Kwame Nkrumah University of Science &
Technology
RESEARCH PROCESS
A Arko-Adjei
Department of Geomatic Engineering
KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
arkoadjei@[Link]
March 2022
COURSE CONTENT
• Unit 1: Introduction to Research Methods
• Unit 2: Research Process
• Unit 3: Research Design
• Unit 4: How to Review Literatures
• Unit 5: Scientific Writing and Publication
• Unit 6: Writing Research Proposal
• Unit 7: Thesis Report Writing
• Unit 8: Research Data Management
• Unit 9: Citation Style for Research Report
• Unit 10: Technical Writing Issues
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UNIT OVERVIEW
• How to start research
• Stages in research process
• Research topic
• Research question
• Problem statement
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Learning outcomes
• After completing this unit, students should be able to:
• To understand the process for carrying out research
• To formulate hypothesis
• To understand the need for research problem
• To justify the importance of research problem
• To formulate research problem
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Introduction
• Several reasons account for the decision to conduct a
research;
• Personal observation of Geo-information/Land
administration phenomenon
• Previous research
• Interest in a broader societal theory
• Availability of grant money
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How to Start A Research?
• Determine a well define problem
–Understanding about something
• Science approach: phenomena, theory, hypothesis, experiment..
–Constructing product
• Engineering approach: build a system that perform a (unique) task,
experiment, convergence results (stable).
• Follow the steps in the research methodology
• Research results: knowledge, algorithm, methods, product
(system), model, etc...
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Stages in the Research Process
Formulate Problem
Determine Research Design
Design Data Collection
Method and Forms
Design Sample and Collect Data
Analyze and Interpret the Data
Prepare the Research Report
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Research Topic
• Every research starts with the selection of a good topic
and translate the topic or interest into a research
question or propositions related to the research
• Potential topics could be selected from several sources
including:
• Personal
• Scholarly
• Non-scholarly
• Personal sources include personal experiences with a
phenomenon, experiences of family and friends, class
readings, lecture notes and discussions.
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Research Question
• The construction of a good research question puts the
research on a good foundation and limits the scope of
the information to be collected
• A poor research question makes the research tedious and
wastes time
• A good research question must exhibit dependence, co-
variation, relationship and association between the
variables
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Hypothesis
• Research in Geomatics may also involve testing
hypothesis
• Hypothesis is an explicit statement that indicates the
phenomenon of interests are related
• It is an educated guess representing a proposed
explanation and indicating how an independent variable
is thought to impact a dependent variable.
• Since they are proposed relationships, it turns out to be
incorrect.
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Hypothesis
• There exist Null and Alternative hypothesis
• Examples
• Ho: Provision of control points for UAV mapping does not
increase the quality of the images produced
• H1: Provision of control points for UAV mapping increases the
quality of the images produced
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Problem Statement
• The statement of the problem should include;
• A clear statement that the problem exists
• Evidence that supports the existence of the problem
• Evidence of an existing trend that has led to the problem
• Definitions of major concepts and terms (this can be
provided below in a subsection),
• A clear description of the setting,
• Probable causes related to the problem
• A specific and feasible statement
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Problem Formulation
Problem Formulation
Identification of
Research Problem
Identification of Scope
of Research
Identification of
Research Questions
Identification of
Research Questions
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Flow of Idea in Research Problem
Topic
Research Problem
Flow of ideas
Justification of
Research Problem
Deficiencies in the
Evidence
Relating the
Discussions to
Audiences
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Importance of Research Problem
• It establishes the importance of the topic
• It creates reader interest
• It focuses the reader’s attention on how the study will
add to the literature.
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Stating the Research Problem
• State the problem in the opening paragraph
• Identify an issue thus research-based research problems
and Practical problems
• Reference the problem using the literature
• Common pitfall: defining the problem based on the
solution
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Justifying the importance of the Research
Problem
• Justification of the Research problem is based on:
• What other researchers have found
• Personal or workplace experiences
• The experiences that others have had in the workplace?
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Determining whether a problem should be
researched
• Determining whether a problem should be researched;
• Can you study the problem? Do you have access to the
research site?
• Do you have the time, resources, and skills to carry out the
research?
• Should you study the problem? Thus Does it advance
knowledge?/or Does it contribute to practice?
• Will your study fill a gap or void in the existing literature?
• Will your study replicate a past study but examine different
participants and different research sites?
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Determining whether a problem should be
researched
• Determining whether a problem should be researched;
• Will your study extend past research or examine the topic
more thoroughly?
• Will your study give voice to people not heard, silenced, or
rejected in society?
• Will your study inform practice?
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Identifying Deficiencies in the Evidence
• Deficiencies in the evidence can be established through the
following questions:
• What do we still need to know?
• What else do we need to know to improve practice?
• Who will profit from reading your study?
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