Introduction

What is a research?
search for knowledge through objective and systematic method
of finding solution to a problem or establishing facts/principles.

process of arriving on a dependable solution to a problem

through the planned and systematic collection, analysis and
interpretation of data

systematic process of collecting, analyzing,

and interpreting information in order to increase our
understanding of the phenomenon about which we are
interested or concerned
 Objectives of Research

• To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve

new insight (exploratory or: formulative research
studies);
• To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular
situation or a group (descriptive research studies)
• To determine the frequency with which something
occurs or associated with something else (diagnostic
research studies);
• To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between
variables (hypothesis-testing research studies).
 Characteristics of Research

• Controlled: in real life many factors that affects an

outcome. A particular event is seldom the results of
one to one relationship.
• Rigorous: ensure that procedures, followed to find
answers to questions are relevant, appropriate and
justified
• Systematic: follow a certain logic sequence
• Valid and verifiable: conclusion based on findings can
be verified
• Empirical: conclusion are based upon hard evidence
• Critical: foolproof and free from any drawbacks
 Purposes for Research

• Description: Wants to describe situations and events.

Asks questions like who and how many?
• Exploration: want to know more about situations
and events. Used more to gain insight than to find
definitive answers
• Explanation: Wants to describe situations and
events. Interested in cause and effects and often
asks why something is the way it is
• Evaluation: Wants to know policies or programs are
having the desired effect, what effects they do have ,
and/or how to improve them
 Classification of Research

Objective Inquiry Mode

Application

Pure Applied Descriptive Exploratory Quantitative Qualitative

Research Research Research Research Research Research

Mixed Method
Research

Correlational Explanatory
Research Research
 Classification of Research
• Example Basic vs. Applied One type can influence the
other and vise versa
• An engineer studying theory of light rail construction
techniques may lead to less expensive construction cost
(THEORETICAL)
• therefore leading to the ability of Regional Transportation
authorities to implement extensive regional transportation
systems that can efficiently transport people around the area
(APPLIED)
• Development of efficient transportation systems may lead to
new theories related to development and growth
• (THEORETICAL>APPLIED> THEORETICAL)
 RESEARCH PROCESS IN FLOW
CHART

general Preliminary Formulating

Intensive Design
area of Literature the research Literature
problem and Research
interest Review Review
Objectives

Collect data Analyze Interpret Conclude and

data data Recommend
 Selecting a research topic.
Good sources of ideas are:
• Result of exposure to that topic in their preceding
years of study.
• own work experience
• Reports of research, such as those published in peer-
reviewed journals,( implications or suggestions for
future research (e.g. still unanswered questions,
unresolved debates, new ideas that have emerged as
a result of the research, etc.).
 Selecting a research topic.
Good sources of ideas are:
• The media, both general and
business/professional, ( an applied variety).
• Talking to practitioners can provide interesting
insights into key issues –
• Funding body, either government or private-
sector, makes it known – by public
advertisement or by contacting select
individuals or organizations – that it wishes to
have research undertaken on a particular topic
 Research title
• Gap(s) in current research that you what to fill
Questions to ask
• Interest: Will it keep me interested for a long
period?
• Magnitude: Can I answer it with the time and
resources I have?
• Level of expertise:
–Do I have some idea of how to go about
answering it?
–Is there someone who can supervise me and
can I get on with them?
 Research title
Questions to ask
• Relevance: Will it bridge current gap(s)
• Availability of data: Can I access the required
data?
• Ethical issues: what are the ethical issues and
how to overcome them?
 Research overview

Your research describes your proposed plan of work:

• What you intend to study (scope and research
questions).
• How you intend to study your topic (methodology).
• Why this topic needs to be studied (significance).
• When you will complete this work (timeline).
• (Occasionally) Where you will conduct this work.
 ELEMENTS OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
• The topic/problem should be clearly stated.
• The objectives of the research should be clearly defined.
• The rationale of the research should be provided.
• The existing literature should be reviewed.
• The conceptual framework should be clear.
• The research methodology should be clearly described.
• A timetable and a budget (where relevant) should be
provided.
 introduction and background
sections
• An overview of main area under study:
introduces the research area in its broad sense
• Shows historical perspective (development,
growth) pertinent to the study area
• Main findings relating to key issue(s)
• Indicates knowledge gap from the previous
researches (deficiencies)
• defines the context and boundaries of your
proposed research.
 introduction and background
sections
• knowledge of the literature surrounding this
topic.
• If there is no ( or unable to find) any other
research which deals specifically with your
proposed research; need to say so, illustrating
how the proposed research will fill this gap.
• If there is other work which has covered this
area, you need to show how your work will
build on and add to the existing knowledge.
 introduction and background
sections
•  Facts included must contain a citation of their
source.
• Direct quotations must have a page citation
• Conclusions about what needs to be studied
based on the literature
 Formulating a research problem
Problem Statement: what issue or concern need to
be addressed? What is the situation that lead to
present study?
• Presents the reason behind the proposal i.e. what
will change when this research is done or what
would happen if the research is not done

• A problem statement is the description of an issue

currently existing which needs to be addressed. It
provides the context for the research study and
generates the questions which the research aims to
answer
 Formulating a research problem
In a nut shell the section states
What is known (status quo- knowledge already
established by other scholars)
What is not Known (deficiency /knowledge gap)
Show clearly the focus of the study (focus and
significance/ address/find out what is not
known, a specific statement of what the
research will do
)
 Formulating objective
An objective is a clear statement of something
that needs to be accomplished over a period of
time. SMART objectives are:
Specific – states exactly what you need to achieve
Measurable – includes a quality or quantity measure
Achievable – How can the objective be accomplished
Realistic – can be challenging but must be achievable
Timebound – with a clear end date or timescale
 Formulating Objectives
• Main Objective
– is the overall statement of the main associations
and relationships that you seek to discover or
establish.
• Sub-objectives
– Specific aspects of the topic under investigation
– Worded clearly
– Each subobjective contains one aspect of the
study
– Use action oriented words or verbs (to determine,
to find out, to explore)
 Objective examples
This study mainly aimed at assessing the performance of gas
power generation technologies in Tanzanian for establishing
appropriate technology mix.
Specific Objectives
• Determine the Reliability, Availability and Gas
Productivity of the installed gas fired power plants in
the Tanzania;
• Determine the effect of gas supply on the
performance of gas fired power generation
technologies;
• Establish the performance of natural gas power
generation technologies in Tanzania.
 Objective examples
Main Objective
The main objective of this study was to assess the effect of TQM practices on the
performance of Engineering Higher Learning Institutions.

Specific Objectives
In order to meet the main objective, specific objectives were defined as:
To determine the extent of application of the principles of total quality management in
Engineering Higher Learning Institutions;
To determine the extent of the performance of Engineering Higher Learning Institutions
and
To establish the relationship between total quality management practices and the
performance of Engineering Higher Learning Institutions.
 Objective examples
developing a performance measurement framework for road construction
projects

Specific Objectives
To establish and classify road construction project performance
indicators
To assess factors influencing performance of road construction projects
To propose a road construction project performance assessment tool
 Objective examples
The main objective is the Assessment the Housing Affordability;
The Case of NHC Affordable Housing Projects in Dar es salaam,
Tanzania
 
Specific objectives:
i. To determine the prevailing definition of housing affordability
index in Tanzania.
ii. To evaluate factors that influences the demand and supply of
the affordable houses Tanzania.
iii. To assess the role of government in improving the provision of
affordable housing in Tanzania.
iv. To give recommendation to the real estate sector on ways to
improve the supply of affordable houses.
 
 Objective examples
The main objective of this study is to determine the evaporation
losses on the water surface of NYM reservoir and correlate
evaporation losses between offshore and on water surface to
determine energy losses at NyumbayaMungu Reservoir.
 
Specific Objectives
To determine evaporation parameters on water surface and on
land at NYM reservoir.
 
To develop an evaporation correlation model for water surface and
land surrounding the reservoir.
 
To determine energy losses at NYM reservoir due to evaporation
 Objective examples
The general objective of this research was to assess the
adherence to quality management practices by building
contractors during the construction phase in Tanzania.

Specific Objectives
i. To determine commitment of the building contractors to
Quality Management in the building construction projects;
ii. To determine the challenges faced by building construction
companies while practicing quality management in
construction;
iii. To recommend the best practice of quality management for
achieving quality in construction.
 Objective examples-is it SMART
Objectives
To know how computer-based management information system
application is introduced in secondary schools.
Specific Objectives
i. To investigate the external factors on application of computer-
based management information systems in Tanzanian
Secondary Schools.
ii. To investigate the internal factors on application of computer-
based management information systems in Tanzanian
Secondary Schools.
 Objective examples-is it SMART

Objective
To modernize garage for the University of Dar es salaam that will
operate competitively and profitably .

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
1. To examine the existing garage of university of Dar es
salaam ,to find out what it lacks in terms of facilities, operational
model, location suitability.
2. To provide a design that gives the best in terms of Physical
layout of the workshop ,Facilities layout ,Modern tools and
equipments,Work practices and procedure.
 Why Formulate Objectives
Help to
Focus on the study
Avoid collection of data that are strictly not
necessary for understanding ad solving the
problem
Organize the study in clearly defined part/phase
Facilitate the development of research
methodology
 Operational definition
• To find out the number of children living
below the poverty line in Tanzania
• To measure the effectiveness of a retraining
program design to help young people

Identifying Variables
• Variable: a concept that can be measured
(varies and take two or more values)
 Types of Variables
• Causation
– Independent variable-having the effect
– Dependent variable-what is being affected
– Extraneous –not related to the study but may
affect dependent variable (e.g. smoking and
cancer) independent
– Intervening variable-links independent variable
and dependent variable (e.g. higher education and
income [occupation])
• Unit of measurement
– Categorical (yes/no; bad/good, political party)
– Continuous (age, income)
 Writing research titles
A good title should….
• Predict the content
• Catch readers interest
• Reflect the problem you are/ wish to
investigate
• Contain key words that will make it easy to
access through computer search.
 To check if you have a good title answer the
following questions….
• What is my research about?
• What techniques /designs will I use?
• Who/What will be studied?
 How to do it
• Build a sentence with a key words
• Delete all unnecessary words
• Delete non-essential words and re-word
• It is recommended that the title should not
exceed 14 words