ASSIGNMENT IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH

Submitted by: RALPH REGOR D. ONG, BSME

RESEARCH
Personal Insight on Research
In my point of view, I think research is a systematic method to solve a particular question. It is a step by step process to find
the answers and solutions. For me, the main purpose of conducting research is to provide a solution to a certain problem though
gathering information that is arranged In logical order.

DEFINITION
Research can be defined as the search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, with an open mind, to
establish novel facts, usually using a scientific method. The primary purpose for applied research (as opposed to basic research)
isdiscovering, interpreting, and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide
variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe.
The word research is derived from the French recherche, from rechercher, to search closely where "chercher" means
"to look for or to search".
AIMS OF RESEARCH
The general aims of research are:
 Observe and Describe
 Predict
 Determination of the Causes
 Explain
Purpose of Research - Why do we conduct research? Why is it necessary?

ELEMENTS OF RESEARCH
Common scientific research elements are:
Characterization - How to understand a phenomenon
 Decide what to observe about a phenomenon
 How to define the research problem
 How to measure the phenomenon
Hypothesis and Theory
 The research questions before performing research
 Often based on earlier research
Prediction
 What answers do we expect?
 Reasoning and logic on why we expect these results
Observation or Experimentation
 Testing characterizations, hypothesis, theory and predictions
 Understanding a phenomenon better
 Drawing Conclusions

There are different classifications of research.

1. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
Scientific research relies on the application of the scientific method, a harnessing of curiosity. This research
provides scientific information and theories for the explanation of the nature and the properties of the world around us. It makes
practical applications possible. Scientific research is funded by public authorities, by charitable organizations and by private
groups, including many companies. Scientific research can be subdivided into different classifications according to their
academic and application disciplines.
Generally, research is understood to follow a certain structural process. Though step order may vary depending on the
subject matter and researcher, the following steps are usually part of most formal research, both basic and applied:
  Formation of the topic
 Hypothesis
 Conceptual definitions
 Operational definition
 Gathering of data
 Analysis of data
 Test, revising of hypothesis
 Conclusion, iteration if necessary

A common misunderstanding is that by this method a hypothesis could be proven or tested. Generally a hypothesis is used to
make predictions that can be tested by observing the outcome of an experiment. If the outcome is inconsistent with the
hypothesis, then the hypothesis is rejected. However, if the outcome is consistent with the hypothesis, the experiment is said to
support the hypothesis. This careful language is used because researchers recognize that alternative hypotheses may also be
consistent with the observations. In this sense, a hypothesis can never be proven, but rather only supported by surviving rounds
of scientific testing and, eventually, becoming widely thought of as true (or better, predictive), but this is not the same as it
having been proven. A useful hypothesis allows prediction and within the accuracy of observation of the time, the prediction will
be verified. As the accuracy of observation improves with time, the hypothesis may no longer provide an accurate prediction. In
this case a new hypothesis will arise to challenge the old, and to the extent that the new hypothesis makes more accurate
predictions than the old, the new will supplant it.

Steps of the Scientific Process

1) SETTING A GOAL
Research in all disciplines and subjects, not just science, must begin with a clearly defined goal. This usually, but not always,
takes the form of a hypothesis.
For example, an anthropological study may not have a specific hypothesis or principle, but does have a specific goal, in studying
the culture of a certain people and trying to understand and interpret their behavior.
The whole study is designed around this clearly defined goal, and it should address a unique issue, building upon previous
research and scientifically accepted fundamentals. Whilst nothing in science can be regarded as truth, basic assumptions are
made at all stages of the research, building upon widely accepted knowledge.
2) INTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTS
Research does require some interpretation and extrapolation of results.
In scientific research, there is always some kind of connection between data (information gathered) and why the scientist think
that the data looks as it does. Often the researcher looks at the data gathered, and then comes to a  conclusion of why the data
looks like it does.
A history paper, for example, which just reorganizes facts and makes no commentary on the results, is not research but
a review.
If you think of it this way, somebody writing a school textbook is not performing research and is offering no new insights. They
are merely documenting pre-existing data into a new format.
If the same writer interjects their personal opinion and tries to prove or disprove a  hypothesis, then they are moving into the area
of genuine research. Science tends to use experimentation to study and interpret a specific hypothesis or question, allowing a
gradual accumulation of knowledge that slowly becomes a basic assumption.
3) REPLICATION AND GRADUAL ACCUMULATION
For any study, there must be a clear procedure so that the experiment can be replicated and the results verified.
Again, there is a bit of a grey area for observation-based research, as is found in anthropology, behavioral biology and social
science, but they still fit most of the other criteria.
Planning and designing the experimental method, is an important part of the project and should revolve around answering
specific predictions and questions. This will allow an exact duplication and verification by independent researchers, ensuring that
the results are accepted as real.
Most scientific research looks at an area and breaks it down into easily tested pieces.
The gradual experimentation upon these individual pieces will allow the larger questions to be approached and answered,
breaking down a large and seemingly insurmountable problem, into manageable chunks.
True research never gives a definitive answer but encourages more research in another direction. Even if a  hypothesis is
disproved, that will give an answer and generate new ideas, as it is refined and developed.
Research is cyclical, with the results generated leading to new areas or a refinement of the original process.
4) CONCLUSION
The term, research, is much stricter in science than in everyday life.
It revolves around using the scientific method to generate hypotheses and provide analyzable results. All scientific research has
a goal and ultimate aim, repeated and refined experimentation gradually reaching an answer.
These results are a way of gradually uncovering truths and finding out about the processes that drive the universe around us.
Only by having a rigid structure to experimentation, can results be verified as acceptable contributions to science.
Some other areas, such as history and economics, also perform true research, but tend to have their own structures in place for
generating solid results. They also contribute to human knowledge but with different processes and systems.
2. ARTISTIC RESEARCH
Artistic research, also seen as 'practice-based research', can take form when creative works are considered both the
research and the object of research itself. It is the debatable body of thought which offers an alternative to purely scientific
methods in research in its search for knowledge and truth.
One of the characteristics of artistic research is that it must accept subjectivity as opposed to the classical scientific
methods. As such, it is similar to the social sciences in using qualitative research and intersubjectivity as tools to apply
measurement and critical analysis
3. HISTORICAL RESEARCH

Historical research is embodied in the scientific method.

The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use historical sources and other
evidence to research and then to write history. There are various history guidelines commonly used by historians in their work,
under the headings of external criticism, internal criticism, and synthesis. This includes  higher criticism and textual criticism.
Though items may vary depending on the subject matter and researcher, the following concepts are usually part of most formal
historical research:

 Identification of origin date

 Evidence of localization
 Recognition of authorship
 Analysis of data
 Identification of integrity
 Attribution of credibility
RESEARCH METHODS

The goal of the research process is to produce new knowledge, which takes three main forms (although, as previously
discussed, the boundaries between them may be obscure.):

 Exploratory research, which structures and identifies new problems

 Constructive research, which develops solutions to a problem
 Empirical research, which tests the feasibility of a solution using empirical evidence

Research can also fall into two distinct types:

 Primary research (collection of data that does not already exist)

 Secondary research (summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research)

In social sciences and later in other disciplines, the following two research methods can be applied, depending on the properties
of the subject matter and on the objective of the research:

 Qualitative research (understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior)
  Quantitative research (systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their
relationships)

Research is often conducted using the hourglass model Structure of Research. The hourglass model starts with a broad
spectrum for research, focusing in on the required information through the methodology of the project (like the neck of the
hourglass), then expands the research in the form of discussion and results.

References:

http://www.experiment-resources.com/research-process.html

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia