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
 Chapter 3
Practical Aspect of Research

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Learning Outcomes
• By the end of this lesson you should be able to explain followings,
• Research Question
• Research Hypothesis
• Sampling
• Qualitative and Quantitative Researches

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Research Question
What do I want to know?

• A well-defined and specific research question is the key for making decisions
about,
• Study design
• Population
• What type of data will be collected analyzed
• Should be a clear, unambiguous and specific single sentence in the form of a
question
• Must be:
• Answerable
• Researchable
• Significant
• Possible
Often begins with a general concern
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Examples
• How can the addition of biometrics authentication on social media
improve user identity protection?

• What is the impact of ergonomics on the performance of

employees?

• To what degree can public key cryptography help improve data

base security on an e-commerce web site?

• What could be done to minimize the loss caused by cybercrimes

and ransomware software?
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Formulate a Research Question
• Be inspired by observing people and practices, by attending
seminars, conferences and symposia

• Review local, national, and regional problems

• Discuss, collaborate and get input from your colleagues

• Read about the topics, reviews and researches done to find out
gaps in existing knowledge

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Good Research Question: FINER Criteria
• Feasible : Manageable scope, affordable time and cost, adequate
technical expertise
• Interesting : To investigator, peers & community
• Novel : New findings, Confirms, refuses or extends previous findings
• Ethical : Comply with research ethics and code of conduct
• Relevant : Relevant to the scientific community and people involved in
your area of study. If possible, your research question should also be
relevant to the public’s interest.

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Research Hypothesis
• A statement of the research
question in a measurable form

• Translates the problem

statement into a precise, clear
prediction of expected
outcomes

• Reflect the depth of

knowledge, imagination and
experience of the investigator
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Hypothesis Types
• Simple Hypothesis – Predicts the relationship between a single
dependent variable and a single independent variable

• Complex Hypothesis – Predicts the relationship between two or

more independent and dependent variables
• Directional Hypothesis – Specifies the expected direction to be
followed to determine the relationship between variables

• Non-directional Hypothesis – Does not predict the exact direction or

nature of the relationship between the two variables. Use when
research dose not based on theory / when the new research findings
oppose the previous research
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Hypothesis Types Cont.
• Null Hypothesis – Denoted by H0. No relationship between two
variables

• Alternative Hypothesis – Denoted by H1 or Ha. Challenges the

null hypothesis and states that there is a relationship between
the two variables of the study and that the results are
significant to the research topic

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Example Hypothesis
• Simple hypothesis: Turning off your phone makes it charge faster

• Complex hypothesis: Both age of social media user and their level
of social media activities affect the level of network information
accuracy of an individual

• Directional Hypothesis: High end security controls will lead to

better data protection

• Non-Directional Hypothesis: There is a relationship between big

data and business decisions
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Example Hypothesis Cont.
• Null hypothesis: There is no significant difference between
internet addiction of undergraduate and post graduate students

• Alternative Hypothesis: The proportion of crimes that are from

insiders is higher than the proportion of crimes that are from
outsider

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Sampling

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Sampling Methods

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Random Sampling
• Simple random
Example – Small population such as employees on a company
sample using a random number generator

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Random Sampling Cont.
• Systematic sampling
Example: Every nth patient entering the out-patient clinic is
selected and included in our sample

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Random Sampling Cont.
• Stratified
Example: Big population such as population of a city and want to
ensure representativeness of all groups with a pre-determined
characteristic such as: age groups, ethnic origin, and gender

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Random Sampling Cont.
• Cluster
Example: 10 schools have the same number of students across the
county. We can randomly select 3 out of 10 schools as our clusters

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Non-Random Sampling
• Quota
Example : Study the buying habits of the people in New York depending on
their gender and employment status,
Employment Status
10% - Unemployed
90% - Employed
Gender Unemployed

40% - Male
60% - Female
Sample size of 100 people,
60 females and 40 males, 10 of which are unemployed

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Non-Random Sampling
• Snow ball
Example : Study on investigation cheating on exams (person in the
sample can direct to another)

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Non-Random Sampling
• Judgmental / Purposive
Example : Study the culture of Southeast Asian countries

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Inductive vs Deductive Reasoning

Roll out new

Design floor plan
accounting process
and layout of a shop
based on the way
to maximize sales
users interact with
the software

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Quantitative Research Example
• The Cure Hospital wants to know the details about doctors and
patients of their hospital for the purpose of analysis to be done by
the management of the company regarding the working of the
hospital. For this purpose the survey was conducted for getting the
information about,
• The amount of time which the doctor takes for one patient,
• How often a patient comes into the hospital,
• What is the satisfaction level of the patient after taking the consultation of
the doctor and related other questions.

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Quantitative Research Example Cont.
Patients were given the template of the patient satisfaction survey
which includes the different survey questions having the answer
options in numerical form. Like, answer options to the question ,
• ‘What is the amount of time which the doctor takes for one patient?’
less than 10 minutes, 10 to 30 minutes, 30 to 50 minutes, and more than 50 minutes,
• ‘How often a patient comes into the hospital’
1 time, 2-4 times, 4-8 times and more than 8 times.

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Qualitative Research Example
• Focus groups are great for establishing product-market fit. Let’s
assume you are a software company who wants to launch a new
product and you hold a focus group with 12 people. Although
getting their feedback regarding users’ experience with the
product is a good thing, this sample is too small to define how the
entire market will react to your product. So what you can do
instead is holding multiple focus groups in 20 different geographic
regions. Each region should be hosting a group of 12 for each
market segment; you can even segment your audience based on
age. This would be a better way to establish credibility in the
feedback you receive.
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Quantitative Data Analysis Methods

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Key Qualitative Data Analysis Methods

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Activity
• For this activity you need to select, read, and analyze a research paper from
your chosen research area.
• Be prepared to present few PPT slides of the paper in class with,
• Universal question
• Basic points
• Research question
• The way author address research question
• Author’s conclusion
• How author organize and present the research
• What special qualities struck you: illustrations, implications, style, etc.
• What additional research, gaps to be filled, or next steps did the author suggest OR that
you can determine?

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Activity Cont.
• Generate your own research question on selected research area
• Identify a secondary data set
• Evaluate a secondary data set
• Prepare and analyze secondary data

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 Thank You

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