Lecture-on-Technology-Research-by-Prof.-Cubian.pdf

CONTENT OF PRESENTATION
 Basics of Technology Research
 Ideation and GAP Analysis
 Technology Research Design
 Evaluation of Technology
Research

 Definition of Research
 Meaning of Technology Research
 Basic and Applied Research
 Method for Technology Research
 Expected Outputs

composed of two syllables, re and search.
• re is a prefix meaning again, a new or over
again
Definition of Research
• search is a verb meaning to
examine closely and
carefully, to test and try, or
to prove.

1. a noun describing a careful, systematic, patient
study and investigation in some field of knowledge,
undertaken to establish facts or principles.
2. the application of the scientific
method

3. a scientific and systematic process of collecting
and logically analyzing information (data)
4. a search for knowledge /a
movement from unknown to known
5. art of scientific investigation

The word technology stems from the Greek
word techne, meaning art, skill.
Meaning of Technology Research
Technology is defined as “the study,
mastery and utilization of
manufacturing methods and
industrial arts” (Hornby, 1974).

Technology is “the knowledge of artefacts emphasizing
their manufacturing”.
Objects manufactured by human
beings will be called artefacts.

Technology research is “research for the purpose of
producing new and better artefacts”.
• The technology researcher tries to
create artefacts which are better
than those which already exist, e.g.
quicker, more useful, or more
dependable (Skolimowski, 1983).

`
Basic research is “research for the purpose
of obtaining new knowledge”.
Applied research is “research
seeking solutions to practical
problems”.
Basic and Applied Research

`
1. Goal: New and Better Artefacts
• The technology researcher is concerned about how to make
new artefacts or improve existing artefacts
• The motivation is a need for a new artefact, or a need to
improve an existing artefact.
• The researcher starts out by collecting requirements to the
artefact.
Method for Technology Research

`
2. Hypothesis, Predictions and Evaluations
• When the requirements have been collected, the researcher
starts making an artefact which is supposed to satisfy the
requirements.
• Despite the fact that nobody has done this before, the
researcher assumes that it is feasible.

`
• When the artefact is ready, the researcher has to show that it
actually fulfils the posed requirements and thereby satisfies
the (potential) need on which it is based.
• The overall hypothesis of the technology researcher is: The
artefact satisfies the need.

`
• In order to evaluate the overall hypothesis, the researcher has
to formulate sub-hypotheses about the properties of the
artefact
Example
H1: Artefact A is user-friendly.

`
• However, neither such hypotheses can be tested straight
away. Therefore, the researcher uses predictions, which are
statements about the artefact’s behavior under certain
circumstances.
• Predictions may be derived from the need and from the posed
requirements.

`
• It is essential to formulate the predictions in such a way that
they are falsifiable.
Example:
• P1: Artefact A can be used after a short training time.
• P2: Artefact A can print 5000 word on paper during one
minute.

`
Example:
minute.
P1 cannot be falsified straight away, because
one first needs an agreement of what is “a
short training time”.

`
Example:
minute.
On the other hand, it is much simpler to
find out if P2 is false.

`
Note:
Technology research does not always produce artefacts
that are complete, regarded from a user’s point of view.
It is common to make a so-called functional prototype,
which must be able to undergo the necessary evaluation
(hypothesis testing). If the prototype looks promising, it
can later on be elaborated to a complete, saleable product.
Such finalization is typically done by other people than
researchers.

`
3. Technology Research as an Iterative Process
• If evaluation was successful, the researcher may argue that
the artefact satisfies the need.
• If the evaluation results diverge, the researcher has to adjust
the requirements, and possibly build a new artefact and
evaluate this one. Thus, defining it as iterative process.

`

`
Problem Analysis The researcher tries to
construct an artefact
that satisfies the
potential need. The
overall hypothesis is
that the artefact
satisfies this need.

`
Innovation The researcher maps a
potential need for a
new or improved
artefact by interacting
with possible users
and other
stakeholders.

`
Evaluation Based on the potential
need, the researcher
formulates predictions
about the artefact and
checks whether these
predictions come true. If
the results are positive, the
researcher may argue that
the artefact satisfies the
need.

`
6Ps Outputs
• Publications (in recognized scientific journals)
• Patents (tangible measure of innovation)
• Products (commercial value of output)
• People Services (increase in the scientific workforce)
• Places (facilities that enable increased 6Ps output)
• Policies (adopted science-based guidelines)
Expected Outputs

 The Research Problem and its Purpose
 Criteria for Selecting GOOD Research
Problem
 Ideation and Gap Analysis in
Technology Developemtn Research

A research problem is a statement about an area
of concern, a condition to be improved, a difficulty
to be eliminated, or a troubling question that
exists in scholarly literature, in theory, or in
practice that points to the need for meaningful
understanding and deliberate investigation.
The Research Problem

• Research problem in technology research is concerned about
how to make new artefacts or improve existing artefacts based
on requirements or needs.
The Research Problem
• Such requirements are stated by existing
users (in case the artefact needs
improvement) or by new or potential users
(in case this type of artefact not yet exists).

• Introduce the reader to the importance of the topic being
studied.
• Places the problem into a particular context that defines the
parameters of what is to be investigated.
Purpose of Research Problem
• Provides the framework for reporting the
results and indicates what is probably
necessary to conduct the study and explain
how the findings will present this
information.

Criteria for Selecting a GOOD
Technology Research Problem

• Social: The social developments include factors like consumer
behavior demographics, religion, lifestyles, values, and
advertising.
• Technological: The technology aspect of
STEEP analysis focuses highly on
technological advancements. It includes
factors like innovation, communication,
energy, transport, research and
development, patent regulations and life-
cycle of products
DOST STEEP Evaluation Criteria

• Economic: The economic condition is strongly associated with
the consumers’ buying position. In this step, factors such as
interest rates, international trade, taxes, savings, inflation,
subsidies, availability of jobs and entrepreneurship are
considered
• Environmental: Environmental
developments involve ecosystem factors
such as water, wind, food, soil, energy,
pollution and environmental regulations.

• Political: The Political developments can highly influence
individuals and organizations. It is important to be aware of
likely upcoming shifts in power. Political developments can
affect environmental, antitrust, financial markets, trade, and
other kinds of laws.
Factors to be considered include political
stability, regulation of monopolies, tax
policies, price regulations consumer
protection, jurisdiction and trade unions.

A gap analysis is a method of assessing the differences in
performance level between actual and the desired
artefacts or technologies to determine whether the
requirements are being met
Ideation and GAP Analysis in
Technology Research
and, if not, what steps
should be taken to ensure
they are met successfully

• A clear problem statement that can easily define all of your
objectives is helpful to you to develop effective research.
• It is also helpful for the evaluators to get an idea of either the
research questions of your projects has provided all the
possible answers to your questions or not.
Ideation and GAP Analysis in Technology Research
1. Specify the Research Objectives

In technology research, you can start first
analyzing the existing process flow of your topic
of interest and determine technical
problems/flaws existing on the said process
flow.
1. Specify the Research Objectives

Title of the
Project:
Design and
Development
of Liquid Gel
Dispensing
Device
Example

• There are some environmental variables or contextual
variables which are helpful to you to provide enough idea
about the findings of your research problem.
• You just need to find out all the environmental or contextual
variables which can affect your research project.
2. Review the Context of the Research Problem

• The simplicity or the complexity of the research
problem depends upon the number of
variables/requirements and relationship between
these variables/requirements.
• As a researcher, you should try to select such
variables/requirements for your research project
which have a direct relation with the research
problems or the research questions.
3. Explore the Nature of the Problem

In technology research, you can explore the nature of
problem in various ways.
One of which is the 5 WHYs technique developed by
Sakichi Toyoda. The 5 Whys strategy is a simple,
effective tool for uncovering the root of a problem.
3. Explore the Nature of the Problem

1.Start with a problem and ask why it is occurring.
2.Make sure that your answer is grounded in fact, and
then ask the question again.
3.Continue the process until you reach the root cause
of the problem, and you can identify a counter-
measure that will prevent it from recurring.
Criteria of 5 WHYs Analysis

Steps of 5 WHYs
Analysis

5 WHYs Analysis
Multiple Lanes

• We can’t ignore these variables while formulating the research
questions since this is considered as an essential stage for
problem formulation.
4. Define the Variable Relationships
• You can use the fishbone technique in defining
your variables. Fishbone Diagrams (also known
as Ishikawa Diagrams) can be used to answer
the following questions that commonly arise in
problem solving.

Steps in Conducting Fishbone Analysis

Steps in Conducting Fishbone Analysis
2. Decide how to Categorize the causes.
There are two basic methods: A) by function, or B) by process
sequence. The most frequent approach is to categorize by
function.
Note: In manufacturing settings the categories are often: Machine,
Method, Materials, Measurement, People, and Environment. In service
settings, Machine and Method are often replaced by Policies (high level
decision rules), and Procedures (specific tasks).

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