MSc Research Skills

Lecture: Science and research

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UT/ITC Enschede
Science and research 1

Topics

1. What is science?

2. What is research?

3. The scientific enterprise

Science and research 2

Topic:What is science?
You are aiming at a Master of Science degree:

• not Master of Technology

• not Master of Engineering

• not Master of Regional Planning

• not Master of Business Administration

•. . .

so, what do we mean by the term “science”?

Science and research 3

What does it mean to “do science”?

• To “do science” is to follow a prescribed method to arrive at knowledge.

• The “scientific method” is a manner of thinking and working towards

more complete knowledge of the world
* including the built world
* including systems in the world
* including humans in the world

• It is not a belief system

Science and research 4

Must one “believe” in science?

Science has proven successful in:

• explaining the world as we observe it;

* explanations continue to improve (explain more, in more detail)

• predicting what can be further observed

* e.g. new observations, new locations, repeat observations, the effect of

interventions;

• engineering

* i.e. building things that work.

So it’s not a question of belief, rather of evidence. But . . .

Science and research 5

Naturalism

“All of us who participate in science must share one common faith. We believe
that the material-energetic world is knowable, at least in large part, by the
concerted activity of research: exploration, reconnaissance, observation,
logic, detailed study that includes careful measurement against standards.”

– Lynn Margulis, American Scientist 93:482)

It is impossible for science to investigate anything which does not conform to

this assumption; ‘Super-natural’ means just that, ‘outside of nature’.

Note: The type of measurement etc. depends on the scientific discipline and
object of study.
Science and research 6

Characteristics of scientific knowledge

1. Self-criticism

• Inherently self-critical; never “complete”

• Built-in mechanism to check and revise itself
• self-consistent, same methods used to reach conclusions can be used to
challenge or revise them
• Does not allow for any super-natural reasoning

(continued . . . )
Science and research 7

Characteristics of scientific knowledge (2)

2. Evidence-based

• Knowledge is built up step-by-step from experience, including

experiments and systematic observations.
• Can not be deduced from abstract ideas of how the world “should” work or
on folk “wisdom”
• (these can provide hypotheses to be investigated)

Scientific knowledge advances by accumulating more evidence

(continued . . . )
Science and research 8

Characteristics of scientific knowledge (3)

3. Theory-based

• Science is not a disorganized collection of facts

• It is a way of explaining the world
• So, must construct theories (also called models) that explain the
available evidence

Scientific knowledge advances by constructing better theories from the

available evidence.

(continued . . . )
Science and research 9

Characteristics of scientific knowledge (4)

4. Transparent

• All methods used in a scientific investigation . . .

• and all results of applying the methods . . .
• must be unambiguously specified and
communicated
Science and research 10

Implications of these characteristics

• Science is reproducible: another worker can perform the same experiment

or observation, and expect to obtain the same result, within the limits of
experimental error.

Note: In social sciences, and with historical approaches it may be

impossible to exactly reproduce an observation; however the methods used
are traceable.

Traceability: it is clear how observations were made (transparency); so, another

worker could follow the same procedure in a different setting and expect to
obtain similar results, with differences due to the differences in the two
situations.

(continued. . . )
Science and research 11

Implications (continued)

• Science has a built-in self-correction mechanism – other scientists can

verify, modify, contradict or extend ‘surprising’ or controversial results

• There is no occult (hidden) knowledge in science – in principle any person

can acquire all the knowledge needed to do and understand science

• No appeal to authority

• Science is not prescriptive (“normative”)

* It can not say what is a “right” course of action
* That is the province of human value systems, including secular
humanism, ethical systems, tradition, and supernatural religions.
Science and research 12

Types of sciences

1. Experimental
• controlled conditions under which measurements are made
• quantifiable level of control

2. Observational

• No experiment is possible
• but observations are made in uncontrolled or semi–controlled conditions
• Sampling design: the observations are representative of the process to be
modelled.

(continued . . . )
Science and research 13

Types of sciences (continued)

3. Historical:
• Evidence from the past, which can not be re-created
experimentally (e.g. geology, archaeology):
• these can be related to current processes
• some of the supposed processes can be reproduced in the lab.
• explanation relies heavily on inference
Science and research 14

Science vs. engineering

• Scientific research
* a method to discover facts about nature . . .
* and to put these in a theoretical context: why

• Engineering

* the design and manufacture of objects

* may be virtual, e.g. a computer program

» Science investigates the world as it is and tries to explain it

» Engineering changes the world

Science and research 15

Topic:What is research?
An essential element of a thesis in partial fulfillment of a “Master of Science” degree
is that it must:

1.formulate research problems and research questions, and

then . . . 2.. . . report on the results of applying research methods to

these.

But, what do we mean by “research”?

1.Definition

2. Abstract structure of research

3. Research stages

4. Types of research (experiments, observations, synthesis, design, modelling, data

mining)
Science and research 16

Definition
“research” from the French rechercher, “to look for (again)”, by extension “to
investigate”, “to [attempt to] find out”.

To do research is to discover something that was previously completely or

partially
unknown or not understood.
Science and research 17

What is something new?

The “something new” to be discovered may be:

• new facts about the natural world, the built (engineered) world, or
human
society;

• new understanding of the processes in these;

• new or improved methods to investigate the above;

• new or improved systems;

• new or improved models; or

• a new synthesis (conceptual framework) of existing facts.

Science and research 18

Reasons to do research
In order of understanding:

1. toexplore a poorly-understood situation or phenomenon, generate research

questions and hypotheses
• only applicable in situations of ignorance (no previous systematic study)

2. todescribe a situation or phenomenon

• phenomenon is known but not systematically described

3.to explain (to some level of understanding) the causes of a

phenomenon 4.to predict the future or at unobserved locations

• this requires a computational model which can simulate
scenarios

5.to guide decisions which must be taken

Science and research 19

Abstract structure of research

1. raising (or, posing) questions;

2. providing evidence to answer these questions; this requires some

appropriate
methods to gather the evidence;

3. making claims: a statement of what has been achieved, based on this

evidence;

4. a discussion of the reliability and relevance of the claims.

Questions =⇒ Evidence =⇒ Claims =⇒ Context

Science and research 20

Research stages
In the long view, research can be divided into three stages:

1.A reconnaissance stage of unstructured observation;

2.A reflective stage, during which hypotheses are generated;

3.A testing stage, where experiments or structured observations are

designed to verify these hypotheses.

Reconnaissance =⇒ Reflection =⇒ Testing =⇒

Conclusions

An MSc project typically skips the reconnaissance stage; enough is known from
the
literature review to formulate hypotheses.
Science and research 21

Inductive vs. hypothesis-driven research

Inductive inquiry Unguided and unlimited exploration, attempting to collect facts.

This is speculative and with no guarantee of success – certainly facts will be

collected but can they be put into a meaningful framework?

Hypothesis-driven Built on previous scholarship (published hypotheses with

evidence for their validity), and fundamentally driven by theory.

If the hypothesis is well-formulated and reasonable in light of previous results,

and the methodology is well-designed to address it, a valid scientific result
(positive or negative) is almost guaranteed.

These must be balanced: no induction means no fresh ideas; no hypotheses means

unguided and inefficient research.
Science and research 22

Words of wisdom

“About thirty years ago there was much talk that geologists ought only to
observe and not theorise; and I well remember some one saying that at this
rate a man might as well go into a gravel-pit and count the pebbles and
describe the colours. How odd it is that anyone should not see that all
observation must be for or against some view if it is to be of any service!”

– Charles Darwin, letter to Henry Fawcett, 1 8 Sept 1 8 6 1

Science and research 23

Types of research (1/3)

1. Designed experiments, e.g. laboratory or field research;

• The researcher imposes the treatments in a (semi-)controlled
situation and measures the system response;

2. Systematic observations, e.g. resource survey or community meetings;

• The researcher makes measurements or observations according to

a plan but without complete control of the process;

3. System design;

• The researcher designs a system (database, visualization, modelling . . . )

and shows that it is somehow “better” than previous designs; this includes
design of algorithms and methods.

(continued . . . )
Science and research 24

Types of research (2/3)

4. Synthesis;
• The researcher imposes a new conceptual framework on previous
data and establishes that this is a better or more unifying explanation;

5. Modelling.

• The researcher builds a conceptual or computational model of a process; the

model is evaluated by its success in reproducing the behaviour of the natural or
social system.

6. Comparative studies.

• The researcher compares existing situations in order to determine the

reasons for the observed differences.
Note: the researcher must argue that all relevant factors have been considered;
thus only close analogues should be used

(continued . . . )
Science and research 25

Types of research (3/3)

7. Data mining;
• The researcher looks unexpected patterns in large datasets, without
for preconceptions;
Science and research 26

Natural vs. social sciences

• Natural sciences: The principal object of study is “nature”, i.e. physical reality;
* There is a clear separation between observer and observed;
* It is easier to be objective.

• Social sciences: The principal object of study are humans and human society
(including organizations and governments).

* We can not impose treatments at will;

* We are studying ourselves or our social constructs;
* It is difficult to avoid subjectivity;
* Argumentation grades into humanities.
Science and research 27

Main focus of study

Research can investigate either:

• An object or thing in itself: Something about the natural world, the built
world, or society; e.g.
* changes in land use in a study area;
* commerce patterns in a district;
* audit of a reconstruction project after a natural disaster;

or,

• The methodology: How the “thing in itself” is best studied, e.g.

* How to assess land-use changes with multiple satellite sensors of

different resolution;
* how to visualise spatio-temporal commerce patterns;
* how to map reconstructed buildings from high-resolution imagery
using image segmentation techniques.
Science and research 28

Topic:The scientific enterprise

Your MSc research project is a small part of a much larger scientific enterprise:

1.Within the University

2.Within a field of study

3.Within the scientific community in general

4.Within society

(See separate lecture on how research is

embedded within UT/ITC).