Unit

06:
Planning a Computer Project

Ms. Prabha Mihirani

MCS(Peradeniya), B.Sc. (Special) in Computer Science (Jaffna)
Lecturer
Department of Information Technology
Faculty of Engineering and Technology
E-Mail – prabha.mihirani@cinec.edu
This year Theme

The Environmental Impact of Digital

Transformation

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 Chapter 2
Research to Support Projects

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Learning Outcomes
• By the end of this lesson you should be able to explain followings,
• The project management process
• Aims, objectives and goals
• Research to support projects

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 The Project Life Cycle

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Initiation Phase
• Identify project sponsor
• Define scope and deliverables
• Relationship to organizational goals is key
• Approve Budget
• Broad statement for risks, approach, timelines
• Identify stakeholders
• Assign a project manager
• Approve project charter (approval to proceed) at the end of this
phase
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Planning Phase
• Define deliverables

• Considering deliverables WBS defines the “work packages”

• Develop a schedule based on “work packages”

• Plan stakeholders, communication, quality, costs, risks,

procurement, resources, human resources management

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Implementation (Execution) Phase
• Hire project team and development

• Procurements

• Project work in progress

• Monitor

• Manage changes

• Communication to stakeholders
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Closing Phase
• Reporting

• Close out procurements—final payments

• Lessons learned

• Celebrate

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 Aims, Objectives and Goals

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Aims
• Describe what you expect to achieve at the end of a
project/research
• Refers to an intention or a desired outcome
• Long-term outcomes

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Objectives
• More specific and concrete goal or step
• Describe how you achieve your final aim or intent
• A series of objectives must be achieved to reach the final aim
• Short-term steps

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Aim vs Objective

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SMART Objectives
• Objectives need to be sensible, doable and precisely described

• Students often find it difficult to express realistic objectives

• S.M.A.R.T guidelines are the solution

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SMART Objectives Cont.
• Specific – Be specific and avoid general statements. Specify what
you are going to do

• Measurable – Definable outcome

• Achievable - Choose a project that can be done

• Realistic – Consider factors like time, money, skills, access to

information, etc. as early as possible

• Time constrained – Understand the time-frame

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Goals
• Observable and measurable end result based on one or more
objectives to be achieved with in a fixed time frame

• Long-term and short term goals

• Goals also SMART as objectives

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Goal vs Objective

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Aims, Goals, Objectives
• Goals: Reflect the purpose with outcomes in mind

• Aims: The most general level

• Objectives: Reflects the most specific levels of outcomes

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Example
• Goal:
• Reduce customer waiting time in long bank queues
• Aim:
• To conduct empirical research into customer awareness towards e-banking and
their frequency of use
• Objectives:
• Review the literature concerning the usage of e-banking and the awareness
• Investigate government bank/private bank customers attitudes and perceptions
towards e-banking and their usage
• Compare statistics between various customer groups (e.g., teenage vs adults,
fixed deposit holders vs savings account holders etc..)

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 Research to Support Projects

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What is a “Research“?
• Specific procedures or techniques used to,
• Identify,
• Select,
• Process,
• Analyze
information about a topic.

• A research answers a research question

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Primary Research
• Primary research refers to the collection of original data from the
field using selected and justified method/s

• The nature of research topic determines the method/s which will

be used

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Primary Research: Data Collection
• Questionnaires / surveys

• Interviews(mail, telephone, personal interview, in-house self-

administered, online)

• Observations(human and mechanical)

• Focus group discussions(groups of 8 to 12 people with moderator

trying to reach a settlement of opinions)

(Stretch 2002; De Vaus, 2004; Denscombe 2007)

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Advantages : Primary Research
• Gather up to date information

• Potentially address specific questions

• Data obtained quickly (on line / telephone surveys)

• Researchers got control over the research study, what information

to collect, how the information is collected
(Denscombe 2007; Stretch 2002; De Vaus, 2004)

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Disadvantages : Primary Research
• Costly to collect data. It is almost impossible without funding
• Difficulties to access research participants
• Targeted people may be reluctant
• Take long time to collect data – financial implications
• May produce misleading results due to researcher bias/
questionnaire questions are not worded properly
• Requires expertise

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Secondary Research
• Use information collected by others e.g., You undertake secondary
research every time you write an assignment!
• Variety of information sources,
• Based on the work of an original researcher who did the field work
• Based on the interpretation of original researcher’s work by someone else

• Fundamental part of primary research as the researcher needs to be

fully aware of what others have studied in relation to their
subject/topic of interest
• Example: You can have the same research being carried out in a
different context
(Stretch 2002; Creswell 1998 )
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Secondary Research: Sources
• Books/ e-books – library catalogue etc.
• Journals – Excellent sources of information – peer reviewed
• Media - Newspapers, TV, Radio etc., Bias issues
• Think Tanks – consider political leanings, e.g. The Bow Group, the
oldest Tory think tank founded to counter socialism
• Government Departments - e.g. Department of censes and statistics
provides very useful information on children, education & skills, crime
& justice, Health & social care , population, equality & diversity,
migration etc., Potential challenges with government statistics/
information source
• Wikipedia – Reliability

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Advantages: Secondary Research
• Ease of access to secondary data as those available online
• Low cost compared to primary research
• Less disturbing on people (especially on sensitive topics)
• Used by researchers to clarify their research question before
carrying out a primary research
• Addressing a research question usually in well researched subject
areas, Therefore no need to carry out primary research
• Provides data that researchers may not be able to collect , e.g.
crime rates, disease prevalence, death rates etc.
(Creswell 1998, Bryman 2008)
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Disadvantages: Secondary Research
• Information quality needs to be constantly assessed

• Potential for publisher biased information

• Information maybe out of date

• Research articles can be published a long time after the original

research

(Stretch, 2002)

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Objectives of Research
• Discover hidden truth of a specific field
• Familiarize with an established answer to a research question or
achieve new insights into it
• Demonstrate the characteristics of a particular individual,
situation or a group accurately
• Determine the frequency which something occurs or which it is
associated with something else
• Test a hypothesis of a casual relationship between variables
• (Hypothesis is a specific, testable prediction. It describes in
concrete terms what you expect, will happen in a certain
circumstance.)
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Motivation in Research
• Research degree with its benefits

• Challenge to solve unsolved problems

• Intellectual joy

• Services to society

• Get respectability

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Research Process
• Identification of general problem
• Literature review
• Specify hypotheses

• Determination of design/methodology
• Data collection
• Data analysis/presentation

Interpretation of findings and report writing

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Research Approaches
• Quantitative approach
• Inferential
• Experimental
• Simulation

• Qualitative approach

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Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research

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Inferential Approach
• Survey research

• Form a data base from which to infer characteristics or

relationships of population

• A sample of population is studied (questioned or observed) to

determine its characteristics and then inferred that the population
has the same characteristics
• Sample: A smaller, manageable version of a larger group. It is a subset
containing the characteristics of a larger population

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Sampling

Each element in the population has

an equal, independent chance of
selection in the sample

Theory of probability in the choice of

elements from the sampling population

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Experimental Research
• Some variables are manipulated to observe their effect on other
variables

• Much greater control over the research environment

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Simulation Approach
• Construction of an artificial environment to generate relevant
information and data

• Observation of the dynamic behavior of a system/sub system

under controlled conditions

• Example : GNS3 network simulator

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Qualitative Approach
• Subjective assessment of,
• Attitudes
• Opinions
• Behavior
• Not subjected to rigorous quantitative analysis

• Focus group interviews, projective techniques and depth

interviews are used.

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Criteria of Good Research
• Clearly defined purpose
• Common concepts to be used
• Explain procedure clearly for continuity
• Results should be as objective as possible
• Report with frankness
• Acknowledge, procedural flaws
• Limitations of the study

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Criteria of Good Research Cont.
• Appropriate statistical test of significance
• Reliable outcome measures
• Justify conclusions with data
• Limitation of data
• Experienced researcher
• Systematic
• Logical
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Types of Research
• Descriptive
• Analytical
• Applied
• Fundamental
• Quantitative
• Qualitative
• Conceptual
• Empirical
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Descriptive Research
• Surveys and fact-finding researches
• Description of situation as it exists at present
• Social science & business research
• No control over variables
• Can only report what has happened or what is happening

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Analytical Research
• Analyze already available facts / information to make critical
evaluation of material

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Fundamental Research
• Generalization

• Formulation of a theory

• Gaining knowledge for knowledge’s sake is ‘pure’ or ‘basic'

research

• Finding information
• E.g. with view to make generalization about human behavior

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Applied Research
• Finding a solution for an immediate problem / for pressing
practical problem

• Society / industrial / business organization

• Aimed at certain conclusions

• Marketing research / evaluation research

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Conceptual Research
• Related to abstract ideas / theory

• To develop new concepts / reinterpret existing ones

• Verified by empirical research

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Empirical Research
• Data-based research

• Relies on experience / observation alone

• Verified by observation / experiment

• Works to get enough facts to prove / disprove hypothesis

• Evidence gathered by this is most powerful support possible for a

given hypothesis

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Types of Research
• One-time research - Research is confined to a single time-period,
longitudinal - Carried over several-time periods
• Field-setting research/laboratory/simulation - Depends upon the
environment
• Clinical / laboratory - case-study method
• Historical - Utilizes historical sources like documents, remains, etc
• Conclusion oriented
• Decision oriented
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Research Methods
• All those methods/techniques that are used for conduction of
research
• Three types,
• Methods concerned data collection
• Statistical techniques for establishment of relationship b/w data
and unknown
• Evaluating the accuracy of results obtained

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Research Methodology
• A systematic way to solve the research problem

• Science of understanding how research is done

• Study varies steps adopted by a researcher

• Researchers should know the relevant method and which are not

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 Thank You

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