Name of the Programme: Ph.D.

(Engineering)
Course Code: PGG-700
Title of the Course: Research Methodology
Number of Credits: 4
Effective from AY: 2022-23
Pre-requisites for the Post graduate in any branch of Engineering
Course:
Course Objectives: After undergoing the course, the students will be able to:
1. Understand the nature of problem and identify the related area of knowledge.
2. Demonstrate the ability to choose appropriate research aims and objectives.
3. Use appropriate analytical technique to arrive at meaningful conclusions.
Content: Problem Identification No of hours
1. Research: Meaning and Objectives of Research, Motivation, 07 Hours
Types of Research, Research Approaches, Significance of
Research, Research Methods versus Methodology, Research
and Scientific Method, Research Process, Criteria of Good
Research, Problems Encountered by Researchers in India.
2. Research Design 08 Hours
Defining the Research Problem, Necessity, Selecting the
Problem, Technique Involved in Defining a Problem, and
examples.
Research Design - Meaning, Need, Features of a Good Design,
Important Concepts Relating to Research Design, Different
Research Designs, Basic Principles of Experimental Designs.
Sampling Measurement and Data Collection
3. Sampling Design -Census and Sample Survey, Implications of a 08 Hours
Sample Design, Steps in Sampling Design, Criteria of Selecting a
Sampling Procedure, Characteristics of a Good Sample Design,
Different Types of Sample Designs, How to Select a Random
Sample?
Measurement and Scaling Techniques - Measurement in
Research, Measurement Scales, Sources of Error in
Measurement.
Methods of Data Collection - Collection of Primary Data,
Observation Method, Interview Method, Collection of Data
through Questionnaires, Collection of Data through Schedules,
Difference between Questionnaires and Schedules, Some
Other Methods of Data Collection.
4. Processing and Analysis of Data - Processing Operations, 07 Hours
Some Problems in Processing, Elements/Types of Analysis,
Statistics in Research, Measures of Central Tendency,
Measures of Dispersion, Measures of Asymmetry (Skewness),
Measures of Relationship, Simple Regression Analysis, Multiple
Correlation and Regression.
5. Sampling Fundamentals - Need for Sampling, Some 06 Hours
Fundamental Definitions, Important Sampling Distributions,
Central Limit Theorem, Sampling Theory, Sandler’s A-test,
Concept of Standard Error, Estimation, Estimating the
Population Mean.
Data Analysis techniques
6. Hypothesis Testing - What is a Hypothesis? Basic Concepts 06 Hours
Concerning Testing of Hypotheses, Procedure for Hypothesis
Testing, Flow Diagram for Hypothesis Testing, Measuring the
 Power of a Hypothesis Test, Tests of Hypotheses, Important
Parametric Tests, Hypothesis Testing of Means.
7. Analysis of Variance and Covariance - Analysis of Variance 06 Hours
(ANOVA), What is ANOVA, basic principle of ANOVA, ANOVA
Technique, Setting up Analysis of Variance Table, Short-cut
Method for One-way ANOVA, Coding Method, Two-way
ANOVA.
Paper and Report Writing
8. Research paper - Layout of a Research Paper, International 06 Hours
and SCI Journals, Impact factor of Journals, When and where to
publish? Ethical issues related to publishing, Plagiarism and
Self-Plagiarism.
9. Report Writing - Significance of Report Writing Different Steps 06 Hours
in Writing Report, Layout of the Research Report, Types of
Reports, Oral Presentation, Mechanics of Writing a Research
Report, Precautions for Writing Research Reports, Conclusions.
Pedagogy: Constructivist, collaborative, integrative and inquiry-based approach.
Innovation-conducive pedagogy, digital pedagogical competency.
References/ Books Recommended:
Readings: 1. Cooper, D. R., Schindler, P. S. and Sharma, J. K.: Business Research Methods,
12th Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publishers, 2018.
2. Bryman, A. and Bell, E.: Business Research Methods, 4th Edition, Oxford
University Press, 2015.
3. Kothari, C. R. and Garg, G.: Research Methodology, 4th Edition, New Age
International Publishers, New Delhi, 2019.Examples
Reference Books
1. Sriwastava, S. C.: Foundation of Social Research and Economics Techniques,
Himalaya Publishing House, 1990.
2. Chou, Ya-Lun : Statistical Analysis with Business and Economics Applications,
2nd Eds., New York, Hold Rinchart and Wrintston, 1974.
3. Clover, Vernont and Balsely, Howerd L : Business Research Methods, Colombus
O. Grid, Inc, 1974.
4. Sharma H.D. and Mukherji S. P. : Research Methods in Economics and
Business, New York : The Macmillan Company, 1992.
5. Carlos, C.M.: Intellectual property rights, the WTO and developing countries:
The TRIPS agreement and policy options. Zed Books, New York, 2000.
6. Coley, S.M. and Scheinberg, C. A.: Proposal Writing, Sage Publications, 1990.
7. Day, R.A.: How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, Cambridge University
Press, 1992.
8. Research publications from reputed journals
Course Outcomes: After undergoing the course, the students will be able to:
1. Understand and formulate the research problem.
2. Analyse the problem using suitable analytical tools on the collected data.
3. Evaluate the solutions obtained using various analytical tools, comparative
methods and arriving at logical conclusions.
4. Present the findings of research through a well written report and
publications.