Research methodology and the steps to follow while carrying out research. Literature review, how to do technical paper writing. how to choose research problem.

1. Research Methodology
By,
Dr. Dipti D. Patil

2. What is Research?

3. What is Research?

4. What is Research?
“Finding a black Cat in a dark room when
you don't know about her existence”

5. Meaning of Research
 Pursuit of truth with help of study, observations,
comparison and experiment.
 An organized way of answering questions, which are
difficult to answer in a straight forward manner.
 Original contribution to existing stock of knowledge
making for its advancement

6. Meaning of Research
 Re + Search
Over again Examine closely and
carefully, to test and try
or to probe

7. Research is
 Finding new useful ideas

8. How Extraordinary Creative
Ideas Occur?
 Sudden spontaneous visions
 Dreams
 Cross-pollination from different fields

9. Stories of Extraordinary Inventors
Sudden Vision Discoveries
 Tesla's idea of the rotating
magnetic field came to him
instantly while he was
walking in a park.
 He drew a picture of the
rotating magnetic field in
the ground of the park.

10. Stories of Extraordinary Inventors
Sudden Vision Discoveries
 The great mathematician Gauss
proved in an instant a theorem on
which he had worked unsuccessfully
for four years. "As a sudden flash of
light, the enigma was solved. . . .“
 Similar accounts given by extraordinary creative
people such as Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Poincare,
Coleridge etc.

11. Stories of Extraordinary Inventors
Dream Discoveries
 Frederick Kekule fell asleep and
dreamed of the benzene molecule
as a snake biting its tail.
 Otto Loewi had a dream that led to
his discovery of the chemical transmission of
nerve impulses.

12. Stories of Extraordinary Inventors
Cross-pollination
 Trellis codes by G. Ungerboeck – modem
designer
 Turbo codes by C. Berrou – electronics
expert
 Viterbi’s algorithm – dynamic programming
from computer science
 Frequency hopping by
Hedy Lamarr - famous actress

13. A Neural Basis of Creativity
 A human brain is a self-organizing
system
 Brain centers specialized for individual
functions
 The cortex contains neurons
communications between centers
occurs via neural links
 Creative activities occur in the
associative cortex
 Creative people have rich neural links
in the associative cortex

14. Creating New Solutions
 Ordinary creativity consists of conscious activities,
represented as linear processes
 Extraordinary creativity involves unconscious mental
processes consisting in interactions between various
regions in the associative cortex bypassing
consciousness

15. Nurturing Creativity
 Exploring in depth a new area
 Think creatively on a regular basis
 Know when to work more deeply or to move on
 Daily meditation
 Practicing observation and describing
 Practicing imagination

16. Supportive Environment
 Critical mass of creative people
 A competitive atmosphere
 Inspiring mentors
 Economic prosperity

17. Motivation in Research
 Desire to get research degree
 Desire to face challenges in solving the unsolved problems
 Desire to get intellectual joy doing some creative work
 Desire to be of service to the society
 Desire to get responsibility

18. Objectives of Research
Research comprises
 Defining and redefining the problems
 Formulating the hypotheses or suggested solutions.
 Collecting, organizing and evaluating data.
 Making deductions and reading conclusions
 And at last carefully testing the conclusions to
determine whether they fit the formulating
hypotheses

19. What It Takes?
 Creativity
 Open mind
 Curiosity
 Patience
 Persistence
 Positive Attitude
 Discipline and focus
Ideas strike by chance, but only to a prepared mind.

20. Nature of Creativity
 The ability of making something new
 Originality
 Utility
 No correlation with intelligence
 Nature and nurture both important
 Creative personality

21. What is creativity?
 Ability to look at the same thing as everyone else and think something
different.
 Ability to take a fresh look at familiar objects and situations, enriched by
past experience, but not constrained by it.
 A creative product is a new and useful combination.
 REQUIREMENTS FOR CREATIVITY
 Above average intelligence
 Strong motivation
 Hard work
 Discipline
 Organization
 Open and flexible mind

22. Why?
The human figures painted by a painter
seem unnaturally tall and thin.
An ophthalmologist surmised that, this is
because the painter
suffered a defect of vision that
made him see people that way.

23. Logical Thinking
 How many matches should be played on a knock-out
basis, to decide the winner from among ten teams ?
Ans: To decide a winner from among 10 teams, 9 teams
have to be eliminated.
 Every match eliminates 1 team.
 Hence, 9 matches need be played for eliminating 9 teams.

24. Logical Thinking
 To decide a winner from among n teams, n-1 teams
have to be eliminated.
 Every match eliminates 1 team.
 Hence, n-1 matches need be played for eliminating n-
1 teams.

25. Mental Exercise
Connect the Dots:
Connect these 9 dots with only 4
connected straight line segments.
(Don't lift your pencil.)

26. Mental Exercise
 Point the fish the other way by moving only 3 sticks.
 Two trains are 30 miles apart, and travel towards each other at 5 mph and
10 mph. A bee starts at the slower train and flies at 25 mph to the other
train. Each time it reaches a train it turns around and flies back to the other
train again. What is the sum of the distances that the bee has flown when
the trains meet?
Ans: 50 miles. The trains travel for 2 hours until they meet, and the bee
flies at 25 mph the whole time, so he flies 50 miles.
(Hope you didn't try to calculate each zig and zag!)
http://www.karlsims.com/puzzles.html

27. Logical Thinking Exercise
 Make 5 squares of equal size out of a single
large square. You are allowed to cut and paste.

28. The Monty Hall Problem

29. You are asked to choose one of three doors.
The grand prize is behind one of the doors;
The other doors hide silly consolation gifts which
Monty called “zonks”.

30. You choose a door.
Monty, who knows what’s behind each of the doors,
reveals a zonk behind one of the other doors.
He then gives you the option of switching doors or
sticking with your original choice.

31. You choose a door.
The question is: should you switch?
Monty, who knows what’s behind each of the doors,
reveals a zonk behind one of the other doors.
He then gives you the option of switching doors or
sticking with your original choice.

32. The answer is yes, you should switch!
Assuming that Monty always gives you
a chance to switch, you double your odds
of winning by switching doors.
We will see why, first by enumerating the
possible cases, then by directly computing the
probability of winning with each strategy.

33. Each door has a 1 in 3 chance of hiding the grand prize.
Suppose we begin by choosing door #1.

34. Each door has a 1 in 3 chance of hiding the grand prize.
Suppose we begin by choosing door #1.
In this case Monty may
open either door #2 or
#3
In both of these cases,
Monty is forced to reveal
the only other zonk.

35. So what happens when you switch?
In this case you were
right the first time.
You lose!
In both of these cases,
you switch to the correct
door.
You win!

36. Conditional Probability
 P(A | B) = P(A, B) / P(B)
 But also, P(B | A) = P(B, A) / P(A)
 So P(A, B) = P(B, A) = P(B | A) P(A)
 Substitute this into the first equation to get
P(A | B) = P(B | A) P(A) / P(B)
→ Bayes’ Theorem
36

37. The Monty Hall Problem
 You pick door #1, Monty opens door #3 →
 $2 = {money is behind door #2}
 D3 = {Monty opens door #3}
 Bayes’ Theorem: P(A | B) = P(B | A) P(A) /
P(B)
 P($2 | D3) = P(D3 | $2) P($2) / P(D3)
37

38. The Monty Hall Problem
P($2 | D3) = P(D3 | $2) P($2) / P(D3)
38
P($2 | D3) = (1) (1/3) / (1/2)
= 2/3
→ Switch!
1 1/3 1/2

39. TYPES OF RESEARCH
 Descriptive Research:-Means description of the state of affairs as
it exists at present. Researcher only reports what has happened or
what is happening
 Applied Research:- Aims at finding solution for an immediate
problem facing a society or an industry/ business organizations
 Quantitative Research:-Based on the measurement of quantity or
amount. Applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of
quantity.
 Conceptual Research: - Related to some abstract ideas or theory.
Used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or re-
interpret existing ones.

40. TYPES OF RESEARCH
 Empirical Research: - Relies on experience or observations
alone, often without due regard for system and theory.
 Qualitative Research: - Concerned with qualitative
phenomenon, i.e. phenomenon relating to or involving
quality or kind.
 Fundamental Research: - Mainly concerned with
generalizations and with the formulation of a theory.
 Analytical Research: - Researcher has to use facts on
information already available and analyze these to make a
critical evaluation of the material.

41. RESEARCH METHODS Vs.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 Research Methods:- Refers to the methods/
techniques researchers use in performing research
operations.
 Research Methodology:- It may be understood as
a science of studying how research is done
scientifically. In it we study the various steps that
are generally adopted by researcher in studying
his research problem along with the logic behind
them.

42. Difference between Methods
and TechniquesTYPETYPE METHODSMETHODS TECHNIQUESTECHNIQUES
Library Research (i)Analysis of historical records
(ii)Analysis of documents
Recording of notes, Contents analysis, Tape and film
listening and analysis.
Statistical compilation and manipulations, references and
abstract guides, contents analysis.
2. Field Research (i) Non-participant direct observation
(ii) participant observation
(iii) Mass observation
(iv) Mail questionnaire
(v) Opinionnaire
(vi) Personal interview
(vii) Focused interview
(ix) Telephone survey
(x) Case study and life history
Observational behavioral scales, use of score cards, etc.
Interactional recording possible use of tape recorders,
photo graphic techniques .Recording mass behavior,
interview using independent observers in public places
Identification of social and economic background of
respondents Use of attitude scales, projective techniques,
use of sociometric scales. Interviewer uses a detailed
schedule with open and closed questions Interviewer
focuses attention upon a given experience and its effects
Used as a survey technique for information and for
discerning opinion may also be used as a follow up of
questionnaire Cross sectional collection of data for
intensive analysis, longitudinal collection of data of
intensive character
3. Laboratory
Research
Small groups study of random behavior, play
and role analysis
Use of audio-visual recording devices, use of observers,etc

43. What is a Good Scientific Research?
 Purposiveness
Started with a definite aim and purpose
 Rigor
A good theoretical base and a sound methodological
design
 Testability
Lends itself to testing logically developed hypotheses
 Replicability
Research results supported when research is repeated in
other similar circumstances

44. What is a Good Scientific Research?
 Precision and Confidence
Closeness of findings to reality and probability that
estimations are correct, respectively
 Objectivity
Conclusions drawn are based on facts resulting from the
actual data
 Generalizability
The scope of applicability of the research findings in one
settings to other settings
 Parsimony
Simple in explaining phenomena or problems that occur, and
in the application of solutions to problems

45. Hypothetico-Deductive Method
 A method of scientific investigation via exposition and argument
(deduction and induction)
 Deduction: – arrive at a conclusion by logically generalizing
from a known fact. For a deduction to be correct, it must be true
and correct.
 Induction:- on observing certain phenomena and on that basis
arrive at conclusions.
 D and I are applied in scientific investigation.
 Theories based on D & I help us to understand, explain, or predict
business phenomena.

46. Hypothetico-Deductive Method
 Seven steps in hypothetico-deductive method:
Observation
Preliminary information gathering
Theory formulation
Hypothesising
Further scientific data collection
Data analysis
Deduction

47. Research Process
OBSERVATION
Broad area of
research interest
identified
PROBLEM
DEFINITION
Research
problem
delineated
PRELIMINARY
DATA
GATHERING
Interviewing &
Literature Survey
THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK
Variables clearly
identified and
labeled
HYPOTHESES
GENERATION
DATA COLLECTION,
ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
DEDUCTION
Hypotheses
substantiated?
Research questions
answered
SCIENTIFIC
RESEARCH
DESIGN

48. Stages in the Research Process
 The stages overlap continuously, i.e., overlap
chronologically and functionally interrelated
 Forward linkage - early stages of the research
process will influence the design of the later
stages
 Backward linkage - the late stages of the
research process will have an influence on the
early stages

49. Research Process
1. Selection & formulation of Research Problem
2. Literature survey
3. Development of working hypotheses
4. Research design
5. Sampling strategy or sample design
6. Pilot (quick & dirty) study
7. Data collection
8. Processing & analysis of data
9. Testing hypotheses
10. Interpretation & generalization
11. Preparation of the report
NOTE: 1. Above steps are not exhaustive, nor mutually exclusive, but a series of closely
related, continuously overlapping and interdependent nonlinear steps/ actions
2. What lies ahead is hard work as well as pleasure of the hunt; some frustration,
but more of satisfaction; periods of confusion, but confidence that, at the end, it will
all come together

50. Problem Identification and
Hypothesis Formulation

51. Sources of research problem
 Problem sources – supervisor, industry, research
papers, conferences, “hot” areas
 Prior research – One problem leads to another
 Needs
 New Opportunities
 Intellectual curiosity – Asking Why? And How?
 Examples:
 An electronic engineer wants to find the best way to
send TV signals to a remote rural community.
 A Chemist wants to find a long lasting paint.

52.  Bedroom TV
 Amazing table
 Electrical bicycle
Let us see some innovative products!

53. What is Research Problem?
 Difficulty which researcher experiences in the context
of either a theoretical or practical situation and wants
to obtain a solution for the same
 Subject addressed by the research – Topic
 Question addressed in the research – Problem
 Question and probable solution
Hypothesis
 Problem Vs Research problems

54. A good researcher
symbolizes the letter
Width of knowledge
Depth of knowledge
T

55. The quest for knowledge
 Shrawan – wachan –
manan – chintan
-bhashan - lekhan
 Knowledge
 Explicit knowledge
vs. Tacit knowledge
 The toggle
 Creativity

56. No idea is small or ever wrong!

57. Formulation of Research Problem
Steps1. Identify a broad field or subject area of interest
2. Dissect the broad area into sub areas
3. Select what is of most interest to you
4. Perform preliminary literature survey
5. Raise research questions
6. Come up with general problem statement
7. Demarcate the research problem
 Make problem more specific by resolving ambiguities
 Think and rephrase into operational terms
 Feasibility of the corresponding solution must be considered
 Concise clear and manageable statement
 Discussions and brain storming with the supervisor
8. Identify relevant variables
9. Formulate and Assess objectives

58. Defining research problems – more steps
• Surveying the available literature.
• MANTHAN – Why?, Why not?, Why so?
• Identify gaps, inconsistencies, new lines of
approach etc.
• Putting down ideas on paper
• Revisit the problem several times for fine
tuning and sharpening
• Rephrase the research problem into a
working proposition and postulation of
hypothesis.

59. What does a Ph D mean?
What does an M Tech dissertation /
project mean?
What do you gain?
 Information – knowledge – wisdom
 Depth of knowledge
 Improved performance
 Mastery
 Improved decision making
 Enhanced self esteem
 Professional gains
 You learn to do research

60.  Defining a
research problem
precisely takes
time.
 One must
systematically
converge from
the ‘gross’ to the
‘specific’

61. What can not be a
research problem Overdone subject
Controversial subject
Narrow or too vague problems
 Subjects which are not familiar
Subject importance,
researcher’s skill set and his interests
 Subjects which are not feasible
Data availability, costs, time
 Negative result of preliminary literature survey

62. Ensure that you have -
 Defined the scope of investigation and have
predetermined the objective.
 Laid down boundaries and limits within which
the problem is being investigated.
 Clearly stated basic assumptions or postulates.
 Access to the data, enough time and cooperation
of those you depend on for support.

63. Ensure that you have -
 The interest, attitude, aptitude for research.
 The zest for creative work.
 Well equipped in terms of subject
background, training and skills.
 Aware of the costs involved.
 Aware of the difficulties in procurement of
equipment & software, work space.

64. Some tips -
 Do not pick up areas which are overdone and are a
beaten path.
 Tend to use a field of enquiry that is relatively new.
 Avoid conducting research on a topic similar to one
that has already been done.
 Ensure that literature and other sources are within
reach.
 See to it that the work content would lead to a
publication in a journal or securing a patent.

65. “ Demand the impossible to get the possible”
- Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
“It is a funny thing in life; if you refuse to accept
anything but the best, you very often get it.”
- Somerset Maugham

66. Prefer working on industry based live
problems
 Interdisciplinary areas of research
 Research areas at the frontiers of technology
 Design and analysis
 New product development
 Developing new technology
 Industrial engineering & productivity
improvement

67. Prefer need based and utility oriented projects
Examples:
 An anti-collision device for mounting on two & four
wheelers.
Save lives lost in road accidents.
 Attachments to tractors for harvesting applications
Drilling deep holes for plantation
Mobile crop residue disintegrator for waste
reuse.
…… for improving the quality of life of
farmers

68. An example of need
based
developmentJapanese grocery stores wanted
square watermelons because the
round & big watermelons
consumed a lot of space in the
malls.
The farmers asked themselves-
How can we make one –
‘A square watermelon’
Place watermelon into a square
box when it is growing. It takes the
shape of the box.

69. Preliminary Literature
Survey Developing ideas through discussion
Experience survey
 Surveying available literature
Conceptual literature:Locate gaps and inconsistencies in the theory
stated as the problem
 Empirical Literature:
 Similar studies do not follow the same pattern as far as
theoretical expectations are concerned
Type of difficulties that are encountered in the similar studies

70. Identification of variables
 Qualitative: Yes/ No
 Quantitative: numerical values
 Discrete – Limited to a finite number of possible
settings
Continuous – consists of a range of real numbers
 Minimizing the effect of other variables
 Dependent Vs Independent variables

71. Identification of variables Assume that you are the Mayor of Mumbai
and you’ve got to make a Variables decision
based on the information collected from
 the following research study.
 The Commissioner of Police wants to
experiment with increasing the number of
patrol officers (X) to reduce the crime rate
(Y).
 The chief invites all twelve precinct inspectors
to participate in the experiment; only the
Thane inspectors volunteers.
 In August, patrol officers in the Thane are
increased by 15%.
 Reported crime drops 5% between September
& December. The chief now wants to
implement the program citywide.

72. Demarcation
1. Scoping: Make problem more specific by
resolving ambiguities
2. Think and rephrase into operational
terms
3. Feasibility of the corresponding solution
must be considered
a) Cost, time, resource/ data
b) availability, level of
c) expertise, availability of
d) research methods
4. Concise, clear and manageable
statement

73. Demarcation Example
 General problem statement: Why productivity of
Japan is much higher than India?
 Ambiguities: what sort of productivity? What
industry? Time span?
 Rephrasing the problem statement: What
factors were responsible for the higher labor
productivity of Japan’s manufacturing industries
during the decade 1971 to 1980 relative to India’s
manufacturing industries

74. Assignment 1
 A social psychologist conducts a study and finds that married people
report greater levels of happiness than non-married people. Here is
how she conducts her study: She puts an ad in a local newspaper.
The ads says that she is seeking volunteers for her study, and that
she is looking for married people and non-married people to
participate. She pays participants €5 each. She has them answer a
series of questions about their happiness. Her data show that married
people, on average, had higher happiness scores than non-married
people. A reporter reads about the study in an academic journal and
writes a newspaper article entitled “Get married! It will make you
happier.”
 Come up with a generalized research problem with the available
information and then narrow the problem by rephrasing it in
operational terms and resolving ambiguities

75. Assignment 1
 What is wrong with the newspaper reporter’s title?
 Describe the strengths and weaknesses of this study.
 Propose a hypothetical study to properly test the question:
“Does marriage cause happiness?” Would a researcher be
able to conduct this study? Why or why not?
 Propose a follow-up study that addresses at least two
limitations/weaknesses of this study.
 What would you conclude about the researcher’s study on
marriage and happiness?

76. Research Problem
components
 Individual or group facing the difficulty
 Objective(s) to attain
 Alternative means (courses of action) to obtain the objective(s)
 Relative efficiency of possible alternatives
 Environment to which the difficulty pertains

77. Assignment 2
 A social psychologist conducts a study to examine whether watching
aggressive TV shows causes aggressive behavior. He randomly assigns 10
yr-old boys in a rich, suburban neighborhood to one of two groups: one
group watches one hour of a violent TV show, and the other group watchers
1 hour of a non-violent TV show. After the children watch the TV program,
they are sent off to the playground. The researcher videotapes the
playground interactions and counts the number of hits and kicks from each
child. The researcher finds that kids who watched the violent TV show were
more aggressive than kids who watched the non-violent TV show.
 Come up with a generalized research problem with the available
information and then narrow the problem by rephrasing it in operational
terms and resolving ambiguities

78. Assignment 2
 Why did the researcher randomly assign children to one of two groups? What did this
accomplish?
 Describe the strengths and weaknesses of this study.
 A journalist reads the research report in an academic journal and writes a newspaper article
entitled “Want your kid to grow up to be aggressive? Then let her watch all the TV she
wants.” What is wrong with the newspaper reporter’s title?
 Propose a follow-up study that addresses at least two limitations/weaknesses of this study.
 Suppose more research studies come out (experiments and correlational studies) after this one
showing that children who watch TV shows with aggressive content are more likely to be
aggressive and violent as kids and as adults. Scientists (and you) are now quite convinced that
watching violent TV shows causes aggression. Propose a theory (based on your own intuition) to
explain this relationship.

79. Assignment 3
 When recruiting a sample of older adults to participate in a
study of the effects of humor on memory, the researchers use
the most recent census to identify local older adults who are
between the ages of 50 and 55, between 55 and 60, between 60
and 65, and between 65 and 70. Once they have identified
these subgroups, the researchers randomly select 20 people
from within each age group to participate in the study.
Researchers plan to expose participants to either humorous or
non-humorous material and test participants memory for that
material.

80. Checklist For Testing the Feasibility of
the Research Problem

81. Literature Survey ?
 Recognizing new problems
 Important to read outside the area
 Books, journal and conference papers
 IEEE Internet Explore

82. Literature Survey
 Sources of research problem
 “Future work” sections in thesis and papers
 Comparison of different approaches by some objective measures of efficiency or
accuracy
 Harmful simplifications or arbitrary choices in a paper – try something different
 Identify all variables and alternatives of a situation to see which have not been
explored.
 Implement someone else's work yourself and see the many problems out there to
work on.
 Interaction: discussion, answering doubts, teaching, explaining
 Derivation of simple closed-form solution
 Combine and reorganize existing knowledge structures

83. Why Literature Survey?
Selection of Research
Problem
Formulation of
Hypothesis
Research Design
Data Collection
Hypothesis testing
Results and
interpretation
Report Writing
Literature Survey
Preliminary
Full
 Broaden your knowledge
 To see if the problem has already been approached
 Drawbacks of the approaches
 Bring clarity and focus to research problem
 If the solution to the problem is sufficient
 Improving the research design
 Contextualize your findings

84. Sources of Information
 Articles in scientific journals
 Conference Proceedings
 Textbooks
 Thesis and Dissertations
 Company Reports
 People
 Magazines and Newspapers
 Internet
Trusted resources

85. Publication Databases for
Engineering

86. Flowchart: Literature Review

87. Flow Chart: First Pass
When can we discard paper?
•The paper doesn't interest you
•You don't know enough about
the area to understand the paper
•The authors make invalid
assumptions

88. Flow Chart: Second Pass

89. Flow Chart: Third Pass
Mainly Important from reviewer’s perspective
Should take up
about an hour to
4 hours

90. Research Planning
 Time and resource planning
 Planning of research processes
 Planning of developing new skills
 Planning of presentations

91. Verification of Theoretical Results
 Computer simulations
 Hardware and field tests

92. Communication of Research Findings
 Seminars
 Conference papers
 Journal papers
 Theses
 Books

93. Writing Papers
 Focus on innovation
 Paper structure
 Make it readable and interesting
 Where to publish?
 Ethics and integrity
 Quality counts more than quantity

94. Commercializing Research Outcomes
 Intellectual property
 Developing prototypes
 Business plans
 Venture capital

95. Ethical Issues
 Informed Consent.
 Respect for privacy.
 Confidentiality and anonymity of data.
 What is permissible to ask?
 No harm to researchers or subjects.
 No deceit or lying in the course of research.
 Consequences of publication.
 www.the-sra.org.uk
 www.britsoc.org.uk/about/ethics.htm

97. 97
When the sun went down in the
evening, it asked everyone on
earth, “Who will take up my
responsibility of providing light?”
No one replied.
However, a candle in cottage said,
“My Lord, I can not light up the
whole universe as you do, but I
will do my best to light up this
small room.”
- Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore