Introduction to Research

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Today’s class

• Definition and goal of scientific research

• Scientific Research vs. R&D activities

• Research characteristics

• High-quality research

• Research process

• Research methodologies
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Think and discuss

• What is research in your mind, or based on

your experience?
• Have you ever been involved in research
projects?
• How have you done a research project?

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Definition of Scientific Research
“…the systematic process of
collecting and analyzing information
(data) in order to increase our
understanding of the phenomenon
about which we are concerned or
interested.”

“In an academic context, research is

used to refer to the activity of a
diligent and systematic inquiry or
investigation in an area, with the
objective of discovering or revising
facts, theories, applications etc.”

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Goal of Scientific Research

 To develop and discover knowledge previously unknown

in the area of concern
 To reduce, or even eliminate uncertainty in what we
know
 The outcome of the research should be original
contribution of knowledge
 The results are disseminated via scientific journals /
conferences

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Definition of Scientific Research
Research in the context of your MSc study

"Successfully undertaking a research degree requires certain abilities,

such as initiative and the capacity for critical but constructive thinking,
as well as a thorough understanding of the relevant academic
discipline and competence in relevant techniques." (Source: Learning
to Research, 2009)

Studies undertaken as part of your research degree will be based on

pre-existing knowledge and will raise scientific questions aiming to
solve your hypothesis. Knowledge will be gathered from a variety of
sources such as your supervisors, articles, books and conferences. You
may use this knowledge to challenge accepted ideas or decipher a
problem currently not investigated.
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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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Scientific research vs. R&D activities

Different motivations and activities

The primary objective of scientific research is to learn and
understand complex phenomena, which undertake research
activities like

• Establish new knowledge which is made available to the public, often

by means of publications in academic journals or conferences

• Are not driven by profit; researchers are therefore relatively free to

identify and define their research questions

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Scientific research vs. R&D activities

Different motivations and activities

• R&D in a commercial setting usually has an expectation that
the research activities will be centred on business goals, with
the aim of contributing to new products or services, which are
expected to generate profit for the organisation

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Scientific research vs. R&D activities
• R&D in a commercial setting usually perform the activities like

­ Undertaking research in areas related to the long-term business goals

­ Monitoring and observing research findings and trends in technology

­ Undertaking pilot-projects to analyse and evaluate new technologies

­ Exploring trends in technology for their potential adoption by the

organisation

­ Building research prototypes and platforms for evaluating

technologies, and possibly provide the foundation infrastructure for
forthcoming development efforts

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Scientific research vs. R&D activities
• In both cases we talk about research
• However, there is an important difference when reporting the
results: there is a statement on Conflict of Interest (say in journal
publications)
• This is not to say that either type of research is better or worse,
just to understand the primary motivation for the research
• Note: when companies submit their annual reports to the
shareholders they might disclose the full extent of the research
results.

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Think and discuss

• What will constitute a scientific research?

• What is the process of doing scientific
research?

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Characteristics of Research

• Originates with a question or problem.

• Requires clear articulation of a goal.
• Follows a specific plan or procedure.
• Often divides main problem into sub-
problems.
• Guided by specific problem, question,
or hypothesis.
• Accepts certain critical assumptions.
• Requires collection and interpretation
of data.
• Cyclical (helical) in nature

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High-quality Research
Good research requires
• Highly ethical standards be applied
• The scope and limitations of the work to be clearly defined.
• A thoroughly planned design that is as objective as possible.
• The process to be clearly explained so that it can be
reproduced and verified by other researchers.
• Data be adequately analyzed and explained.
• All limitations be documented.
• All findings be presented unambiguously and all conclusions
be justified by sufficient evidence
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Research Process
I. Informational Phase II. Propositional Phase
Gathering or aggregating information Proposing and /or formulating a
via reflection, literature review, people hypothesis, method or algorithm,
/organization survey, or poll model, theory or solution

IV. Evaluative Phase III. Analytical Phase

Evaluating a proposition or analytic Analyzing and exploring a proposition,
finding by means of experimentation leading to a demonstration and/or
(controlled) or observation formulation of a principle or theory
(uncontrolled), perhaps leading to a
substantiated model, principle or
theory

Research phases 15
Research Process
• A research need not and often does not utilize all of
the phases.
­ One or more phases could be eliminated only if there is a
good and consciously thought reason for doing so

• Research is an iterative process.

­ Later stages might need a review of earlier work.
­ May back up and repeat steps at any point during the
process

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Research Process

Steps of research process 17

Research Process
Step 1: A question raised
Research begins with a problem. It will guide everything that
you do, and it is important to get it right. But identifying a
research question can actually be the hardest part of research.

In general, good research question should:

• Be no answer at that time
• Address an important issue
• Advance knowledge

The question needs to be converted to an appropriate

problem statement like that documented in a research
proposal
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Research Process
Step 2: Background research
From the research question we move on to literature
review:
Rather than starting from scratch in putting together a plan for
answering your question, you want to be a savvy scientist using
appropriate academic library and Internet research to find out
‒ Has someone already answered your question?
‒ Has anyone attempted to answer it?
‒ Is there research in the libraries of the world that points you in the
right direction, or suggests what the answer might be?

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Research Process
The available literature is reviewed to determine if
there is already a solution to the problem.

• Existing solutions do not always explain new observations.

The existing solution might require some revision or even be
discarded.
• Reviewing the existing work can help you find the best way to
do things and insure that you don't repeat mistakes from the
past.

The literature review will lead you towards the

hypothesis.
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Research Process
Step 3: Construct hypotheses

The researcher generates 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.

• You must state your hypothesis in a way that you can easily
measure, and of course, your hypothesis should be
constructed in a way to help you answer your original
question. 21
 Research Process
Step 4: Experiment/Acquire data, Choose the Methodology

The next step is to work out how you will test the
hypothesis. To do this you need the methodology.

• The methodology is the research tool you will use to test the truth
of the hypothesis.
• There might be more than one methodologies that allow you to
test the hypothesis. Choosing appropriate methodology decides
whether or not it allows you to test the hypothesis properly.
• Applying the methodology to the hypothesis will result in
generation of the data
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Research Process
Conduct experiment (i.e. applying methodology) and
gather data relating to the research problem

• The data is the information that you have collected.

• The means of data acquisition will often change based on the

type of the research problem.

• Simply collecting data is not enough. You have to make sense

of it, and use it to test your hypothesis. In order to do this,
you need to analyse that data and interpret that analysis

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Research Process
Step 5: Data analysis and interpretation

• The analysis involves looking at your data and using

it to test the hypothesis. The method of analysis you
select will depend upon what the data looks like.

• Whatever analysis you choose, you will then need to

interpret what you come up with.

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Research Process
• The interpretation:
‒ What does your research mean? What are its
implications?
‒ Does it support or challenge pre-existing theories and
research? Conclusion of your research?

The Interpretation must be based upon the analysis

of the data.

Evidence-based interpretation of results. It is not sufficient to

impose your own views and opinions on the interpretation
process. Any interpretation you make must be based upon
research evidence
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Research Process

Step 6: Hypothesis support

Data interpretation leads to assessing the validity of the

hypothesis. The data will either support the hypotheses
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.

This is one of the self-correcting mechanisms associated with

the scientific method.
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Research Process

Step 7: Communicate results

The researcher publishes results to the research

community.

• The one of the most important qualities of science is its

provisional character: it is subject to continuous re-
examination and self-correction.

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Think and discuss

• How you define a research methodology?

• What is the difference between qualitative

method vs quantitative method?

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Research Methodology

Research methodology is important

• Once you have a specific question and hypothesis suitable for
research, the next step is to choose an appropriate,
systematic research methodology

• Research Methodology is the study of methods so as to solve

the research problem. It is the science of learning the way
research should be performed systematically.

• It refers to the rigorous analysis of the methods applied in

the stream of research, to ensure that the conclusions drawn
are valid, reliable and credible too.
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Research Methodology

Research Methodology vs Research Method

• The scope of research

methodology is wider than
that of research method, as
the latter is the part of the
former.

• For understanding the

research problem
thoroughly, the researcher
should know the research
methodology along with the
methods.

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Research Methodology
Research Methodology vs Research Method

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Research Methodology

Choose a research methodology

• The nature of the problem itself guides the decision as to
which methodology to use

• Choose and use a RM once you have established what you are
dealing with (the nature of the problem) and when you know
what you want to accomplish (hypothesis)

• Research methodology are high-level approaches to

conducting research, but the individual steps within the
methodology might vary based on the research being
performed.
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Research Methodology
Affecting factors for choosing a research methodology

• Practical:
‒ You must be able to actually use the methodology you
select. For example, it is no use running a study that
requires complex computer software when the software
is not available, or would take too much time (and maybe
money) to produce.

‒ Your dissertation study will run within a small time

period, and the methodology you select should reflect
that.
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Research Methodology
Affecting factors for choosing a research methodology

• Ethical
‒ Your research methodology should not cause harm to
others, not deceive people, and be based upon the
informed consent of participants involved.

• Appropriate
‒ This is fundamental. The methodology will determine the
kind of data you collect. This data must allow you to test
your hypothesis and propose an answer to your research
question.
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Research Methodology
Affecting factors for choosing a research methodology

• Be able to explain why did you choose a specific RM

Whatever methodology you select, you must be able to
defend it. Imagine being asked, “Why did you use this
methodology, and not another one?”

Often more than one methodology will be available. Think

about why you selected the methodology you did. What
advantages does it have over other methodologies that you
could have used?

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Research Methodology

Research Method

• The research method is defined as the procedure

or technique applied by the researcher to
undertake research

• All the approaches and techniques, used at various

levels/stages of the research activity such as
making observations, data collection, data
processing, drawing inferences, decision making,
etc. are included in Research Method
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Research Methodology

Research Method
Research method encompasses both qualitative and
quantitative method of performing research operations,
such as survey, case study, interview, questionnaire,
observation, etc.

• Quantitative method
• Qualitative method
• Mixed method

Qualitative & Quantitative Research - An Introduction

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Research Methodology

Research method - Quantitative method

• Have origin in the nature sciences where the scientific
concern is with attaining an understanding of how something
is constructed, how it is built, or how it works.

• The goal of quantitative research is to develop models and

theories pertaining to natural phenomena. The research is
generally driven by hypotheses

• The quantitative aspect is to emphasize that measurement is

fundamental since it gives the connection between
observation and the formalization of model, theory and
hypothesis. 38
Research Methodology

Research method - Quantitative method

General process of quantitative method

• The generation of models, theories and hypotheses

• The development of instruments and methods for
measurement
• Experimental control and manipulation of variables
• Collection of empirical data
• Modelling and analysis of data – statistical analysis
• Evaluation of results

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Research Methodology

Research method - Qualitative method

• Have origin in the social sciences and is often associated with
fieldwork and analysis in a limited number of organizational
settings.

• The goal of qualitative research is to increase understanding

of an area rather than produce an explanation for it.

• Qualitative research is typically used in specific social

contexts

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Research Methodology

Comparison of methods
Quantitative method Qualitative method
Explanation, prediction Explanation, description
Test theories Build theories
Known variables Unknown variables
Large sample Small sample
Standardized instruments Observations, interviews
Deductive Inductive

Qualitative vs. Quantitative

Research 41
Activity
• What is Research -
http://www.learnhigher.ac.uk/research-skills/doing-research/
what-is-research/
Source:
Learnhigher
• Research Terms Glossary
http://www.learnhigher.ac.uk/research-skills/doing-research/r
esearch-terms-glssary/

• Reading materials on Blackboard

‒ Scientific Research (.pdf)
‒ Overview of Research Process (.pdf)
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 Free Datasets for Machine Learning

https://imerit.net/blog/the-60-best-free-dataset
s-for-machine-learning-all-pbm/

An example of potential ethical issues with a dataset:

Boston housing pricing dataset
https://scikit-learn.org/stable/modules/generated/sklearn.datasets.load_boston.html

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