2

Chapter 1
Introduction and Overview of
⚫ Research
Research
is the careful consideration of study regarding a particular co
or problem using scientific methods.
⚫ Research can be defined as a scientific and systematic search or investigation f
pertinent information on a specific topic.
⚫ Research comprises
⚫ Defining and redefining problems,
⚫ Formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions,
⚫ Collecting, organizing and evaluating data,
⚫ Making deductions and reaching conclusions and
⚫ Carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating
hypothesis.

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 What Is Research and Not
⚫ Research is a scientific approach to answering a research question, solv
research problem, or generating new knowledge through a systemati
orderly collection, organization, and analysis of data to make rese
findings useful in decision-making.
⚫ Scholarly and journalistic activities, including the collection and u
information, are not considered research when they focus directly o
specific individuals about whom the information is collected.

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⚫ Research is not merely gathering information
⚫ Research is not a sales pitch
⚫ Research is not the rearrangement of known knowledge
⚫ Research is not rummaging around for hard-to-
find information
⚫ Research is not transferring facts from one location
to another
⚫ Research is not an insurmountable task and a waste of time
⚫ Research is not just for a specific group of people
⚫ Research is not merely done to gain marks, and thereafter
abandoned

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Scientific Research
⚫ Research conducted the purpose contributing
for towards science of the
by
interpretation and evaluation of data and that,collection,
too, in
systematic
a planned manner is called scientific
research
⚫ A researcher is the one who conducts this research.

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⚫ When do we call research scientific?
⚫ Any research endeavor is said to be scientific if
⚫ It is based on empirical and measurable evidence subject to
specific principles of reasoning;
⚫ It consists of systematic observations,
measurement, and experimentation;
⚫ It relies on the application of the scientific
methods and harnessing of curiosity;
⚫ It provides scientific information and theories
for the explanation of nature;
⚫ It makes practical applications possible; and
⚫ It ensures adequate analysis of data employing
rigorous statistical techniques.

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 Objectives, Motivations and Significance
Research
⚫ Research objectives describe what your research project intend
accomplish.
⚫ They should guide every step of the research process, including how
collect data, build your argument, and develop your conclusions.
⚫ Your research objectives may evolve slightly as your research progresse
they should always line up with the research carried out and the actual co
of your paper.

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 Motivations
⚫ Research is conducted to identify problems or to
find answers to ‗uncertainties‘.
⚫ Studies are conducted because there is uncertainty about a
phenomenon that either has, or has not occurred.
⚫ Research also aims to use the best method to
solve problems, whether or not experiments are
conducted.

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Significance of Research
⚫ It's a tool for building knowledge and facilitating learning.
⚫ It's a means to understand issues and increase
public awareness.
⚫ It helps us succeed in business.
⚫ It allows us to disprove lies and support truths.
⚫ It is a means to find, gauge, and seize opportunities.
⚫ It promotes a love and confidence in reading, writing,
analyzing, and sharing valuable information.
⚫ It provides nourishment and exercise for the mind.

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⚫ Understanding the World Around
Us
⚫ Finding Solutions to Problems
⚫ Developing New Technologies
⚫ Advancement of Knowledge

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Research Requirements
⚫ Structure and Formatting
⚫ Title Page
⚫ Abstract
⚫ Introduction
⚫ Main Body
⚫ Discussions
⚫ Conclusion

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Characteristics of Research
⚫ It gathers new knowledge or data from primary or
first- hand sources.
⚫ It places emphasis upon the discovery of
general principles.
⚫ It is an exact systematic and accurate investigation.
⚫ It uses certain valid data gathering devices.
⚫ It is logical and objective.
⚫ The researcher resists the temptation to seek only the data
that support his/her hypotheses.

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⚫ The researcher eliminates personal feelings
and preferences.
⚫ It endeavours to organise data in quantitative terms.
⚫ Research is patient and unhurried activity.
⚫ The researcher is willing to follow his procedures to the
conclusions that may be unpopular and bring social
disapproval.
⚫ Research is carefully recorded and reported.
⚫ Conclusions and generalisations are arrived at carefully
and cautiously.

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 Types of Research
⚫ There are various types of research that are classified
according to their objective, depth of study, analyzed data,
time required to study the phenomenon and other factors.

⚫ It‘s important to note that a research project will not be

limited to one type of research, but will likely use several.

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 According to its Purpose
Theoretical Research
⚫ Also referred to as pure or basic focuses
on generating knowledge, regardless of its practical
research,
application.
⚫ Data collection is used to generate new general concepts for a
better understanding of a particular field or to answer a
theoretical research question.
⚫ Results are towards formulation of theories and are usually
based on documentary analysis, the development of
mathematical formulas and the reflection of high-level
researchers
⚫ For example, a philosophical dissertation, since the aim is to
generate new approaches from existing data without
considering how its findings can be applied or implemented in
practice.

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⚫Applied Research
⚫ The goal is to find strategies that can be used to address a
specific research problem.
⚫ Draws on theory to generate practical scientific
knowledge, and its use is very common in STEM fields
such as engineering, computer science and medicine.

⚫ This type of research is subdivided into two types:

⚫ Technological applied research: looks towards improving
efficiency in a particular productive sector through the
improvement of processes or machinery related to said
productive processes.
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 ⚫ Scientific applied research: has predictive purposes. We
can measure certain variables to predict behaviours useful to
the goods and services sector, such as consumption patterns
and viability of commercial projects
⚫ For example, market research, because by examining
consumption patterns, strategies can be developed for the
development of new products and marketing campaigns, etc.

⚫ Note: Applied research is usually based on knowledge or

results obtained through theoretical research.

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According to your Depth of Scope
⚫Exploratory Research
⚫ Is used for the preliminary investigation of a subject that
is not yet well understood or sufficiently researched.
⚫ It serves to establish a frame of reference and a hypothesis
from which an in-depth study can be developed that will
enable conclusive results to be generated.
⚫ Because exploratory research is based on the study of
little-studied phenomena, it relies less on theory and more
on the collection of data to identify patterns that explain
these phenomena.
⚫ For example, an investigation of the role social media in
the perception of self-image.

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⚫Descriptive Research
⚫ The primary objective of descriptive research is to define
the characteristics of a particular phenomenon without
necessarily investigating the causes that produce it.
⚫ In this type of research, the researcher must take particular
care not to intervene in the observed object or
phenomenon, as its behaviour may change if an external
factor is involved.
⚫ For example, investigating how the public census of
influential government officials differs between urban and
non-urban areas

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⚫Explanatory Research
⚫ Is the most common type of research method and is
responsible for establishing cause and effect
relationships that allow generalizations to be extended to
similar realities.
⚫ It is closely related to descriptive research, although it
provides additional information about the observed object
and its interactions with the environment.
⚫ For example, investigating the brittle behaviour of a
specific material when under compressive load.

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⚫Correlational Research

⚫ The purpose of this type of scientific research is

to identify the relationship between two or more
variables.
⚫ Aims to determine whether a variable changes, how much
the other elements of the observed system change.

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According to the Type of Data Used
⚫Qualitative Research
⚫ Are often used in the social sciences to collect, compare and
interpret information, has a linguistic-semiotic basis and is used
in techniques such as discourse analysis, interviews, surveys,
records and participant observations.
⚫ In order to use statistical methods to validate their results, the
observations collected must be evaluated numerically.
⚫ Qualitative research, however, tends to be subjective, since not
all data can be fully controlled. Therefore, this type of research
design is better suited to extracting meaning from an event or
phenomenon (the ‗why‘) than its cause (the ‗how‘).
⚫ For example, examining the effects of sleep deprivation on
mood.
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⚫Quantitative Research
⚫ Quantitative research study delves into a
phenomena
through quantitative data collection and using
mathematical, statistical and computer-aided tools to
measure them.
⚫ This allows generalized conclusions to be projected over
time.
⚫ For example, conducting a computer simulation
on vehicle strike impacts to collect quantitative data.

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 According to the Degree of
Manipulation of
Variables
⚫Experimental Research
⚫ It is about designing or replicating a phenomenon whose
variables are manipulated under strictly controlled
conditions in order to identify or discover its effect on
another independent variable or object.
⚫ The phenomenon to be studied is measured through study
and control groups, and according to the guidelines of the
scientific method.
⚫ For example, randomised controlled trial studies for
measuring the effectiveness of new pharmaceutical drugs
on human subjects.
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⚫Non-Experimental Research
⚫ Also known as an observational study, it focuses on the
analysis of a phenomenon in its natural context.
⚫ As such, the researcher does not intervene directly, but
limits their involvement to measuring the variables
required for the study.
⚫ Due to its observational nature, it is often used in
descriptive research.
⚫ For example, a study on the effects of the use of certain
chemical substances in a particular population group can
be considered a non-experimental study.

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⚫Quasi-Experimental Research
⚫ It controls only some variables of the phenomenon under
investigation and is therefore not entirely experimental.
⚫ In this case, the study and the focus group cannot be
randomly selected, but are chosen from existing groups or
populations.
⚫ This is to ensure the collected data is relevant and that the
knowledge, perspectives and opinions of the population
can be incorporated into the study.
⚫ For example, assessing the effectiveness of an intervention
measure in reducing the spread of antibiotic-resistant
bacteria.
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According to the Type of Inference
⚫Deductive Investigation
⚫ In this type of research, reality is explained by general laws
that point to certain conclusions; conclusions are expected to
be part of the premise of the research problem and considered
correct if the premise is valid and the inductive method is
applied correctly.
⚫Inductive Research
⚫ In this type of research, knowledge is generated from an
observation to achieve a generalisation. It is based on the
collection of specific data to develop new theories.
⚫Hypothetical-Deductive Investigation
⚫ It is based on observing reality to make a hypothesis, then use
deduction to obtain a conclusion and finally verify or reject it
through experience.

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According to the Time in Which it is
Carried Out
⚫Longitudinal Study
⚫ Also referred to as Diachronic Research
⚫ It is the monitoring of the same event, individual or group over
a defined period of time.
⚫ It aims to track changes in a number of variables and see how
they evolve over time. It is often used in medical,
psychological and social areas.
⚫ For example, a cohort study that analyses changes in a
particular indigenous population over a period of 15 years.
⚫Cross-Sectional Study
⚫ Also referred to as Synchronous Research
⚫ Cross-sectional research design is used to observe phenomena,
an individual or a group of research subjects at a given time.

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 According to The Sources of Information

⚫Primary Research
⚫ This fundamental research type is defined by the fact that
the data is collected directly from the source, that is, it
consists of primary, first-hand information.
⚫Secondary research
⚫ Unlike primary research, secondary research is developed
with information from secondary which are
sources, generally based on and
scientific compiled
documents literature
by another researcher. other

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 According to How the Data is
Obtained
⚫ Documentary (cabinet)
⚫ Documentary research, or secondary sources, is based on a systematic review of
existing sources of information on a particular subject.
⚫ Used when undertaking literature reviews or producing a case study.

⚫ Field
⚫ Involves the direct collection of information at the location where the observed
phenomenon occurs.

⚫ From Laboratory
⚫ Is carried out in a controlled environment in order to isolate a dependent variable
and establish its relationship with other variables through scientific methods.

⚫ Mixed-Method: Documentary, Field and/or Laboratory

⚫ Mixed research methodologies combine results from both secondary (documentary)
sources and primary sources through field or laboratory research.

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Research Methods and Problem Solving

⚫ What is problem-solving method in research?

⚫ Problem solving is the of defining
act a problem, determining the cause of
the and
prioritizing, problem, identifying,
selecting alternatives for a solution
and implementing a solution.

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⚫ Step 1: Define the Problem. What is the problem? ...
⚫ Step 2: Clarify the Problem. ...
⚫ Step 3: Define the Goals. ...
⚫ Step 4: Identify Root Cause of the Problem. ...
⚫ Step 5: Develop Action Plan. ...
⚫ Step 6: Execute Action Plan. ...
⚫ Step 7: Evaluate the Results. ...
⚫ Step 8: Continuously Improve.

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Effective Report Writing Principles
and Criteria for Good Research
⚫ Report writing differs from person to person depending on personality, imagi
and creative abilities, experience, and training.
⚫ However, most researchers agree that following general principles must be k
mind to produce a better research report.
⚫ These principles are often called as qualities or requirements of a good report.
1. Selectiveness:
⚫ It is important to exclude the matter, which is known to all.
⚫ Only necessary contents should be included to save time, costs, and energy.
⚫ However, care should be taken that the vital points should not be missed.

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2. Comprehensiveness:
⚫ Report must be complete. It must include all the necessary
contents.
⚫ In short, it must contain enough detail to covey meaning.
3. Cost Consideration:
⚫ It must be prepared within the budgeted amount. It should
not result into excessive costs.
4. Accuracy:
⚫ As far as possible, research report must be
prepared carefully.
⚫ It must be free from spelling mistakes and
grammatical errors.
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5. Objectivity:
⚫ Report must be free from personal bias, i.e., it must be
free from one‘s personal liking and disliking.
⚫ The report must be prepared for impersonal needs. The
facts must be stated boldly.
⚫ It must reveal the bitter truth. It must suit the objectives
and must meet expectations of the relevant
audience/readers.
6. Clarity:
⚫ Report must reveal the facts clearly. Contents and
conclusions drawn must be free from ambiguities.
⚫ In short, outcomes must convey clear-cut implications.

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7. Preciseness:
⚫ Research report must not be unnecessarily lengthy.
⚫ It must contain only necessary parts with adequate description.

8. Simplicity:
⚫ Report must be simple to understand.
⚫ Unnecessary technical words or terminologies (jargons) should
be avoided.

9. Proper Language:
⚫ Researcher must use a suitable language.
⚫ Language should be selected as per its target users.

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10. Reliability:
⚫ Research report must be reliable.
⚫ Manager can trust on it. He can be convinced to decide on the
basis of research reports.
11. proper format
⚫ An ideal report is one, which must be prepared as
per
commonly used format.
⚫ One must comply with the contemporary practices; completely
a new format should not be used.
12. Attractive:
⚫ Report must be attractive in all the important regards like size,
colour, paper quality, etc.
⚫ Similarly, it should use liberally the charts, diagrams, figures,
illustrations, pictures, and multiple colours.
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Evaluating and Reviewing Research
Results
⚫ To assess the resources you have found, consider the following
criteria:
1. Currency - the timeliness of the information
⚫ when was it published or posted?
⚫ has it been updated?
⚫ does your topic require current information or are older sources
also acceptable?
2. Relevance - the importance of the information for your needs
⚫ does the information relate to your topic?
⚫ is it written at an appropriate level - not too
elementary or advanced?
⚫ would you be comfortable using it in a research paper?

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3. Authority - the source of the information
⚫ who is the author/publisher/source?
⚫ what are the author's credentials?
⚫ is the publisher reputable?
4.Accuracy - the reliability, truthfulness and correctness of
the information
⚫ is the information supported by evidence?
⚫ has it been reviewed?
⚫ can you verify the information in other sources?
⚫ are there spelling or grammatical errors?
5. Purpose - the reason the information exists
⚫ why was this created - to inform, educate, sell, entertain, or persuade?
⚫ is it objective and free of bias?

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⚫ key factors to consider when evaluating a study‘s
conclusions.
⚫ Has the study been reviewed by other experts? Peer-
review, the process by which a study is sent to other
researchers in a particular field for their notes and
thoughts, is essential in evaluating a study‘s findings.
⚫ Since most consumers and members of the media are not
well-trained enough to evaluate a study‘s design and
researcher‘s findings, studies that pass muster with other
researchers and are accepted for publication in prestigious
journals are generally more trustworthy.
⚫ Do other experts agree? Have other experts spoken out
against the study‘s findings? Who are these other experts
and are their criticisms valid?

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⚫ Are there reasons to doubt the findings? One of the
most important items to keep in mind when
reviewing studies is that correlation does not prove
causation.
⚫ For instance, just because there is an association between
eating blueberries and weighing less does not mean that
eating blueberries will make you lose weight.
⚫ Researchers should look for other explanations for their
findings, known as ―confounding variables.‖
⚫ In this instance, they should consider that people who tend
to eat blueberries also tend to exercise more and
consume fewer calories overall.
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⚫ How do the conclusions fit with other studies? It‘s rare that a
single study is enough to overturn the preponderance of
research offering a different conclusion. Though studies that
buck the established notion are not necessarily wrong, they
should be scrutinized closely to ensure that their findings are
accurate.
⚫ How big was the study? Sample size matters. The more
patients or subjects involved in a study, the more likely it is that
the study‘s conclusions aren‘t merely due to random chance
and are, in fact, statistically significant.
⚫ Are there any major flaws in the study’s design? This is one
of the most difficult steps if you aren‘t an expert in a particular
field, but there are ways to look for bias. For example, was the
study a ―double-blind‖ experiment or were the researchers
aware of which subjects were the control set?

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⚫ Have the researchers identified any flaws or limitations
with their research? Often buried in the conclusion,
researchers acknowledge limitations or possible other theories
for their results.
⚫ Because the universities, government agencies, or other
organizations who‘ve funded and promoted the study often want
to highlight the boldest conclusion possible, these caveats can be
overlooked. However, they‘re important when considering how
important the study‘s conclusions really are.
⚫ Have the findings been replicated? With growing headlines
of academic fraud and leading journals forced to retract articles
based on artificial results, replication of results is increasingly
important to judge the merit of a study‘s findings.
⚫ If other researchers can replicate an experiment and come to a
similar conclusion, it‘s much easier to trust those results than
those that have only been peer reviewed.
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What is Research in Computing?
⚫ Some areas of research are theoretical and involve
developing and analyzing new algorithms and techniques,
while some are more applied and involve experiments,
design, implementation, and testing.
⚫ In any case, research is an enterprise of intellectual
exploration that seeks to advance our field.

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⚫ 8 steps in the research process are;
⚫ Identifying the Research Problem
⚫ Reviewing of Literature
⚫ Setting Research Questions, Objectives, and Hypotheses
⚫ Choosing the Study Design
⚫ Deciding on the Sample Design
⚫ Collecting Data From The Research Sample
⚫ Process and Analyze the Collected Research Data
⚫ Writing Research Report – Developing Research
Proposal, Writing Report, Disseminating and Utilizing
Results
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 Chapter 2
Processes in Conducting
Research

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Actors, Roles and Relationships
⚫ An actor is associated with a human user. However, there
are situations where, for instance, an information
system is an actor.
⚫ An actor represents an external interaction with the system
rather than necessarily a real physical user.
⚫ A role defines a set of related skills, competencies, and
responsibilities (defined by the activities that they are
associated with).
⚫ Shows who performs the activities.
⚫ Responsible that interacts with the system.
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⚫ Every undergraduate research and creative project requires
thoughtful and sustained collaboration between the
student researcher and a faculty mentor.
⚫ It is the responsibility of the student to seek out an
appropriately qualified faculty mentor.
⚫ The essential responsibilities of the student researcher are
outlined below.
⚫ Explore possible research topics that reflect your interests
and preparation. Pick a topic that truly interests you. If you
care about the subject, you will pursue interesting questions
because you want to know the answers. That will draw you
into the subject, enrich your work, and motivate you to
sustain the effort needed to complete the project.

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⚫ Identify the knowledge, experience, and skills that you will
need to complete the project. Your faculty mentor may
advise you to enroll in an appropriate research methods
course before embarking upon the project.
⚫ Discuss with your faculty mentor the details of how the
proposed research project will be carried out and the
features of a good project proposal.
⚫ Ask your faculty mentor to review and critique your
research proposal. Although it is the responsibility of the
student to write the proposal in its entirety, it is important
that the faculty mentor review the proposal in time for
modifications to be made before you submit it for final
approval.

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⚫ Each actors do have their own role in conducting the
research.
⚫ Their relationship is advisors assist students by guiding,
evaluators/ examiners will evaluate the report during
presentation.
⚫ Students : are the one doing the research
⚫ Supervisors: are the one guiding the students (follow up)
⚫ Evaluators: are the one who examines.

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 Developing Research Proposal
⚫ A research proposal describes what you will investigate, why
it‘s important, and how you will conduct your research.
⚫ The format of a research proposal varies between fields,
but
most proposals will contain at least these elements:
⚫ Title page
⚫ Introduction
⚫ Literature review
⚫ Research design
⚫ Reference list
⚫ While the sections may vary, the overall objective is always the
same.
⚫ A research proposal serves as a blueprint and guide for your
research plan, helping you get organized and feel confident in
the path forward you choose to take.
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⚫ What should be included in my research proposal?
⚫ Your proposal should include the following:
1. TITLE
⚫ Your title should give a clear indication of your proposed
research approach or key question
2. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE
⚫ You should include:
⚫ the background and issues of your proposed research
⚫ identify your discipline
⚫ a short literature review
⚫ a summary of key debates and developments in the field

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 3. RESEARCH QUESTION(S)
⚫ You should formulate these clearly, giving an explanation
as to what problems and issues are to be explored and why
they are worth exploring
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
⚫ You should provide an outline of:
⚫ the theoretical resources to be drawn on
⚫ the research approach (theoretical framework)
⚫ the research methods appropriate for the proposed research
⚫a discussion of advantages as well as limits of
particular approaches and methods

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 5. PLAN OF WORK & TIME
SCHEDULE
⚫ You should include an outline of the various stages and
corresponding time lines for developing and implementing
the research, including writing up your thesis.
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
⚫ You should include:
⚫ a list of references to key articles and texts discussed within
your research proposal
⚫ a selection of sources appropriate to the proposed research

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 Developing Problem Description
⚫ A problem statement is a concise and concrete summary
of the research problem you seek to address. It should:
⚫ Contextualize the problem.
⚫ What do we already know?
⚫ Describe the exact issue your research will address.
⚫ What do we still need to know?
⚫ Show the relevance of the problem.
⚫ Why do we need to know more about this?
⚫ Set the objectives of the
research.
⚫ What will you do to find out more?

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⚫ When should you write a problem statement?
⚫ There are various situations in which you might have to
write a problem statement.
⚫ In the business world, writing a problem statement is often
the first step in kicking off an improvement project. In
this case, the problem statement is usually a stand-alone
document.
⚫ In academic research, writing a problem statement can
help you contextualize and understand the significance of
your research problem.
⚫ It is often several paragraphs long, and serves as the basis
for your research proposal. Alternatively, it can be
condensed into just a few sentences in your introduction.

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 Following the Objectives
⚫ Describes what your research project intends to accomplish.
⚫ They should guide every step of the research process, including
how you collect data, build your argument, and develop
your conclusions.
⚫ Your research objectives may evolve slightly as your research
progresses, but they should always line up with the research
carried out and the actual content of your paper.
⚫ Research objectives are important because they:
⚫ Establish the scope and depth of your project: This helps you
avoid unnecessary research. It also means that your research
methods and conclusions can easily be evaluated.
⚫ Contribute to your research design: When you know what your
objectives are, you have a clearer idea of what methods are most
appropriate for your research.
⚫ Indicate how your project will contribute to extant
research: They allow you to display your knowledge of up-to-
date research, employ or build on current research methods, and
attempt to contribute to recent debates.
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Presenting and Analyzing the Data
⚫ Data analysis starts with the collection of data followed by
data processing by various data processing methods and
sorting it.
⚫ Processed data helps in obtaining information from it as
the raw data is non-comprehensive in nature.
⚫ Presenting the data includes the pictorial representation of
the data by using graphs, charts, maps and other methods.
⚫ These methods help in adding the visual aspect to data
which makes it much more comfortable and quicker to
understand.
⚫ Various methods of data presentation can be used to
present data and facts.
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⚫ Widely used format and data presentation techniques are mentioned
below:
1. As text: raw data with proper formatting, categorization,
identification is most extensively used and very effective
way of presenting data. Such format is widely found in books,
reports, research papers and module itself.
2. In tabular form: tabular form is generally used to differentiate,
categorize, and relate different datasets. It can be simple pros and
cons table, or a data with corresponding value such as annual GDP, a
bank statement, monthly expenditure etc.
3. In graphical Form – Data can further be presented in a simpler and
even easier form by means of using graphical form. The input for
such graphical data can be another type of data itself or some
raw data. For example, a bar graph & pie chart takes tabular data as
input. The tabular data in such case is processed data itself but
provides limited use. Converting such data or raw data into
graphical form directly makes itquick and easier to interpret.

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⚫ Data presentation and analysis plays an essential role in every
field.
⚫ An excellent presentation can be a deal maker or deal breaker.
⚫ Some people make an incredibly useful presentation with the
same set of facts and figures which are available with others.
⚫ At times people who did all the hard work but failed to present
it properly have lost essential contracts, the work which they
did is unable to impress the decision makers.
⚫ So to get the job done especially while dealing with clients or
higher authorities presentation matters!
⚫ No one is willing to spend hours in understanding what you
have to show and this is precisely why presentation matters! It
is thus essential to have clarity on what is data presentation.

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⚫ Data analysis helps people in understanding the results of
surveys conducted, makes use of already existing studies to
obtain new results.
⚫ It helps to validate the existing research or to add/expand the
current research.
⚫ Data analysis is the process of developing answers to questions
through the examination and interpretation of data.
⚫ The basic steps in the analytic process consist of
⚫ Identifying issues,
⚫ Determining the availability of suitable data,
⚫ Deciding on which methods are appropriate for
answering th e questions of interest,
⚫ applying the methods and
⚫ evaluating, summarizing and communicating the results.

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Drawing Conclusion and Identifying Future
Work
⚫ Drawing of a conclusion is stating the insight
gained from experimenting.
⚫ All that is learned during investigation can
an
summarized in a concluding be
the conclusion. statement,
⚫ The conclusion of any research should be based called
purely on
the findings of that research. It is supported by facts and
proof from the research conducted.

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⚫ In conducting scientific research, an experimenter will
follow the scientific method described in the steps below.
The experimenter will:
⚫ ask a question and formulate a hypothesis,
⚫ conduct an experiment or investigation,
⚫ collect, represent and analyse information,
⚫ interpret the results,
⚫ and draw a conclusion.

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⚫ Your dissertation needs to include suggestions for future
research.
⚫ You will need to propose 4-5 suggestions for future
studies and these can include the following:
1.Building upon findings of your research. These may
relate to findings of your study that you did not anticipate.
Moreover, you may suggest future research to address
unanswered aspects of your research problem.
2.Addressing limitations of your research. Your research
will not be free from limitations and these may relate to
formulation of research aim and objectives, methodology,
sample size, scope of discussions and analysis etc. You can
propose future research suggestions that address the
limitations of your study.
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3.Constructing the same research in a new context,
location and/or culture. It is most likely that you have
addressed your research problem within the settings of
specific context, location and/or culture. Accordingly, you
can propose future studies that can address the same
research problem in a different settings, context, location
and/or culture.

4.Re-assessing and expanding theory, framework or

model you have addressed in your research. Future
studies can address the effects of specific event, emergence
of a new theory or evidence and/or other recent phenomenon
on your research problem.

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 Presenting and Defending Orally
⚫ A required component of a successful project, research,
thesis or dissertation is an oral defense.
⚫ An oral defense is a public presentation of the research
presented in the student‘s thesis, dissertation or project to
members of the faculty and community.

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 Preparing Final Research
Documentation
⚫ Organization of the research report most scientific research reports,
irrespective of the field, parallel the method of scientific reasoning.
⚫ That is: the problem is defined, a hypothesis is created, experiments
are devised to test the hypothesis, experiments are conducted, and
conclusions are drawn.
⚫ This framework is consistent with the following organization of a
research report:
⚫ Title
⚫ Abstract
⚫ Introduction
⚫ Experimental Details or Theoretical Analysis
⚫ Results Discussion
⚫ Conclusions and Summary References

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 Proposal Preparation Choosing a
Subject Area
⚫ Choosing an interesting research topic is your first challenge. Here are
some tips:
⚫ Choose a topic that you are interested in! The research process is more
relevant if you care about your topic.
⚫ Narrow your topic to something manageable.
⚫ If your topic is too broad, you will find too much information and not be
able to focus.
⚫ Background reading can help you choose and limit the scope of your topic.
⚫ Review the guidelines on topic selection outlined in your assignment.
Ask
your advisor.
⚫ Refer to lecture notes and required texts to refresh your knowledge of
the course and assignment.
⚫ Talk about research ideas with a friend. S/he may be able to help focus
your topic by discussing issues that didn't occur to you at first.

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⚫ Think of the who, what, when, where and why questions:
⚫ WHY did you choose the topic? What interests you about it? Do you
have an opinion about the issues involved?
⚫ WHO are the information providers on this topic? Who might publish
information about it? Who is affected by the topic? Do you know of
organizations or institutions affiliated with the topic?
⚫ WHAT are the major questions for this topic? Is there a debate about
the topic? Are there a range of issues and viewpoints to consider?
⚫ WHERE is your topic important: at the local, national or international
level? Are there specific places affected by the topic?
⚫ WHEN is/was your topic important? Is it a current event or an
historical issue? Do you want to compare your topic by time periods?

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1. Brainstorm Some Research Topics
2. Select a Topic
3. Get Super Specific
4. Define Your Topic as a Question
5. Research Your Topic More / Create an Outline

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 Choosing a Problem within the Subject A

1.Choose a subject area that interests you and that will interest the
readers.
2. Do some background research on any subjects that you are interested
in using encyclopedias and websites
3.It is a good idea to state your topic in the form of a question to stay
focused on what it is that you are trying to explain or prove.
4.When you come up with a topic, choose the main concepts in your
research question and do an initial search. If you are getting way too
many hits, you might need to narrow your topic more.
5.Once you are sure you have a manageable topic that is interesting
and that has enough research out there you can use in your paper, create
a thesis statement. This will be an answer to your research question or a
statement that explains the purpose of your research.

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 Write Research Proposal
⚫ In a research proposal, the goal is to present the author‘s plan for the
research they intend to conduct.
⚫ In some cases, part of this goal is
⚫ to secure funding for said research.
⚫ to have the research approved by the author‘s supervisor or department so
can move forward with it.
⚫ is a required part of a graduate school application.

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⚫ In a research proposal, the author demonstrates how and why
their research is relevant to their field. They demonstrate that
the work is necessary to the following:
⚫ Filling a gap in the existing body of research on their
subject
⚫ Underscoring existing research on their subject, and/or
⚫ Adding new, original knowledge to the academic
community‘s existing understanding of their subject

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⚫ Your research proposal also has to cover these things:
⚫ The research methodology you plan to use
⚫ The tools and procedures you will use to collect, analyze,
and interpret the data you collect
⚫ An explanation of how your research fits the budget and
other constraints that come with conducting it through your
institution, department, or academic program

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 How long should a research proposal be

⚫ Generally, research proposals for bachelor‘s and master‘s

theses are a few pages long. Research proposals for
meatier projects, like Ph.D. dissertations and funding
requests, are often longer and far more detailed.
⚫ A research proposal‘s goal is to clearly outline exactly
what your research will entail and accomplish, so
including the proposal‘s word count or page count isn‘t
nearly as important as it is to ensure that all the necessary
elements and content are present.

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 Research proposal structure
⚫ A research proposal follows a fairly straightforward structure.
In order to achieve the goals described in the previous section,
nearly all research proposals include the following sections:
⚫ Title
⚫ Introduction
⚫ Your introduction achieves a few goals:
⚫ Introduces your topic
⚫ States your problem statement and the questions your research
aims to answer
⚫ Provides context for your research
⚫ In a research proposal, an introduction can be a few paragraphs long.
It should be concise, but don‘t feel like you need to cram all of your
information into one paragraph.

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 Background significance
⚫ This is where you explain why your research is necessary
and how it relates to established research in your field.
⚫ Your work might complement existing research, strengthen it,
or even challenge it—no matter how your work will ―play
with‖ other researchers‘ work, you need to express it in detail
in your research proposal.
⚫ This is also the section where you clearly define the existing
problems your research will address.
⚫ In your background significance section, you‘ll also outline
how you‘ll conduct your research. If necessary, note which
related questions and issues you won’t be covering in your
research.
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 Problem Statement
⚫ A problem statement is a concise and concrete summary
of the research problem you seek to address. It should:
⚫ Contextualize the problem.
⚫ What do we already know?
⚫ Describe the exact issue your research will address.
⚫ What do we still need to know?
⚫ Show the relevance of the problem.
⚫ Why do we need to know more about this?
⚫ Set the objectives of the
research.
⚫ What will you do to find out more?
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 Objectives
⚫ General Objectives

⚫ Specific
objectives
⚫ Literature review
⚫ Data collection
⚫ Methodology
(Design)
⚫ Implementation
⚫ Evaluation
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 Literature review
⚫ In your literature review, you introduce all the sources you
plan to use in your research. This includes landmark
studies and their data, books, and scholarly articles.
⚫ A literature review isn‘t merely a list of sources (that‘s
what your bibliography is for); a literature review delves
into the collection of sources you chose and explains how
you‘re using them in your research.

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 Research design, methods, and schedule

⚫ Following your research review, you‘ll discuss your

research plans. In this section, make sure you cover these
aspects:
⚫ The type of research you will do. Are you collecting original
data or working with data collected by other researchers?
⚫ Whether you‘re doing experimental, correlational, or
descriptive research

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⚫ The data you‘re working with. For example, if you‘re
conducting research in the social sciences, you‘ll need to
describe the population you‘re studying. You‘ll also need to
cover how you‘ll select your subjects and how you‘ll collect
data from them.
⚫ The tools you‘ll use to collect data. Will you be running
experiments? Conducting surveys? Observing phenomena?
Note all data collection methods here along with why they’re
effective methods for your specific research.

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⚫ Beyond a comprehensive look at your research
itself, you‘ll also need to include:
⚫ Your research timeline
⚫ Your research budget
⚫ Any potential obstacles you foresee and your
plan for handling them

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 Significance of the study
⚫ The significance of a study is its importance. It refers
to the contribution(s) to and impact of the study on a
research field. The significance also signals who benefits
from the research findings and how.

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⚫ make sure your proposal covers the following:
⚫ Any ways your work can challenge existing
theories and assumptions in your field
⚫ How your work will create the foundation for future research
⚫ The practical value your findings will provide to
practitioners, educators, and other academics in your field
⚫ The problems your work can potentially help to fix
⚫ Policies that could be impacted by your findings
⚫ How your findings can be implemented in academia or other
settings and how this will improve or otherwise transform these
settings

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⚫Conclusion
⚫ This is where you wrap it all up. Your conclusion section,
just like your conclusion paragraph for an essay, briefly
summarizes your research proposal and reinforces your
research‘s stated purpose.

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 Literature Reviews
⚫ A literature review is a piece of academic
demonstrating writing
knowledge and understanding of the academic
literature on a specific topic placed in context.
⚫ Sources covered in the review may include scholarly journal arti
books, government reports, Web sites, etc.
⚫ It provides a description, summary and evaluation of each source.
⚫ It is usually presented as a distinct section of a graduate thesis or
dissertation.

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Purpose of a literature review
⚫ The purpose of a literature review is to:
⚫ Provide foundation of knowledge on topic
⚫ Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication and give
credit to other researchers
⚫ Identify inconstancies: gaps in research, conflicts in
previous studies, open questions left from other research
⚫ Identify need for additional research (justifying your research)
⚫ Identify the relationship of works in context of its contribution to
the topic and to other works
⚫ Place your own research within the context of existing literature
making a case for why further study is needed.
⚫ Describes the relationship of each source to the others that you
have selected
⚫ Points the way forward for further research.

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 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 topic
⚫ Particular position, those opposed, and those offering complete
different arguments.
⚫ Discussion of both the distinctiveness of each source and its similarities wit
others

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 Steps in the literature review
process
⚫ Preparation of a literature review may be divided into four
steps:
⚫ 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.
⚫ Read and evaluate the sources and to determine their
suitability to the understanding of topic at hand.
⚫ Analyze, interpret and discuss the findings and conclusions
of the sources you selected.

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 Evaluating sources
⚫ In assessing each source, consideration should be given to:
⚫ What is the author's expertise in this particular field of study
(credentials)?
⚫ 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?
⚫ Doesthe selected source contribute to a more
profound understanding of the subject?

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 Literature Sources
⚫ Following are a few acceptable sources for
literature reviews,

⚫ Peer reviewed journal articles.

⚫A peer reviewed journal article is a paper that has
been
submitted to a scholarly journal, accepted, and published.
⚫ Peer review journal papers go through a rigorous,
blind review process of peer review.

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⚫ Edited academic books.
⚫ An edited academic book is a collection of scholarly
scientific papers written by different authors.
⚫ The works are original papers, not published elsewhere. The
papers within the text also go through a process of review;
however, the review is often not a blind review because the
authors have been invited to contribute to the book.
⚫ Articles in professional journals.
⚫ Articles from professional journals should be used with
caution for your literature review. This is because articles in
trade journals are not usually peer reviewed, even though they
may appear to be.

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⚫ Statistical data from government websites.
⚫ Governmental websites can be excellent sources for
statistical data.
⚫ Website material from professional associations
⚫ Since you want to justify the value of the research that
interests you, you might make use of a professional
association‘s website to learn how many members they have

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⚫ Journals:
⚫ An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical
publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic
discipline is published.
⚫ Conference proceedings
⚫ Is a collection of academic papers published in the context of an
academic conference or workshop.
⚫ Book
⚫ Is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or
images, typically composed of many pages bound together and
protected by a cover.
⚫ Reports
⚫ A report is a document that presents information in an organized
format for a specific audience and purpose.
⚫ Thesis
⚫ A thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for
an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the
author's research and findings.[

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 Literature Review Writing
⚫ Search for relevant literature
⚫ Evaluate sources
⚫ Identify themes, debates, and
gaps
⚫ Outline the structure
⚫ Write your literature review

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