2015

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF Civil Engineering
Structural design
Research method Assignment #1
DONE By ID
1. Yohannes Tesfaye GUR/00148/14

Sub mitted to Dr. Yebeltal Zerie

1. What is knowledge and how we gain it?

 Knowledge is a working tool of wisdom. According to me, Knowledge is acquired
through reading, travelling, studying and observing things around us. It is
necessarily the know-how of any place, person or a thing. It is the possession of
factual information which helps us in doing things and executing tasks easily.
 There are many ways of acquiring knowledge. Intuition, authority, experience,
and reasoning are all ways to gain knowledge. We acquire knowledge from our
experience. People who are experts in the subject matter also provide a great deal of
information
2. What do you understand the term “Research” and objectives of research? What research is
not? Research for what?
 Research is directed towards the solution of a problem. Research gathers new
knowledge or data from primary sources. Research is based upon observable
experience or experimental evidence. Research is logical and objective, applying
every possible test to verify the data collected and the procedures employed.
 Research objectives describe what your research is trying to achieve and explain
why you are pursuing it. They summarize the approach and purpose of your project
and help to focus your research. Your objectives should appear in the introduction of
your research paper, at the end of your problem statement.
 Research is not merely gathering information: Gathering information or facts
from different sources, on a particular topic, is not the same as Research, rather
the appropriate term should be information discovery or reference skill.
3. Is there any need to conduct research? What if we do not conduct research? (Give examples)
Is there any need to conduct research? Yes
 To understand a phenomenon, situation, or behavior under study. To test existing
theories and to develop new theories on the basis of existing ones. To answer
different questions of “how”, “what”, “which”, “when” and “why” about a
phenomenon, behavior, or situation.
 Examples include surveys, interviews, observations, and ethnographic research.
A good researcher knows how to use both primary and secondary sources in their
writing and to integrate them in a cohesive fashion.

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 What if we do not conduct research?

 We'd become ignorant and unaware.

 Without research, we could not possibly have survived as long as we have. And
there are still millions of things that have yet to be discovered: diseases to cure,
waters to explore, species to discover.

4. What are the basic objectives of scientific research method for postgraduate students?
 The purpose of the scientific method is to provide discrete steps for analytically
answering a research question. During the scientific method, scientists first make
observations about an issue at hand. Then, they research what is already known about
the topic and form a hypothesis to answer their question.
 Ideally, teaching the scientific method to students is teaching them how to think,
learn, solve problems and make informed decisions. These skills are integral to
every aspect of a student's education and life, from school to career.
5. Is research conducted only by gifted people? What research ethic rules should be considered
when conducting are search?
 Strive for honesty in all scientific communications. Honestly report data, results,
methods and procedures, and publication status. Do not fabricate, falsify, or
misrepresent data. Do not deceive colleagues, research sponsors, or the public.
 Principles of research ethics
 Respect for persons - autonomy and protecting those with diminished
autonomy. ...
 Beneficence and non-maleficence. ...
 Justice. ...
 Informed consent. ...
 Confidentiality and data protection. ...
 Integrity. ...
 Conflict of interest.
6. Discus the basic difference between basic research and applied research. (Give examples).
 Basic research aims at formulating theories that explain research findings and in the
process, improve a body of knowledge while applied research aims at arriving at
research findings that can solve practical problems. Basic research focuses on
principles and theories while applied research focuses on solutions.
 Basic Research Examples a study of how stress affects labor
productivity. Studying the best factors of pricing strategies. Understand
the client's level of satisfaction before certain interactions with the
company providing solutions. The understanding of the leadership style
of a particular company.

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  Applied research tends to drill down more toward solving specific problems that
affect people in the here and now. For example: A social psychologist performing
basic research on violence might look at how different factors might contribute to
violence in general.
7. What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research? Include mention of
possible differences in purpose, method, data sources, and data analysis. What is the
difference between a sample and a population?
 Quantitative research: in this type of research it is the researcher who “decides what
to study, asks specific, narrow questions, collects numeric data from participants,
analyzes these numbers using statistics, and conducts the inquiry in an unbiased,
objective manner”.
 Qualitative research: Here, “the researcher relies on the views of participants, asks
broad questions, collects data consisting largely of words from participants, describes
and analyzes these words for themes, and conducts the inquiry in a subjective, biased
manner”
 From this quote we see that the differences between these researches lies in the
purpose where the first is specific and narrow with measurable data and the latter is
general, broad and focused on the participants’ experiences. The major difference
between qualitative and quantitative methods lies in the researcher’s perspective and
the sampling style. In quantitative, for best results a random sampling is chosen
where a sample is selected to represent a population. In qualitative, however, there is
purposeful sampling where the researcher selects the people or site that can best help
in understanding the phenomenon. Finally, in data analysis qualitative research uses
text analysis where the data is described, analyzed, coded, collapsed, and themes are
developed. In quantitative research, the analysis is statistical, it is a description of
trends, comparison of groups, or relationships among variables and there is a
comparison of results with predictions and past studies.
 Quantitative data is numbers-based, countable, or measurable. Qualitative data is
interpretation-based, descriptive, and relating to language. Quantitative data tells us
how many, how much, or how often in calculations. Qualitative data can help us to
understand why, how, or what happened behind certain behaviors.
 Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research
deals with words and meanings. Quantitative methods allow you to systematically
measure variables and test hypotheses. Qualitative methods allow you to explore
concepts and experiences in more detail.
 A population is the entire group that you want to draw conclusions about. A sample is
the specific group that you will collect data from. The size of the sample is always
less than the total size of the population.

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8. Identify any researchable topic in your field of specialization. Develop objectives (general and
specific) and research questions.
 Earthquake engineering and seismic risk management.
 How do earthquakes cause damage? 
 Does the earth open up during an earthquake? 
 Where do earthquakes occur? 
 What is the relationship between volcanoes and earthquakes?
 How to prevent earthquake?
9. How do someone create a good research hypothesis? Define the term “hypothesis” and
enumerate and characteristics of hypothesis.
 Following are the characteristics of the hypothesis: The hypothesis should be clear
and precise to consider it to be reliable. If the hypothesis is a relational hypothesis,
then it should be stating the relationship between variables. The hypothesis must be
specific and should have scope for conducting more tests.
 A hypothesis states your predictions about what your research will find. It is a
tentative answer to your research question that has not yet been tested. For some
research projects, you might have to write several hypotheses that address different
aspects of your research question.
10. Discuss the process of data analysis in qualitative research, including exploring the data,
developing themes from the data, coding data, and connecting themes. Describe also the role
of the constant comparative method.

There are six steps involved in analyzing and interpreting qualitative data, they include:

 Preparing and organizing the data: you begin this process by organizing the data
into folders, cards or computer files. This is followed by the transcription of the
recordings (audio, video) or field notes into text data.
 Exploring and coding the database: you begin by exploring the data to gain a
general sense. This is followed by the coding process which is a process of making
sense of the data and collapsing information into general themes. This process goes
over the data many times in order to collapse the information into manageable general
themes.
 Describing findings and forming themes: here the aim is to answer the research
question and form an understanding of the central ideas through description and the
development of themes.
 Representing and reporting findings: this process consists of displaying findings in
tables and figures and constructing a narrative to explain and summarize findings in
response to the research questions.
 Interpreting the meaning of the findings: here the researcher steps back to form
larger meanings based on personal views and past studies.

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  Validating the accuracy of the findings: member checks or triangulation is used to
determine the accuracy and credibility of the findings. Constant comparative: to
slowly develop categories of information, it is an inductive data analysis procedure
(in grounded theory) of generating and connecting categories by comparing incidents
in the data to other incidents, incidents to categories, and categories to other
categories. The overall intent is to ground the categories in the data. This process is
used to eliminate redundancy and develops evidence for categories.
11. What is research methodology and how to develop it for different research types?
 Research methodology is the specific procedures or techniques used to identify,
select, process, and analyze information about a topic. In a research paper, the
methodology section allows the reader to critically evaluate a study's overall validity
and reliability
 Step 1: We explain our methodological approach. We can begin by introducing our
general approach to our study. ...
 Step 2: We describe our data collection methods. ...
 Step 3: We describe our analytical method. ...
 Step 4: We review and validate our methodological choices.

12. In what way are qualitative and quantitative methods are beneficial? When should carryout
qualitative and quantitative methods?
 A combination of qualitative and quantitative research is typically best for most
design projects if budget allows. By using both methods you can achieve a deeper
level of insight through the exploratory nature of the research in addition to statistical
evidence to support your design decisions.
 Use quantitative research if you want to confirm or test something (a theory or
hypothesis) Use qualitative research if you want to understand something (concepts,
thoughts, experiences).
13. How to judge the depth of any research? What are the core elements of a Research Process?
 The depth of any research can be judged by objectives of the research.
 An understanding of the basic elements of research is essential for good research
practices. Among the most important elements to be considered are variables,
associations, sampling, random selection, random assignment, and blinding.
14. What type of chart is useful for comparing values over categories and showing trends or
changes overtime?

 Column Charts are useful to visually compare values across a few categories or for
showing data changes over a period of time. A Column Chart typically displays the
categories along the horizontal (category) axis and the values along the vertical
(value) axis.

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15. What is the difference between the dependent variable and the independent variable? What
problem do experiments often have? What is an observational study?

 The independent variable is the cause. Its value is independent of other variables in
your study. The dependent variable is the effect. Its value depends on changes in the
independent variable.
 Weaknesses: The main weakness of the experimental method is their dependence on
what many see as an "artificial" environment. People may behave differently in the
experimental setting than they would under more ordinary conditions.
 An observational study is when the researcher observes the effect of a specific
variable as it occurs naturally, without making any attempt to intervene. In an
experiment, the researcher manipulates the situation and observes the effect in a more
controlled setting.
 Observational studies involve the study of participants without any forced change to
their circumstances, that is, without any intervention. Although the participants'
behavior may change under observation, the intent of observational studies is to
investigate the 'natural' state of risk factors, diseases or outcomes.