Dr.

Douglas Aghimien
Department of Civil Engineering Technology
University of Johannesburg
Doornfontein
[email protected]
What is research
• A process of (i)Answering unanswered questions (ii) Creating that which
does not currently exist (iii) Expanding the boundaries of our ignorance

• A systematic quest to the discovery and creation of knowledge

• “A careful, systematic, patient study and investigation in some field of

knowledge, undertaken to establish facts or principles” (Grinnell, 1993:4)

• It is a discovery (Rediscovery); a voyage from the known to the unknown

• An effort to be closer to the truth

• Research is the systematic process of collecting and analysing

information (data) in order to increase our understanding of the
phenomenon (occurrence) with which we are concerned or interested.

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Your duty as a researcher
Research is all about addressing an issue or asking and answering a question or solving
a problem, so…

➢ Identify an issue, question, or problem.

- Talk with people who want or need your study.

➢ Find out what’s already known about it.

- Talk with experts and/or read their reviews and the original
research on the topic.

➢ Plan, cost, and do your study accordingly.

➢ Write it up and submit it for assessment.

- Better still, do a good job on it and submit it for publication.
Your work will benefit more people if you publish it.
Rule No. 1 in academia is publish or perish.

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Snapshot of Research Process

i. Selection of a topic
ii. Formulation a of a research problem statement
iii. Creation of a research design
iv. Constructing instruments for data collection
v. Selecting a sample
vi. Writing the research proposal
vii. Collecting data
viii. Processing data
ix. Writing the report
Why do Research?
 To know why? Blue sky research!
To solve specific real world needs – e.g low cost housing! A faster car!
The pursuit of a postgraduate qualification
 WHY RESEARCH: SEVERAL REASONS WHY ONE RESEARCH

1. Research is important to our day-to-day life. Research done by others

determines most of what any of us believe.
▪ Whenever we ‘look something up’ we do research by consulting the research of
others, but we can trust what we find only if those who did that research did it
carefully and reported it accurately.
▪ The basic knowledge and research methods that professional researchers develop
become the basis for all other social research.

2. Without research there will be no reliable published research, we would be

prisoners of what we alone see and hear, locked in the opinions of the
moment.
▪ Only when we know that we can trust the research of others can we free ourselves
from those who by controlling our believes would control our lives.

3. Engage in research as an academic exercise to fulfil the requirements of a

particular study.
 WHY RESEARCH (Cont’d)
4. Gathering data that can help us answer questions about various aspects of
society and thus improving our understanding of the society.
▪ These questions may pertain to very specific problems such as low social welfare
caseworker in city, teenage pregnancy etc.
▪ To meet the needs of our clients, industry, or how conflict among medical
professionals in a particular hospital may be lessened.

5. Research can provide answers to questions of theoretical interest to a

particular social science discipline. Such questions may have no apparent
applications in the present society.

6. Findings from research yield better-informed, less biased decisions than the
guessing, hunches, intuition, and personal experience that were previously
used.
▪ The steps in solving an unsolved problem are practically the same for the modern
researcher as they were for our ancestors
 Categories of research
❑ Pure – performed for the single goal of gaining knowledge

❑ Applied – performed to solve a specific practical problem (here the practically useful
outcome is the goal of the research and any outcomes of a theoretical significance are the
bonus)

❑ One category of research could lead to the other

 Types of research
1. Experimental research – primarily concerned with cause and effect

❑ Here researchers identify independent variables (cause) and try to determine if

changes in the independent variables result in changes in the dependent variables
(effect)

❑ E.g. If we wanted to test whether a new drug was effective in reducing blood pressure
in rats – the independent variable would be the use or non-use of the drug and the
dependent variable would be the blood pressure
 Types of research (Cont’d)
2. Creative research – involves the development of new theories, new procedures and
new inventions
E.g. An electronic engineer might design a new radio

❑ Can be both practical and theoretical

• Practical creative research is about design of physical things (artefacts) – e.g. A new
BMW car.
• Theoretical creative research is about the discovery of new models, theorems,
algorithms e.g. A new model for the world economic system
 Types of research (Cont’d)
3. Descriptive (Case study)

❑ is research in which a specific situation is studied either to see if it gives general

theories or to see if existing general theories are borne out by the specific situation e.g.
anthropological studies of isolated cultures to see whether pervasive social
organisations are essential features of human kind.

❑ It may be used when the object of the research is very complex

e.g in trying to study the effectiveness of a health care delivery system, a researcher
might undertake an in- depth case study of a selected number of hospitals in a selected
number of countries and compare them to see if any general trends emerge.
 Types of research (Cont’d)
4. Ex Post Facto Research (From after the fact)

❑ This is the opposite of experimental research (cause and effect) – it looks back at the
effects and tries to deduce the causes from these effects

❑ It occurs when data are available that could not be generated by experimental
research e.g. The relationship between road development in an area and its current
population

5. Action Research

❑ a type of applied research that focuses on finding a solution to a local problem in a

local setting e.g. a teacher investigates whether a new spelling program she has adopted
leads to improvement in her students’ achievement scores
 Types of research (Cont’d)
6. Historical Research
❑ These are studies of the past to find cause-effect patterns
❑ Often geared towards using past events to examine a current situation and to predict
future situations e.g. Stock market forecasting.
❑ The research does not directly study current causes or effects; rather data is gathered
from primary sources – i.e. records of past events and secondary sources i.e. records
after the events

7. Expository Research
❑ This is research based purely on existing information and results in review-type
reports
❑ By reading widely on a field, and then comparing, contrasting, analyzing and
synthesizing all points of view on a particular subject, a researcher can often develop
new insights.
❑ A comparison of tax structures in developed and developing countries is an example
of this type of research.
 Questions
What type of research might be suitable for
the development of vaccine against
HIV/AIDS? Or COVID-9?

What type of research might be suitable for a

study on the origins of the universe?
Steps in the Research Process
The research process involves the following steps:
1. Become aware of a topic and a problem
2. Convert the problem into a well-demarcated research problem
3. Carry out the research (using data collection or experimentation)
4. Analyse the results
5. Write up the findings
Research process 1 - Become aware of a topic and a problem

❑ The specific subject addressed by the research is called the Topic

❑ The specific question addressed by the research is called the problem

❑ Sources of problems
- Recommendations of previous research
- Funding bodies e.g. NRF, CSIR
- University Professors
- University research entities – centers, institutes
- National and Regional government Agencies and Departments
Research process 2 - Convert the problem into a well-demarcated research problem

❑ Decide whether you want to investigate a general solution or one that works for a
particular area or field

❑ Demarcate the scope of the literature – how widely or deeply will you need to study
the topic?

❑ Identify the research variables – e.g. effect of temperature (Independent variable A)

on respiration (Dependent variable B)
• Variables can either be:
qualitative i.e. they can vary between settings like practical/non practical,
absent/present or good/mediocre/bad – or
quantitative – i.e. they vary between numerical settings

Important – the variables therefore tend to assist in deciding whether the research will
be quantitative or qualitative
❑ Statement of the research problem

- Having performed the preliminary study and demarcated the problem, the researcher
should now be in a position to make a statement of the research problem (statement
of the problem)

- In particular the statement of the research problem will:

▪ Ask a question or questions, normally about the relationships between variables

▪ Be empirically testable – within time, budget, resource constraints
▪ Define the potential usefulness of the result(s) of the research
 Research process 3 - Carry out the research
(using data collection or experimentation)
❑ Sources of Information
• Literature Study – the process of finding out about previous works
• This can be in 2 forms

- A preliminary literature study to get a feel for the topic and the issues involved and
understand how the proposed research would fit them. This should precede any written
proposal to conduct research e.g. a proposal for a Masters topic. An important outcome of the
preliminary literature study is finding out what further sources need to be consulted in the full
study.

- Full literature study

- Is a more comprehensive study which is part of the research process itself rather than part of
the preparation for research
- The bulk of this work should be done prior to embarking on experimentation or data collection
so that the results of the study can be used during these activities
- However, during the course of the research you should update your knowledge of recent
developments by reading current publications
❑ The main sources of information are

✓ Textbooks
✓ Articles in scientific journals
✓ Conference proceedings
✓ Theses, dissertations and treatises
✓ Company reports
✓ People
✓ Magazines and newspapers; and
✓ The Internet .

❑ How would you access the information

There are three major steps to obtaining the needed information:

• Find out which reports are useful (from the title, the abstract, reference by other
people, summary of publications)
• Obtain copies of them
• Read them
 Research Methodology

What is research methodology?

• Research methodology is “the combination techniques used to enquire into a

specific situation”

• In essence, research methodology refers to the overall approach to the research

process from the theoretical underpinning to the collection and analysis of data.

• Methodology is concerned with:

✓ why data should be collected;
✓ what data should be collected;
✓ where the data should be collected from;
✓ when the data should be collected;
✓ how the data should be collected; and
✓ how the data will be analysed.
How do you choose the right methodology to use?

❑ The selection of the Research Methodology and their application depends on:
✓ The aim and objectives of the study
✓ The nature of the phenomenon being investigated
✓ The underlying theory or expectations of the investigator
✓ The underlying principles and assumptions regarding the use of such methodology
under specific circumstances

❑ There are three features of the research problem that assist in choice of methodology:
✓ Scope of the problem
✓ Nature or description of the problem
✓ Complexity of the problem
1. Scope of the problem

❑ Identify whether:
• the problem is specific
• the problem is generalizable or
• whether the problem is both specific and generalizable.

❑ This is established during the literature survey.

❑ The methodological approach, as well as methods, selected must therefore be able to

deliver a broadly specific or generalizable result.
2. Nature or description of the problem

❑ A balance must be made between describing the problem qualitatively and

quantitatively.

❑ This can be considered as balancing the description of ‘why’ a phenomenon happens

against ‘what’ is happening.

❑ This would point the research towards a methodological position incorporating

primarily quantitative or qualitative analysis, (i.e. the main variables are either
numeric or descriptive).

3. Complexity of the problem

❑ Establish from the number of parameters that need to be measured or observed

whether the problem is simple or complex.
Philosophical Position

▪ It is necessary to situate “all” research background in the relevant research

paradigm.

▪ The choice of a paradigm has implications on both methodology and research

methods.

▪ The paradigm is determined by the nature of the research problem being

investigated
Philosophical Position

▪ Given that the nature of any particular research problem will dictate its means of
solution the methodological framework and methods employed in the research
must therefore reflect these features.

▪ The next step is to establish the most appropriate philosophical position for the
research, prior to the selection of appropriate method(s).

▪ In order to establish the philosophical position of the research, it is necessary to

examine the:
- sociological,
- epistemological ; and
- ontological background for the research
Philosophical Position

▪ Philosophy (from Greek φιλοσοφία, philosophia, literally “love of wisdom”) is the study
of general and fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind,
and language.

▪ Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. The term was
probably coined by Pythagoras (c. 570 – 495 BCE).

▪ Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument, and

systematic presentation.

▪ Classic philosophical questions include: Is it possible to know anything and to prove it?
▪ What is most real?

▪ Philosophers also pose more practical and concrete questions such as: Is there a best way
to live? Is it better to be just or unjust (if one can get away with it)?

▪ Do humans have free will?

Historically, “philosophy” encompassed any body of knowledge.

Philosophical Position

▪ A philosophical theory or philosophical position is a set of beliefs

that explains or accounts for a general philosophy or specific branch of
philosophy.

▪ While any sort of thesis or opinion may be termed a position, in analytic

philosophy it is thought best to reserve the word “theory” for systematic,
comprehensive attempts to solve problems.
Philosophical Position (cont’d)
▪ Philosophy is primarily concerned with rigorously establishing, regulating and
improving the methods of knowledge creation in all fields of intellectual endeavors
(including the field of construction or built environment research)

▪ In philosophical enquiry, the facts, the theories, the alternatives and the ideals are
brought together and weighted against each other in the creation of knowledge

▪ Philosophical thinking revolves around the three pillars of ontology, epistemology and
ethics.
What is sociological perspective?

• The sociological perspective is a way of viewing humanity as a society.

• Sociologists try to study the nature of human societies to see how they behave
on large scales.

• Individuals will make clearly defined decisions, and psychology is used to predict
how people will react in certain situations; however, groups of people often
exhibit strange and contradictory behaviors.

• The main goal of the sociological perspective is viewing society as a group

that has a logic behind its decisions.

• It essentially treats society as an organism with a rationale behind the choices

that the group makes, even if...
 Ontological Position

An ontological position refers to the researcher relationship with the reality of his
study. For example, whether, he / considers reality to be independent of his
knowledge, or whether he participates in the construction of that reality.

Ontology refers to what sort of things exist in the social world and assumptions about
the form and nature of that social reality

Epistemological Position

▪An epistemological position – from the Greek epistemé for 'knowledge' is a

certain position one holds regarding how we acquire information. Is knowledge even
possible?

▪Epistemology in research deals with the sources of knowledge.

▪ Specifically, epistemology is concerned with possibilities, nature, sources and

limitations of knowledge in the field of study. ...
 Epistemological Position

• In research philosophy there are many different sources of knowledge. Sources of

knowledge related to research can be divided into the following four categories:

1. Intuitive knowledge is based on intuition, faith, beliefs etc. Human feelings plays
greater role in intuitive knowledge compared to reliance on facts.

2. Authoritarian knowledge relies on information that has been obtained from books,
research papers, experts, supreme powers etc.

3. Logical knowledge is a creation of new knowledge through the application of

logical reasoning.

4. Empirical knowledge relies on objective facts that have been established and can
be demonstrated.

Epistemology has many branches that include essentialism, historical perspective, perennialsm,
progressivism, empiricism, idealism, rationalism, constructivism etc.
 Ontological Position

▪Ontology is the study of "being".

▪Ontology is concerned with questions and knowing.
▪In ontological enquiries, questions of the nature of reality are central

Epistemological Position

▪Epistemology is the study of knowing, i.e. how we know what we know.

▪It deals with questions about how and what is possible to know.
▪It is the study of the verification of knowledge
▪Two examples of epistemology are objectivism and subjectivism

Ethics

▪Ethics deals with the moral evaluation and judgement i.e.

certain knowledge claims are arrived at and legitimized and hence the validity and
reliability of such knowledge claims
 Paradigms

• A paradigm is a shared and common framework for understanding and tackling

problems
• The evidence vs theory relationship in which the research is carried out is framed by
the paradigm.
• Essentially researchers need to understand methodological paradigms as a vehicle to
underpin, support and justify a chosen approach to research

Types
Positivist paradigm
Phenomenological paradigm
Combination of positivist and phenomenological paradigm
 How to choose a research method

Philosophy Epistemology Ontology Social reality Paradigm Data Direct Peoples Output
(Approach to observation perception
knowledge of object of object
generation) reality reality

Empiricist Objectivist Parmenidean Discrete and Positivist -Numbers -Field studies -Structured -Data Processing
(posteriori identifiable -Empirical, -Field interviewing and
knowledge) objects and - Statistical, experiments -Survey Presentation
phenomena - research -Model
Experimental Development
and Validation
-Research
Report
Rationalism Subjectivist Heraclitean Fluxing, Phenomenological -Words -Action -Historical (Treatise,
(priori changeable Observations research analysis Dissertation,
knowledge) and emergent -Case studies -Delphi/ Thesis)
world Expert panel
-Intensive
interviewing

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