two levels:
 Individual sources
 Body of research
Four Analysis Tasks of the Literature Review

TASKS OF
LITERATURE
REVIEW

SUMMARIZE SYNTHESIZE CRITIQUE COMPARE

Summary and Synthesis
In your own words, summarize and/or synthesize the key findings
relevant to your study.

 What do we know about the immediate area?

 What are the key arguments, key characteristics, key concepts or

key figures?

 What are the existing debates/theories?

 What common methodologies are used?

Comparison and Critique
Evaluates the strength and weaknesses of the work:
 How do the different studies relate? What is
new, different, or controversial?
 What views need further testing?
 What evidence is lacking, inconclusive,
contradicting, or too limited?
 What research designs or methods seem
unsatisfactory?
 Literature Review

 Examples of a published literature review

 Literature reviews are often published as scholarly articles, books, and

reports. Here is an example of a recent literature review published as a
scholarly journal article
 Scientific Research & Literature Review

 This article examines the development of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in education, paying attention to
how researchers use CRT in the study of K-12 and higher education. The article reviews CRT literature
with a focus on CRT scholarship that offers tools to engage with and work against racism within
education. The authors highlight works that embody the critical origins of CRT in both the law and
elsewhere, with a goal of demonstrating that CRT work means more than just pointing to race. It requires
an engagement and articulation with the material, structural, and ideological mechanisms of White
supremacy.
 Elements of a Review Article
 Title
Body: Main part of the Review article
 List of authors and their affiliations A coherent structuring of the topic is necessary to develop the
section structure. Subheadings reflect the organisation of the topic
 Abstract and indicate the content of the various sections. Possible criteria for
structuring the topic are:
 Key words • Methodological approaches
 • Models or theories
Table of contents (sometimes) • Extent of support for a given thesis
 Introduction • Studies that agree with another versus studies that disagree
• Chronological order (mainly in thesis)
 Body: Materials and methods • Geographical location

 Body: Main parts of the Review article

 Conclusions
 Acknowledgement (sometimes followed by Funding, Author contribution statement, declaration of
conflicting interests etc.)
 References

 Review articles vary considerably in length. Narrative reviews may range between 8,000 and 40,000 words
(including references). Systematic reviews are usually shorter than 10,000 words.
Thanks

Q/A