Question Bank

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

(21RMI56)

1. State the objectives of Research Methodology.

The objective of engineering research is:
• To solve new and important problems, and since the conclusion at the end of one’s
research outcome has to be new, but when one starts, the conclusion is unknown.
• Research objectives can sometimes be convoluted and difficult to follow. Knowing
where and how to find different types of information helps one solve engineering
problems, in both academic and professional career.
• Lack of investigation into engineering guidelines, standards, and best practices result
in failures with severe repercussions. As an engineer, the ability to conduct thorough
and accurate research while clearly communicating the results is extremely important
in decision making.
• The main aim of the research is to apply scientific approaches to seek answers to open
questions, and although each research study is particularly suited for a certain approach
• The objectives of engineering research should be to develop new theoretical or applied
knowledge and not necessarily limited to obtaining abilities to obtain the desired result.
• The objectives should be framed such that in the event of not being able to achieve the
desired result that is being sought, one can fall back to understanding why it is not
possible, because that is also a contribution toward ongoing research in solving that
problem.

2. Highlight the Motivational factors in Engineering Research

The possible motives may be the result of one or more of the following desires:

• 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. For
example: Research outcome may enable obtaining a patent which is a good way to
become rich and famous.
• Influences from others like competition, collaboration, commitment, and
encouragement are also motivating factors in research. For example: my friends are all
doing research and so should I, or, a person that I dislike is doing well and I want to do
better.
 • Personal motivation in solving unsolved problems, intellectual joy, service to
community, and respectability are all driving factors.

• The following factors would be a mix of extrinsic and intrinsic aspects:

• Wanting to do better than what has been achieved in the world
• Improve the state of the art in technology
• Contribute to the improvement of society
• Fulfillment of the historical legacy in the immediate socio-cultural context.

Several other factors like government directives, funding opportunities in certain areas,
and terms of employment, can motivate people to get involved in engineering research.

3. Make a comparison between following Types of Engineering Research

a) Descriptive and Analytical
• Descriptive research includes comparative and co relational methods, and fact-
finding inquiries, to effectively describe the present state of art. The researcher
holds no control over the variables; rather only reports as it is.
• Descriptive research also includes attempts to determine causes even though the
variables cannot be controlled.
• On the contrary, in analytical research, already available facts for analysis and
critical evaluation are utilized. Some research studies can be both descriptive and
analytical

b) Fundamental and Applied Research

• Research can either be applied research or fundamental (basic or pure) research.
Applied research seeks to solve an immediate problem facing the organization,
whereas fundamental research is concerned with generalizations and formulation
of a theory.
• Research concerning natural phenomena or relating to pure mathematics are
examples of fundamental research.
• 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.
• The primary objective of applied research is to determine a solution for compelling
problems in actual practice, while basic research is aimed at seeking information
which could have a broad base of applications in the medium to long term.

c) Quantitative and Qualitative Research

 • Quantitative research uses statistical observations of a sufficiently large number of
representative cases to draw any conclusions
• While 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.

4. Draw block diagram and explain the steps involved in carrying out
effective research work
Research process consists of series of actions or steps necessary to effectively carry out
research and the desired sequencing of these steps.

The chart indicates that the research process consists of a number of closely related
activities, as shown through I to VII. But such activities overlap continuously rather than
following a strictly prescribed sequence

1) Formulating the research problem: There are two types of research problems,
viz., those which relate to states of nature and those which relate to relationships
between variables. At the very outset 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.

2) Extensive literature survey: Once the problem is formulated, a brief summary of

it should be written down. It is compulsory for a research worker writing a thesis
for a Ph.D. degree to write a synopsis of the topic and submit it to the necessary
Committee or the Research Board for approval. At this juncture the researcher
should undertake extensive literature survey connected with the problem.
3) Development of working hypotheses: After extensive literature survey,
researcher should state in clear terms the working hypothesis or hypotheses.
Working hypothesis is tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its
logical or empirical consequences. Hypothesis should be very specific and limited
to the piece of research in hand because it has to be tested. The role of the hypothesis
is to guide the researcher by delimiting the area of research and to keep him on the
right track. It sharpens his thinking and focuses attention on the more important
facets of the problem.

4) Preparing the research design: The research problem having been formulated in
clear cut terms, the researcher will be required to prepare a research design, i.e., he
will have to state the conceptual structure within which research would be
conducted. The preparation of such a design facilitates research to be as efficient as
possible yielding maximal information. In other words, the function of research
design is to provide for the collection of relevant evidence with minimal
expenditure of effort, time and money.

5) Determining sample design: The researcher must decide the way of selecting a
sample or what is popularly known as the sample design. In other words, a sample
design is a definite plan determined before any data are actually collected for
obtaining a sample from a given population. Sampling can be done choosing a
particular unit, random unit selection, systematic pattern, homogenous group
(stratified sampling), quota, cluster or area, multi stages and sequential.

6) Collecting the data: In dealing with any real life problem it is often found that data
at hand are inadequate, and hence, it becomes necessary to collect data that are
appropriate. 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. If the researcher conducts an experiment, he observes some quantitative
measurements, or the data, with the help of which he examines the truth contained
in his hypothesis. But in the case of a survey, data can be collected by any one or
more of the following ways by observation, through personal interview, through
telephonic interview, by mailing the questionnaire etc

7) Execution of the project: It is a very important step in the research process. If the
execution of the project proceeds on correct lines, the data to be collected would be
adequate and dependable. The researcher should see that the project is executed in
 a systematic manner and in time. A careful watch should be kept for unanticipated
factors in order to keep the survey as much realistic as possible.

8) Analysis of data: After the data have been collected, the researcher turns to the
task of analyzing them. The analysis of data requires a number of closely related
operations such as establishment of categories, the application of these categories
to raw data through coding, tabulation and then drawing statistical inferences. The
unwieldy data should necessarily be condensed into a few manageable groups and
tables for further analysis. Thus, researcher should classify the raw data into some
purposeful and usable categories.

9) Hypothesis-testing: After analyzing the data as stated above, the researcher is in a

position to test the hypotheses, if any, he had formulated earlier. Do the facts
support the hypotheses or they happen to be contrary? This is the usual question
which should be answered while testing hypotheses. Various tests, such as Chi
square test, t-test, F-test, have been developed by statisticians for the purpose. The
hypotheses may be tested through the use of one or more of such tests, depending
upon the nature and object of research inquiry. Hypothesis-testing will result in
either accepting the hypothesis or in rejecting it.

10) Generalizations and interpretation: If a hypothesis is tested and upheld several

times, it may be possible for the researcher to arrive at generalization, i.e., to build
a theory. As a matter of fact, the real value of research lies in its ability to arrive at
certain generalizations

11) Preparation of the report or the thesis: Finally, the researcher has to prepare the
report of what has been done by him. Writing of report must be done with great
care keeping in view the following:
• The layout of the report should be as follows: (i) the preliminary pages; (ii) the main
text, and (iii) the end matter.
• In its preliminary pages the report should carry title and date followed by
acknowledgements and foreword. Then there should be a table of contents followed by
a list of tables and list of graphs and charts, if any, given in the report.
• The main text of the report should have the following parts: (a) Introduction: It should
contain a clear statement of the objective of the research and an explanation of the
methodology adopted in accomplishing the research. The scope of the study along with
various limitations should as well be stated in this part. (b) Summary of findings: After
introduction there would appear a statement of findings and recommendations in non-
technical language. If the findings are extensive, they should be summarized. (c) Main
report: The main body of the report should be presented in logical sequence and broken-
 down into readily identifiable sections. (d) Conclusion: Towards the end of the main
text, researcher should again put down the results of his research clearly and precisely.
In fact, it is the final summing up.
• At the end of the report, appendices should be enlisted in respect of all technical data.
Bibliography, i.e., list of books, journals, reports, etc., consulted, should also be given
in the end. Index should also be given specially in a published research report.

5. What is misconduct in research? Explain three misconducts.

Engineering research should be conducted to improve the state-of-the-art of technologies.
Research integrity encompasses dealing fairly with others, honesty about the methods and
results, replicating the results wherever possible so as to avoid errors, protecting the welfare
of research subjects, ensuring laboratory safety, and so forth. In order to prevent mistakes,
peer reviews should take place before the research output is published.

There may be different types of research misconduct as described, which can be

summarized as follows:

• Fabrication (Illegitimate creation of data): Fabrication is the act of conjuring data or

experiments with a belief of knowledge about what the conclusion of the analysis or
experiments would be, but 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,
even if partly, to support a desired hypothesis even when the actual data received from
experiments suggest otherwise.
Falsification and fabrication of data and results, hamper engineering research and cause
false empirical data to percolate in the literature, wreck trustworthiness of individuals
involved, incur additional costs, impede research progress, and cause actual and
avoidable delays in technical advancement.
Misleading data can also crop up due to poor design of experiments or incorrect
measurement practices.

• Plagiarism (Taking other’s work sans attribution): Plagiarism takes place when
someone uses or reuses the work (including portions) of others (text, data, tables,
figures, illustrations or concepts) as if it were his/her own without explicit
acknowledgement. Verbatim copying or reusing one’s own published work is termed
as self-plagiarism and is also an unacceptable practice in scientific literature.
 The increasing availability of scientific content on the internet seems to encourage
plagiarism in certain cases, but also enables detection of such practices through
automated software packages. 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.

Although there are many free tools and also paid tools available that one can procure
institutional license of, one cannot conclusively identify plagiarism, but can only get a
similarity score which is a metric that provides a score of the amount of similarity between
already published content and the unpublished content under scrutiny. However, a 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. It is important to see the
individual scores of the sources, not just the overall similarity index. Setting a standard of
a maximum allowable similarity index is inadequate usage of the tool. Patchwork
plagiarism is more difficult to evaluate.
There are simple and ethical ways to avoid a high similarity count on an about to be
submitted manuscript. Sometimes, certain published content is perfect for one’s research
paper, perhaps in making a connection or fortifying the argument presented. The published
material is available for the purpose of being used fairly.
One is not expected to churn out research outcomes in thin air.
However, whatever is relevant can be reported by paraphrasing in one’s own words, that
is, without verbatim copy. One can also summarize the relevant content and naturally, the
summary invariably would use one’s own words. In all these cases, citing the original
source is important.
However, merely because one has cited a source, it does not mean that one can copy
sentences (or paragraphs) of the original content verbatim.
A researcher should practice 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.
Such a practice enables one to judge whether one is disproportionately using or relying on
content from existing literature.

6. Explain Ethics in Engineering Research Practice.

• Technological developments raise a whole range of ethical concerns such as privacy
issues and data related to surveillance systems, and so engineering researchers need to
make ethical decisions and are answerable for the repercussions borne out of their
research as outcomes.
 • 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.
• We have unprecedented access to data today, and unprecedented options for analysis
of these data and consequences in engineering research related to such data. Are there
things that are possible to do with this data, that we agree we should not do?
• Engineering ethics gives us the rule book; tells us, how to decide what is okay to do
and what is not. Engineering research is not work in isolation to the technological
development taking place.
• 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, engineering
researchers can ultimately influence the effects of the developed technology.
▪ Influence may also be applied by researchers through design (a process that
translates the requirements into a blueprint to fulfill those requirements).
During the design process, decision is to be made about the priority in
importance of the requirements taking ethical aspects into consideration.
▪ Thirdly, engineering researchers have to choose between different alternatives
fulfilling similar functions.
• Research outcomes often have unintended and undesirable side effects. It is a vital
ethical responsibility of researchers to ensure that hazards/risks associated with the
technologies that they develop, are minimized and alternative safer mechanisms are
considered.
• If possible, the designs should be made inherently safe such that they avoid dangers, or
come with safety factors, and multiple independent safety barriers, or if possible a
supervisory mechanism to take control if the primary process fails.

7. List and explain the steps involved in conducting Literature Review with
the help of an example
Steps in the Literature Review Process

Define the research question

This is needed to determine whether you need to narrow or broaden your focus.
Identify databases that provide the most relevant sources, and identify relevant terms
(controlled vocabularies) to add to your search strategy
Finalize your research question

Determine inclusion/exclusion criteria

Think about relevant dates, geographies (and languages), methods, and conflicting points
of view

Choose databases and conduct the search

Conduct searches in the published literature via the identified databases
Check to see if this topic has been covered in other discipline's databases
Examine the citations of on-point articles for keywords, authors, and previous research (via
references) and cited reference searching.

Review your results

Save your search results in a citation management tool (such as Zotero, Mendeley or
EndNote)
De-duplicate your search results
Make sure that you've found the seminal pieces -- they have been cited many times, and
their work is considered foundational
Check with your professor or a librarian to make sure your search has been comprehensive

Synthesize the information gathered

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of individual sources and evaluate for bias,
methodologies, and thoroughness
Group your results in to an organizational structure that will support why your research
needs to be done, or that provides the answer to your research question
Develop your conclusions

Analyze the information gathered

Are there gaps in the literature?
Where has significant research taken place, and who has done it?
Is there consensus or debate on this topic?
Which methodological approaches work best?

Write the literature review

Pick an organizational structure, i.e., themes, approaches, concepts, methodologies.
For example: Background, Current Practices, Critics and Proponents, Where/How this
study will fit in
Organize your citations and focus on your research question and pertinent studies
Compile your bibliography
8. Discuss the role of following tools 1) Web of Science, 2) Google & Google
Scholar in research
➢ Web of Science
• Web of Science (formerly known as ISI or Thomson Reuters) includes multiple
databases, as well as specialized tools.
• It is a good search tool for scholarly materials requiring institutional license and
allows the researcher to search in a particular topic of interest, which can be made
by selection in fields that are available in drop down menu such as title, topic,
author, address, etc.
• The tool also allows sorting by number of citations (highest to lowest), publication
date.
• Put quotes around phrases, add more keywords, or use the “Refine Results” panel
on the left to narrow down the search by keyword, phrases in quotation marks, type
of material such as peer-reviewed journal articles, date, language, and more.
• “Cited reference search” option enables a researcher to trace articles which have
cited a formerly published paper. Using this element, it is possible to find how a
familiar idea has been applied, improved, or extended subsequently.
• A structured search like this that enables narrowing and refining what one is looking
for is effective to ensure that the results throw up relevant sources and time spent
in studying those is likely to be well utilized.
• Based on the researcher’s need the search result can be broadened or narrowed
down using the built-in fields provided in this website.
• When clicked on any of the search results, this website provides the title of the
paper, authors, the type of journal, volume, issue number and year of publication,
abstract, keywords, etc., so that the researcher has enough information to decide if
it is worthwhile to acquire the full version of the paper.

➢ Google and Google Scholar

• Google is a great place to start one’s search when one is starting out on a topic. It
can be helpful in finding freely available information, such as reports from
governments, organizations, companies, and so on. However, there are limitations:
▪ It’s a “black box” of information. It searches everything on the Internet,
with no quality control—one does not know where results are coming from.
▪ There are limited search functionality and refinement options.
• Google Scholar limits one’s search to scholarly literature. However, there are
limitations:
▪ Some of the results are not actually scholarly. An article may look scholarly
at first glance, but is not a good source upon further inspection.
▪ It is not comprehensive. Some publishers do not make their content
available to Google Scholar.
 ▪ There are limited search functionality and refinement options.
• There are search operators that can be used to help narrow down the results. These
help one to find more relevant and useful sources of information.
• Operators can be combined within searches. Here are some basic ones that one can
use:
▪ OR - Broadens search by capturing synonyms or variant spellings of a
concept. o Brackets/Parentheses ( ) - Gather OR’d synonyms of a concept
together, while combining them with another concept.
▪ Quotation marks “ ” - Narrow the search by finding words together as a
phrase, instead of separately.
▪ Site - limits the search to results from a specific domain or website.
▪ File type - limits the search to results with a specific file extension one could
look for pdf’s, PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets, and so on.
• The Search Tools button at the top of the Google results gives you a variety of
other options, such as limiting the results by date.
• To find the best resources on a topic, one should search in academic databases,
in addition to Google.
• Databases provide access to journal articles and conference proceedings, as well
as other scholarly resources.
• One gets more relevant and focused results, because they have better quality
control and search functionality. One should choose a database based on subject
area, date coverage, and publication type. Interfaces vary between databases,
but the search techniques remain essentially the same.

9. Write a note on significance of Critical and Creative Reading research

• Reading a research paper is a critical process. The reader should not be under the
assumption that reported results or arguments are correct. Rather, being suspicious and
asking appropriate questions is in fact a good thing.
• Have the authors attempted to solve the right problem? Are there simpler solutions that
have not been considered? What are the limitations (both stated and ignored) of the
solution and are there any missing links? Are the assumptions that were made
reasonable? Is there a logical flow to the paper or is there a flaw in the reasoning? These
need to be ascertained apart from the relevance and the importance of the work, by
careful reading.
• Use of judgmental approach and boldness to make judgments is needed while reading.
• Flexibility to discard previous erroneous judgments is also critical.
 • Additionally, it is important to ascertain whether the data presented in the paper is right
data to substantiate the argument that was made in the paper and whether the data was
gathered and interpreted in a correct manner.
• Critical reading is relatively easy. It is relatively easier to critically read to find the
mistakes than to read it so as to find the good ideas in the paper. Anyone who has been
a regular reviewer of journal articles would agree to such a statement.
• Reading creatively is harder, and requires a positive approach in search. In creative
reading, the idea is to actively look for other applications, interesting generalizations,
or extended work which the authors might have missed? Are there plausible
modifications that may throw up important practical challenges? One might be able to
decipher properly if one would like to start researching an extended part of this work,
and what should be the immediate next aspect to focus upon.

10. List the important points to be noted in Reading the following

1)Mathematics and Algorithms, 2) Reading a Datasheet
READING MATHEMATICS AND ALGORITHMS
• Mathematics is often the foundation of new advances, for evolution and development
of engineering research and practice. An engineering researcher generally cannot avoid
mathematical derivations or proofs as part of research work.
• In fact, these are the heart of any technical paper. Therefore, one should avoid
skimming them.
• By meticulous reading of the proofs or algorithms, after having identified the relevance
of the paper, one can develop sound understanding about the problem that the authors
have attempted to solve.
• Implementation of an intricate algorithm in programming languages such as C, C++ or
Java is prone to errors.
• And even if the researcher is confident about the paper in hand, and thinks that the
algorithm will work, there is a fair chance that it will not work at all. So one may wish
to code it quickly to check if it actually works.

READING A DATASHEET
• Researchers in different fields of engineering will need to read certain types of
documents. For example, mechanical and civil engineers would need to read drawings
related to mechanical parts and buildings. Researchers in the field of electronics need
to read datasheets.
• On occasions, researchers in other fields may also need to incorporate a certain
electronic part in which case careful reading of the datasheet is imperative.
• The same principles like initial skimming of the datasheet are required to ascertain
whether further careful reading is needed.
• Datasheets are instruction manuals for electronic components, which (hopefully)
details what a component does and how one may use it. Datasheets enable a researcher
(or a working professional) to design a circuit or debug any given circuit with that
component.
• The first page of the datasheet usually summarizes a part’s function and features, basic
specifications, and usually provides a functional block diagram with the internal
functions of the part.
• A pin out provides the physical location of a part’s pins, with special mark for pin 1 so
that the part can be correctly plugged into the circuit. Some parts also provide graphs
showing performance versus various criteria (supply voltage, temperature, etc.), and
safe region for reliable operation which should be carefully read and noted by the
researcher.
• One should be also in the lookout for truth tables which describe what sort of inputs
provide what types of outputs, and also timing diagrams which lay out how and at what
speed data is sent and received from the part.
• Datasheets usually end with accurate dimensions of the packages a part is available in.
This is useful for printed circuit board (PCB) layout. When working with a new part,
or when deciding which part to use in the research work, it is recommended to carefully
read that part’s datasheet to come up with a bit of shortcut that may potentially save
many hours later on.