Research Methodology and experimental

Design

Presented by Nuredin S.

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 Research Methods
 What is research?
Research is the systematic process of collecting and analyzing information to increase
our understanding of the phenomenon under study

 The basic types of research are as follows:

Applied (action) vs. Fundamental (basic or pure)
o applied research aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem
o fundamental research is mainly concerned with generalizations and with the
formulation of a theory
 gathering knowledge for knowledge’s sake is termed ‘pure’ or ‘basic’ research

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cont‘d

 Descriptive vs. Analytical

o Descriptive research includes surveys (including comparative and correlational
methods) and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds
description of the state of affairs as it exists at present
in social science the term Ex post facto research is used instead
researcher has no control over the variables (can only report happenings)
discover causes even when they cannot control the variables

o in Analytical research, the researcher has to use facts or information already

available, and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material

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 Conceptual vs. Empirical (experimental)

o Conceptual research is that related to some abstract idea (s) or theory

 it is generally used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts

o Empirical research relies on experience, without due regard for system & theory

 it is data-based research, coming up with conclusions which are capable of being verified by
observation or experiment

 in such research, working hypothesis to the probable results is required

 then works to get enough facts (data) to prove or disprove the hypothesis

 then sets up experimental designs so as to bring forth the desired information

 is thus characterized by the experimenter’s control over the variables under study and deliberate
manipulation of one of them to study its effects

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 Some Other Types of Research - variations of one or more of the above stated
o one-time research or longitudinal research- form the point of view of time
o field-setting research or laboratory research or simulation
o clinical or diagnostic research- follow case-study methods or in depth approaches
o exploratory (development of hypotheses ) or it may be formalized (substantial
structure and with specific hypotheses to be tested)
o historical research- which utilizes historical sources like documents, remains, etc.
to study events or ideas of the past, including the philosophy of persons and groups
at any remote point of time

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 Research Approaches
 The above description of the types of research brings to light the fact that there are
two basic approaches to research, viz., quantitative approach (based on the
measurement of quantity or amount) and the qualitative approach (concerned
with quality or kind)

 Quantitative approach can be further sub-classified into inferential, experimental

and simulation approaches to research

 The purpose of inferential approach to research is to form a data base from

which to infer characteristics or relationships of population

 This usually means survey research where a sample of population is studied

(questioned or observed) to determine its characteristics, and it is then inferred that
the population has the same characteristics

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 Experimental approach is characterized by control over the research environment

 Simulation approach involves the construction of an artificial environment within

which relevant information and data can be generated
o this permits an observation of the dynamic behavior of a system under controlled
conditions
o given the values of initial conditions, parameters and exogenous variables, a
simulation is run to represent the behavior of the process over time
o simulation approach can also be useful in building models for understanding
future conditions

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 Definition of research project: to define RP, ask the following

 What? define your project at the onset

o what personal characteristics do I have to complete my research?

 personal characteristics: likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses

o what skills and experience do I have which might help in my research?

o what research topic and method interests me most?

 Why? it asks the purpose of the research

 because something has fascinated you (interested in the topic)

 you have identified a gap in the research literature

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 Who?
o identify PI, participants and respondents (subjects)

 Where?
o study location (geographic terms) because of budget and time factors
o also, in terms of venue, for interviews or focus groups

 When?
o Time of the year (seasonality of the research)

 Once you have thought about these five Ws, move on to think about how you are going to measure
variables of study and collect your data

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 Measurements of study variables
 Variables
o Independent (cause)
o Dependent (effect, response, regressed)

 Measurement or quantifications might be at four levels (scale). These are:

 nominal
 ordinal
 interval
 Ratio

 Nominal scale
 Nominal or categorical level measurement consists of unordered categories
 Each category can be given a name or a number
 For example, variable gender has two categories or levels: male and female
 Also we can assign numbers to each category such that the number represents that category
 Nominal measurements give qualitative data
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 Categories are qualitatively different; they don’t vary in magnitude or quantity
cont‘d
 Nominal level questions are those designed to elicit responses that take categorical form

 It provide a response to a nominal rating scale

 The questions below are examples of nominal level measurements

 Do like eating egg?

 Yes/No
 What type of regular diet you eat?
 animal origin/plant origin
 other (please specify)
 Note that the 1st question is closed ended while the 2nd question is open-ended
 Closed-ended questions provide only fixed choices for the respondent
 Open-ended questions can be post-coded as nominal data

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 Ordinal scale

 Ordinal level measurement has the properties of nominal scales

 Additionally the categories can be rank-ordered

 If the categories of a variable are ordered:

o category B has ‘more’ than ‘A’ of the phenomenon being measured
o then we say that the variables can be measured on an ordinal scale

 We can assign numbers to each category such that the ordering property inherent in the variable is
preserved by the numbers or scores assigned
 For example, if T is taller than O, we can assign the number 2 to T and 1 to O

 The number 2 is greater than 1, so the relationship between these two numbers preserves the height
relationship between T and O

 The property then allows us to rank-order the values of variables measured on ordinal scales

 These ranks can then be validly compared

 Ordinal level questions require people to answer in rank order 12

 Interval scale

 Interval level measurement has defining property that equal intervals on a scale represent equal amounts
of the quantity being measured

 Assume you are asked to measure color of fresh beef using a five-point scale

o where ‘1’ means dark, and ‘4’ means bright cherry red

o difference in color intensity in ratings between ‘1’ & ‘2’ is same as the difference between ratings of
‘3’ & ‘4’ then we are using an interval scale

o The numbers attached to a variable imply

 3 is more than 2, and 2 is more than 1

 size of the interval between 3 & 2 is same as the interval between 2 & 1

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 Ratio scale
 Ratio level measurement has all the properties of ordinal, and interval measurement

 Additional property is that equal ratios between numbers on the scale represent equal ratios of the
attribute being measured
 Height measured in centimeters is an example of ratio measurement
o someone who is 160 cm tall is twice the height of someone who is 80 cm
 Also ratio measurement possess a zero point on the scale that indicates the absence of the attribute
being measured
 Summary of measurement scales
 Nominal measures are often called discrete variables because they cannot be subdivided
 Ordinal scales consist of categories, therefore they can be thought of as qualitative
 Ordinal scales also have categories that are greater than or less than each other in magnitude and are
therefore quantitative
 Ordinal scales, however, are normally treated as discrete variable
 Interval and ratio levels are often called continuous variables because they can be subdivided and are
described as quantitative
 When data from variables vary in magnitude, they are referred to as quantitative data
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 Research errors
 Random errors
o may be occurring because you are doing something differently in each run
o result in non-reproducible data that doesn't make sense
 Systematic errors
o systematic errors are harder to find
o for example, a piece of your ruler had been cut off now starts at 2" instead of 1“. All your
measurements would be one inch too long
 this is a systematic error (all your data is affected)
 the same amount
 in the same direction
o do different kinds of experiments to cross check their results
o have an independent investigator repeat your experiments
 Elements and population
 Elements of a population are the elementary units for which information is sought

 They comprise the population to which inferences are to be made

 Elements are the units of analysis determined by the research objectives

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 Population is domain from which elements are drawn
 Sampling units, aims and objectives

 Sampling units contain the elements and they are used for selecting elements into the sample

 In element sampling each sampling unit contains no more than one element

 In cluster sampling the sampling units are clusters of several (or many) elements

 The aim is the overall driving force of the research

 Objectives are the means by which you intend to achieve the aims
 Methodology and method
 Methodology is the philosophy or the general principle which will guide your research
o it is the overall approach to studying your topic
o includes issues such as the constraints, dilemmas and ethical choices
 Research methods are the forms you use to gather your data
 It is a particular research technique or way to gather evidence about a phenomenon
 Examples are surveys, case studies, experiments
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 Writing research proposal

 A good research begins with good methodology

 Research methodology is best explained by writing appropriate research proposal

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 Most common components of the research proposal
 Title (including investigator/s and affiliation)
 Introduction
 description of the background
 problem statement/scientific justification
 significance/purpose of the study
 research questions and/or hypotheses
 objectives

 Literature review
 Materials and methods
 location of the study/study site
 experimental units
 management/handling of the experimental unit
 method of the experiment
 treatment
 materials and tools used along with their purpose
 samples and sampling
 data type to be collected
 statistical analysis
 values reported 18
 Cont…
 Expected outcome

 Logistics/budget

 Activity plan/time table

 References

Title
 A good title
o informative: description of the topic
 feeding habits
 human’s feeding habits
o specific: thesis Vs other publications
 nutrient deficiency affects growth
 protein deficiency affects growth
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 o succinct: state no more than is absolutely necessary
 Malnutrition: the effect of protein deficiency, mineral deficiency, fat deficiency, carbohydrate
deficiency, mineral deficiency, vitamin deficiency on child growth
 instead one can say: Nutrient deficiency affect child growth
o points out only the major and most important aspects
 Nutrient deficiency affect pre-weaning child growth
 A good title is as brief as possible and as long as only necessary
 How to improve the title
o avoid dispensable words!
 Analysis of …
 Studies on …
 Observations of …
 The effect of …
o be very cautious with direct translations of words or the use of sentence structures of your first
language (proof reading by a native speaker!)
o avoid abbreviations or foreign words unless they are in common use by the target audience/readers20
 Sometimes, you can diverge from the standard!
o e.g. questions:
 Can feeding RTUF enhance child growth and health?
o e.g. statements:
 Iodine deficiency causes goiter
o e.g. usual
 A Model for the Thermal Conductivity of Frozen Meat
 Style, layout, and page formatting
o all text on the title page is centered vertically and horizontally
o the title page has no page number and it is not counted in any page numbering
o page layout: left margin- 1½”
right margin: 1“
top and bottom margin: 1”
o pages are numbered at the bottom right
o numeric page numbering begins with the first page of Chapter 1 (although a page number is not placed on page
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1)
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  Introduction
 Introduction: starts with a broad basis and then narrows it down to your particular area of
study, explaining the rationale behind each step
 you are attempting to inform the reader about the rationale behind the work, justifying why
your work is an essential component of research in the field
o gradually narrowing down to a research problem, thesis and hypothesis
o explains how you mean to solve the research problem
o creates ‘leads’ to make the reader want to look further into your work
Introduction Vs summary

 introduction is not a summary

 summary repeats the main ideas of an essay

o an introduction introduces the reader to the topic of the work, describes the organizational
structure of the document, and explains the point of the investigation (the thesis argued for)

o introduction serves two purposes

 it gives readers an idea of what the rest of the writing will say
 it provides a reason for readers to keep reading 23
 Description of the background

o providing background or history for the topic (what other studies have there been in this area)
o include a summary of previously published articles and books
o defining a term, phrase, or concept central to the writing
o providing statistics (that you expect will surprise your reader or that go against the common belief about a
topic)
o develop an unusual or unexpected comparison
Statement of the problem/scientific justification

o the nature & scope of the problem should be presented with clarity

 what do you want to find out?

 how will this research add to knowledge in this area?

o statement of the problem is generally incorporated into the introduction

o academic proposals for theses should have this as a separate section 24

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o In general, the null hypothesis is used if theory/literature does not suggest a hypothesized
relationship of the variables
o the alternative is generally reserved for situations in which theory/research suggests a relationship or
directional interplay
o no elaboration is included in this section
o an example would be
1. What are the attitudes of...
2. Is there a significant difference between...
3. Is there a significant relationship between...
o make a clear and careful distinction between the dependent and independent variables
 Objectives

o SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time bound)

o general objective - this is related to the problem as given in the early part of the section

o specific objective - this states the purpose of each experiment conducted 27

 cont‘d

 In a similar fashion to other AOP methods, the radicals formed during the chlorine
based process can be harnessed to react with organic molecules in aqueous solution.
 Disinfection of municipal water by chlorine has given significant community health
advantage by controlling contagious diseases
 In raw water the contact of natural organic matters (NOM) with chlorine produces
chlorination disinfection by-products (DBPs) significantly trihalomethanes (THMs)
and haloacetic acids (HAAs)
 Disinfected water by chlorine the formation of THMs depends upon the raw water
composition, operational parameters and residual chlorine in the water supply
network
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RTE = Ready to Eat
EW = Electrolyzed Water
ACEW = Acidic Electrolyzed Water
AlEW = Alkaline Electrolyzed Water
GR = Growth Rate
LT = Lag Time
MPD = Maximum Population Density

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 Review of literature
 In case of thesis research proposal, review of literature forms separate chapter
 Literature review is different from literature report
 Provides the background and context for the research problem
 Establish the need for the research and indicate that the writer is knowledgeable about the area
o comprehensive grasp of the field
o awareness of important recent substantive and methodological developments
 It shares with the reader the results of other studies that are closely related to the study being reported

 It relates a study to the larger, ongoing dialogue in the literature about a topic, filling in gaps and extending prior studies

 It provides a benchmark for comparing the results of a study with other findings

 In a proposal, the literature review is generally brief and to the point

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Materials and Methods
 Location of the study/study site
o indicate where the research is going to be done
 use coordinates and indicate its distance from the known reference center
 briefly describe the environment as related to the research
o mention general facts about the site
 area of the site
 population and its customs
 staple diets of the area
 mean annual metrological data
Materials/experimental units
o materials are stated along with the technique
o the exact technical specifications and quantities for all materials used should be given
o units are to which treatments are applied
Management/handling of the experimental unit
o Intensive, semi-intensive or extensive
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o Agronomic techniques and soil heterogeneity
Experiment structure/treatment/general procedure
o Are applied to evaluate the variable of interest
o Manner & sequence by which each experiment or set of observations will be done
o How measurements will be obtained should be described in detail
Choice of method depends on different factors
o What information do you want?
o Feasibility
o How reliable should the information be?
o Is it ethical to conduct the study?
o The cost of the design
 Methods commonly used in research
o content analysis
o case study
o survey
o experiment
o observation (used especially in behavioral study)
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o thematic analysis
 The qualitative continuum
o it is useful to think of the different types of qualitative data analysis as positioned on a continuum
(Table below)
o at the one end are the highly qualitative, reflective types of analysis
o whereas on the other end are those which treat the qualitative data in a quantitative way, by
counting and coding data

Highly qualitative Combination Almost quantitative

o thematic and comparative o discourse & conversational analysis o content analysis

analysis o uses a combination of reflexivity and o code and count
o reflexive , intuitive takes counting o mechanical can be left until
place throughout data end of data collection
collection

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 Content analysis
o Using this method the researcher systematically works through each transcript assigning codes, which
may be numbers or words, to specific characteristics within the text
o The researcher may already have a list of categories or may read through each transcript and let the
categories emerge from the data
o This type of analysis can be used for open-ended questions which have been added to questionnaires in
large quantitative surveys, thus enabling the researcher to quantify the answers
 Case studies

o Is an intensive examination, using multiple sources of evidence (qualitative, quantitative or both) of a

single entity which is bounded by time and place
 usually it is associated with a location

o Ihe ‘case’ may be an organization, a set of people such as a social or work group, a community, an
event, a process, an issue or a campaign

o Investigate ‘what is happening’ and are very common in policy research and in exploratory work

o Emphasize detailed contextual analysis of a limited number of events or conditions and their
relationships

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 Survey
o survey can cover a range of issues and nominally results in a variable by case matrix (person by age,
person by education)
o time to use surveys is when you cannot observe directly what you want to study
 e.g. census
 Experiment
o is a systematic and scientific approach to research in which the researcher manipulates one or more
variables, and controls and measures any change in other variables
o experiments can be under field condition or in the laboratory
 Sample size and sampling
 Some common policies to determine sample size
o sample size of zero
 as part of just in time production system
 common salt to be converted to various brines for grading green peas
 goal of zero raw material sampling is usually accompanied by quality control
o 100% sampling
 because of the importance of the attribute to the consumer
 packages of multiple units can be source of innumerable consumer complaints of missing
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  100 % usually machine based
o spot checking
 is an infrequent, nonscheduled, extra examination of a process or product to reassure the inspector that
no mistakes are made
o constant percentage, square root
 there is no common rule to establishing the percentage
 small percentage is selected if the population size is large
 large percentage is selected if the lot is small
 Some advocate the use of square root to improve the use of percentage

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 Statistical samples
 Sample size for random samples without replacement
o the level of precision (sampling error): measured by margin of error (ME)
 is the range in which the true value of the population is estimated to be
 this range is often expressed in percentage points (e.g. 5%)
o the level of confidence (risk level)
 key idea encompassed in the Central Limit Theorem
 when a population is repeatedly sampled, the average value of the attribute obtained by those samples
is equal to the true population value
 in a normal distribution, approx. 95% of the sample values are within 2 SD
o degree of variability in the attributes being measured
 refers to the distribution of attributes in the population
 the more heterogeneous a population, the larger the sample size required
 proportion of 50% indicates a greater level of variability
 hence, 0.5 is often used in determining a more conservative sample size
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 o n = [ z2ɑ/2* p (1-q )] / ME2
 What sample size should you use to achieve a margin of error equal to plus or minus 4%, with a confidence
level of 95%?
 Solution:
 specify the margin of error: ME= ± 4% or 0.04
 specify the confidence level: CL= 95% or 0.95
 compute alpha. α = 1 - 0.95 = 0.05
 determine the critical standard score (z). Since this is an estimation problem, the critical standard score = 1 -
0.05/2 = 0.975
 assume that the population proportion p is equal to 50%
 n = [ z2ɑ/2* p (1-q )] / ME2

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Data collection tools/techniques
o questionnaires
o interviews
o focus group discussion
Questionnaire (close-ended or open-ended)
o when designing questionnaires
 purpose of the questions
 wording and language
 Sequencing
Measuring questions
o categorization
o coding
o scales and scaling
o validity and reliability
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Administration of the questionnaire
o appearance of questionnaire
o length of questionnaire
o introduction to participants (and ethics statement)
o instruction for completion
o pilot (pre-test)
o follow up with non-responses
 Generally, the questions in your questionnaire are your variables and needs to reflect the
appropriate levels of measurement necessary for further statistical analysis
Interviews (unstructured, semi-structured, structured interviews)
o unstructured (in-depth interviews)
 in-depth interviews are sometimes called life history interviews
 the researcher attempts to achieve a holistic understanding of the interviewees’ point of view or
situation
 in unstructured interviews researchers need to remain alert, recognizing important information
and probing for more detail
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 need to know how to tactfully steer someone back from totally irrelevant digressions
o semi-structured interviews
 most common type of interview used
 the same questions need to be asked in each interview
 the researcher also wants the interview to remain flexible so that other important information can still
arise
o can be updated and revised after each interview to include more topics which have arisen as a result of
the previous interview structured interviews
 the interviewer asks interviewee a series of questions and ticks boxes with your response
 are used in quantitative research and can be conducted face-to-face or over the telephone, sometimes
with the aid of computers
 Focus Group Discussion (FGD)
o defining the focus group
o designing the focus group question
o recruiting, preparing and conducting the focus group
o probing issue
o the ethics
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 Data type to be collected
o qualitative
o quantitative
o triangulation
 Statistical analysis
o appropriate statistical design
• one way (CRD) , two way (RCBD), factorial experiments etc
• hypothesis related statements

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