ICT AND RESEARCH TECHNIQUES

observation:is the process of watching someone or something. Often, observation

is an informal action, but it can also be formal and involve data collection. An
observation can also be the collected information itself.
Understanding Observations
In science, it is necessary to make observations in order to prove or disprove
hypotheses using the scientific method, the process of hypothesizing, predicting,
testing and concluding based on one's observations.
While observation is most definitely used by all scientists, anyone can make an
observation merely by watching.
Some examples of observation include:
 A scientist looking at a chemical reaction in an experiment
 A doctor watching a patient after administering an injection
 A parent watching her children interact with other children on the
playground
 An astronomer looking at the night sky and recording data regarding
movement and brightness of the objects he sees
 A zoologist watching lions in a den after prey is introduced to determine
the swiftness of the animals' response
 Air flight controllers watching their monitors for airplane movements and
locations
 A child watching a fish in a tank
 A chef watching his roast in the oven as it cooks
 A fisherman watching his line for tautness indicating a fish has bitten the
bait
 A crabber watching his crab cages for activity indicating he has caught crabs
 A meteorologist watching the Doppler radar as a storm approaches
 A botanist recording daily data on plant growth after looking and measuring
each day
 A coach watching a group of athletes to choose which will join his team
 A fan watching a baseball game
 A chart showing data collected over a period of time
 A written narrative of an employee's performance
 A doctor watching a patient's reaction to medication
 A psychologist watching a wife's reaction to her husband's confession
 A daycare provider watching the children's interaction
 A baker watching her cake in the oven to ensure it rises and is cooked
appropriately
 A chef watching water come to the perfect boil before adding pasta
 A little league coach watching children play to determine strengths and
weaknesses
 A producer watching actors perform a scene
 A kennel operator watching dogs play together
 An audience member watching a movie unfold on the big screen
 A person sitting at a restaurant looking at the others around and people
watching
 A mechanic looking under the hood while the car is running to attempt to
diagnose a problem
 A teacher watching her students work during independent work time
 An astronaut watching a chemical as they ascend to space in order to
determine changes
 A boss watching construction workers build a house in order to determine
their effectiveness
 A pit boss watching casino dealers and players to prevent theft or fraud
The Importance of Observation
Observation is a very important part of science. It lets us see the results of an
experiment, even if they are not the results we expect. It lets us see unexpected
things around us that might stimulate our curiosity, leading to new experiments.
Even more important than observation is accurate observation. Often, our eyes
and our brains play tricks on us, letting us see what we expect to see, instead of
what is actually there.
What is a research question?
A research question is the question around which you center your research. It
should be:

 clear: it provides enough specifics that one’s audience can easily

understand its purpose without needing additional explanation.
 focused: it is narrow enough that it can be answered thoroughly in the
space the writing task allows.
  concise: it is expressed in the fewest possible words.
 complex: it is not answerable with a simple “yes” or “no,” but rather
requires synthesis and analysis of ideas and sources prior to composition
of an answer.
 arguable: its potential answers are open to debate rather than accepted
facts.
You should ask a question about an issue that you are genuinely curious and/or
passionate about.

The question you ask should be developed for the discipline you are studying. A
question appropriate for Biology, for instance, is different from an appropriate
one in Political Science or Sociology. If you are developing your question for a
course other than first-year composition, you may want to discuss your ideas for a
research question with your professor.

Why is a research question essential to the research process?

Research questions help writers focus their research by providing a path through
the research and writing process. The specificity of a well-developed research
question helps writers avoid the “all-about” paper and work toward supporting a
specific, arguable thesis.

Steps to developing a research question:

1. Choose an interesting general topic. Most professional researchers

focus on topics they are genuinely interested in studying. Writers
should choose a broad topic about which they genuinely would like to
know more. An example of a general topic might be “Slavery in the
American South” or “Films of the 1930s.”
2. Do some preliminary research on your general topic. Do a few quick
searches in current periodicals and journals on your topic to see what’s
already been done and to help you narrow your focus. What issues are
scholars and researchers discussing, when it comes to your topic? What
questions occur to you as you read these articles?
 3. Consider your audience. For most college papers, your audience will be
academic, but always keep your audience in mind when narrowing your
topic and developing your question. Would that particular audience be
interested in the question you are developing?
4. Start asking questions. Taking into consideration all of the above, start
asking yourself open-ended “how” and “why” questions about your
general topic. For example, “Why were slave narratives effective tools
in working toward the abolishment of slavery?” or “How did the films of
the 1930s reflect or respond to the conditions of the Great
Depression?”
5. Evaluate your question.  After you’ve put a question or even a couple of
questions down on paper, evaluate these questions to determine
whether they would be effective research questions or whether they
need more revising and refining.
o Is your research question clear? With so much research available
on any given topic, research questions must be as clear as possible
in order to be effective in helping the writer direct his or her
research.
o Is your research question focused? Research questions must be
specific enough to be well covered in the space available.
o Is your research question complex? Research questions should
not be answerable with a simple “yes” or “no” or by easily-found
facts.  They should, instead, require both research and analysis on
the part of the writer. They often begin with “How” or “Why.”
6. Begin your research. After you’ve come up with a question, think about
the possible paths your research could take. What sources should you
consult as you seek answers to your question? What research process
will ensure that you find a variety of perspectives and responses to your
question?
 

Sample Research Questions

Unclear: How should social networking sites address the harm they cause?
Clear: What action should social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook
take to protect users’ personal information and privacy?
The unclear version of this question doesn’t specify which social networking sites
or suggest what kind of harm the sites might be causing. It also assumes that this
“harm” is proven and/or accepted. The clearer version specifies sites (MySpace
and Facebook), the type of potential harm (privacy issues), and who may be
experiencing that harm (users). A strong research question should never leave
room for ambiguity or interpretation.

Unfocused: What is the effect on the environment from global warming?

Focused: What is the most significant effect of glacial melting on the lives of
penguins in Antarctica?

The unfocused research question is so broad that it couldn’t be adequately

answered in a book-length piece, let alone a standard college-level paper. The
focused version narrows down to a specific effect of global warming (glacial
melting), a specific place (Antarctica), and a specific animal that is affected
(penguins). It also requires the writer to take a stance on which effect has the
greatest impact on the affected animal. When in doubt, make a research question
as narrow and focused as possible.

Too simple: How are doctors addressing diabetes in the U.S.?

Appropriately Complex:  What main environmental, behavioral, and genetic
factors predict whether Americans will develop diabetes, and how can these
commonalities be used to aid the medical community in prevention of the
disease?

The simple version of this question can be looked up online and answered in a
few factual sentences; it leaves no room for analysis. The more complex version is
written in two parts; it is thought provoking and requires both significant
investigation and evaluation from the writer. As a general rule of thumb, if a quick
Google search can answer a research question, it’s likely not very effective.

Dependent
The variable that depends on other factors that are measured. These
variables are expected to change as a result of an experimental manipulation
of the independent variable or variables. It is the presumed effect.
Independent
The variable that is stable and unaffected by the other variables you are
trying to measure. It refers to the condition of an experiment that is
systematically manipulated by the investigator. It is the presumed cause.

Definition of Circuit Switching

Circuit Switching establishes a physical path between the sender and receiver of
the message before a message is delivered.

Definition of Packet Switching

Packet Switching is connectionless as it doesn’t establish any physical connection

before the transmission starts. 

Experimental design refers to how participants are allocated to the different

conditions (or IV levels) in an experiment.
Probably the commonest way to design an experiment in psychology is to divide
the participants into two groups, the experimental group, and the control group,
and then introduce a change to the experimental group and not the control
group.

The importance of experimental design

Experimental design is important in any scientific study. Ideally we would

measure one source of variation while controlling all others. However, in
metabolomics it is not always possible to control all sources of variation due to
the complexity of the studies.

Dissemination of research findings is an important part of the research process,

passing on the benefits to other researchers, professional practitioners and the
wider community. Research activities supported by public funding are rarely
considered complete until the results have been made widely available.

There are many ways of disseminating research findings. Formal publication of

the results of research most commonly takes place in refereed academic journals
or books, but this is not always the case. This section of the Framework applies to
all forms of dissemination of research findings, refereed and non-refereed, in any
medium of communication, including conferences, public performance and public
exhibition.

The University of South Australia is committed to promoting an environment of

honesty, integrity, accuracy and responsibility in the dissemination of research
findings by:

 ensuring that all parties to the research are made aware of the nature and
scope of confidentiality agreements;
 protecting the intellectual property rights of the institution, the researcher,
research trainees and sponsors of the research, as appropriate;
 ensuring in sponsored research arrangements that the sponsors of research
understand the importance of publication in research and do not delay
publication beyond the time needed;
 protecting intellectual property and other relevant interests;
 ensuring that researchers are aware of contractual arrangements that
restrict, delay or limit publication;
 assisting researchers in effective communication through the mass media
by the provision of advice, guidance, information resources and training
opportunities;
 supporting communication of research findings to the wider public by, for
example, assistance through the University's policy, Public statements by
members of University staff; and
 making every effort when reporting research results for publicity purposes
to acknowledge partner institutions and sponsors involved in collaborative
research.

 Circuit Switching is connection oriented that means a path is established
between source and destination before the transmission occurs. On the
other hand, Packet Switching is Connectionless that means a dynamic route
is decided for each packet while transmission.
 Circuit Switching was originally designed for voice communication whereas,
Packet Switching was originally designed for data communication.
 Circuit Switching is inflexible as once a path is established for transmission,
it doesn’t change while the duration of the session. On the other hand,
 Packet Switching is flexible as each packet may travel through a different
route to reach its destination.
 In packet switching, as each packet travels a different path hence, the
packet are received out of order at the receiver side and later arranged in
order. On the other hand, in circuit switching the entire message is received
as it is as sent from a sender to receiver.
 Space Division Switching or Time-Division Switching can be used to
implement Circuit Switching whereas, Packet Switching can be
implemented using two approaches Datagram Approach and Virtual Circuit
Approach.
 Circuit Switching is always implemented at physical layer whereas, Packet
Switching is implemented on the network layer.
 For Data transmission, Packet Switching is the more efficient than Circuit
Switching whereas, when it comes to voice transmission Circuit switching is
more efficient than packet switching.
IP address

An IP address is assigned to every device on a network, so that device can be

located on that network.
The internet is just a network, after all – albeit a huge one – and every device
connected to it has an IP address. The server that houses Ask Leo!, for example, is
(currently) at 50.28.23.175. That number is used by the network routing
equipment, so when you ask for a page from the site, the request is routed to the
right server.
MAC Address

A MAC (or Machine Access Control) address is best thought of as kind of serial
number assigned to every network adapter. No two anywhere should have the
same MAC address. (I’ll talk about that “should” more in a moment.)

  IP addresses are assigned as part of connecting to a network, and

MAC addresses are assigned at the time hardware is manufactured.
Internet: Applications

The Internet has many important applications. Of the various services available
via the Internet, the three most important are e-mail, web browsing, and peer-to-
peer services . E-mail, also known as electronic mail, is the most widely used and
successful of Internet applications. Web browsing is the application that had the
greatest influence in dramatic expansion of the Internet and its use during the
1990s. Peer-to-peer networking is the newest of these three Internet
applications, and also the most controversial, because its uses have created
problems related to the access and use of copyrighted materials.

E-Mail

Whether judged by volume, popularity, or impact, e-mail has been and continues
to be the principal Internet application. This is despite the fact that the underlying
technologies have not been altered significantly since the early 1980s. In recent
years, the continuing rapid growth in the use and volume of e-mail has been
fueled by two factors.

Web Browsing

The web browser is another Internet application of critical importance. Unlike e-

mail, which was developed and then standardized in the early, noncommercial
days of the Internet, the web browser was developed in a highly commercialized
environment dominated by such corporations as Microsoft and Netscape, and
heavily influenced by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). While Microsoft
and Netscape have played the most obvious parts in the development of the web
browser, particularly from the public perspective, the highly influential role of the
W3C may be the most significant in the long term.

Peer-To-Peer Computing

One of the fastest growing, most controversial, and potentially most important
areas of Internet applications is peer-to-peer (P2P) networking. Peer-to-peer
networking is based on the sharing of physical resources, such as hard drives,
 processing cycles, and individual files among computers and other intelligent
devices. 

The Future

The remarkable developments during the late 1990s and early 2000s suggest that
making accurate predictions about the next generation of Internet applications is
difficult, if not impossible

A research hypothesis is a specific, clear, and testable proposition or predictive

statement about the possible outcome of a scientific research study based on a
particular property of a population, such as presumed differences between
groups on a particular variable or relationships between variables. Specifying the
research hypotheses is one of the most important steps in planning a scientific
quantitative research study. A quantitative researcher usually states an a priori
expectation about the results of the study in one or more research hypotheses
before conducting the study, because the design of the research study and the
planned research design often is determined by the stated hypotheses. Thus, one
of the advantages of stating a research hypothesis is that it requires the
researcher to fully think ...

Five Steps in Hypothesis Testing:
1. Specify the Null Hypothesis.
2. Specify the Alternative Hypothesis.
3. Set the Significance Level (a)
4. Calculate the Test Statistic and Corresponding P-Value.
5. Drawing a Conclusion.
Hypothesis Testi ng

Hypothesis testi ng is a scienti fi c process of testi ng whether or not the

hypothesis is plausible.  The following steps are involved in hypothesis
testi ng:
The fi rst step is to state the null and alternati ve hypothesis clearly.
The null and alternati ve hypothesis in hypothesis testi ng can be a one
tailed or two tailed test.
The second step is to determine the test size. This means that the
researcher decides whether a test should be one tailed or two tailed
to get the right criti cal value and the rejecti on region.
The third step is to compute the test stati sti c and the probability
value. This step of the hypothesis testi ng also involves the
constructi on of the confi dence interval depending upon the testi ng
approach.
The fourth step involves the decision making step. This step of
hypothesis testi ng helps the researcher reject or accept the null
hypothesis by making comparisons between the subjecti ve criterion
from the second step and the objecti ve test stati sti c or the probability
value from the third step.
The fi ft h step is to draw a conclusion about the data and interpret the
results obtained from the data.