Lecture 2

THE RESEARCH
PROCESS
 LECTURE OBJECTIVES
• To have an overview understanding of the research process and
what is entailed at each stage.
• Enable students to be able to plan their own research project
and develop a research proposal.
• Outline the essential elements of a research proposal
 THE RESEARCH PROCESS
•It is a process
•undertaken in a systematic way
•with a clear purpose
•to find out things
 THE RESEARCH PROCESS

ACADEMIC/BASIC RESEARCH APPLIED RESEARCH

• Its purpose is to expand • Its purpose is to solve
knowledge or to contribute to practical business problems
formal knowledge. • Done by research experts or
• Done by researchers in the consultants in the field of
academic field / academia interest
• Targets academia • Targets business practitioners
 THE RESEARCH PROCESS
• The research process lies within the continuum of basic and
applied research.
• The steps involved in each of the processes is very similar:
• Problem definition
• Review existing literature on that particular subject
• Define research methodology
• Conduct research
• Report findings
 RESEARCH PROCESS STEPS IN
APPLIED RESEARCH
• Identify a research problem
• Define the research problem
• Formulate a problem statement
• Explain the situation that calls for the investigation
• From this you will be able to develop the research objectives
• Research objectives may be implied in cases where the researcher is
required to carry out a particular investigation
• Conduct a review of the literature
• Define the methodology
• Conduct research
• Report the findings
 RESEARCH PROCESS IN BASIC
RESEARCH
• Choose an area/field of interest
• Develop a research topic
• Conduct a literature review
• Define the research methodology
• Conduct research
• Compile the research report
 THE OBJECTIVE OF BASIC
RESEARCH
• The objective of academic research if filling up knowledge gaps.
• The key question becomes: what knew knowledge or what
contribution to knowledge does one’s research make.
• Academic research must fill gaps in existing knowledge.
• This is why extensive reading is a pre-requisite to all research.
• Its often said, the wheel should not be re-invented, rather it
should be improved.
• Theory therefore becomes an important element in academic or
basic research.
 WHAT IS THEORY
• A theory is an idea, a supposition (a belief held without proof or
certain knowledge; an assumption or hypothesis) or a set of
ideas used to explain something
• Examples:
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory – HR
• Leadership theories
• Systems theory
• In academia, the process of researching a particular subject or
topic must be related or expressed in terms of an existing
theory or must be explained in theoretical terms
(assumptions/hypothesis)
 The inductive theory process
Theorize on the basis of research
findings

Test & analyze, then draw conclusions

Form hypothesis

Observation

State the research question

10
 THE DEDUCTIVE THEORY PROCESS

Theory

Hypothesis

Data collection

Findings
Hypothesis confirmed or rejected

Theory revised
 THE BACK & FORTH STAGE
• Choose an area/field of interest
• Develop a research topic
• Conduct a literature review
• Once you are sure of the area of interest, you have an idea of the issue
to be investigated – extensive reading is what ultimately gives shape to
the right direction.
• The more you read and discover what is already known about your
topic, the more clearer gaps that still require investigation can be
identified
• This is when the refining, rephrasing, restating of your research topic
will happen until an appropriate topic that suits your interest is
established and agreed with your supervisor.
 GENERATING A RESEARCH TOPIC
1) Data Warehousing,
2) Internet Of Things (IOT)
3) Big Data
4) Cloud Computing
5) Semantic Web
6) Machine Learning
7) Artificial Intelligence
8) Data Mining
9) Image Processing
10) Bioinformatics
11) Quantum Computing
 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN
CHOSING A RESEARCH TOPIC
• Choose your favourite field or subject
• Consider your future aspirations (further studies or career
aspirations) & align yourself
• Consider availability of resources (Is it financially feasible)
• Consider availability of data sources, especially literature.
• Consider your ability to investigate the topic
• Consider supervisor’s ability to guide (his/her area of expertise)
applies mainly at this level.
Characteristics of a good research topic – Saunders, chap
2, pg 31
 DEVELOP A RESEARCH TITLE
FROM YOUR TOPIC
Parts of a research title
• It must have a command or an instruction
• Is the researcher analysing, investigating, evaluating.
• It must have a focus
• What the command is focusing on
• It must have a topic
• The key subject of the study
• It must have a view point
• What view of the subject the researcher is taking?
• Is it positive, negative or neutral
 RESEARCH TOPIC EXAMPLES
• Artificial Intelligence Ethics: Deciphering the Grey Areas.
• The Blockchain Revolution: Possibilities Beyond Cryptocurrency.
• Augmented Reality in Education: Revolution or Hype?.
 RESEARCH TOPIC EXAMPLES
Impact of online learning on students’ academic
performance
•An evaluation of the impact of online learning on
student academic performance
•Command – evaluate
•Focus – the impact of online learning on students’
academic performance
•Topic – students’ academic performance
•Viewpoint – Impact of online learning
(…………………)
 PURPOSE OF LITERATURE REVIEW
• Literature review provide details of research progress of
particular domain.
• It helps the researcher to understand the approaches,
methodologies, algorithms, and datasets used by other
researchers.
• It helps the researcher to identify where the gap is. Where can
I contribute to an existing knowledgebase?
• It helps the researcher to understand the progress of domain
and state of the art in the domain.
• Literature review also helps to avoid duplication of work.
researchers should always avoid reinventing the wheel.
Read more on literature review – Bryman & Bell (2011)
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
• Research methodology refers to the holistic approach of carrying out the
whole research process.
• This involves defining the problem, setting the objectives to be achieved
through the investigation, defining the research approaches, the research
design, the research methods which is data collection methods, data
analysis methods and how the findings will be reported
• At the higher levels of doing academic research, methodology involves:
• Explaining the philosophical foundations of one’s research
• Defining the approach to theory development
• Defining the research approach; qualitative or quantitative or mixed approach
• Defining the design to be adopted; survey, case study, experiment, narrative
enquiry, etc
• Defining data collection methods; questionnaires, structured/unstructured interview,
observation, focus group discussion etc
• Defining data analysis methods, SPSS, Excell, Atlas, etc
• Reporting of findings
• Time schedules for research activities.
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
• Developing and articulating methodology on paper forces the researcher to
give serious considerations to the whole research process before it begins.
• Literature review helps to reveal the methods that were adopted by
previous researchers who investigated the same subject prior so that the
researcher may possibly adopt the same for best results.
• Research methodology is the whole research project on paper before it
begins.
Some planning quotes:
• “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, writer
and pioneering aviator
• “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” ― Benjamin Franklin,
Founding Father of the United States
• “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” ―
Yogi Berra, former New York Yankees catcher
 DEVELOPING A RESEARCH
PROPOSAL
What is a research proposal?
• It is a document submitted to an authorised person for approval
with the aim of presenting an elaborate and articulate plan on
how a research project is to be implemented to achieve the
objectives of the research
• It provides a standardised and acceptable structure for a
research project to be followed by students.
• It guides the student on what is expected by their institution in
carrying our a research project.
 COMPONENTS OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
1. Title of the proposed study
1. The title should have the four parts of a research title; a command or
instruction, a focus, a topic and a view point.
2. Introduction
1. Background of the study – provide background information of the research
problem.
2. Develop a problem statement of the research topic – indicate research
issues to be investigated. This should include the purpose of the
study/research.
3. State the objectives of the study – minimum 2, maximum 4 objectives.
4. State your hypotheses or your assumption, your assumed position of the
state of things – the thing that the research aims at verifying.
5. Significance of the study – how will your research help improve human life,
what contribution will your research make?
6. Limitations of the study – what constraints do you forsee that may make it
difficult for you to achieve the best in your study and what plans do you
have in place to combat those limitations.
7. Delimitations of the study – state the scope of your research. What will be
included and what will not be included. Justify your delimitation.
 COMPONENTS OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
3. Literature review
• Prepare a critical, synthesised and integrated literature review
that should demonstrates the need and justification of the
studies.
• The reviews should show gaps in knowledge, theoretical and
methodological shortcomings, need for further research,
unanswered questions, and disagreements in literature.
• In addition, the reviews should demonstrate what has been
done by other researcher in the field of study and what remains
to be investigated.
 COMPONENTS OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
4. Research design
• State the research approach and justify why it is relevant for the
study
• State the research design to be adopted and justify it
• State your population of interest
• State the sampling procedure and justify
• State the data collection method and justify it
• Explain how data will be collected and justify appropriateness
• State the data analysis method and justify its relevance and
applicability to the research.
• Provide a summarised budget for the project
• Provide a list of all your reference using the Harvard referencing
style.
 GUIDE TO WRITING THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL

1. Use the Times New Roman font, size 12.

2. Spacing should be 1.5
3. The proposal should be at least 3 pages excluding the
literature review. This will be submitted separately as the
second assignment in week 10.
4. The 3 pages also excludes the list of references.
5. References should be listed separately on a new page but
forms part of the work.
6. Ensure that justification align the adopted methods with the
objectives of the research.
 Title and Cover page

• Give the title (it may well change later…)

• State the type of proposal, e.g.
Study proposal for full / half dissertation to be
submitted in accordance with the requirements for
the Bachelor of Science Degree in Information
Technology in the subject Xxxxx Yyyyy at the
Limkokwing of Technology
• Supervisor: Dr A.B. Cccccccccc
• Month and year
The Proposal
Preliminary title
Introduction, background, context
Research problem; research questions/hypotheses;
objectives
Motivation / Rationale
Contribution, scope and limitations
Research design and methodology; ethical aspects
Preliminary literature review
Time frame and budget
Outline of chapters
Technical requirements
References
(Your proposal must address all the above,
but not necessarily in this order or using exactly these headings)
 The Proposal
Title, Introduction, Research problem

• Title might change as the research problem is refined

• Introduction – short overview of purpose of study (focus

area), context (application area), and approach

• Research problem – Background and context

Briefly describe the real-world research problem you are
addressing and how you plan to investigate it
(if Computer Science, it might be a theoretical problem)
 The Proposal
Motivation / rationale

• Gap identification – specific relevance of the study or

identification of the need or gap, substantiated by:
− references to related work
− gap in the literature (NB)
− other researchers/practitioners who have expressed a
need for work of this nature, and
− your personal motivation for this study

• Further pertinent details of the problem and its context

(Rationale might be in the problem statement
or after literature review or in a section of its own )
 The Proposal
Contribution of this study)
• Specific relevance/need/applicability :
− Theoretical/Scientific contribution, e.g (model,
framework, guidelines)
− Practical contribution (in real-world context of study)
− Methodological contribution
A doctorate should ideally make two of these contributions
Scope, assumptions, delineation and limitations
• Domain and scope of the study
• Underlying assumptions, and frame of reference (if
applicable)
• Limitations and exclusions (In your upcoming dissertation,
limitations can be in the Intro, in the Conclusion, or in both.)
 The Proposal
Research Design and methodology

• Research question / hypothesis

and associated sub-questions / sub-hypotheses (if such)
• Objectives
Describe by using action verbs, e.g. The objectives are:
To identify the benefits and challenges of XYZ
To determine to what extent xx yy zzz …
To investigate / to analyse
To construct / to formulate
To model / to simulate
(If you have sub questions, you might not need objectives as well)
 The Proposal
Research design and methodology
• Research design – theoretical, empirical, prototyping, simulation;
• Qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods;
• Sampling; data collection methods (i.e. research instruments);
data analysis techniques: statistical analysis for quantitative
studies; thematic analysis for qualitative studies
• Pilot study and sequential studies (if such);
• Participants and sampling
Ethical requirements
Ethical clearance; intention to cite all sources and avoid plagiarism:
informed consent by participants
 The Proposal

Preliminary literature review

Brief attention to what will be covered in the lit study
chapter/s of the upcoming dissertation:
• Discipline; field(s); specific niche area
• Relevant topics/key concepts/definitions
• Related work and precedent studies (NB)
• Theories / Conceptual models that are appropriate as
foundations
• Presentation 3 will address the synthesis of a literature
review
 The Proposal

Chapter outline - Structure of the dissertation/thesis

• Interrelationships of the chapters
(diagrammatic representations/chapter maps are really cool)
• Content of the chapters (brief synopsis of each)

Timeline and Budget – be realistic

Technical requirements – equipment or facilities you need

References/ Bibliography
 Proposal Chapter 1 Chapter 2/3 Chapter 4

Introduction Introduction Research design

and methodology
Research questions Research questions

Research design
Research design
and methodology
and methodology

Scope and Scope and

limitation limitation Literature review

Literature review Literature review

Literature review

Proposed contribution Contribution

Structure of study Structure of study

The next few slides summarise various research
goals, philosophical perspectives, research
strategies and methods of general value You
are already familiar with them, but these brief
consolidated lists may be useful now or in
future
 Research goals

Major types of research goals/ philosophical

perspectives

• Theoretical goals - explaining phenomena through logical

analysis and synthesis of theories and principles;
meta-analysis of other research; conceptual modelling
and simulations; contributions to the body of knowledge
• Empirical goals (practical research) - testing conclusions
related to theories
− conducted by surveys, observation and evaluation, or
− conducted by experimental or quasi-experimental
methods
 Research goals

Major types of research goals/ philosophical

perspectives

• Design goals – aiming for the dual objectives of developing

innovative approaches to solving actual problems, while
simultaneously constructing design principles/theory to guide
future efforts, e.g. design research: iteratively develop
artifacts, prototypes, applications, conceptual models, etc. and
evaluate them; build–evaluate cycles.
• Action goals – focused on a particular program, intervention,
product or method in an authentic setting, to estimate its
effectiveness and worth and improve it, e.g. action research:
done iteratively over a longitudinal time frame, deep
involvement of participants, often using a variety of data
collection methods, researcher often investigates his/her own
work.
 Research goals
Major types of philosophical perspectives
• Positivist – traditional scientific method, objectivist, seeking
single reality as in results of an experiment in a lab
• Interpretive (anti-positivist) – drawing on traditions from
sciences such as sociology and anthropology; interpretivist
approach sets out to interpret phenomena related to
experience; subjective – depends on the context or
perspective.
• Postmodern goals / Critical theory – examining
contemporary assumptions to determine whether there are
underlying agendas, relating, e.g. to aspects of gender,
environment or culture. Also emancipatory
research/empowerment research, aiming to empower those
who might have been disadvantaged.
 Research strategies

• Quantitative: primarily involving collection of numeric

data, metrics (i.e. measuring), and statistical analysis
of quantitative data (NB the sampling method is
important)
• Qualitative: mainly textual or verbal data from
interviews observation records, documents, and
thematic analysis of data, coding
• Mixed-methods – approaches that combine a mixture
of research methods, usually quantitative and
qualitative, in order to triangulate findings.
 Summary of data collection methods

• Experimental research: random assignment of subjects,

manipulated conditions, experimental group and control group,
comparison of results, cause-and-effect
• Quasi-experimental: cause-and-effect, no random assignment;
single group (i.e. no control group)
• Surveys (questionnaires; interviews)
• Observation (naturalistic fieldwork; controlled observation in
lab)
• Theoretical designs
• Literature review and meta-analysis – analysis, synthesis, and
integration of other research.
• Case studies
• Testing – diagnostic testing or pre-test and post-test
 Summary of data analysis methods

• Statistical analysis:
Descriptive: means, standard deviations, normal
curves, etc;
Correlational: – relationships between concepts or
phenomena;
Predictive
• Thematic analysis for themes/patterns; use of
‘coding’ (qualitative studies)
• Grounded theory (generation of emergent
theory from the data – usually qualitative)