EEE/ETI 4209

RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
Lecture 1
 Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course unit, students should be able to:

∙ Identify technical gaps in the literature by conducting a literature review
∙ Criticize quantitative and/or qualitative research methodologies relevant
to their research work.
∙ Demonstrate proposal writing skills by developing a research pre-proposal
∙ Demonstrate presentation skills by presenting a research findings
∙ Evaluate the quality of professional research i.e. research papers.
∙ Conceptualize a research project in their areas of specialization.

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 Course Road Map
1. Overview of the research process:

2. Formulating a Research Problem/ Problem identification

3. Literature survey & review

4. Proposal writing

5. Data analysis and visualisation

6. Reproducibility

7. Ethics

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 Overview of Research Process
• “All progress is born of inquiry. Doubt is often better than overconfidence,

for it leads to inquiry, and inquiry leads to invention” - Hudson Maxim

• Without research, many of the comforts we have today would not have been

realized.

• Research is an essential and powerful tool in leading man towards progress.

• Through research, new products, new facts, new concepts and new ways of

doing things are continuously being found in all fields.

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 What is Research?

• Re + Search - It means to search again.

• So research means a systematic investigation or

activity to gain new knowledge of the already existing facts.
• There are many definitions of research.

• However in simple terms, research can be defined as a structured approach

to discover, develop or verify knowledge.
• Systematized, methodical and ethical effort to gain new knowledge

• Voyage of discovery / movement from the unknown to the known.

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 Possible motivations for doing research

✔ Aspire to get a research degree along with career benefits;

✔ Aspire to take up the challenge in solving the unsolved problems;

✔ Desire to get intellectual joy of doing a creative work;

✔ Aspire to do research to serve the society;

✔ Seek to get recognition and respect;

✔ Directives of government or employment conditions;

✔ Curiosity about new things.

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 Purpose of Research
• The main aim of research is to bring to light new knowledge, correct the present
mistakes, remove existing misconceptions and add new learning to the existing
knowledge.
• Though each research study has its own specific purpose, some general objectives
of research are:
i. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it. (exploratory or
formulative research studies)

ii. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated
with something else. (diagnostic research studies)

iii. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables.

iv. To portray accurately the characteristics of something. (descriptive research studies) 7

 General Characteristics of Research
• Research is directed towards the solution of a problem.

• Research requires expertise.

• Research emphasizes the development of generalizations, principles, or theories

that will be helpful in predicting future occurrences.
• Research is based upon observable experience or empirical evidences.

• Research demands accurate observation and description.

• Research involves gathering new data from primary or first-hand sources or using
existing data for a new purpose.
• Research is characterized by carefully designed
procedures that apply rigorous analysis. 8
 General Characteristics of Research

• Research involves the quest for answers to un-solved problems.

• Research should not contain personal feelings and preferences.

• Research strives to be objective and logical, applying every possible test to validate
the procedures employed in the data collected and the conclusions reached.
• Research is characterized by patience and unhurried activity.

• Research sometimes requires courage.

• Research is carefully recorded and reported

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 Types of Research

• Descriptive vs Analytical Research

• Applied Research vs. Fundamental Research

• Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research

• Conceptual vs. Empirical Research

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 Research Methodology versus Research Methods
• Research methods are all those methods/techniques that are used for conducting
research.
• Research methods or techniques, refer to the methods the
researchers adopt to carry out their research.
• Research methods can be put into the following three groups:

a) Methods which are concerned with the collection/ acquisition of data; these
methods will be used where the data already available are not sufficient to arrive at
the required solution.

b) The mathematical/statistical techniques which are used for establishing

relationships between the data and the unknowns.

c) Methods which are used to evaluate the accuracy of the results obtained.
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• Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It is
the science of studying how research is done scientifically.
• In it we formulate the various steps that are
to be adopted by a researcher in
studying his research problem along with the logic behind them.
• It is necessary for the researcher to know not only the research methods/techniques
but also the methodology.
• It is clear that research methodology has many dimensions and research methods
do constitute a part of the research methodology.
• Why a research study has been undertaken, how-the research problem has been defined, in
what way and why the hypothesis has been formulated, what data have been
collected and what particular method has been adopted, why particular technique of
analyzing data has been used and a host of similar other questions are usually 12

answered when we talk of research methodology concerning a research problem or study.

 Research Process
• Research process consists of series of actions or steps necessary to effectively
carry out research.
• These actions or steps are:

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 Summary of the steps
Formulating the Research Problem
• At the very start, the researcher must single out the problem he wants to study, i.e.,
he must decide the general area of interest or aspect of a subject-matter that he
would like to inquire into.
Extensive Literature Survey
• Two types of literature are reviewed, that is:
✔ The conceptual literature concerning the concepts and theories,
✔ The empirical literature consisting of studies made earlier which are similar to
the one proposed
• Sources for the literature include but not limited to:
– Scientific journals; Conference proceedings;
– Books; Government reports; Patents

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 Summary of the steps
Development of Working Hypothesis
• Working hypothesis or research question is a tentative guess of what will happen
based on one’s readings, observations and other experiences for further testing.
• Hypothesis is very important since it provides the focus of the research. The role of
the hypothesis is to guide the researcher by delimiting the area of research and to
keep him on the right track.
Preparing the Research Design (Methodology)
• Research design is a master plan specifying the methods and procedures for
collection and analyzing the needed information.
• Research design depends mainly on the research purpose. Research purposes may
be grouped into the following four categories: Exploration; Description; Diagnosis
& Expérimentation

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 Summary of the steps
Collecting the Data
• There are several ways of collecting the appropriate data which differ considerably
in context of money costs, time and other resources at the disposal of the
researcher.
• Primary data can be collected either through experiment or through survey.
Analysis of Data
• In this stage of research, the collected data should be processed and analyzed.
• The processing stage includes the classification and
tabulation/graphing of
collected data ready to be analyzed.
• The analyzing stage includes the interpretation of findings to determine the validity
in which the conclusions would be based. 16
 Summary of the steps
Hypothesis Testing
• After analyzing the data, the researcher is in a position to test the hypothesis, if any
had been formulated earlier.
• Do the facts support the hypothesis or they happen to be contrary?

• Hypothesis testing will result in either accepting the hypothesis or in rejecting it.

• If the researcher had no hypothesis to start with, generalizations established on the

basis of data may be stated.
Preparation of the Report
• Finally, the researcher has to prepare the report of what has been done.

• The layout of the report should be as follows; the preliminary pages, the main text
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and end matter.