Introduction to Research, course ppt

1. Introduction
to Research

2. What is Research?
• research is combination of “re” and “search,” which means a
systematic investigation to gain new knowledge from already existing
facts.
• research is a scientific understanding of existing knowledge and
deriving new knowledge that may be applied for the betterment of
mankind.
• searching for truth.
• Research aim at providing efficient solutions to routine problems.

3. Objective Research
• Propose and test certain hypotheses that provide causal relationships between
variables
• Discover and establish the existence of relationship, association, and
independence between two or more aspects of a situation or phenomenon.
(Such studies are known as correlational studies)
• Understand different phenomena and develop new perceptions about it
• Study and describe accurately the characteristics of situations, problems,
phenomena, services, groups, or individuals. (This type of study/research is
known as descriptive research)
• Explain unexplored horizons of knowledge
• Test reported findings and conclusions on new data and novel conclusions on
previously reported data
• Study the frequency of research that is connected with unspecified study. (This
type of study/research is known as diagnostic research)

4. Motivation behind Research
• to earn a degree.
• defense and research
laboratories
• new ideas and insights
• development of new styles and
creative work
• research demands passion
• Failure is an inevitable step in the
research phase

5. Ingredients for a good researcher

6. Componential Theory of Individual Creativity
•Expertise
•Creative thinking skills
•Intrinsic task motivation

7. Research types

8. Basic Research
• Basic research is pure or fundamental research
• there is no immediate need
• but new theories can be added to the knowledge cluster
• This type of research may solve problems but may not have practical
applications
• It has a broader scope compared to applied research.
Examples
• Theories in basic sciences and mathematics
• Newton’s laws of motion

9. Applied Research
• Applied research tries to solve an immediate specific problem faced
by industry or society. The obtained solution can be deployed to solve
the problem. The duration of applied research is shorter as a quick
solution is expected.
Example
• Analysis of cell/body organ behavior in cancer
• A researcher may use data analytics, image processing, algorithms,
and knowledge of the medical industry.
• The outcome of applied research should either address the unsolved
problem or improve the existing solution.

10. Descriptive research
• generally used in business analysis or social problems
• does not have any control over the parameters or variables
• just tries to represent or analyze the previous and or current facts
Examples
• analysis of online customer purchase patterns
• All kinds of correlational methods, survey methods, and comparative
studies are descriptive research.
• the effect of global warming on birds
• To study socioeconomic characteristics of residents of particular
community during certain period for specific country.”

11. Analytical Research Analytical
• uses existing information to explain a complex phenomenon or
to perform a critical evaluation. The identified hypothesis can be
accepted or rejected depending on the analysis
Examples:
• observed in historical study
• forensic work, food, in the medical domain, and so on
• organizes data that can be presented to support the data in
comprehensive model.

12. Correlational Research
• Correlational research focuses on exploring the relationship or
association between incidences, variables, and so on.
Examples
• To study the effect of a modern lifestyle on obesity
• Analysis of the impact of technology on employment

13. Qualitative Research
• Qualitative research mainly deals with the quality or the types of the
parameters considered for the research. Here, it is assumed that the world
is unstable and differences in the parameter may occur with time.
• Research related to human behaviour
• This type of research is more complicated and requires more guidance.
• Less emphasis is given on generalization and more focus is towards
individual.
Example
• Study of behaviour of employees in an organization
• How and why there is an upward movement in the value of dollar and its
impact on the Indian currency.

14. Quantitative Research
• Quantitative research involves measurements of quantities of
characteristics that can be used as features for the research study
• assumes that world is stable and uses statistical analysis on parameter
values for conclusions.
• Statistical quantities that can be measured are involved in quantitative
research.
Examples
• Finding number of individuals taking benefits of different government
policies
• Who is your favorite actor?” and response of this questions is self-
controlled by providing a multiple choice question. The outcomes are
provided briefly in judgement form with statistical respective.

15. Experimental Research
• focuses on the fieldwork and experiments that can control the
independent variable
Examples
• Study of the effect of the new drug on a specific group of people
or animal
• Analysing performance of algorithms on various dataset
• examine changes in the land cover using satellite data.

16. Explanatory Research
• Explanatory research tries to analyze and justify the reason behind the
occurrence of particular phenomenon or association between the
variables.
Examples:
• Why the modernisation creates health problem?”,
• Why some students have casual attitude towards study, while others are
sincere?
• Why will customers buy our food products in green packages?
• Which of the two advertising company will help students by providing the
internship?
• which company will be more effective and why?

17. Exploratory Research
• This kind of research generally explores the areas that have required
meagre attention or it is for checking the possibility of research in the
particular domain or area.
• A small-scale study is done to decide the further scope of advancement in
domain. Depending on outcomes of exploratory study, domain is further
explored for in depth research on the specific topic.
• Exploratory studies are also conducted to develop, refine and test
procedures, policies, and tools.
Examples:
• “Why product sales are reduced, due to already existing data or the
products which have been acquired recently for the agricultural company?”

18. Phases of
research

19. Phases of
selection of
research
problem

20. Selection of domain/area
• area of interest
• identified gap in the literature
• individual skill set
• If the researcher is working in research organisation or laboratory the
researcher has to work on the domain of organisation’s interest.
• The purpose of this research may be to design and develop the new
product, to upgrade available one, to study and analyze the effects of
the product specifications in drug industry etc.

22. Before deciding domain or selecting problem
• understand your passion
• What are your strengths
• What are your weaknesses
• What are your likes and dislikes
Good research is a finished-research

24. Literature Review
• provide details of research progress of particular domain.
• researcher to understand the approaches, methodologies, algorithms,
and datasets used by other scientists
• Literature survey also helps to avoid duplication of work

25. Steps for Literature Survey
• First download 100–120 research papers from published papers of
IEEE/ACM/ Wiley/Elsevier/Springer/T and F or some other good SCI
Indexed Journals related to research topic and start reading it.
• Researchers can initially read only title, abstract and conclusion of each
research paper and decide whether it is related to research topic.
• Read shortlisted papers in detail and start taking notes of different
parameters considered, methodologies used, conclusions derived, and
related mathematics/ theories used. Researchers can finalize research
hypothesis after this step and also can write good survey paper

26. Literature surveys can be done with respect
to following points:
• What
• How (process schematic)/standard procedure (system block
schematics)
• Discussion on major steps involved
• Design criteria and performance measures
• Techniques currently in use
• Comparative analysis (table or any suitable tool to discover and list
pros and cons/ strength/weakness/future scope of existing
techniques)
• Scope for research/gap in research

27. Research Problem
• Unambiguous
• Clear statement
• State the major objective of the research
• Not the recurrence of the same research
• Outcome – show the impact of the proposed research work

28. Hypothesis
• Formulate hypothesis
• State-of-the-art literature review on related topic creates a sufficient
background for formulating the hypothesis.
Contoh:
“Algorithm A1 outperform over algorithm A2 for given data,”

29. Research Proposal
• Introduction (Proposed Topic of Research/Rational and Significance of the
Study)
• Literature Survey (Background of the Proposed Research/Study of Research
Work Done in the Area and Need for More Research)
• Motivation
• Research Statement
• Objectives of the Research Proposed
• Probable Methodologies/Techniques to be Used
• Expected Outcome(s) (the kinds of conclusions expected and their possible
value)
• Plan of Research Work
• References/Bibliography

30. Introduction/Proposed Topic of Research
• 250–300 words
• In this part, the introduction to the area of interest can be included
along with its potential for research and its application. Introduction
also specifies the work to be proposed and it should be related to the
title of the theses in case of the PhD dissertation.

31. Literature Review of Research Topic (1,500–
2,000 words)
• Present status of topic of research from existing literature can be
written in this part of proposal. Literature of our work is been
prepared by the scholar after going through the contemporary
literature done in the area of interest after referring the Science
Citation Indexed (SCI) Journals/e-journal, reputed conferences,
magazines, MTech and PhD dissertations, reports published in the
institution and company organisations along with patents in domain
of research. In this context there should be a broad summary that
should reveal the present status in the area of work and should
highlight the identified research gap

32. Gap in Existing Research
Issues that are unresolved on the research topic should be reported in
the project with reference to the current status. Furthermore, possible
utilization of the research outcome can also be suggested.

33. Objective of the Proposed Research
It should be clearly indicating the perception of the research work and
should not be a mere repetition of the topic of research. What is to be
achieved as an outcome of the research has to be visualized while
mentioning the objective of the research. Objectives should be given
pointwise (three to six points).

34. Outcome
It is important to make clear the impact of the proposed research and
the particular aspect of the problem that is anticipated to produce an
original contribution(s) by the candidate.

35. Methodology
• Methodology should provide the experimental/infrastructural/
computing facilities needed to carry out the research work and it
should be described in the logical phases that are used to investigate
the identified research problem. There should be a phasewise
description with a brief explanation under each phase. The methods
and approach can also be represented by figures and flowcharts.

36. Identifying Variable/Parameters
• The variable is basic quality or attribute that differs in value under
different circumstances.
• The researcher should identify all related variables or parameters.
Parameters can be identified during literature survey and it may vary
depending on the proposed hypothesis.
• Variable can be either dependent or independent.
• Independent variables show changes in dependent variables.
• It may possess either continuous or discrete values.

37. Research Design
• To prove or disprove the hypothesis one needs to decide on the design
strategy of research.
• The researcher needs to shift the paradigm from “what is my research?” to
“how am I going to conduct it?”
• The research design is a systematic plan designed to obtain a solution to the
research problem. Which data should be tested, which
procedure/algorithm/methodology will be applied is decided in the design
phase.
• Research design should be carefully planned and checked for feasibility.
• Good research design provides maximum outcome with minimum efforts.
• The researcher should think about size and type of samples and dataset to be
considered, parameters to be considered.
• Researcher can revisit the literature review step again to check with state of
the art design methodologies used by other researchers and can come up
with methodology suitable for his/her own research hypothesis.

38. Data Collection and Representation
• Data can be either directly collected afresh known as primary data or
already collected and used data is known as secondary data.
• Secondary data is already considered by researchers to test the
hypothesis.
• If researcher decides to use afresh data, then he has to decide
carefully on method of data collection.
• An incomplete dataset may not give a conclusive result.
• Collected raw data should be first examined for errors, this is called
editing of data. It should be coded and represented in user friendly
format.

39. Data Collection
The reliability can be tested by finding out the following:
• Who collected the data?
• What were the sources of the data?
• Were they collected by using proper methods?
• At what time were they selected?
• What level of accuracy was desired?

40. Data Representation
• Tabulation is a process that conserves space and reduces explanatory and
descriptive statement and also provides the comparison from one state to
another.
• Tabulation also provides various statistical computational information,
which facilitates the summation of items and detection of errors and
omission.
• lmportance of Tabulation
• Each table will give a clear title that does not require an explanation
• Each table will be provided with a separate number that will be easy for referring
• Tables can be categorized in a chronological, geographical, and alphabetical
order.
• Table should be made as logical, clear, accurate, and simple as possible.

41. The various steps involved in hypothesis testing are as follows:
• Setting up of hypothesis consists of the data that makes the statement of a null
hypothesis, which should clearly state the nature of the research problem
• Particular expression of the hypothesis is an important aspect while considering
a goal or purpose of the considered problem
• Hypothesis can be validated when the values are decided in advance for the
significance of the work when they are directional and nondirectional
• Test statistics will be conducting hypothesis test for means and variance. The
formula for test statistics and their distributions are discussed depending on the
value of test statistics using observations selected by the researcher and the
parametrical value stated under null hypothesis
• Using different type of critical value for test statistic, level of significance, and
the type of test we obtain a critical value
• The null hypothesis is rejected or accepted by comparing the distribution of test
statistic

42. Some of the important limitations of the discussed test
• Results cannot be expressed with full certainty; they are probabilistic
• Testing is not a decision-making activity in itself, the researcher should not
use it in a mechanical way
• Tests don’t explain the reason why the dissimilar result has been obtained
due to fluctuation
• Significance of the results is been validated on the basis of the probabilistic
conditions which cannot be explained fully
• Inference the statistical data cannot provide the evidence for the truth of
the hypothesis
• There exist the number of statistical tools like t-test, F-test, chi-square test,
D-W test, etc. to test the validity of the hypothesis.

43. Result and Analysis
• The result is an important section of the research.
• If the topic is totally new then one cannot compare his/her results with existing.
• the hypothesis should be tested with multiple approaches and that results can be
compared.
• If already some scientists worked on methodologies or the topic it is important to
compare your results with the existing state of the art results from the literature.
• Results should be represented in the visual format using tables, figures and or graphs.
• It should be properly labelled, clear and easy to understand.
• Carefully choose the type of graph taken for result representation.
• The relationship between the data in tables/graphs should be explained along with
observations.
• Result section may include the problems faced during collection of data and
complete analysis of results.

44. Research Report Writing
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Review of Literature
• Problem Definition and Objectives
• Methodology
• Observations and Results
• Discussion
• Summary
• Conclusion
• Publications
• Bibliography/References
• Appendixes

45. First stage
• Where do you start?
• Area of interest should be decided
• Check out why this area is of interest
• Discuss your idea with local R&D staff

46. Second stage
• From the existing source systematic reviews should be considered
carefully before starting the research
• Duplication of research which is not of sufficient quality is itself
unethical. So working/reviewing with existing knowledge is an
important step

47. Third Stage
• Research domain should be determined
• Data should be arranged for a specific purpose and statistically analysed
• Determine top-down or bottom-up approach or combination
• Data should be compared and validate on the work done
• Data should provide the information and action performed for comparison
of the work ◦ Results should dealt with a means of solving the problem ◦
Research validation should be verified with surveys
• Perform research validation using research methods (interviews, surveys,
etc.)
• Appropriateness of the work should be justified
• Cost should be specified ◦ Test Practicality

48. Research Method versus Research Methodology.
• Research methodology explains more about the research
process
• research methods aim at finding answers to research
questions.
• All of the methods, approaches, processes and techniques
used by researcher during research process can be referred
as research methods.

49. Good research
• Research purpose should be clearly defined
• Procedure for the research should be detailed sufficiently which
should help the other to continue the work by referencing our work
• Research work should be carefully planned to get the results in
related to the specified objectives
• Reports should be created by a researcher stating that what was the
procedure adopted for completing the work which should also
include errors in their findings
• Conclusions should be confident to those justified by the data of
research

50. Summary
• Research inculcates scientific, curious and inductive thinking. It is an
important component of the development of nation and individual.
• Research has special significance in deciding government policies in
economics, in solving various operational and planning problems of
business and industry, and in seeking answers to various social problems.
• Research opens different avenues in particular domain for the betterment
of mankind and world.
• Research activity develops critical thinking about the problem, systematic
examination, developing and testing new theories, and draw important
meaningful conclusions.
• Ability of in-depth analysis and understanding a topic helps researcher to
explore in many domains around.