Introduction to RESEARCH &

Significance in Architecture

• By Ar. Renuka Kale

Course Description
• The course is intended to help students develop an
aptitude for research as well as understand scientific
methods along with the tools it provides.
• As a subject that provides theoretical basis for the B.Arch
Dissertation, we will begin to analyze and consider the
research topics that students will eventually chose.
• If, The goal of the B.Arch Dissertation is to produce an
outstanding, original piece of independent scholarship in
architecture research then this course is part of the
process that will assist students in doing so.
• By end of these lectures we will publish one article per
student based on the topic of students interest
Contents
• Definitions
• Mo)va)ons
• Philosophy
• …………………………………………
What is Research?
• Redman and Mory (1923) defined research as: “systemized
effort to gain new knowledge” the advanced learner’s dictionary
of current English defines research as “a careful investigation or
inquiry specially through search for new facts in any branch of
knowledge.”
• According to clifford woody, research comprises defining and
redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested
solutions; collecting, organizing and evaluating data; making
deductions and reaching conclusions; and at last carefully
testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the
formulating hypothesis
• Research is “an original contribution to the existing stock of
knowledge”
Motivations in Research
Why to do?
Intellectual joy of Creative Work
Face the challenges in solving the unsolved problems
Concern over practical problems can initiate research
Significance of Research
• Hudson Maxim: “ All process is born of inquiry.
Doubt is better than overconfidence for it leads to
inquiry, inquiry leads to invention”
• Research inculcates scientific and inductive thinking
and it promotes the development of logical habits
of thinking and organization.

• Give Examples: Fir Each line

Objectives of Research
• The purpose of research is to discover answers to
questions through the application of scientific
procedure; The main aim of research is to find out
truth which is not yet known.
Research Paradigms and
Approaches
• Positivism (Quantitative) : Inferential, experimental
or explorative, causal, comparative, analytical,
experimental
• Interpretive (Qualitative)
Qualitative: Assessment of attitudes, opinions and
behaviors, phenomenology, grounded theory,
observation, interview
• Pragmatism (Mixed methods)
Exploratory, explanatory, embedded
Quantitative Qualitative
•  Scientific/experimental design •  Naturalistic inquiry
•  Independent, dependent variables •  Holistic, system-wide perspective
•  Standardized, uniform •  Uniqueness and diversity
•  Deductive reasoning •  Inductive reasoning
•  Quantitative data (numbers) •  Qualitative data (words)
•  Quantitative methods − structured, •  Qualitative methods − unstructured,
standardized open-ended
•  Probabilistic, random sampling •  Purposeful sampling
•  Fixed, controlled design •  Emergent, flexible design
•  Statistical analysis •  Content analysis
•  Generalizations •  Extrapolations
Quantitative & Qualitative
methods
Quantitative Qualitative
Surveys Questionnaires Focus Group Discussion
Tests Unstructured interviews
Existing databases Unstructured observation
Research & Scientific Method
• “Scientific Method is the pursuit of truth as
determined by logical considerations. The ideal of
science is to achieve a systematic interrelation of
facts. In scientific method, logic aids in formulating
propositions explicitly and accurately so that their
possible alternatives become clear” – CR Kothari
LOGIC
Logic is the science and art of right thinking
It is primarily concerned with the process of the
thinking

LOGIC

Deduction Induction
From the more universal From particular or
to the less universal specific to the universal
Logic
Types of Research :
Descriptive Vs Analytical:
Description of state of affairs as they exist (Also described
as ex post facto research) ; No control over variables
Purpose: to describe or obtain information on the
characteristics of a particular issue as it exists – present
events unlike historical research which happens in the past
Analytical research uses facts or information already
available – critical evaluation of information
Purpose: Aims to understand phenomena by discovering
and measuring causal relations among them
Example : Of eacjh
Applied Vs. fundamental
• Applied research aims at finding solution to real life
problems in society
• Fundamental research gathers knowledge for
knowledge’s sake
Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research:

• Quantitative research involves the use of or generates numerical

data or data that can be converted into numbers, for example
number of people affected by Malaria.
Purpose: Aims on gaining insights/ familiarity when few/ no earlier
studies to refer – normally qualitative research – no theory exists
• Qualitative research is used to explore and understand people's
beliefs, experiences, attitudes, behavior and interactions. It
generates non- numerical data, e.g. a person’s description of
their pain rather than a measure of pain.
Purpose: To describe or obtain information on the characteristics
of a particular issue as they exist – present events unlike historical
research which happens in the past
Conceptual vs. Empirical
Research:
• Conceptual research is related to abstract ideas
(philosophical research)
• Empirical Research can be defined as ”research
based on experimentation or observation
(evidence)". Such research is usually conducted to
test a hypothesis.
Purpose: – aims to generalize from the analysis by
predicting certain phenomena on the basis of
hypothesized relationships
Clinical or Diagnostic
Research:
• Clinical research is research that either directly involves
a particular person or group of people or uses materials
from humans, such as their behavior or samples of their
tissue, that can be linked to a particular living person.
(May be patient-oriented, epidemiological and
behavioral studies or outcomes and health services
research: These studies seek to identify the most
effective and most efficient interventions, treatments,
and services including clinical trials)
• Diagnostic research involves diagnosis of a situation,
disease or state
Formalized vs. exploratory
research:
Formalized research is controlled, objective, and
systematic gathering of data.
Exploratory research is research as a leap ahead
Purpose: Aims on gaining insights/ familiarity when
few/ no earlier studies to refer – usually qualitative
research – no theory exists (grounded theory, PRA/
PLA)
Historical research:

Historical research is a type of secondary data

analysis to determine past social attitudes and
community structure and how these have changed
over time
Method: – aims at a continuous and systematic
search for the information and knowledge about past
events related to the life of a person, a group,
society, or the world
 Other Types
• Prospective – Relationships are considered from a start point and
followed forward in time; all experimental studies

• Retrospective – Relationships are considered from an end point and

followed backwards in time

• Observational - Investigator attempts to observe a system without any

interference

• Experimental - Investigator deliberately changes one or more variables in

a system to examine the effect

• Example for each

Other Types
• Cross Sectional Study – taken at a point in time over
cross section of population
• Longitudinal Study – taken temporally
• Case Control Study - to assess the strengths of
association between an exposure and outcome of
interest
• Cohort Study - Involve looking at a population who
all sharea common feature of interest
Research may also be classified into the
following categories:

• Policy Research
In principle, policy research will focus on actionable or
malleable social factors to a greater extent than theoretical
research.
• Market Research
is any organized effort to gather information about markets
or customers. It is a very important component of business
strategy
• Communication Research
In the basic sense, "communication is the transmission of
information, ideas, emotions, skills, etc. (i.e. message), by
the use of symbols-words, pictures, figures, graphs etc.,"
Quality in Research : Validity and
Reliability
• Whenever a test/tool or other measuring device is
used as part of the data collection process, the validity
and reliability of that test/tool is important.
• Validity refers to the degree in which our test or other
measuring device is truly measuring what we intended
it to measure. It refers to the degree of accuracy
• Reliability refers to the degree in which our test or
other measuring device is consistent in a test, survey,
observation, or other measuring device. It refers to
the degree of consistency
Factors affecting Validity
• Unclear Direction : If directions do not clearly indicate to the
respondent how to respond to tool items, the validity of a tool is
reduced.
• Vocabulary : If the vocabulary of the respondent is poor, then
he/she fails to respond to the tool item, even if he/she knows the
answer. It becomes a reading comprehension text for him/her, and
the validity decreases.
• Difficult Sentence Construction : If a sentence is so constructed as
to be difficult to understand, respondents would be confused,
which will affect the validity of the tool.
• Poorly Constructed Test Items : These reduce the validity of a test.
• Use Of Inappropriate Items : The use of inappropriate items lowers
validity
Factors affecting Validity
• Difficulty Level Of Items : In an achievement test, too easy or too difficult test items
would not discriminate among students. Thereby the validity of a test is lowered.
• Influence Of Extraneous Factors : Extraneous Factors like the style of expression,
legibility, mechanics of grammar, (spelling, punctuation), handwriting, length of the
tool, influence the validity of the tool.
• Inappropriate Time Limit : In a speed test, if no time limit is given, the result will be
invalidated. In a power test, an inappropriate time limit will lower its validity. Our tests
are both power and speed tests. Hence care should be taken in fixing the time limit.
• Inappropriate Coverage : If the test does not cover all aspects of the construct being
measured inadequately, its content validity will be adversely affected due to
inadequate sampling of items.
• Inadequate weightage to some dimensions, sub-topics or objectives would call into
question the validity of tool.
• Halo effect : If a respondent has formed a poor impression about one aspect of the
concept, item, person, issue being measured, he/ she likely to rate that concept, item,
person, issue poor on all other aspects too.
Factors affecting Validity
• Interval: With any method involving two testing occasions, the longer the interval of
time between two test administration, the lower the co – efficient will tend to be.
• Test Length: Adding equivalent items makes a test more reliable while deleting them
makes it less reliable. A longer test will provide more adequate sample of the
behavior being measured and the scores are apt to be less influenced by chance
• Inappropriate Time Limit : A test is considered to be a pure speed test if everyone
who reaches an item gets it right, but no one has the time to finish all items. A
power test is one in which everyone has time to try all the items but because of the
difficulty level, no one obtains perfect score.
• Group Homogeneity : Other things being equal, the more heterogenous the group,
the higher reliability. The test is more reliable when applied to group of pupils with a
wide range of ability than one with a narrow range of ability.
• Difficulty Of The Items : Tests in which there is little variability among the scores give
lower reliability estimates than tests in which the variability is high. Too difficult or
too easy tests for a group will tend to be less reliable because the differences among
the pupils in such tests are narrow.
Ethics
What is meant by Ethics?
• Not natural – man made?

• Is it what is right or wrong?

• Is it what is legal?

• Does it mean societal acceptance?

• Is it based on ‘personal feelings’ or ‘religious’?

Dictionary meaning
• “ A set of principles that
people use to decide what
is right and what is wrong”
• 
• Eg. Medical, professional,
business ethics
• Eg. The ethics of filming
people without their
permission
Ethics in Research
• Honesty
• Objectivity
• Integrity
• Carefulness
• Openness
• Respect for intellectual property
• Confidentiality
• Responsible publication
• Respect for colleagues
• Social responsibility
• Non-discrimination
• Competence
• Legality
• Animal Care
• Human subject protection
• Research Design and statistics
Ethics in Research
• There are many other activities that the government does not define as "misconduct" but
which are still regarded by most researchers as unethical
• Publishing the same paper in two different journals without telling the editors
• Submitting the same paper to different journals without telling the editors
• Not informing a collaborator of your intent to file a patent in order to make sure that you are
the sole inventor
• Including a colleague as an author on a paper in return for a favor even though the colleague
did not make a serious contribution to the paper
• Discussing with your colleagues confidential data from a paper that you are reviewing for a
journal
• Trimming outliers from a data set without discussing your reasons in paper
• Using an inappropriate statistical technique in order to enhance the significance of your
research ( Give Example)
• Bypassing the peer review process and announcing your results through a press conference
without giving peers adequate information to review your work ( Give Example)
• Conducting a review of the literature that fails to acknowledge the contributions of other
people in the field or relevant prior work
• Stretching the truth on a grant application in order to convince reviewers that your project will
make a significant contribution to the field
Plagiarism?????
Criteria of Good Research ( Give
Examples)
• ① Employing scientific methods
• ② The purpose of the research should be clearly defined and common concepts be used.
• ③ The research procedure used should be described in sufficient detail to permit another
researcher to repeat the research for further advancement, keeping the continuity of what
has already been attained
• ④ The procedural design of the research should be carefully planned to yield results that
are as objective as possible.
• ⑤ The researcher should report with complete frankness, flaws in procedural design and
estimate their effects upon the findings.
• ⑥ The analysis of data should be sufficiently adequate to reveal its significance and the
methods of analysis used should be appropriate. The validity and reliability of the data
should be checked carefully.
• ⑦ Conclusions should be confined to those justified by the data of the research and
limited to those for which the data provide an adequate basis.
• ⑧ Greater confidence in research is warranted if the researcher is experienced, has a good
reputation in research and is a person of integrity.
Qualities of a Good Research
• Good research is systematic: It means that research is structured with specified
steps to be taken in a specified sequence in accordance with the well defined set
of rules. Systematic characteristic of the research does not rule out creative
thinking but it certainly does reject the use of guessing and intuition in arriving at
conclusions.
• Good research is logical: This implies that research is guided by the rules of logical
reasoning and the logical process of induction and deduction are of great value in
carrying out research. Induction is the process of reasoning from a part to the
whole whereas deduction is the process of reasoning from some premise to a
conclusion which follows from that very premise. In fact, logical reasoning makes
research more meaningful in the context of decision making.
• Good research is empirical: It implies that research is related basically to one or
more aspects of a real situation and deals with concrete data that provides a basis
for external validity to research results.
• Good research is replicable: This characteristic allows research results to be
verified by replicating the study and thereby building a sound basis for decisions.
Architectural Research
• Architectural research is the search for new knowledge and
new ideas about the built environment.
• Research can be conducted in a variety of sub disciplines,
including building technology, environment-behavior
studies, history of architecture and computing technology.
• In each area of architectural research, certain
presuppositions and fundamental beliefs guide and
determine the appropriate focus and method of inquiry, as
well as the significance and merit of each research project.
• While the parameters of these research approaches vary,
there are some common characteristics among them.
Architectural Research
• ① Architectural research efforts are those that have clearly
identifiable goals at the outset of the research, where the
project is directed to respond to a question
• ② In pursuing that question, one follows a credible, systematic
method or mode of inquiry, relevant and acceptable to the
research paradigm under which one is operating
• ③ This process results in significant results(and in a thorough,
documented manner which reflects a solution or enhances
understanding/knowledge within the research domain)

• ④ It should be noted that design can be a form of research

inquiry if it incorporated the three characteristics listed above.
Areas of Research in Architecture
Areas of Research in
Environmental Architecture
• Environment and Buildings
• Building Physics
• Urban Design
• Indoor Environment Quality
• Sustainable Technologies
• Sustainable Materials
• Water management
• Urban and Rural environmental issues
• Legislations
• Building Energy Simulation
• Solutions to Environmental Issues
• Global environmental problems, local issues
FOR MAKING PPT
• https://issuu.com/ymahgoub/docs/lecture8-resear
ch_methods_in_archit

• Note for this ppt:

Highlight imp points at end after formatting
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Give example and picture for each line