RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

LECTURE 1 # INTRO

1 Edited by Dr. Abdul Baseer Qazi

COURE INFORMATION
 Pre-requisite
 None

 Course Resources
 Lectures slides, Text book and Reference books

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COURE INFORMATION
 Books
 Some ebooks on scientific research and writing will be
provided to you for reference

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COURE INFORMATION
 Class Composition

Readings Term Project

Lectures

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Quizzes Assignments
COURSE INFORMATION
 Assignments

On Time
Late Sub: -25%

No Copying
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EDUCATION

 BSc Electrical Engineering

 UET Peshawar, 1994-98
 1-year Diploma in Computer Science
 NWFP Board of Technical Education, 1996-97
 MS in Info. & Comm. Systems
 Technical University Hamburg 1999-01
 MBA in Technology Management
 Northern Institute of Technology, Germany
 PhD Technical Change (2007-11)
 UNU-MERIT, Maastricht, The Netherlands
CORPORATE AND TEACHING EXPERIENCE

 Projects at DLR and Siemens

 6 months at IBM
 Mainz, Germany
 3 years at Philips
 Stuttgart, Hamburg, Eindhoven
 3 years teaching, UET, CECOS, PCE
 Peshawar
 5+ years teaching, program coordination EM and Director
VIS at MAJU/CUST
 Senior Assistant Professor at Bahria University since January
2017
ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITIES
 Founder and CEO PrintWorks (1994-98)
 Co-founder and Director Comso Computer Works (1997-99)

 Founder and CEO BrickWorks (2006-13)

 Founder and CEO LandWorks (2013-16)

 Co-founder and CEO KTC International (2006-till date)

 Founding Member PIF

 Pakistan Innovation Foundation
 OECD Negotiator for PISA study
 Co-founder and CEO PakRankings (2017-till date)
WHAT IS RESEARCH?
 Dictionary
 Scholarly or scientific investigation or inquiry
 Close, careful study

 Basic Definition
 Research is an organized and systematic way of
finding answers to questions

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WHAT IS RESEARCH

9/15/2011
 The word research derives from the French word
recherche (\re-ˌsher-ˈshā) meaning travel through or
survey.

The systematic process of collecting and analyzing

data in order to discover new knowledge or expand
and verify the existing one

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WHAT IS RESEARCH

Research is an attempt to increase the sum of what is

known, usually referred to as ‘a body of knowledge’,
by the discovery of new facts or relationships through
a process of systematic inquiry, the research process.

(Macleod Clark and Hockey 1989 cited by Cormack 1991 p4)

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WHAT RESEARCH IS NOT
 Research isn’t information gathering:
 Gathering information from resources such books or
magazines isn’t research.
 No contribution to new knowledge.

 Research isn’t the transportation of facts:

 Merely transporting facts from one resource to another
doesn’t constitute research.
 No contribution to new knowledge although this might make
existing knowledge more accessible.

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DISCOVERY VS INVENTION
 There are two main ways of practicing science :
discovery vs. invention

 Biologists, physicists, chemists, researchers in

psychology… are discoverers

 Computer scientists, researchers in nanotech or

researchers in engineering … are inventors

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DISCOVERING
 Understanding the world : what are atoms constituted of, why
a disease is inherited, why do people have dreams, etc.

 Understanding means: first asking questions, then observing,

inquiring, modeling, evaluating

 At the end of the research process, one has an answer to the

initial question

 An answer is the most often not definitive. It is an explanation

of a small piece of the natural world under some hypotheses
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INVENTING
 Software computer science produces inventions

 Computers do not exist by themselves. They have been

created by human beings => there is nothing to discover
in a computer or in a software

 The objective of research in SE is “just” to make

computers and computer networks more efficient more
easy to use, more reliable, more powerful… i.e. more
useable/useful
 An Invention is Patentable, a discovery is not.
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PURPOSE OF RESEARCH

 Review and synthesize existing knowledge

 Investigate some existing situation or problem
 Provide solutions to a problem
 Explore and analyze general issues
 Construct a new procedure or system
 Explain a phenomenon
 Generate new knowledge or enhance the existing
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 Combination of above
RESEARCH VS REASONING &
EXPERIENCE

Research distinguishes itself from

the two other basic means of
knowledge – experience and
reasoning

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EXPERIENCE
 Experience results in knowledge and understanding gained
either individually or as a group or society, or shared by
experts or leaders, through day-to-day living.

 Examples
 A child learns to walk by trial and error
 An adult gets adept at decorating jobs in the house after
renovating several rooms

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EXPERIENCE
 Experience – limitations as a means of methodically and
reliably extending knowledge
 Learning from experience can be rather haphazard and
uncontrolled.
 Conclusions are often quickly drawn and not exhaustively
tested
 Despite these shortcomings, experience can be a valuable
starting point for systematic research

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REASONING
 Reasoning is a method of coming to conclusions by the use
of logical argument.

 Using the knowledge we have to draw conclusion or infer

something new about the domain of interest

 Two basic forms

 Deductive reasoning
 Inductive reasoning

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RESEARCH VS REASONING &
EXPERIENCE
 It is the combination of experience with deductive and inductive
reasoning which is the foundation of modern scientific research.

Research is a combination of both experience and reasoning and

must be regarded as the most successful approach to the discovery of
truth. (Cohen and Manion, 1994, p. 5)

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Research Process

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THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Chapter 1 - Introduction

FORMULATION PHASE
Chapter 2 - Literature review
Cyclic and dynamic iteration

Chapter 3 – Methodology DESIGN AND EXCUTION PHASE

Chapter 4 - Data analysis

ANALYTICAL PHASE
Chapter 5- Discussion

Chapter 6- Conclusion

References 24

Appendix
RESEARCH PROCESS
 Research is an extremely cyclic process.
 Later stages might necessitate a review of earlier work.

 This isn’t a weakness of the process but is part of the

built-in error correction machinery.

 Because of the cyclic nature of research, it can be

difficult to determine where to start and when to stop.

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NON SCIENTIFIC WAYS
 Non-scientific research based on hunches, experience and
intuition

 Non-Scientific ways of obtaining knowledge

 Common Sense: That which is self-evident

 Tenacity: what we have known to be true in the past — holds firmly

to beliefs because “it has always been so”

 Authority: established belief based on prominence or importance of

source 26
NON SCIENTIFIC WAYS

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Scientific Method

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ROOTS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

 Alhazen (Ibn al-Haytham (965-1040 A.D.)

 The scientific method is popularly attributed to

Alhazen who one thousand years ago, argued the
importance of forming questions and
subsequently testing them.
 Galileo Galilei – (1564 - 1642)

 Italian physicist, mathematician,

astronomer, and philosopher

 More recently the scientific method is

popularly attributed to Galileo who, in
1590, dropped iron balls of two
different weights off the Leaning
Tower of Pisa.
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SCIENTIFIC METHOD
 He wanted to test his hypothesis that the
forces acting on a falling object were
independent of the object's weight.

 He was correct and so refuted the

previously held belief that heavier
objects would fall faster than light
objects.

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SCIENTIFIC METHOD
 The steps he took:
 Observation,
 Hypothesis generation,
 Testing of the hypothesis
 and Refutation or Acceptance of the
original hypothesis

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SCIENTIFIC METHOD

The Scientific Method is a logical and

systematic approach or process to
problem solving. 

It involves a series of steps that are used

to investigate a research question.

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SCIENTIFIC METHODS - STEPS
 Define the research question
 Research the problem

 State the hypothesis

 Experiment to test Hypothesis

 Collect and Record Data

 Analyze Data

 Draw Conclusions

 Determine Limitations

 Communicate/Report Results If needed, Do more

investigation
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 First What
What does
does the
the scientist
scientist want
want
Question
Question to
to learn
learn more
more about?
about?

Then

Research
Research Gathering
Gathering of
of information
information

Scientific Method Next

An Overview An
An “Educated”
“Educated” guess
guess of
of an
an
Hypothesis
Hypothesis answer
answer to
to the
the question
question

Then
Written
Written and
and carefully
carefully
Procedure/
Procedure/ followed step-by-step
followed step-by-step
Experiment
Experiment experiment
experiment designed
designed to
to test
test
the
the hypothesis
hypothesis
Next

Information
Information collected
collected during
during
Data
Data the experiment
the experiment

And And

Written
Written description
description of
of what
what
Analysis
Analysis was
was noticed during the
noticed during the
experiment
experiment

Finally
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Was
Was the
the hypothesis
hypothesis correct
correct
Conclusion
Conclusion or
or incorrect?
incorrect?
SCIENTISTS DEVELOP A
QUESTION ABOUT A
PROBLEM. THEY NEED TO
BE VERY SPECIFIC IN
DEFINING WHAT THEY ARE
TRYING TO EXPLAIN OR
SOLVE.
 RESEARCH INFORMATION

Next they gather information

about the problem/question.
They can use:

• books
• magazines
• reports
• experts
•past experiences
•prior knowledge
DEVELOP A HYPOTHESIS

What is a hypothesis?
-what you think the answer is based upon
your gathered information and prior
knowledge
-an educated guess

It begins with:
I think …
EXPERIMENT
THE NEXT STEP SCIENTISTS TAKE IS TO
CREATE AND CONDUCT AN EXPERIMENT
TO TEST THEIR HYPOTHESIS.

This should include a

materials list and a
procedure with step-by-
step directions.
EVERY EXPERIMENT HAS
VARIABLES!

A variable is anything that changes or

could change in an experiment.

Three types of variables in an

experiment.
THREE TYPES OF VARIABLES:
1. Independent variable ~ the scientist changes this variable

2. Dependent variable ~ part of the experiment that changes as

a result of some other action, it is measured

3. Constant ~ the part of the experiment that is not changed by

the scientist
SCIENTIST HAVE TO TAKE THE TIME TO
THINK LOGICALLY WHEN THEY ARE
INVESTIGATING A QUESTION OR
PROBLEM.

 They break things down into

many steps that make sense.
OBSERVATIONS
A KEY TO EXPERIMENTS IS OBSERVING
WHAT HAPPENS AND WRITING IT DOWN.
 Itmay be charts, graphs, or written
work.
 This is WHAT HAPPENED!!!!!
 Gathering information or data and
documenting it so it is readable
and makes sense to others is really
important.
CONCLUSION
 What did you find the
answer to the question
was?
 It is OK if it turns out
that your hypothesis
was not correct. You
learned!!!!!!!!!
ONCE A SCIENTIST COMPLETES AN
EXPERIMENT, THEY OFTEN REPEAT IT
USING THE EXACT SAME MATERIALS
AND PROCEDURE TO SEE IF THEY GET
THE SAME FINDINGS AND RESULTS.
 This is really what we call verification,
or checking things out to make sure
everything was valid and will happen
again and again.
SCIENTISTS SHARE THEIR EXPERIMENTS
AND FINDINGS WITH OTHERS.

 Because they share their experiments and findings,

scientists can learn from each other and often use
someone else’s experiences to help them with what
they are studying or doing.