CE 328: Research methods

BSc in Engineering Program

2nd Semester 2023/2024
Introduction to research
 The word “research” originated from the old French word “recerchier” meaning to search and search again.
 It literally implies repeating a search for something and implicitly assumes that the earlier search was not
exhaustive and complete in the sense that there is still scope for improvement.
 It may be defined as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic/area.
 In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. It can be defined as “a careful investigation or inquiry
especially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge”.
 Redman and Mory defined research as “a systematized effort to gain new knowledge”. Some people consider
research as a movement, a movement from known to unknown. It is actually a voyage of discovery.
 Research can therefore be defined as a scientific approach of answering a research question, solving a
problem or generating new knowledge through a systematic and orderly collection, organization, and
analysis of information with an ultimate goal of making the research useful in decision-making. Systematic
research in any field of inquiry involves three basic operations-
 Data collection: It refers to observing, measuring, and recording information.
 Data analysis: It refers to arranging and organizing the collected data so that we may be able to find out what
their significance is and generalize about them.
 Report writing: It is an inseparable part and a final outcome of a research study. Its purpose is to convey
information contained in it to the readers or audience.
Introduction continues….
 Research activities warrant a systematic approach.
 An approach becomes systematic when a researcher follows scientific method.
 Research is systematic, because it follows certain steps that are logical in order.
 These steps are:-
 Understanding the nature of problem to be studied and identifying the
related area of knowledge.
 Reviewing literature to understand how others have approached or dealt with
the problem.
 Collecting data in an organized and controlled manner so as to arrive at valid
decisions.
 Analyzing data appropriate to the problem and making
generalizations/discussions/interpretation.
 Drawing conclusions and recommendations
Objectives/ Purposes of research
The principal objective or purpose of research in any field of
inquiry is to add to what is known about the phenomenon
under the investigation through the application of scientific
methods.
The purpose of research is as follows:-
Exploration
Description
Causal Explanation
Prediction
Exploration
 Exploration is finding out about some previously unexamined phenomenon.
 It is particularly useful when researchers lack a clear idea of the problems they
will meet during the course of the study.
 Through exploration, researchers -
 Develop concepts more clearly
 Establish priorities
 Develop operational definitions
 Formulate research hypotheses, and
 Improve the final research design.
 Explorative studies tend toward loose structures with the objective of
discovering future research tasks. One might think, for example, of initiating an
exploratory research in the following situations
 Building structures are collapsing at an alarming rates in the city, the reasons for which
remain unknown. The problem is ambiguous and what is actually happening is to be cleared.
 A new building/engineering material is to be marketed, the manufacturer remains in worry if
the product will be accepted by the people/engineers or not
Description
 Description refers to the data based information-gathering activities
 The situations and events which are described through studies are referred to as
descriptive studies
 Descriptive studies try to discover answers to the questions who, what, when,
where and sometimes how
 A descriptive study may be feasible in the following cases -
 What are the characteristics of the these building which are collapsing?
When were they constructed? Who constructed them? What materials
were used?
 Who are the potential buyers of the new building product? Men or
women? Urban people or rural people? From which catchment
areas/estates?
Causal Exploration
 An explanatory study goes beyond description and attempts to establish cause-
and-effect relationship between variables
 It explains the reason for the phenomenon that describes study observed
 Thus, if a researcher finds that communities having higher family size have higher
child death, s/he is performing a descriptive study
 If researcher is explaining why it is so and tries to establish cause-and-effect
relationship, s/he is performing an explanatory study.
 Such studies are also called causal studies.
 Following examples fit to causal studies:-
 Why are buildings collapsing in the city? Can we explain this as a consequence of poor
training of Engineers? Or for lack of supervision during construction? Is it out of
corruption? Or is it out of poor weather/climate change?
 Will buyers be motivated to purchase the new product on sites or from hard wares?
Can attractive advertisement motivate them?
Prediction
 Prediction seeks to answer when and in what situations the event will occur, if it can be provided plausible
explanation for the vent in question. In addition to being able to explain an event after it has occurred, it will
be able to predict when the event will occur.
 Hence, research objective of a given research study may fall under either of the following broad
categories. To:-
 Gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it.
 Portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group.
 Determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated.
 Test causal relationship between two or more than two facts or situations.
 Know and understand a phenomenon with a view to formulating the problem precisely.
 Describe accurately a given phenomenon and to test hypotheses about relationships among its different
dimensions.
 Some others objectives of research may be spell out as follows. To:-
 Provide solutions to complex problems;
 Investigate laws of nature;
 Make new discoveries;
 Develop new products;
 Save costs;
 Improve our life, and
Scientific based research
 Scientific method is the pursuit of truth as determined by logical considerations.
 The ideal of science is to achieve a systematic interrelation of facts.
 Scientific method attempts to achieve this ideal by experimentation, observation, logical
arguments from accepted postulates and a combination of these three in varying proportions.
 The scientific method is based on certain basic postulates which can be stated as follows. It:-
 relies on empirical evidence,
 utilizes relevant concepts,
 is committed to only objective considerations,
 presupposes ethical neutrality,
 results into probabilistic predictions,
 is made known to all concerned through replication, and
 aims at formulating most general axioms.
 Thus, scientific method implies an objective, logical and systematic method, i.e., a method
free from personal bias or prejudice, a method to ascertain demonstrable qualities of a
phenomenon capable of being verified, a method wherein the researcher is guided by the
rules of logical reasoning, a method wherein the investigation proceeds in an orderly manner
Classification of research
 There are two ways of classifying research:- One way is to classify research on the basis of its
purpose, and on the basis of the method employed in research.
 Taking purpose as the basis of classification, research is considered to be three types –
Basic, Applied (including Developmental research) and Evaluative.
 Research method is characterized by the techniques employed in collecting and analyzing
data. On the basis of method, research can be classified as historical, descriptive,
correlational, ex-post facto and experimental
 Basic Research: When the solution to the research problem has no apparent
applications to any existing practical problem but only of the scholarly interests of a
community of a researcher, the research is called basic reach.
 Basic research attempts to generate and expand the fundamental knowledge about
social world.
 It has no practical value or has little direct impact on action, performance or policy
decision.
 Basic researchers are more detached and academic in their approach and tend to have
their own motives.
Applied Research
 It variously known as action research, operations research, social research,
decision-linked research, is a type of research that covers a wide range of
social science areas.
 Applied research is inspired by the needs of social action and aims at finding a
practical solution for an immediate problem of the sociality making optimal use
of the available resources.
 The problem-solving nature of the applied research means it is conducted to
reveal answers to specific questions related to action, performance or policy
needs.
 Example that demonstrates what the applied research is: -
 It has been observed that in Mwanza City, the proportion of buildings collapsing
after 20 years life span is increasing. It is suspected that, poor supervision and
corruption in the approval procedures is one of the risk factors associated with
this. A study may therefore be conducted to verify if this is the case.
Evaluative Research
 It is concerned with the evaluation of such occurrences as social and organizational
programs or intervention.
 Evaluative research attempts to:-
 Assess implemented activities;
 Examine effects of activities;
 Assess short-term effects;
 Determine the impact of a program; and
 Evaluate success of intervention.
 The use of the principles of experimental design is fairly entrenched in evaluation
research, but other approaches have merged in recent years.
 An example is cited: - It has been established that, most of class B roads constructed by local
Engineers in Tanga and Pwani Regions in Tanzania develop potholes within the first one year
of use. The government of Tanzania through the ministry of Public works organized a three
month training for Pwani Engineers. After two years of work, the training impact was
evaluated comparing the trained and untrained engineers’ work.
Based on research method
Historical Research: It is that which utilizes historical sources like documents, remains, etc. to study
events or ideas of the past, including the philosophy of persons and groups at any remote point of time.
 The purpose of historical research is to arrive at conclusions concerning trends, causes or
effects of past occurrences.
 This may help in explaining present events and anticipating future events.
Descriptive Research: It includes case studies, surveys and fact-findings enquiries of different kinds.
 The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state of affairs, as it exists at present.

 The main characteristic of this method is the researcher has no control over the variables;
s/he can only report what has happened or what is happening.
 Descriptive research studies deal with collecting data and testing hypotheses or answering
questions concerning the current status of the subject of study. It deals with the question
‘what is’ of a situation.
 It concerns with determining the current practices, status or features of situations.
 Another aspect of descriptive research is that data collection is either done through asking
questions from individuals in the situation (through questionnaires or interviews) or by observation.
Correlational Research
 Descriptive and historical researches provide a picture of events that are currently happening or
have occurred in the past.
 Researchers often want to go beyond mere description and begin discussing the relationship
that certain events might have to one another.
 The most likely type of research to answer the relationship among variables or events is
called correlational research.
 It aims at determining the degree of relationship between two or more quantifiable
variables.
 Secondly, the relationship thus determined could be used for making predictions.
 A high value of relationship, however, does not signify a cause and effect relationship which must
be verified through experimental study.
 This research is often conducted to test the reliability and predictive validity of instruments
used for division making concerning selection of individuals for the likely success in a course of
study or a specific job.
 Some authors consider this research as a type of descriptive research, since it describes the
current conditions in a situation.
 However, the difference lays in the nature of conditions studies. A correlational study describes in
Ex-post Facto Research
 There is some research where both the effect and the alleged cause have already occurred
and are studied by the researcher in retrospect.
 Such research is referred to as Ex-post Facto (after the fact). Kerlinger (1973) defines Ex-
post Facto research as: “Systematic empirical inquiry in which the scientist does not
have direct control of independent variables because their manifestations have already
occurred or because they are inherently not manipulable”.
 Thus, in ex-post facto research or causal-comparative research the researcher has no
control on the variables or s/he cannot manipulate the variables (independent variables)
which cause a certain effect (dependent variables) being measured.
 Since this type of study lacks manipulation of variables, the cause-effect relationship
measured are only tentative.
 Some authors categorize Ex-post facto studies into the category of descriptive research. T
 though it too describes conditions that exist in a situation, it attempts to determine reasons
or causes for the current status of the phenomena under study.
 The procedures involved in this study are quite different than those in descriptive
research.
Experimental research
 We already know that correlational research can help establish the presence of a relationship among variables but
not give us any reason to believe that variables are causally related to one another.
 How does one find out if the characteristics or behaviors or events are related in such a way that the relationship
is a causal one? Two types of research can answer this:-
a) quasi-experimental research and
b) true experimental research.
 Trues Experimental research is where participants are assigned to groups based on some selected criterion often
called treatment variable.
 Quasi-experimental research is where participants are pre-assigned to groups based on some characteristic or
quality such as differences in sex, race, age, neighborhood, etc.
 These group assignments have already taken place before the experiment begins, and the researcher has no
control as to what the people will belong to each group.
 The primary characteristic of true experimental research is manipulation of at least one variables and control over the
other relevant variables so as to measure its effect on one or more dependent variables.
 The variable (s) which is manipulated is also called an independent variable, a treatment, an experimental
variables or the cause.
 Some of the examples of independent variables could be: temperature, pressure, chemical concentration, type
of material and conductivity.
 True Experimental research will always have two or more groups for comparison on the dependent variables. It is
Analytical research
 In analytical research the researcher has to use facts or information already available, and
analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material.
 Conceptual Research: It is that related to some abstract idea(s) or theory. It is generally used by
philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or to reinterpret existing ones.
 Longitudinal Research: From the point of view of time, we can think of research either as
one-time research or longitudinal research. In the former case the research is confined to a
single time-period, whereas in the latter case the research is carried on over several time-
periods. Historical research, case study, genetic comes under longitudinal approach of research.
 Cross Sectional Research: This type of studies are designed to look at a variable at a
particular point in time. Longitudinal studies involve taking multiple measures over an extended
period of time, while cross-sectional research is focused on looking at variables at a specific
point in time. Experimental research, survey are the examples of cross sectional research.
 Clinical or Diagnostic Research: Clinical or diagnostic research follow case-study methods or in-
depth approaches to reach the basic causal relations. Such studies usually go deep into the causes
of things or events that interest us, using very small samples and very deep probing data
gathering devices.
Baseline/Bench-mark Survey/Research
 A baseline survey is a research in which data on pre-project socio-economic and business aspects are generated
in order to facilitate the assessment of future impact of project intervention. A baseline survey is conducted in
the absence of available published data on various socio-economic and business aspects.
 Impact Assessment: The research, which is undertaken to measure the quantitative benefits derived out
of project intervention and qualitative changes that occurred due to project intervention, is known as an
impact assessment research. This type of research also provides information for identifying the negative
impact of the project.
 Feasibility Studies: This type of research is undertaken prior to starting of any business enterprise or any
business related project. This type of research is done to assess the technical, economic, market and
financial viability of the project. The issue whether the project is socially desirable and environmentally
acceptable is also taken into consideration.
 Research can also be classified as conclusion-oriented and decision-oriented. While doing conclusion-
oriented research, a researcher is free to pick up a problem, redesign the enquiry as s/he proceeds and is
prepared to conceptualize as s/he wishes. Decision-oriented research is always for the need of a decision maker
and the researcher in this case is not free to embark upon research according to his/her own inclination.
Operations research is an example of decision oriented research since it is a scientific method of
providing executive departments with a quantitative basis for decisions regarding operations under their
control.
Steps in conducting a research
 Irrespective of the category of a research study, the steps followed in conducting it are the
same. These steps are -
Selecting and Defining Problem: This marks the beginning of a research study and is the
most difficult and important step. This involves – (i) identifying and stating the problem in
specific terms;(ii) identifying the variables in the problem situation and defining them
adequately; (iii) generating tentative guesses (hypotheses) about the relation of the variables or
in other words the solution of the problem, or writing explicitly the questions (research
questions) for which answers are sought; and (iv) evaluating the problem for its research
ability. To achieve this, you review the literature related to the problem to know what
other researchers have done and discovered and to identify the possible methodology for
conducting the research.
Describing Methodology of Research: You need to state the purpose of the study and to define
the problem clearly. This guides you in deciding the methodology of research which
involves: (a)identifying the method of research; (b) specifying the subjects of study; (c) selecting
an adequate representative sample of subjects; (d) selecting/constructing valid and reliable
instruments for measuring the variables in the problem; (e) selecting a research design and
describing the procedure to be employed for conducting the research study.
Steps of conducting research continues….
Collecting Data: This step involves conducting the study as per the designed
procedure(manipulating the experimental variables in the case of an experimental method),
administering instruments for measuring variables and/or gathering information through
observation. It also involves tabulating the data thus collected for the purpose of analysis.
Analyzing and Interpreting Results: The results of the study are generated at this stage.
The data are summarized, in other words analyzed to provide information for testing the
hypotheses. Appropriate statistical methods of analysis are used to test the hypotheses.
You can perform the analysis manually, by using a hand calculator or a computer as per the
demands of the problem, and the available facilities.
After completing the analysis results are tied together or summarized. The results are interpreted
in the light of the hypotheses and/or the research problem.
These are then discussed in relation to: the existing body of knowledge, consistencies and
inconsistencies with the results of other research studies, and then the conclusions are drawn.
This is followed by writing the research report.
Summary research report format
Section Content
Preliminary pages i.e. title page, declaration, approval page, abstract, key word list, table of contents, list of figures and
tables, acknowledgements

Chapter 1 Introduction – Study background, statement of the problem, study objectives, hypotheses, significance
and justification of the study, scope of the work, study limitations and delimitations, conceptual
framework, definition of key terms
Chapter 2 Literature review (Theoretical and empirical reviews)

Chapter 3 Research methodology – methods – procedures used in data collection (Design, approach, study
population, target population, sampling techniques and size, data collection techniques and tools,
testing of tools, validity and reliability of tools, )
Chapter 4 Data presentation, analysis, discussion and interpretation

Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations – summarize conclusions and what they mean (i.e., answer the
question, “So what?”). What changes and further work do you recommend?
Method vs. Methodology
 Methods include the actual steps taken when conducting your research, whereas methodology is the
technique and a comprehensive analysis of the techniques and steps taken in your field of study.
 Methodology is the systematic approach one takes to solve the research question.
 Method is the collection of steps one takes to solve the research question and technique is one of the
specific steps taken to solve the research question.