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Research Methodology: Dr. Sari Abusharar

This document provides an outline for a course on research methodology. The course aims to guide undergraduate and graduate students in conducting a dissertation. It will cover topics such as selecting a dissertation topic, writing a proposal, conducting a literature review, choosing a research approach, collecting and analyzing data, and producing the final dissertation. The goals of the course are to help students investigate a topic of their choice in-depth, develop academic skills, make an original contribution to knowledge, and properly present research findings. The course will follow the stages of a research project from beginning to end over its sessions.

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65 views11 pages

Research Methodology: Dr. Sari Abusharar

This document provides an outline for a course on research methodology. The course aims to guide undergraduate and graduate students in conducting a dissertation. It will cover topics such as selecting a dissertation topic, writing a proposal, conducting a literature review, choosing a research approach, collecting and analyzing data, and producing the final dissertation. The goals of the course are to help students investigate a topic of their choice in-depth, develop academic skills, make an original contribution to knowledge, and properly present research findings. The course will follow the stages of a research project from beginning to end over its sessions.

Uploaded by

Prof. Design
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Research Methodology

ENGI 3215

Chapter 1

Introduction
Dr. Sari Abusharar
Associate Professor
Civil Engineering Department
Faculty of Applied Engineering and Urban Planning

1
Outline of Presentation
Introduction
Rationale for conducting a dissertation
The meaning of research
Purpose of the course
The plan of the course

2
Introduction
This course provides a guide and learning material in
the preparation of a dissertation for honors
undergraduate students and for students undertaking
dissertations on taught Masters degrees.

The course focuses specifically on subjects with a


special reference to the discipline areas of
engineering.

The course can also be useful to undergraduate and


postgraduate students of various disciplines.

3
Introduction
This course covers issues such as:
 selection of a dissertation topic
 writing a proposal
 conducting a literature review
 selecting the research approach
 create research instruments
 collecting information
 analyzing and presenting information
 producing a well-written dissertation 4
Rationale for conducting a dissertation
The aims and objectives for conducting a dissertation are:
 To enable students to investigate, in depth, a subject in
which they have a particular interest and of their own
selection.
 To provide students with an opportunity to develop
their academic and technical skills.
 To encourage the students to make an original
contribution to the knowledge in the field of their
study.

5
Rationale for conducting a dissertation
 To encourage both clarity and depth of thought in that
the project involves analysis of a problem in depth and
the development of a logical sequence of ideas.
 To provide students with an opportunity of learning
how to obtain detailed information on a particular
issue.
 To require the proper use and presentation of data.

6
The meaning of research

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines research


as ‘careful search or inquiry; aim to discover
new or collect old facts etc. by scientific study
of a subject’.

From which we can conclude that the word


‘research’ may be used interchangeably with
‘inquiry’, ‘study’ or ‘investigation’.

7
The meaning of research
A research project has to have an aim or objective.
In general terms, the aim of all research is to
increase knowledge.

But we do not simply want a list of facts. A good


piece of research will focus on certain aspects of a
topic. It will seek to answer specific questions, solve
a particular problem or test a hypothesis. The
issue(s) to be addressed must be clearly stated at
the beginning in the objective(s) of research.

8
Purpose of the course
This course provides students with a useful guide to
undertake a piece of research. This course is specifically
designed to assist:

1. Students of other related disciplines.


2. Students in the social sciences and people concerned
with social surveys.
3. Additionally, the course should provide a useful
‘foundation’ guide to students who are about to start a
master or PhD program.

9
The plan of the course
As mentioned earlier, this course will follow the
interrelated stages of conducting a dissertation research.

This course is therefore composed of:


1 Introduction
2 Selecting a topic and writing the dissertation proposal
3 Reviewing the literature
4 Approaches to data collection
5 Techniques for data collection
6 Questionnaire construction
7 Measurements and probability
8 Analysis of the results
9 Structuring and writing the dissertation
10 Dissertation supervision and assessment 10
11

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