1. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Research Methods in Electrical
Engineering
Professor David Thiel
Centre for Wireless Monitoring and
Applications
Griffith University, Brisbane Australia
2. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Purpose
• To make attendees familiar with the
process of rigorous research in an
academic environment.
• To encourage attendees to critically
evaluate research papers they read.
• To outline the processes required to
undertake a research project.
3. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Topics
1. Overview of the Research Process
2. Literature Search
3. Report Writing, Data Collection &
Presentation
4. Statistical Analysis of Data and Sampling
5. Making a Presentation
6. Survey Research Methods
7. Review
5. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
What is Research?
• Discovery of new things that have been
independently verified by other
professionals.
• Something new to humanity (not just new
to you or your group).
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Good & Bad Research Examples
• Case 1 A high school research paper
• Case 2 A good idea
• Case 3 Tested outcomes for a new idea
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The Scientific Method
An idea
Discovery
Independent verification:
literature, experiment,
numerical model,
analytical model, etc
Prior
knowledge
Submit
Report,
Thesis,
Journal
or
Conference
Paper
Assessors
Independent verification:
literature,
numerical model,
analytical model, etc
The Outcome is Recognised
as a Major contribution
to the field
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The Research Community
• All use the same scientific method.
• All follow the same ethical principles.
• All use the same language and terms.
• All provide information to the world-wide
community reported in a full and open
manner.
• All acknowledge the previous work of
others.
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Publications and Referencing
• The archival literature (must be printed
somewhere and unalterable).
• Must be reviewed by independent
professionals before publication.
• Must be complete so others can reproduce
the results.
• These three form the basic validity test!
10. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Types of Publication
• Scientific papers (refereed journal and
conference papers)
• Trade articles
• Newspaper articles
• Infomercials
• Advertisements
You must only rely on refereed papers in
accredited journals and conferences.
11. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
How can you tell?
• Length of title
• References (and their quality)
• Author’s name and affiliation
• Evidence that the paper has been reviewed and
revised.
• Date of submission & date of publication.
• The paper includes a review of previously
published work.
• Conclusion contains a critical reflection on the
contents of the article.
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Activity
• Use http://scholar.google.co.id/ and enter
the key words from the paper you have.
• Did you find it?
• What else did you find?
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“Next step” research
• Incremental advance compared to
paradigm shift.
• Lateral translation research.
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Literature Review
• Who has done what and how?
• What is their plan for “further work”?
• Have they reported more recent work in a
conference?
• What opportunities are available for
confirming the results of others and
expanding their results and conclusions?
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Key Words
• Essential for searching the literature.
• Must be both general and specific.
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Publication delays
• Check your paper and see the submission
date and the publication date.
• This delay may mean that this team has
moved forward with their research.
Following their suggestions for further
work might have you gazumped.
• Conferences often have a 6 month delay
between abstract submission and the
conference presentation.
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Planning for an outcome
• What is convincing “proof”?
• What is the evidence you will provide?
– Data
– Sampling techniques
– Accuracy.
• Who is interested in this research?
• Where will you release (publish/present)
your research results?
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Anticipating problems
• Team planning meetings
– Circulate outcomes immediately following the
meeting
– Action items
• Equipment calibration
• Reliable power
• Preventing Data loss
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Publication of Data
• Internal report?
• Choosing a conference
• Choosing a journal
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Journal rankings
• Impact factor
• Half life
• Citations (Google, ISI Thomson Web of
Knowledge, Scopus, etc)
http://scholar.google.co.id/
• Weaknesses of the ranking systems
• H index – The number of papers that have
more than that number of citations fpr
person.
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Research Planning
• Concurrent Engineering
– Assembling the equipment
– Arranging access to the site
– Writing the paper draft
– Choosing the journal
• Concurrent Research
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Using the right language
• Definition of terms (standards, standard usage,
standard methods of analysis).
• Standard Measurement Procedures
• Standard values (eg copper conductivity)
• Spelling (US English or UK English?), Lexicon
and naming conventions.
• Key words in publications
• This is vital for accurate electronic searching of
indexes.
24. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Searching the Web
• Google scholar http://scholar.google.co.id/
• Journals and publisher’s indexes
– IEEE Xplore digital library
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/dynhome.jsp
– Elsevier
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journal_brow
se.cws_home
– and many more.
25. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
IP Searching
• Patents http://www.uspto.gov/
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/search-
adv.jsp
• PCT Applications
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/
• Country Based Searching
http://www.wipo.int/ipdl/en/resources/links.j
sp
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Activity
• Find some scientific terms in your paper,
and check the definition. (Why not
wikipedia?)
• Key word searches, key word selection.
• Definition of terms.
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The title
• 10-15 words is most common.
• Must be sufficiently specific.
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The Abstract – an example
• High speed electronic beam switching is a
desirable feature of smart antennas.
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The Abstract – an example
• High speed electronic beam switching is a
desirable feature of smart antennas. Most
smart antennas are too large for most
applications and require significant power
during normal operations.
31. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
The Abstract – an example
• High speed electronic beam switching is a
desirable feature of smart antennas. Most
smart antennas are too large for most
applications and require significant power
during normal operations. A thirteen
element switched parasitic antenna was
optimised for gain, speed and beam
coverage.
32. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
The Abstract – an example
• High speed electronic beam switching is a
desirable feature of smart antennas. Most
smart antennas are too large for most
applications and require significant power
during normal operations. A thirteen
element switched parasitic antenna was
optimised for gain, speed and beam
coverage. Antenna characteristics were
determined at 1.8 GHz by finite element
modelling and measurements on a
prototype.
33. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
The Abstract – an example
• High speed electronic beam switching is a
desirable feature of smart antennas. Most smart
antennas are too large for most applications and
require significant power during normal
operations. A thirteen element switched
parasitic antenna was optimised for gain, speed
and beam coverage. Antenna characteristics
were determined at 1.8 GHz by finite element
modelling and measurements on a prototype.
The antenna had a gain of +9.8 dBi, a footprint
of less than one half wavelength squared and
was switched ion less than 100 ms.
34. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
The Abstract – an example
• High speed electronic beam switching is a
desirable feature of smart antennas. Most smart
antennas are too large for most applications and
require significant power during normal
operations. A thirteen element switched
parasitic antenna was optimised for gain, speed
and beam coverage. Antenna characteristics
were determined at 1.8 GHz by finite element
modelling and measurements on a prototype.
The antenna had a gain of +9.8 dBi, a footprint
of less than one half wavelength squared and
was switched ion less than 100 ms. This is a
better performance compared to previous
antennas.
35. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
The Abstract – a general guide
• 2 sentences on the wider field – context
and significance.
• 2 sentences on the research method
• 2 sentences on the results and
conclusions.
36. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Scientific writing style
Do’s and Don’ts
• Past tense
• Third person
• Usually timing of events is not included
unless it is essential to data collection.
• Sections and subsections (one level? two
level? three level?).
• Quotes from other authors – not common!
37. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Creating equations
• There are standard symbols for quantities (eg
V=IR).
• There are standard forms for scalar symbols
(often lower case, italics, not-bold) and vector
symbols (upper-case, bold).
• The symbols must be the same font on every
occasion used in the equations and in the main
text.
• All symbols must be defined.
• MS Equation editor allows for equation creation.
• There are standard upper-case and lower-case
type settings.
39. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Types of Data
• Quantitative data (numerical)
– Integers (eg animal counts, packets received,
bit error rate)
– Non-integers (eg analog sensor output)
• Qualitative data (descriptive words)
• Binary data (yes/no, success/failure,
present/absent etc)
• Scalar information (1D, 2D, 3D, nD)
• Vector information (1D, 2D, 3D, nD)
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Quantitative Data
• Kelvin’s First Law of Measurement: “The
measurement must not alter the event
being measured”.
– Microwave current measurements?
– The impedance of an antenna?
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Data Presentation
• Plots (2D and 3D), histograms, pie charts, tables of
numbers.
• Printed papers usually black and white (lines
distinguished by dots, dashes, ellipse, legend etc)
• Colour in power point slides and web publishing.
• For comparison plot more than one data set on the same
graph using the same scale.
• Images and flow charts.
• Interpolation and extrapolation.
• Curve fitting (covered in later lectures)
• Contour plots.
42. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Plotting and analysis tools
• MS EXCEL (Chart Wizard - 4 steps) -
demonstration
• Matlab (plot, subplot, contour, quiver, etc)
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Graphing Guidelines
• Always plot discrete points clearly.
• Do not join points unless you have a
continuous mathematical function.
• To compare data plot several lines on the
same axes.
• Consider including error bars on all points
44. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time (secs)
Voltage
(mV)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time (secs)
Voltage
(mV)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time (secs)
Voltage
(mV)
X X
47. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Qualitative Data
• This can be a challenge as everyone will
use a different description.
• One approach is to convert qualitative
data to quantitative data (eg rate from very
bad to very good on a score of 1 to 10).
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Decision Matrix - Histogram
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
C
o
s
t
S
i
z
e
W
a
r
r
a
n
t
y
D
e
l
i
v
e
r
y
t
i
m
e
C
o
m
f
o
r
t
T
o
t
a
l
S
c
o
r
e
Mazda 3
Mazda 2
Ford Focus
Honda
Toyota Camry
VW
Score
Survey Questions
50. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Data Collection
• Asking the right questions without leading
the person (survey instruments -
questionaires).
• Use redundant questions that always need
a positive response (discussed in a later
lecture).
• Survey results (Is 35% return good
enough?).
51. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Flow Charts (MS Word)
Initiate equipment
Yes/No?
Stop process
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Activity
• Plotting analysis using MS eXcel.
• Flow chart using MS word.
53. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Topic 5
Statistical Analysis and Sampling
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr
East
West
North
54. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Normal Distribution
From: http://mathbits.com/MathBits/TISection/Statistics2/normaldistribution.htm
55. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Experimental error?
• How does this compare with your results?
• Is your result significant statistically?
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Linear correlation
• Need to fit a line to your data? Quote the
linear correlation coefficient (linear
regression)
y = 0.1199x + 0.2876
R2
= 0.9498
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
0 5 10 15 20
Voltage
Sample
57. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Sampling
• Population – every possible candidate.
• Sample population – a small number of
candidates selected from the population.
• It is impossible to know from an
examination of your sample alone, if your
sample is representative of the whole
population.
58. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Examples:
• In Australia the total population over 18 years votes in
an election.
• Before the election, the press like to take a small
sample the population to estimate the likely outcome of
an election. This is called “polling”.
• They hope that the sample is representative of the
entire population.
• How do they select a representative sample for a
telephone poll?
– Post code?
– Telephone book?
– In the street or shopping centre?
– etc
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All samples may be biased
• Why?
– Age?
– Shyness/openness?
– Work times (shift workers)?
– etc
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Example
• 6 people live in a single house
• We want to randomly select 2 to get an idea of
the use of mobile phones in the house.
• To do this we could:
visit at 10am on a week day.
visit at 3pm on a week day.
telephone at 8pm on a week day.
visit on Saturday morning at 10am.
Visit on Sunday afternoon at 3pm.
– etc
61. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
We ask the question:
• How do you rate your use of a mobile
phone on a scale of 1 to 10?
– 10 means very continuously (>20 hours per
week)
– 1 means never (<30 minutes per week)
62. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
We have the following opinions
• Mary stays at home, goes shopping and drives
children to school at 8am and pick up at 3pm.
• Fred drives to work for night shift. Leaves at
7pm and comes home at 6am.
• Asif is a 9am – 5pm office worker who rides the
train.
• Sri is a part time sales person drives around the
city from 10am to 2 pm.
• Chen cycles to University 9am and back at
3pm.
• Rocco is retired and stays in the house all day.
4
2
5
8
7
1
Average value is 4.5/10
63. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
How many possibilities?
• If we select 2 people from the total population of n
people we have P combinations where
• ! indicates factorial where 5! = 5x4x3x2x1.
• For a population of 6 we have 15 possibilities.
!
)!
2
(
!
2
n
n
P
ď€

64. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
There are 15 different combinations
• Lowest result from a sample of two people
would be Rocco and Fred (2 and 1) –
Mean is 1.5/10.
• Highest sample of two would be Sri and
Chen (7 and 8) – Mean is 7.5/10.
• 5 combinations lie between 4 and 5
• 11 combinations lie between 3 and 6
• 13 combinations lie between 2 and 7
• 15 combinations lie between 1 and 8
65. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Compromise required
• The greater the need for a very accurate
result, the smaller the chance of fulfilling
this, even with the best method of
approach.
66. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Sampling Strategies
• Clustered Sampling: Select a sample from only those
parts of the population which are relevant; eg chose only
those people who use the road at peak hour.
• Stratified Sampling: Select a sample proportionally to
those who are likely to use the road at peak hour and
those that don’t. (4/6 use at peak hour and 2/6 don’t, so
use a sample of 3, two who travel at peak hour and one
that does not)
• Destructive Sampling: If the sample is destroyed by
sampling (i.e. their mind is changed), then clearly you
should not sample all people.
67. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Chassis strength testing
• A production line of note book computers
produces 2000 units per day.
• The company is required to strength-test
to failure15 samples every day.
• How do we select those samples?
68. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
The Monte-Carlo Method
• A random sampling technique to define the
effect of a large number of parameters on
an outcome. (Usually between 0.1% and
1% of total population).
• Usually applied to complex systems
described by mathematics.
• One randomly selects the parameters and
calculates the outcome.
• Used in optimisation.
69. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Random Sampling
• How can I choose a team of 6 people
randomly from this class?
– Family name?
– Student number?
– Seating location in the class?
– Every third person?
• Every person must have an equal
probability of being chosen.
71. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Sample Rate
• Number of samples per second.
• In a digital recording sensor system this might
be obvious initially, but there may be
“overheads” when you need time to send and/or
store data.
• In an analog system this is regulated by the filter
response (eg mechanical needle, DMM update
speed, noise reduction filter).
• Over-sampling and under-sampling.
• Nyquist sampling (twice the maximum frequency
of interest).
73. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Preparing a Power Point
Presentation
• Maximum number of slides – one per
minute!
• Optimal number of slides – one per 2
minutes
• Use slides as a reminder of what you will
say.
• During your presentation, do not read what
is on the slides.
• 100 words maximum on each slide.
74. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Preparing a Power Point
Presentation
• Font size? (large!)
• Graphs? (large!)
• Colours? (clearly distinguishable, high contrast,
minimal background colour – not dark)
• Movies? (check on the presentation computer
before your talk – usually they don’t work!)
• Pictures? (not too dark)
• Lighting? (Keep the room lights up so you can
see the audience)
75. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Images
• You MUST acknowledge the source of
image if it is not yours including
– MS word image library (in this presentation)
– Pictures taken from web sites
– Pictures taken from colleagues
– Graphs taken from papers etc
76. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Organisation: 10 minute talk
• Title slide (Name and affiliation) 1
• Outline slide (Major sections) 1
• Introduction (Wider research context) 1
• Main text (method, apparatus, results) 4-6
• Conclusions 1
• References 1
77. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Nervous?
• Hints for overcoming nervousness:
• Memorise the first 2-3 sentences (opening
sentences).
• Make sure you have key words on your
power point to trigger your memory.
• Do not start speaking until the title slide is
visible to the audience.
78. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Being Polite! Before you speak
• Introduce yourself to the session chair
before the session starts.
• Load your presentation before the session
starts.
• Wait for the chair to introduce you before
you speak.
• Switch off your mobile telephone.
79. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Being Polite! During your talk
• Thank the chairperson for the introduction.
• Speak clearly
• Pretend you are talking to the back row of seats
in the room (project your voice).
• Acknowledge your co-authors in Slide 1.
• Rigidly stick to the allocated presentation time.
• Clearly indicate the presentation is finished by a
slide and say “thank you” to the audience.
• Do not invite questions from the audience. (This
is the role of the chair person)
80. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Being Polite! After your talk
• Go quickly back to your seat.
• Do not discuss your paper with others
during the next talk.
• If necessary, leave the room (politely – do
not slam the door).
• Once the session is complete, thank the
chair person.
81. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Why References?
• For scientific rigour.
• In case someone in the audience has
made a major contribution to the field.
• So the audience can follow up on your
previous publications.
83. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
• This is about how to prepare and analyse
a survey (questionaire)
84. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
“Sick building” Survey
• The research question:
• Do you think that working in this building is
making you feel sick?
85. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Designing a Survey
• Role of the researcher
– Develop the research plan
– Design the survey instrument
– Select the sample population
– Issue/distribute the survey
– Prompt the sample population for responses
– Analyse the data
– Generate conclusions
86. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Who are the stake-holders
• Selecting the sample population
– Who are the stake-holders?
– What’s in it for them? (No interest can mean no
completion)
• Random selection from a large population
• Inclusion –
– Those that are keen to participate will respond
– Are they a biased sample?
• Exclusion
– Will people be offended if they are not asked to
respond?
87. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Who are the stake-holders
• You must be able to defend your sample
population selection
88. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Anonymous Responses
• Arguments for “yes” – Anonymous
– Sample population might be less influenced by who is
asking the questions
– Respondents might be less concerned about others
learning of their opinions
• Arguments for “no” – Non-anonymous
– Who will you send the results to?
– Who will you send the reward (chocolates) to?
– How do you know who to follow up about returning
the survey?
89. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Confidentiality
• You need to ensure that confidentiality is
assured before the survey is sent out.
• Consider using an independent third party
to administer the survey.
• I have been asked to complete a survey
which asked for sufficient personal
information to be identified uniquely.
• How will you report “free” comments?
90. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Feedback
• It is assumed that your sample population
(and the full population) will want access
to the results.
• You must explain how will this be done at
the beginning of the survey.
91. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Sample Time lines
• Week 1:Pre-survey letter of introduction
(Wider research context and brief research
plan)
• Week 2:Survey send out
• Week 3:Mid-survey reminder letter
• Week 4:Last minute final reminder
• Week 6:Post-survey analysis report
completed
92. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Rating system – 5 point scale
• Strongly disagree 1
• Disagree 2
• Neutral 3
• Agree 4
• Strongly agree 5
• Neutral allows respondents to “sit on the
fence”
93. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Rating system – 4 point scale
• Strongly disagree 1
• Disagree 2
• Agree 3
• Strongly agree 4
• This forces respondents to show positive
or negative attitudes.
94. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Topics for “Sick building” survey
• General personal well being
• Lighting
• Ventilation
• Noise and vibration
• Odour
• Electromagnetic radiation
• Security
• Demographics of respondents
95. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Hints for writing questions
• Keep is very simple – avoid jargon
• Use one concept per question – avoid multiple concepts
• Keep wording positive – avoid negative words and
phrases, double negatives
• The first question should be the “over-all question” –
Never place a controversial question at the beginning.
• Place demographics questions at the end –
Demographics at the beginning can raise suspicions.
• Keep related questions together – Difficult for the
respondent to remain coherent
• Use three questions per topic – Do not over question,
don’t waste people’s time.
96. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Statement wording
• I don’t feel well most of the time (negative wording).
• I enjoy good health.
• I am satisfied with the ventilation and the lighting
environment (double-barrelled question).
• I am satisfied with the ventilation.
• I am satisfied with the lighting.
• The University does not do a bad job of keeping us
informed about work place health and safety issues.
(double negative)
• The University does a good job of keeping us informed
about work place health and safety issues.
• Many students feel ill as soon as they walk into the
building. (projecting the feelings of others).
• Students enjoy working in this building.
97. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Judgemental versus Observational
• This work environment is just as good as
other places where I have worked.
• I am happy with this work environment.
• The University listens and acts on student
and staff concerns about the building
environment.
• I am satisfied with the University’s
response to student concerns about the
building environment.
98. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Judgemental versus Observational
• This work environment is just as good as
other places where I have worked.
• I am happy with this work environment.
• What if you asked both statements to be
rated?
• The conclusions would be different
99. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Reverse scoring
• Q10: I am not happy with this work
environment. (1 – 5)
• Q35: I am happy with this work environment. (1
– 5)
• You would need to reverse score Q10 for proper
statistics.
• The dangers include:
– Donkey vote gives confusion (What do you do if you
get 5 for both?)
– Was the question misread?
– Was the respondent annoyed?
100. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Sample Open ended questions
and comments
• Please identify at least three things that
cause you concern in this work
environment.
• Please identify at least three things that
you like about this work environment.
101. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Reporting
• Calculate averages and statistics for each
theme.
• Construct a Histogram and report the mean
value
• E.g. 80% rated the noise environment neutral or
better.
• Or: 20% indicated that the noise environment
was not good.
• Report selective quotes on open questions.
102. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Missing Data
• Did the respondent simply forget one
question?
• Maybe the question was not relevant to
that person?
• Was the question too personal?
• Was the question confusing? Could it have
been scored as a 1 for one interpretation
and a 5 using another interpretation.
103. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
Accuracy and Reliability
• On a 5 point scale there are 5 possible
answers.
• Your mean value for the sample population
can be expressed to several decimal
places.
• How many places are significant?
• Return to Normal Distribution statistics
based on z score.
104. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
References
• Connolly, P.M. & Connolly, K.G., 2004,
Employee opinion questionaires, Pfeiffer.
• Rosenfeld, P., Edwards, J.E., & Thomas,
M.D., (eds), 1993, Improving
organizational surveys, SAGE Pub.
• Images from MS Word Clip Art.
106. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
1. The Research Process
• Independent verification of results.
• Designing the experiment for outcomes
• Journal rankings
108. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
3. Report writing, Data Collection
& Presentation
• Abstract
• Referencing
• Equations
• Figures
• Conclusions and Further work
• Qualitative and quantitative data
• Plotting techniques for multi-dimensional data
109. Copyright: David Thiel 2009
4. Statistical Analysis and Sampling
• Regression analysis
• How to select a random sample.