Research

methodology
and IPR
Course Instructor: Dr. Chethan L S
Associate Professor
Dept. of CSE
PESITM, Shivamogga
 What Is Research?
Research refers to a careful, well-defined (or redefined),
objective, and systematic method of search for knowledge
Research involves formulation of hypothesis or
proposition of solutions, data analysis, and deductions;
and ascertaining whether the conclusions fit the
hypothesis.

Research is a process of creating, or formulating

knowledge that does not yet exist.
Research cycle starts with a practical problem: one must be clear what the problem
being attempted to solve is and why it is important.

Problem motivates a research question

The Question defines a research project which is an activity or set of activities that
ultimately leads to result or answer to solve the practical problem .
Background for doing research includes one to acquire the ability to connect different areas.
The purpose is to prepare the mind for active work.
Research is not just about reading a lot of books .
It is instead adding, maybe small and specific, yet original, contribution to that existing
body of knowledge.
There must be a balance between what is achievable in a research with a finite endpoint
and also, the contribution it is going to make.
Objective of research : gain insight into something or solve a problem.
Research questions :keep modifying
 DEVELOPING AND ACCESSING KNOWLEDGE

Observation : Obtaining information from a source

Models are approximated : Statistical relationship, a figure, or a set of mathematical

equations.
Algorithms, procedures, arrangements, or reference designs, to get a certain desired
result.
Good research involves : Collection and analysis of information , significant value
addition

Engineering research : Improvements in knowledge and skills .

 Objectives of Engineering Research

Conclusion at the end of one’s research outcome has to be new.

Circumstantial evidence”, intuition, and imagination

A guess gives a target to work toward, and after initial attempts, it may turn out
that the guess is incorrect.

Work may suggest new worthy avenues or targets

The main aim of the research is to apply scientific approaches to seek answers to open
questions
 Motivation in Engineering Research
Studies have shown that intrinsic motivations like interest, challenge, learning,
meaning, purpose, are linked to strong creative performance;
Extrinsic motivating factors like rewards for good work include money, fame, awards,
praise, and status are very strong motivators, but may block creativity.

Influences from others like competition, collaboration, commitment, and

encouragement are also motivating factors in research.

Personal motivation in solving unsolved problems, intellectual joy, service to

community, and respectability are all driving factors.
 Types of Engineering Research
The different types of research are

Descriptive versus Analytical:

Descriptive : includes comparative and correlational methods, and fact-finding
inquiries.
The researcher holds no control over the variables; rather only reports as it is.
Analytical : available facts for analysis and critical evaluation are utilized.
Applied versus Fundamental:
Applied research : solve an immediate problem facing the organization.
Research to identify social or economic trends, or those that find out whether
certain communications will be read and understood are examples of applied
research.

Fundamental research : concerned with generalizations and formulation of a

theory.
Research concerning natural phenomena or relating to pure mathematics are
examples of fundamental research.
Quantitative versus Qualitative:

Quantitative research : statistical observations of a sufficiently large number of

representative cases to draw any conclusions.

Qualitative researchers : rely on a few non representative cases or verbal narrative

in behavioral studies such as clustering effect in intersections in Transportation

engineering to make a proposition.

 Finding and Solving a Worthwhile Problem
A researcher may start out with the research problems stated by the Supervisor or posed
by others that are yet to be solved.
Information provided in a group of papers .
Result which has direct implications to the researcher’s subject and may lead to problem
identification.
A worthwhile research problem would have one or more attributes.
It could be nonintuitive/counterintuitive even to someone who knows the area.
Anew result which would start off a new subject
An area, provides a new method
improves upon known methods of doing something which has practical
applications
The researcher has to be convinced that the problem is worthwhile before beginning to
tackle the problem and/or solution has a better chance of being accepted by the
research community.
Some problems are universally considered hard and open, and have deep implications
and connections to different concepts.
Even in the case of failure to solve the intended hard problem, there may be partial/side
results that serve the immediate need of producing some results for the dissertation.

The recommended steps to solve a research problem are

Understand the problem

Systematically explore possible strategies to solve the problem
Execute the plan to see if it works, and if it does not then start over with another
approach.
 Ethics in Engineering Research
Ethics generally refers to a set of rules distinguishing acceptable and unacceptable
conduct,
Ethical principles can be used for evaluation, proposition or interpretation of laws.
Although ethics are not laws, but laws often follow ethics because ethics are our shared
values.
Whitbeck [4] raised two simple but significant questions to address the tricky issue of
authorship in research:
(1) who should be included as an author
(2)the appropriate order of listing of authors.
 Ethics in Engineering Research Practice
Ethical concerns such as privacy issues and data related to surveillance systems
The reason that ethics matter in data used in engineering research is usually because
there is impact on humans.
Certain practices may be acceptable to certain people in certain situations, and the
reasons for unacceptability may be perfectly valid.

Researchers make many choices that matter from an ethical perspective and influence the
effects of technology in many different ways:

By setting the ethically right requirements at the very outset.

Influence may also be applied by researchers through design (a process that translates
the requirements into a blueprint to fulfill those requirements).
Engineering researchers have to choose between different alternatives fulfilling similar
functions.
 Ethical responsibility of researchers to ensure that hazards/risks associated with the
technologies that they develop, are minimized and alternative safer mechanisms are
considered.

Types of Research Misconduct

In order to prevent mistakes, peer reviews should take place before the research output is
published.

Different types of research misconduct

Fabrication (Illegitimate creation of data): cannot wait for the results possibly due to
timeline pressures from supervisor or customers.

Falsification (Inappropriate alteration of data): Falsification is the misrepresentation or

misinterpretation, or illegitimate alteration of data or experiments,

Plagiarism (Taking other’s work sans attribution): Plagiarism takes place when
someone uses or reuses the work
Verbatim copying or reusing one’s own published work is termed as self-plagiarism and
is also an unacceptable practice in scientific literature.
How are supervisors, reviewers or editors alerted to plagiarism?
(i) Original author comes to know and informs everyone concerned.
(ii) Sometimes a reviewer finds out about it during the review process.
(iii) Or, readers who come across the article or book, while doing research.

Free tools and also paid tools available to check plagiarism

Low similarity score does not guarantee that the document is plagiarism free.
It takes a human eye to ascertain whether the content has been plagiarized or not.
Setting a standard of a maximum allowable similarity index is inadequate usage of
the tool.
Sometimes, certain published content is perfect for one’s research paper,.
whatever is relevant can be reported by paraphrasing in one’s own words, that is,
without verbatim copy.
A researcher should practise writing in such a way that the reader can recognize the
difference between the ideas or results of the authors and those that are from other
sources.
Other Aspects of Research Misconduct:

Simultaneous submission of the same article to two different journals also violates
publication policies.
 Ethical Issues Related to Authorship
Academic authorship involves communicating scholarly work, establishing priority for
their discoveries, and building peer-reputation.
Credit for research contributions is attributed in three major ways
by authorship (of the intended publication)
citation (of previously published or formally presented work)
Through a written acknowledgment (of some inputs to the present research).
A person is expected to be listed as an author only when associated as a significant
contributor in research design, data interpretation, or writing of the paper.

Including “guest” or “gift” (co-authorship bestowed on someone with little or no

contribution to the work) authors dilutes the contribution of those who actually did
the work
There is also an unfortunate malpractice of co-authorship that can be described as
“Career-preservation authorship” wherein a head of the department, a dean, a provost,
or other administrators are added as Coauthors
Some authors, in trying to acquire a sole-authored work, despite relying on significant
contribution to the research work from others, recognize that effort only by an
acknowledgment, thereby misrepresenting the contributions of the listed authors.

Double submission is an important ethical issue related to authorship, which involves

submission of a paper to two forums simultaneously. The motivation is to increase
publication possibility and possibly decrease time to publication.