THE RESEARCH PROCESS

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 The Research Process involves the
following:
 Research process
 Source of research problem
 Selecting research topics
 Stating and formulating research problem
 Delimitation, scope, assumption of research
 Literature review
 Developing objectives and hypothesis for research problem
 Design
 Execution of research project
 Reporting
 Research methodologies and processes

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Research process

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 Simplified Research process
Initial idea
Note: In practice
the process is
highly iterative Literature review

Problem definition and hypotheses

System
Experimental/Analysis (prototype)

Theory/paper
(New knowledge)
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Sources of Research Problems
 Observation.
 Literature reviews.
 Professional conferences.
 Experts (professors can have problems).
 Previous experience

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 Research Process – Initial Idea
 Originates from critical thinking and observation.
 Be on the lookout for and open to seeing problems
 Gaps in framework
 Repetitive behavior that’s slightly different (and can be
generalized)
 Manual solutions (that can be automated)
 Inelegant solutions (look for better solution)

 Ask questions
 “Is something missing here?”
 “Can this be done in a better way?”
 “Is there a need for a new approach?”

 Should be an area you’re interested in, as:

 You’ll be spending a lot of time with it
 It won’t always be easy/fun to continue…

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 Selecting a topic
 All writing begins with a topic.
 Look for a subject
 that interests you and will maintain your interest
throughout the various stages of research
 that will help you to obtain the maximum self
development from the research project.
 It should be related with your career.

 Some preliminary reading will help to determine

the extent of your works.
 For each graduate level course, try to review papers

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 Selecting a topic…
 You commonly begin with fairly general topic and then
refine it by research and thought into a more specific one
 Try to narrow your topic by focusing on a particular
feature of a particular approach.
 Be original as much as you can, to avoid duplicate work
on a specific topic
 Review as much Literature as possible to avoid duplication
 The successful completion of a research study will
depended on selection of appropriate topic.
 Before beginning the project,
• make sure you understand the width and depth of research
required and
• the type of paper expected, available tools, HW, SW, lab...
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Factors to consider when selecting a
research area.
 Some of them have to do with your particular
interests, capabilities, and motivations.

 Other centers on area that will be of greatest

interest to both the academic and private
sectors.

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11 points to consider in finding and
developing a research topic.
1. Can it be excitedly pursued?
2. Can interest be sustained by it?
3. Is the problem solvable in a reasonable period of time?
4. Is it worth doing?
5. Will it lead to other research problems?
6. Is it manageable in size?
7. What is the potential for making an original contribution
to the literature in the field?

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11 points to consider in finding and
developing a research topic…

8. If the problem is solved, will the results be

reviewed well by scholars in your field?
9. Are you, or will you become, competent to solve it?
10. By solving it, will you have demonstrated
independent skills in your discipline?
11. Will the necessary research prepare you in an area
of demand or promise for the future? To market
yourself

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 Finding a legitimate problem
 There are often many places one can search to
find legitimate research problems.
 Supervisor Suggestions
 Your supervisor may have many suggestions based on
their own research area for your research project.
 Suggestions of Other authors
 It is often valuable to read the “future research”
section of a research paper.
 Replicate Research with modifications
 Changing some of the settings of previous research
often leads to new and sometime unexpected results.
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 Finding a legitimate problem…
 Apply an existing technique to a new domain
 This might be using a modified algorithm to
manipulate data in another field in order to achieve
a new result

 Challenge Findings
 If you believe some one else’s result may be
incorrect, you may attempt to disprove their results
formally as your research effort.

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Finding a legitimate problem…
Read the Literature
 What things are already known – also tells what is NOT
known in the area – in other words, what still needs to
be done.
 Research project might
a) Address the suggestions for future research that another
researcher has offered
b) Replicate a research project in a different setting or with
a different problems
c) Consider how various sub problems might behave
differently in the same situation
d) Apply an existing perspective or explanation to a new
situation

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Finding a legitimate problem…
Read the Literature…
e) Explore unexpected or contradictory findings in
previous studies
f) Challenge research findings that seem to contradict what
you know or believe to be true.

Other advantages:
 Provides theoretical base on which to build a rationale
for your study
 Provides potential research methodologies and methods
of measurement
 Help you interpret your results and relate them to what
is already known in the field
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 Finding a legitimate problem…

Attend Professional Conferences

 Many researchers have great success finding new
research projects at national and regional
conferences.
 Learn “what is hot and what is not” in their field

 Novice researchers can make contacts with experts

in their field,
 ask questions, share ideas, exchange e-mail addresses with
more experienced and knowledgeable individuals

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 Finding a legitimate problem…

Seek the Advice of Experts

 Another simple yet highly effective strategy for
identifying a research problem is simply to ask
an expert:
a) What needs to be done?
b) What burning questions are still out there?
c) What previous research findings seemingly
don’t make sense?

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 Finding a legitimate problem…

Choose a Topic that Motivates You

 Reading literature, attend conferences, talk with
experts, will uncover a number of potential
research problems

 Pick just one, based on what you want to learn more

about
 Must believe that it is worth your time and effort.
 Saying “You’re going to be married to it, so you might
as well enjoy it.”

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Choose a Topic That Others Will Find
Interesting and Worthy of Attention

 Want to share findings with a larger audience, not only

end with thesis.

 Describe what you have done at a regional or national

conference, publish an article in a professional journal,
or both.
 Future employers, too, are also interested in your
thesis topic if in your research,
 you are pursuing an issue of broad scientific or social concern
or, more generally, a hot topic in your field.

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 Identify subject area of study

Supervisor agreed

Initial selection of topic

yes
No Can topic be
Is the research feasible?
appropriately refined?
yes
Has research sufficient value? No

yes
Is there sufficient scope? No

yes
Acceptable topic
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 Stating the Research Problem
 Once you’ve identified a research problem:
 State that problem clearly and completely.
 Determine the feasibility of the research.

 Identify sub problems:

 Completely researchable units.
 Small in number.
 Add up to the total problem.
 Must be clearly tied to the interpretation of the
data.

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 Stating the Research Problem…
 A large number of opening words are provided for
the creation of research problems.
• The focus of this study will be on . . .
• The main purpose of this study is . . .
• The objective of this research is to determine…
• The present study is designed to examine . . .
• The primary goal of this study is . . .
• The primary concern of this research is . . .
• The principal objective of this study is . . .
• The purpose of this study is to address the problem of…
• The purpose of this study is to evaluate . . .
• The purpose of this study is to explore the . . .
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Formulating the Research Problem
• The task of formulating, or defining a research problem is
a step of greatest importance in the entire research
process.

• It is important because,
(1) It determines the data, algorithms to be designed
(2) It determines the characteristic of the data which
are relevant,
(3) it determines the choice of techniques to be used.,
(4) It determines the form of the final report.

• Therefore, the researcher must point out the problem

he/she wants to study.

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Formulating the Research Problem…
Some general principles in problem formulation
– Be sure the problem exists
– Learn as much as possible about the problem
to be solved
– Consider alternative formulations in case this is
not feasible;
– Be aware that the problem formulation may
influence the phenomena being studied;

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Formulating the Research Problem…
Evaluation of a research problem (some questions to ask):
– Is the problem in line with my goal/expectations and
the expectation of others?
– Will the solution of the problem advance knowledge?
– What is the value of potential outcome? (who are the
beneficiaries?)
– Do I possess or can I acquire the necessary skills,
abilities and background knowledge to study the
problem? (Researcher’s capability and interest)
– Will data be accessible?
– Do I have access to the necessary resources (time,
money, tools, equipments, laboratory, subjects, etc)
to conduct the investigation?

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 Delimitations (scope)
 All research has limitations and thus certain
work that will not be performed.
 The work that will not be undertaken is
described as the delimitations of the
research.
 Scope

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 Assumptions
 Assumptions are those things that the researcher
is taking for granted.
 For example: a given test instrument accurately and
consistently measures the phenomenon in question.
 The accurate and consistent measurement of some
phenomenon is called validity and reliability
respectively.
 As a general rule you’re better off documenting
an assumption than ignoring it.
 Unnoticed assumptions provide a prime source of
debate about a research project’s results.

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 Importance of the Study
Application of results
 Many research problems have a kind of
theoretical feel about them. Such projects
often need to be justified:
 What is the research project’s practical value?
 Without this justification, it will prove difficult
to convince others that the problem in
question is worth study.
 Justifying the importance of their research
topic is directly proportional receiving funds.

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 Literature Review
 A literature review is a necessity.
 Without this step, you won’t know if your problem
has been solved or
 What related research is already underway.

 When performing the review:

 Start searching professional journals.
 Begin with the most recent articles you can find.
 Keep track of relevant articles in a bibliography.
 Don’t be discouraged if work on the topic is
already underway.
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 Literature Review…
 Some journals include IEEE and ACM.

 Be careful of trade journals;

• they’re often not peer reviewed which can call the
content into question in terms of its reliability and quality.

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 Literature review/Survey…
 The researcher should also examine all available
literature to get himself acquainted with the
selected problem.
 May continue from beginning to end;
 Extensive review is required to know:
 What others have done in the area?
 How they did it?
 How were the variables measured?
 What were the constraints?
 What could possibly be modified?
 What was the methodology used?

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 Literature Review…
• The researcher may review two types of literature
– Conceptual literature
Concerning the concepts and theories.
– Empirical literature
Concerning the experimental results

Basic Outcome of the review

– Enable the researcher to specify his own research
problem in a meaningful context

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 Literature Review…

 In summary, Literature review is a fruitful

source of:
 Concepts
 Theories
 Methodologies
 Evidences/proofs
 Influence how we look at a topic

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 Developing objectives and
Working Hypothesis
– Objectives:
• Statements that indicate what a researcher intends
to accomplish in a more specific term;
– Hypothesis:
• A statement about the relationship between two or
more concepts.
• Important bridges between empirical investigation and
theory
• They indirectly determine the quality of data which
is required for the analysis.

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 Developing objectives and
Working Hypothesis …
Some guidelines in developing objectives:
– Objectives must be specific, concrete and
achievable statements;
– The objectives should clearly fit to the
statement of the problem
– The objectives must propose to do things as
per the capability of the design of the study.
– Objectives should be in their approximate
order of importance.

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 Developing objectives and
Working Hypothesis …
 Hypotheses:
 Hypotheses are tentative, intelligent guesses
to the solution of the problem.

 There is often a 1-1 correspondence between a

sub problem and a hypothesis.

 Hypotheses can help determine the nature of the

research and methods applied.

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 Developing objectives and
Working Hypothesis …
A hypothesis must be
– Specific
– Conceptually clear in terms of common definitions
– Testable (verification or rejection) by available
techniques and resources;
– Related to a body of theory;
– Stated to provide direction for the research;

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 Developing objectives and
Working Hypothesis …
• Some examples of hypothesis
– Reducing frequent route failures will lead to better throughput
in wireless networks
– Overcoming the problem of security will improve QoS.

As a general rule a working hypothesis is another

basic step of the research process in most research
problems

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 Design of the Research
 Once the research problem is formulated and working
hypothesis is developed, the researcher will be
required to prepare a research design.

 Research design includes:

 Design of algorithms to solve the problem
 Experimenting the algorithm by preparing and
configuring different test or simulation parameters
and scenarios
 Validating the algorithm analytically/theoretically

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 Design of the Research…
 Provide yourself with infrastructure
 equipment / HW, software
 additional knowledge
 Do the work
 Experimentation, simulation, emulation (scientific
process)
 Develop opinions
 Look for better ways of solving problem
• Can you generalize?
• Can you develop a framework?
 Discuss, brainstorm
 Reevaluate as you proceed
• Look for improvements, changes to your original ideas

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 Design of the Research…
 It is a process
 Work regularly
• Easier to keep going if have a commitment to a regular
work time
• Helps you keep your past work in mind
 Allocate large block of time for research
• Takes time to get going/back to speed
• Make sure can do something significant each work
session

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Execution of the research project
 A very important step in the research process.
 If the execution of the research produces the required
output, The designed solution (hypothesis/algorithm)
would be adequate.
 Hypothesis (E.g, designed algorithm) testing may involve:
 Field survey/experiment (real time test bed)
 Laboratory experiment (HW or SW, simulation, and emulation)
 Algorithm validation through analytical modeling
 Algorithm testing correctness
 Hypothesis analysis
• Quantitative
• Qualitative
 Generalization and interpretation of the results

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 Reporting
 Finally, the researcher has to prepare report
(What he/she has done so far)
 The style and content varies depending on to
whom the researcher is written.
 Communication of Research Findings can be
 Seminars
 Conference papers
 Journal papers
 Theses
 Books

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 Research Process (summary)
 Research is an extremely cyclic process.
 Later stages might necessitate a review of earlier
work.
 This isn’t a weakness of the process
 butis 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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 Step 1: A Question Is Raised
 A question occurs to or is posed to the
researcher for which that researcher has no
answer.
 This doesn’t mean that someone else doesn’t
already have an answer.
 The question needs to be converted to an
appropriate problem statement like that
documented in a research proposal.

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 Step 2: Suggest Hypotheses
 The researcher may generate intermediate
hypotheses to describe a solution to the
problem.
 This is at best a temporary solution since there is
as yet no evidence to support either the
acceptance or rejection of these hypotheses.

 Hypothesis can be improved, extended, or

converged in the middle of the research
process.

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 Step 3: Literature Review
 The available literature is reviewed to
determine if there is already a solution to the
problem.
 Existingsolutions do not always explain new
observations.
 The existing solution might require some revision
or even be discarded.
 The literature review is often a good source
for additional ideas.

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Step 4: Literature Evaluation
 It’s possible that the literature review has yielded a
solution to the proposed problem.
 This means that you haven’t really done research.
 On the other hand, if the literature review turns up
nothing, then additional research activities are justified.
 Keep in mind that just because you didn’t find a
solution today, doesn’t mean that one won’t show up
tomorrow.
• This is one of the reasons that researchers are always
reading and trying to keep up to date with current
trends.

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 Step 5: Design solution
 The researcher now begins to design solution
relating to the research problem.

 The means of designing solution will often change

based on the type of the research problem.
 This might involve data gathering, creation of new
algorithms, theories, setting up experiments...

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 Step 6: Analysis
 The solution that were designed in the
previous step are analyzed as a first step in
ascertaining their meaning.
 The analysis of the proposed solution varies
with the research types.

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Step 7: Result Interpretation
 The researcher interprets the newly proposed
solution and suggests a conclusion.

 Result discussion.
 Correlating result with objectives of the research.
 Correlating results with hypothesis (proposed
solution).
 Correlating results with problem definition.

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Step 8: Hypothesis Support
 The results in step 7 will either support the
hypotheses (the proposed solution) or they
won’t.
 This may lead the researcher to cycle back to an
earlier step in the process and begin again with a
new hypothesis.

 Thisis one of the self-correcting mechanisms

associated with the scientific research method.

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