research methodology -ipr module--1.pptx

rm-ipr module-1 notes

1. Research Methodology and IPR Module – 1 Meaning of Research, Objectives of Engineering Research, Motivation in Engineering Research, Types of Engineering Research, Finding and Solving a Worthwhile Problem Ethics in Engineering Research, Ethics in Engineering Research Practice, Types of Research Misconduct, Ethical Issues Related to Authorship

2. Meaning of Research Research refers to a careful, well-defined (or redefined), objective, and systematic method of search for knowledge, or formulation of a theory that is driven by inquisitiveness for that which is unknown and useful on a particular aspect so as to make an original contribution to expand the existing knowledge base. Research involves formulation of hypothesis or proposition of solutions, data analysis, and deductions; and ascertaining whether the conclusions fit the hypothesis. Research is a process of creating, or formulating knowledge that does not yet exist. Fig. 1.1 The research flow diagram

3. Components of research problem An individual or a group with some difficulty or problem Objectives of research that are to be attained The environment in which the problem exists Two or more course of action or Alternative means for obtaining the objective Two or more possible Outcomes Objective of the study Characteristics of a good topic? Interest – The topic must be able to keep the researcher interested in it throughout the research process Data Availability – It must be ensured that the topic can be investigated through the collection and analysis of data Significant – The topic must contribute towards improvement and understanding of an educational theory or practice Adequate – The topic must be according to the skills of the researcher, available resources and time restrictions Ethical – The topic must not embarrass or harm the society

4. Selecting a Problem Guidelines for selecting a research problem :- Subject which is overdone should not be chosen An average researcher must not choose Controversial topics Too narrow or too vague problems should be avoided The chosen subject should be familiar and feasible Significance and Importance of subject must be given attention Cost and time factor must be kept in mind Experience, Qualification and Training of the researcher must be according to the problem in hand Formulating a Research Problem The steps involved in formulating a research problem are as follows :- Develop a Suitable Title Build a conceptual model of the problem Define the objectives of the study Set up investigative questions Formulate hypothesis State the operational definition of concepts Determine the scope of the study

5. Necessity of defining a problem The problem to be investigated must be clearly defined in order to – Discriminate relevant data from the irrelevant one To keep a track and make a strategy Formulate objectives Choose an appropriate Research Design Lay down boundaries or limits Technique involved in defining a research problem A researcher may define a research problem by :- Defining the statement of the problem in a general way. Understanding the nature of the problem. Surveying the available literature. Developing ideas through discussions an brain storming Rephrasing the research problems

6. There are few rules that must be kept in mind while defining a research problem . They are- Technical terms should be clearly defined. Basic assumptions should be stated. The criteria for the selection should be provided. Suitability of the time period and sources of data available must be considered. The scope of the investigation or the limits must be mentioned.

7. The ways of developing and accessing knowledge come in three categories: Observation is the most fundamental way of obtaining information from a source, and it could be significant in itself if the thing that we are trying to observe is really strange or exciting, or is difficult to observe. Observation takes different forms from something like measurements in a laboratory to a survey among a group of subjects to the time it takes for a firmware routine to run. The observational data often needs to be processed in some form and this leads to the second category of knowledge, the model. Models are approximated, often simplified ways of describing sometimes very complex interactions in the form of a statistical relationship, a figure, or a set of mathematical equations. For instance, the modeling equation captures the relationship between different attributes or the behavior of the device in an abstract form and enables us to understand the observed phenomena [2]. The final category is a way of arranging or doing things through Processes , algorithms, procedures, arrangements, or reference designs, to get a certain desired result.

8. Fig. 1.2 The categories of knowledge in research

9. Objectives of Engineering Research The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and which has not been discovered as yet. Research objectives fall into the following broad groupings: To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it (known as exploratory or formulative research studies); Knowing where and how to find different types of information helps one solve engineering problems, in both academic and professional career. Lack of investigation into engineering guidelines, standards, and best practices result in failures with severe repercussions. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated with something else (known as diagnostic research studies); As an engineer, the ability to conduct thorough and accurate research while clearly communicating the results is extremely important in decision making. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables (known as hypothesis-testing research studies). The main aim of the research is to apply scientific approaches to seek answers to open questions, and although each research study is particularly suited for a certain approach, in general, the following are different types of research studies: exploratory or formulative , descriptive, diagnostic, and hypothesis-testing. The objectives of engineering research should be to develop new theoretical or applied knowledge and not necessarily limited to obtaining the desired result. The objectives should be framed such that in the event of not being able to achieve the desired result that is being sought, one can fall back to understanding why it is not possible, because that is also a contribution toward ongoing researching solving that problem.

10. Motivation in Engineering Research The possible motives may be the result of one or more of the following desires: ( i ) Studies have shown that intrinsic motivations like interest, challenge, learning, meaning, purpose, are linked to strong creative performance; (ii) Extrinsic motivating factors like rewards for good work include money, fame, awards, praise, and status are very strong motivators, but may block creativity. For example: Research outcome may enable obtaining a patent which is a good way to become rich and famous. (iii) Influences from others like competition, collaboration, commitment, and encouragement are also motivating factors in research. For example: my friends are all doing research and so should I, or, a person that I dislike is doing well and I want to do better. (iv) Personal motivation in solving unsolved problems, intellectual joy, service to community, and respectability are all driving factors. The following factors would be a mix of extrinsic and intrinsic aspects: Wanting to do better than what has been achieved in the world, improve the state of the art in technology, Contribute to the improvement of society, Fulfillment of the historical legacy in the immediate sociocultural context.

11. Types of Engineering Research The different types of research are Descriptive versus Analytical Descriptive : Descriptive research includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds. The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state of affairs as it exists at present. This approach is suitable for social sciences and business and management studies for descriptive research studies. The main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has no control over the variables; s/he can only report what has happened or what is happening. Most research projects of this nature are used for descriptive studies in which the researcher seeks to measure factors like frequency of shopping, brand preference of people, most popular media programme etc. Survey methods of all kinds fall under descriptive research, including comparative and correlation techniques. Analytical : In analytical research, on the other hand, researcher makes a critical evaluation of the material by analyzing facts and information already available.

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13. Example of Descriptive Research A local business owner wants to understand their customer’s shopping behaviour and preferences. This is done to improve their store layout and product offerings.  Objective: The objective is to describe the shopping behaviours and preferences of customers who visit the store. Data Collection: The business owner distributes surveys to customers asking about their intentions regarding product variety, store layout, pricing, and the overall shopping experience. Additionally, they may have suggestion boxes for customers to provide feedback on what they like or dislike about the store. Observation: The owner also observes customer behaviours —navigating the store, which sections they spend the most time in, and the products they purchase. Analysis: The collected data is analyzed to identify customer preferences and patterns. For example, they might find that customers prefer a wider variety of products or need clarification on the store layout. Reporting: A report is generated summarizing the findings: average time spent in the store popular product categories feedback on store layout suggestions for improvement

14. Example of Analytical Research Scenario: A medium-sized eCommerce company wants to improve its sales, so it conducts analytical research.  Objective:  To analyze and understand the factors influencing customer purchase behaviour impacting sales Hypothesis: The hypothesis might be that website usability, product variety, and customer reviews significantly influence purchasing behaviour . Data Collection: Collect data on website usability metrics, product variety, customer reviews, and sales figures over a specified period. Analysis: Employ statistical analysis to examine the relationships between these factors and sales. For instance, using regression analysis to determine how significantly each element affects sales. Interpretation: Interpret the results to understand how and to what extent each factor influences customer purchasing behaviour and sales. Conclusion: Conclude whether the analysis supports or refutes the hypothesis and provide recommendations for improving website usability, expanding product variety or enhancing the customer review system to increase sales.

15. Applied versus Fundamental : Applied : The main target of Applied Research is to find a solution for an immediate problem facing a society or an industrial / business organization. whereas Fundamental or Pure Research is mainly concerned with generalizations and concentrates on the formulation of a theory. "Gathering knowledge for the sake of knowledge” is termed 'Pure' or 'Basic' or ‘Fundamental’ research. Examples of fundamental research are: research concerning some natural phenomenon or related to pure mathematics; a study examining the architecture of beaver damns a study on the migration patterns of polar bears While applied research concentrates on discovering a solution for some pressing practical problem, Examples of applied research are: a study to increase encryption security on banking websites a study searching for ways to increase wind energy efficiency fundamental research is focused towards formulation of theories that may have a broad base of applications either at present or for future which adds more materials to the already existing organized body of scientific knowledge

16. Quantitative versus Qualitative: Quantitative research uses statistical observations of a sufficiently large number of representative cases to draw any conclusions, qualitative researchers rely on a few non-representative cases or verbal narrative in behavioral studies such as clustering effect in intersections in Transportation engineering to make a proposition. Quantitative research is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity, Qualitative research is concerned with qualitative phenomenon. For instance, when we are interested in investigating the reasons for human behaviour (i.e., why people think or do certain things), we quite often talk of 'Motivation Research', an important type of qualitative research. Qualitative research is especially important in the behavioural sciences where the aim is to discover the underlying motives of human behaviour .

17. Finding and Solving a Worthwhile Problem The recommended steps to solve a research problem are Understand the problem, restate it as if its your own, visualize the problem by drawing figures, and determine if something more is needed. One must start somewhere and systematically explore possible strategies to solve the problem or a simpler version of it while looking for patterns. Execute the plan to see if it works, and if it does not then start over with another approach. Having delved into the problem and returned to it multiple times, one might have a flash of insight or a new idea to solve the problem. Looking back and reflecting helps in understanding and assimilating the strategy, and is a sort of investment into the future. Research Problem from Expert The simplest source of a problem to solve is to have it given to you as a class assignment, as a directed research project, or as a task while you are an apprentice in someone's lab. You are told what problem to research and how to do it. This is probably an ideal way to assure that your first research topic is a good one. Example: Students in Experimental Psychology were assigned the task of finding out if social attention made their roommate study more. They were told to measure the amount of time their roommate studied on days during which they expressed interest in their roommate's course material as compared to days when they refrained from talking about academic topics.

18. B. Research Problem from Folklore Common beliefs, common sense, or proverbs could be right but on the other hand, they could also be wrong. You must verify that they are true before considering them as a source of knowledge. It is possible that some unverified beliefs have the roots of a better idea and therefore would be a worthy research topic. It is critical to note, however, that the task of research is not to simply validate or invalidate common sense but rather to come to understand nature. Example: It's commonly believed that studying within the two hours preceding a test will decrease test scores. To research this belief a randomly selected half of a class was told to study immediately before taking a test while the other half was prohibited from studying before the test. This research was intended to determine whether or not studying immediately before a test decreased the points earned. C. Research Problem from Insight Sometimes people research an issue simply because it occurred to them and it seemed important. The systematic development of the idea is lacking. This is "intuitive" or good guess research. It is risky because you may not be able to get other researchers to understand why the research is important. It is fun because you get to do what interests you at the moment. Alternatively, it could be the application of a general rule of thumb or guessing that a new problem is actually a well-understood function in disguise. Example: While feeling especially competent after explaining course material to three friends you realize that orally presenting material may help test performance. You conducted a study in which material was orally presented before the test on a random half of the occasions. The research was based on your insightful realization that oral presentation may increase test performance

19. D. Research Problem from Informal Discussion This is a research problem that some discussion group feels is interesting. Discussion among friends can often spark our interest in a problem or provides us with the reinforcers for pursuing a question. Example: After telling a group of friends about your success with oral presentations on test taking, the group talks about it for a while and becomes interested in the possibility of the subject becoming confused as well as doing better as a result of feedback from the listeners. The group provides you with the idea and the excitement to do research on how students can affect the accuracy of a teacher's understanding. E. Research Problem from Knowledge of Techniques and Apparatus This is the selection of a research topic based on your special knowledge outside the field. A technique or apparatus with which you are familiar can offer the potential for a major advance in the field of psychology. Sometimes we realize that we can apply a new technique or apparatus to an area to which it has not yet been applied. Because we are specially qualified to succeed, solving the problem can be especially gratifying. Example: You may know about microelectronics and be good at detailed work. You find out that many researchers are anxious to discover the migration patterns of butterflies so you mount an integrated circuit transmitter on a butterfly and thereby trace the behaviour of the free ranging butterfly

20. F. Research Problem from Reading the Literature These are research problems which capture your interest while reading. While reading you will often wonder why, or will disagree, or will realize that you have a better idea than the original author. Example: While you were reading about jet lag and its effects on sleep the first night, you realize that the author failed to control for light cycle. You try stretching either the light period or stretching the dark period to make up the phase shift. You implement this by changing the cabin illumination period on various trans-Atlantic flights, and monitoring the passengers sleep for the next three days. G. Research Problem from a Paradoxical Incident or Conflicting Results If the world is perfectly understood, then there can be no surprises. Contrariwise, if something surprises you, then your theoretical framework is inadequate and needs development. If two seemingly similar procedures produce different results, then something is wrong with your understanding of the procedures. They are not actually similar in the important respect of how they affect the dependent variable. Given that an error has been made, something is not correctly understood and must be resolved.

21. Ethics in Engineering Research Engineering ethics is a subset of professional ethics: it is professional ethics of and for engineers. Ethics generally refers to a set of rules distinguishing acceptable and unacceptable conduct, distinguishing right from wrong, or wise aphorisms Ethical principles can be used for evaluation, proposition or interpretation of laws Although ethics are not laws, but laws often follow ethics because ethics are our shared values The following is a rough and general summary of some ethical principles that various codes address: 1. Honesty : Strive for honesty in all scientific communications. Honestly report data, results, methods and procedures, and publication status. Do not fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent data. Do not deceive colleagues, granting agencies, or the public . 2. Objectivity : Strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis, data interpretation, peer review, personnel decisions, grant writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of research where objectivity is expected or required. Avoid or minimize bias or self-deception. Disclose personal or financial interests that may affect research. 3. Integrity : Keep your promises and agreements; act with sincerity; strive for consistency of thought and action.

22. 4. Carefulness : Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and critically examine your own work and the work of your peers. Keep good records of research activities, such as data collection, research design, and correspondence with agencies or journals. 5. Openness : Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be open to criticism and new ideas. 6. Respect for Intellectual Property : Honor patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property. Do not use unpublished data, methods, or results without permission. Give credit where credit is due. Give proper acknowledgement or credit for all contributions to research. Never plagiarize. 7. Confidentiality : Protect confidential communications, such as papers or grants submitted for publication, personnel records, trade or military secrets, and patient records. 8. Responsible Publication : Publish in order to advance research and scholarship, not to advance just your own career. Avoid wasteful and duplicative publication. 9. Responsible Mentoring : Help to educate, mentor, and advise students. Promote their welfare and allow them to make their own decisions. 10. Respect for colleagues : Respect your colleagues and treat them fairly. 11. Social Responsibility : Strive to promote social good and prevent or mitigate social harms through research, public education, and advocacy. 12. Non-Discrimination : Avoid discrimination against colleagues or students on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, or other factors that are not related to their scientific competence and integrity. 13. Competence : Maintain and improve your own professional competence and expertise through lifelong education and learning; take steps to promote competence in science as a whole. 14. Legality : Know and obey relevant laws and institutional and governmental policies. 15. Animal care : Show proper respect and care for animals when using them in research. Do not conduct unnecessary or poorly designed animal experiments.

23. Types of Research Misconduct There may be different types of research misconduct as described in research articles can be summarized as follows: ( i ) Fabrication (Illegitimate creation of data): Fabrication is the act of conjuring data or experiments with a belief of knowledge about what the conclusion of the analysis or experiments would be, but cannot wait for the results possibly due to timeline pressures from supervisor or customers. (ii) Falsification (Inappropriate alteration of data): Falsification is the misrepresentation or misinterpretation, or illegitimate alteration of data or experiments, even if partly, to support a desired hypothesis even when the actual data received from experiments suggest otherwise. Fabrication and falsification of data in published content can hurt honest researchers getting their work published because what they can churn out may short fall of what is already published through misconduct till the misconduct is established and subsequently Retracted (iii) Plagiarism (Taking other’s work sans attribution): Plagiarism takes place when someone uses or reuses the work (including portions) of others (text, data, tables, figures, illustrations or concepts) as if it were his/her own without explicit acknowledgement. Verbatim copying or reusing one’s own published work is termed as self-plagiarism and is also an unacceptable practice in scientific literature. The increasing availability of scientific content on the internet seems to encourage plagiarism in certain cases, but also enables detection of such practices through automated software packages. there are many free tools and also paid tools available that one can procure institutional license of, one cannot conclusively identify plagiarism, but can only get a similarity score which is a metric that provides a score of the amount of similarity between already published content and the unpublished content under scrutiny.

24. (iv) Other Aspects of Research Misconduct : Serious: Simultaneous submission of the same article to two different journals also violates publication policies Another issue is that when mistakes are found in an article or any published content, they are generally not reported for public access unless a researcher is driven enough to build on that mistake and provide a correct version of the same which is not always the primary objective of the researcher. Ethical Issues Related to Authorship Academic authorship involves communicating scholarly work, establishing priority for their discoveries, and building peer-reputation, and comes with intrinsic burden of acceptance of the responsibility for the contents of the work. It is the primary basis of evaluation for employment, promotion, and other honors. Authorship establishes both accountability and gives due credit. A person is expected to be listed as an author only when associated as a significant contributor in research design, data interpretation, or writing of the Paper. Including “guest” or “gift” ( coauthorship bestowed on someone with little or no contribution to the work) authors dilutes the contribution of those who actually did the work, inappropriately inflates credentials of the listed authors, and is ethically a red flag highlighting research misconduct Sometimes, an actual contributor abstains from the list of authors due to nondisclosed conflict of interest within the organization. Such coauthorships can be termed as ghost coauthorship . Full disclosure of all those involved in the research is important so that evaluation can happen both on the basis of findings, and also whether there was influence from the conflicts. Double submission is an important ethical issue related to authorship, which involves submission of a paper to two forums simultaneously. The motivation is to increase publication possibility and possibly decrease time to publication. Reputed journals want to publish original papers, i.e., papers which have not appeared elsewhere, and strongly discourage double submission.