Research Methods

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ME 503 Scientific Research Methods by lkay SALHOLU

LECTURE 1 INTRODUCTION
Adopted from the article Science of Wikipedia science portal; Beins, Bernard (2004) Research Methods, Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, ISBN: 0205327710; and N.J.Salkind, J.Neil (1997) Exploring Research, third ed., Prentice Hall, New Jersey, ISBN: 0-13-520636-7, Wissenschaftliche Methode - Scientific Method - Frank Wolfs Aus ELib.at Elektronischer Volltext
lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU
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Books (available in the NEUs Grand Library):

Legendre, Louis (2008) Scientific Research and Discovery: Processes, Consequences and Practice, Excellence in Ecology 16, Ed.O.Kinne, Luhe, Germany, Abridged electronic edition Avialable at: http://www.int-res.com/book-series/excellence-in-ecology/ee16/ Beins, Bernard (2004) Research Methods, Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, , ISBN: 0205327710 Daly Janesse (1996), Ethical Intersections, Allen & Unwin, ISBN: 1864480505 Davis Stephen, F., (2004), An Introduction to Statistics and Research Methods, Pearson/Prentice Hall, ISBN: 0131505114 Deer Richardson Linda (1992), Techniques of Investigation, National Extension College Trust, ISBN: 1853561533 Gillham Bill (2000) Case Study Research Methods, Continuum, ISBN: 0826447961 N.J.Salkind, J.Neil (1997) Exploring Research, third ed., Prentice Hall, New Jersey, ISBN: 0-13-520636-7 Rosnow, L.Ralph and Rosenthal Robert (2004), Beginning Behavioral Research, fifth ed., Pearson (International Edition), New Jersay, ISBN: 0-13- 114730-7 lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU
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1. Introduction 2. Science 2.1 Philosophy of Science 2.2 Scientific Research and discovery 2.3 The Scientific Method 2.4 Fields of Sciences 3. Engineering 4. Research Methodology 4.1 What is Methodology 4.2 Social psychology and sociology of science 4.3 The methodology of engineerin 4.4 Scientific research method of engineering
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5. Research and Research Varieties 5.1 The measure of generality and applicability 5.2 The level of ordering 5.3 The measure of control by researchers 6. Literature Review 7. The Experimental Method 8. Basic Experimental Design
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9. Other Research Methods 10. Integrated Research 11. Data Validation and Evaluation 12. A Practical Guide Writing Research Proposals 13. Report Writing and Presentation 14. Guidelines for Thesis Writing and Dissertation 15. Research Ethics 16. Consequences: Science and Public
Course Assessment The two components of the class participation are; Term Paper: A topic related to a research method will be assigned to you throughout the course. You will be requested to write a term paper which will not exceed six pages written in Word format with 1.5 line space. Class Presentation: A topic for each participant will be chosen during the course for presented and discussed in the class. Circa 15 minutes oral presentation and a written document of the presentation). Among the others, one of the major aim is to encourage the class to participate in discussions during the oral presentations. Grading: 20% Research Paper 40% Class Presentation and Report 40% Final Exam
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From: http://www.educatorscorner.com/index.cgi?CONTENT_ID=539 http://www.educatorscorner.com/images/cartoon_finaltstb-lg.gif
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From: http://www.educatorscorner.com/index.cgi?CONTENT_ID=539 http://www.educatorscorner.com/images/cartoon_finaltstb-lg.gif
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RESEARCH
Olin Levi Warner, Research holding the torch of knowledge (1896). Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.
RESEARCH Scientific research

In the broadest sense of the word, the definition of research includes any gathering of data, information and facts for the advancement of knowledge. Generally, research is understood to follow a certain structural process. Though step order may vary depending on the subject matter and researcher, the following steps are usually part of most formal research, both basic and applied:
Formation of the topic Hypothesis Conceptual definitions Operational definition Gathering of data Analysis of data Test, revising of hypothesis Conclusion, iteration if necessary
Simply RESEARCH is defined as human activity based on intellectual application in the investigation of matter.
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A common misunderstanding is that by this method a hypothesis can be proven or tested. Generally a hypothesis is used to make predictions that can be tested by observing the outcome of an experiment. If the outcome is inconsistent with the hypothesis, then the hypothesis is rejected. However, if the outcome is consistent with the hypothesis, the experiment is said to support the hypothesis. This careful language is used because researchers recognize that alternative hypotheses may also be consistent with the observations.
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In this sense, a hypothesis can never be proven, but rather only supported by surviving rounds of scientific testing and, eventually, becoming widely thought of as true (or better, predictive), but this is not the same as it having been proven. A useful hypothesis allows prediction and within the accuracy of observation of the time, the prediction will be verified.
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As the accuracy of observation improves with time, the hypothesis may no longer provide an accurate prediction. In this case a new hypothesis will arise to challenge the old, and to the extent that the new hypothesis makes more accurate predictions than the old, the new will supplant
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From: http://www.experiment-resources.com/ (March 7, 2011)
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1. Basic research Basic (aka fundamental or pure ) research is driven by a scientist's curiosity or interest in a scientific question. The main motivation is to expand man's knowledge , not to create or invent something. There is no obvious commercial value to the discoveries that result from basic research. For example, basic science investigations probe for answers to questions such as: How did the universe begin? What are protons, neutrons, and electrons composed of?
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Most scientists believe that a basic, fundamental understanding of all branches of science is needed in order for progress to take place. In other words, basic research lays down the foundation for the applied science that follows. If basic work is done first, then applied spin-offs often eventually result from this research. Most of the scientists beleives that, "People cannot foresee the future well enough to predict what's going to develop from basic research. If we only did applied research, we would still be making better spears."
2. Applied research Applied research is designed to solve practical problems of the modern world, rather than to acquire knowledge for knowledge's sake. One might say that the goal of the applied scientist is to improve the human condition . For example, applied researchers may investigate ways to: improve the energy efficiency of homes, offices, or modes of transportation, reduce carbon-dioxide emission of ordinary car engines, develop renewable energy resources etc.
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Some scientists feel that the time has come for a shift in emphasis away from purely basic research and toward applied science. This trend, they feel, is necessitated by the problems resulting from global overpopulation, pollution, and the overuse of the earth's natural resources.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel
A 2.5 kg brick is supported by a piece of aerogel weighing only 2 grams.
Aerogel's insulating properties displayed From: http://www.lbl.gov/Education/ELSI/research-main.html
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Examples of question asked in applied research: How can the CO2 emission of automibiles be reduced? How can the enrgy coonsumption of dish washers be reduced? What is the most efficient curing method for cancer? How can the input-ouput of a production complex be improved? How can a policy on time use increase transit services to low-income neighbourhoods?
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There are many instances when the distinction between basic and applied research is not clear. Some say that the difference between basic and applied research lies in the time span between research and reasonably foreseeable practical applications.
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Research methods The scope of the research process is to produce some new knowledge. This, in principle, can take three main forms: Exploratory research: a new problem can be structured and identified Constructive research: a (new) solution to a problem can be developed Empirical research: empirical evidence on the feasibility of an existing solution to a problem can be provided
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Research methods used by scholars:
Action research Case study Classification Experience and intuition Experiments Eye tracking Interviews Map making
Mathematical models and simulations Participant observation Physical traces analysis Semiotics Statistical data analysis Statistical surveys Content or Textual Analysis
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What Reasearch is, and What it isnt Good research has its ultimate aim the benefit of society. High-quality research is characterizsd by many different attributes: 1. It is based on the work of the others. 2. It can be replicated. 3. It is generalizable to other settings. 4. It is based on some logical rationale and tied to theory.
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(What Reasearch is, and What it isnt, cont.)
5. It is doable. 6. It generates new questions or is cyclical in nature. 7. It is incremental. 8. It is an apolitical activity that should be understood for the betterment of society.
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First research is an activity based on the others work: this does not mean copying the work done by the others (thats plagmarism), but always looking work done by to provide a basis for what and how a new work can be done. Second, while talking about the work done by the others, research is an activity that can be replicated. When the result of research can be replicated, the researchers argument are stronger.
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Third, a good research is generalizable to other settings. This means that for example, if the power of a cars engine follows the thermodynamic rules and laws, engines used for other purposes, i.e. aircraft engines, also should fit the same settings. Fourth, research is based on some logical rationale, and tied to theory. Research ideas do not stand alone as just interesting question. Rather research activity provides answers to the questions that help fill in pieces to what can be a large and complicated puzzel.
Fifth, by all means, research is douable. The challenge to come up with a new idea, sometimes my lead to an unrealistic and nonmanagable research topic! An unrealistic umbiguity and lack of conceptual framework may make a almost useless and certainly not douable. Sixth, research generates new questions or is cyclical in nature. What goes around comes around. Answering to days scientific questions leads tomorrows scientific questions.
Seventh, research is incremental, this issue is self explanatory! Finally, at its best, research is an apolitical activity that should be undertaken for the betterment of society. Contradictory examples (i) Fritz Haber (1868-1934) was in charge of production of war gas. (ii) Manhattan Project (Los Alamos Lab.) Project director Robert Oppenheimer.
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ME 503 Scientific Research Methods

by lkay SALHOLU
LECTURE 2 SCIENCE
Adopted from the article Science of Wikipedia science portal; THE GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC METHOD MOLWICKPEDIA, Museum of the science of future Philosophy of evolution, history and life Biology of the brain and psychology of cognitive functions (http://www.molwick.com/en/scientificmethods/043-research-methods.html).
From:http://offthemark.com/search-results/key/lab/
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SCIENCE
Latin : Scientia (knowledge) Science Philosophy of Science The Scientific Method Fields of Sciences
lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU lkay SALHOLU, FMS-NEU
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There are different theories of what science is. According to empiricism, scientific theories are objective, empirically testable, and predictive they predict empirical results that can be checked and possibly contradicted. In contrast, scientific realism defines science in terms of ontology: science attempts to identify phenomena and entities in the environment, their causal powers, the mechanisms through which they exercise those powers, and the sources of those powers in terms of the thing's structure or internal nature.
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Science is both Content and a Process. Content: A body of known facts and relationships, the kinds that learned in your science classes such as physics, biology, psychology, sociology, geology, etc. Process: An activity that includes systematic ways of gathering data, determining relationships, and offering explanations.
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Philosophy of Science Why has the existence of planets not been scientifically accepted until they have been detected as seeming to be planets, and yet it has been accepted that the speed of light is constant in the entire universe when it has not been proven either?
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Science did not accept it as true because it was not necessary nor urgent, but in practice, most humans thought that they did not exist or had more doubts than what was reasonable, which is quite different from being completely certain. On other hand, the possibility of certainty can always be denied due to the influence of philosophy.
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According to empiricism, science does not make any statements about how nature actually "is"; science can only make conclusions about our observations of nature. Both scientists and the people who accept science believe, and more importantly, act as if nature actually "is" as science claims. Still, this is only a problem if we accept the empiricist notion of science.
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Science's effectiveness has made it a subject of much philosophical speculation. The philosophy of science seeks to understand the nature and justification of scientific knowledge, and its ethical implications. It has proved remarkably difficult to provide an account of the scientific method that can serve to distinguish science from non-science.
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After Legendre, Louis (2008)
This image cannot currently be displayed.
From: http://offthemark.com/search-results/key/lab/
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Science refers to either: 1. Reasoned investigation or study of nature, aimed at finding out the truth. Such an investigation is normally felt to be necessarily methodical, or according to scientific method a process for evaluating empirical knowledge; or 2. The organized body of knowledge gained by such research. Science is knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through the scientific method. lkay SALHOLU, FMS-NEU
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The scientific method is the process by which scientists, collectively and over time, endeavor to construct an accurate (that is, reliable, consistent and non-arbitrary) representation of the world (nature). Products Science is the process which produces the following products:
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Truth Facts which are known to be true Empirical Reliable Multiple Converging Evidence Consensually Validated Operationally/functionally described
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Understanding Knowing the context within which facts are caused so that you can: Describe Predict Control Synthesize Explain Truthful
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Science is: 1.Explicit 2.Testable 3.Minimal Error 4.Comprehendible 5.Systematic or Principled
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The explanation of observed phenomena is the key to understanding Nature. Because any scientific theory that explains a phenomenon can also predict it, philosophers of science reject as nonscientific those explanatory theories that cannot achieve prediction. In other words, without predictive power, there is no way to check the validity of explanations.
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The process by which theories or paradigms can be falsified is not a straightforward matter. Indeed, no scientific theory can be considered above the threat of disproof in future tests. Conversely, falsification is rarely, if ever, unquestionably complete. The process of paradigm or theory falsification is the object of an active and fascinating debate in philosophy of science, but this topic as a whole is beyond the scope of the present course.
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Goals of Science The process of science typically has one of three goals. 1. Research to Understand (pure research) Pure research is concerned with developing valid, complete, and coherent descriptions and explanations. 2. Research to Solve a Particular Problem Applied research is concerned with the discovery of solutions to practical problems and places its emphasis upon those factual data which have more immediate utility or lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU lkay SALHOLU, FMS-NEU application.
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(Goals of Science cont.)
3. Dispensing Solutions (practitioner / technologist) Practitioners are concerned with the direct application of principles and theories from one or more fields of science for the purpose of dispensing solutions to individual human problems rather than being concerned with the discovery and organization of knowledge.
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Areas of science may be classified in two major dimensions: 1. Pure (the development of theories) versus Applied (the application of theories to human needs); or 2. Natural (the study of the naturally occurring world) versus Social (the study of human behaviour and society).
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Scientific methods or processes are considered fundamental to the scientific investigation and acquisition of new knowledge based upon physical evidence by scientific communities. Scientific method refers to techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning.
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A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.
( Scientific methods ) History: Since Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen, 9651039), one of the key figures in developing scientific method, the emphasis has been on seeking truth: Truth is sought for its own sake. And those who are engaged upon the quest for anything for its own sake are not interested in other things. Finding the truth is difficult, and the road to it is rough.
Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), 965 1039, Basra.
(Histry)
(Scientific methods)
"How does light travel through transparent bodies? Light travels through transparent bodies in straight lines only.... We have explained this exhaustively in our Book of Optics. But let us now mention something to prove this convincingly: the fact that light travels in straight lines is clearly observed in the lights which enter into dark rooms through holes.... [T]he entering light will be clearly observable in the dust which fills the air.
(Histry)
Alhazen in Book of Optics (1021): light travels in straight lines.
(History)
Scientific methodology has been practiced in some form for at least one thousand years. There are difficulties in a formulaic statement of method, however. As William Whewell (17941866) noted in his History of Inductive Science (1837) and in Philosophy of Inductive Science (1840), "invention, sagacity, genius" are required at every step in scientific method. It is not enough to base scientific method on experience alone; multiple steps are needed in scientific method, ranging from our experience to our imagination, back and forth.
(History)
In the twentieth century, a hypotheticodeductive model for scientific method was formulated: 1. Use your experience. 2. Form a conjecture. 3. Deduce a prediction from that explanation. 4. Test .
Scientists use observations and reasoning to develop technologies and propose explanations for natural phenomena in the form of hypotheses. Predictions from these hypotheses are tested by experiment and further technologies developed. Any hypothesis which is well argued to make predictions can then be tested reproducibly in this way. Once it has been established that a hypothesis is sound (by use of the above methods), it becomes a theory. Sometimes scientific development takes place differently with a theory first being developed gaining support on the basis of its logic and principles, lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU lkay SALHOLU, FMS-NEU i.e. Relativity Theory.
The terms "model", "hypothesis", "theory" and "law" have different meanings in science than in colloquial speech. Scientists use the term model to mean a description of something, specifically one which can be used to make predictions which can be tested by experiment or observation. A hypothesis is a contention that has not (yet) been either well supported nor ruled out by experiment. A physical law or a law of nature is a scientific generalization based on empirical observations.
The word theory is misunderstood particularly often by laymen. The common usage of the word "theory" refers to ideas that have no firm proof or support; in contrast, scientists usually use this word to refer to bodies of ideas that make specific predictions. i.e. To say "the apple fell" is to state a fact, whereas Newton's theory of universal gravitation is a body of ideas that allows a scientist to explain why the apple fell and make predictions about other falling objects.
From:http://www.mozilla.com/tr/firefox/3.6.15/whatsnew/, March 8, 2011
Mathematics and the scientific method Mathematics is essential to many sciences. The most important function of mathematics in science is the role it plays in the expression of scientific models. Observing and collecting measurements, as well as hypothesizing and predicting, often require mathematical models and extensive use of mathematics. Mathematical branches most often used in science include calculus and statistics, although virtually every branch of mathematics has applications, even "pure" areas such as number theory and topology. Mathematics is most prevalent in physics, but less so in chemistry, biology, and some social sciences.
Some thinkers see mathematicians as scientists, regarding physical experiments as inessential or mathematical proofs as equivalent to experiments. Others do not see mathematics as a science, since it does not require experimental test of its theories and hypotheses. In either case, the fact that mathematics is such a useful tool in describing the universe is a central issue in the philosophy of mathematics.
Methodology and Goal of Science
The Meissner effect causes a magnet to levitate above a superconductor

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science, March 8, 2011
Science is not a source of subjective value judgements!
Despite popular impressions of science, it is not the goal of science to answer all questions. The goal of the physical sciences is to answer only those that pertain to physical reality. Also, science cannot possibly address all possible questions, so the choice of which questions to answer becomes important. Science does not and can not produce absolute and unquestionable truth. Rather, physical science often tests hypotheses about some aspect of the physical world, and when necessary revises or replaces it in light of new observations or data.
In short, science produces useful models which allow us to make often useful predictions. Science attempts to describe what is, but avoids trying to determine what is (which is for practical reasons impossible). Science is a useful tool. . . it is a growing body of understanding that allows us to contend more effectively with our surroundings and to better adapt and evolve as a social whole as well as independently.
Locations of science Science is practiced in universities and other scientific institutes as well as in the field; as such it is a solid vocation in academia, but is also practiced by amateurs, who typically engage in the observational part of science. Workers in corporate research laboratories also practice science, although their results are often deemed trade secrets and not published in public journals.
(Locations of science cont.)
Corporate and university scientists often cooperate, with the university scientists focusing on basic research and the corporate scientists applying their findings to a specific technology of interest to the company. Individuals involved in the field of science education argue that the process of science is performed by all individuals as they learn about their world.
The methods of science are also practiced in many places to achieve specific goals. For example: Quality control in manufacturing facilities (for example, a microbiologist in a cheese factory ensures that cultures contain the proper species of bacteria) Obtaining and processing crime scene evidence (forensics) Monitoring compliance with environmental laws (environmental inspectors) Performing medical tests to help physicians evaluate the health of their patients Investigating the causes of a disaster (such as crash of an aircraft)
Fields of science i. Natural sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Biology, Astronomy) ii. Social sciences and Behavioural sciences(Anthropology, Economics, Geography, Linguistics, Philosophy, Political sciences, Psychology, Sociology, Social psycholoy, Sociobiology) iii. Holistic, interdisciplinary, and applied sciences (Cognitive sciences, Computer and information sciences, Engineering, Health sciences, Military sciences, Planetry sciences) iv. Environmental sciences (Environmental sciences, Environmental chemistry)
The Process of Science Five Basic Research Methods; 1. Experimental 2. Correlation 3. Natural Observation 4. Survey 5. Case Study these are some primary methods that different disciplines such as anthropology, psychology, sociology, oceanography, engineering, geology, and biology share. It is these common approaches to learning about the world that make them sciences.
Gold dominated by Sol (Sun) Silver dominated by Luna (Moon) Copper dominated by Venus Iron dominated by Mars Tin dominated by Jupiter Mercury (quicksilver) dominated by Mercury Lead dominated by Saturn
( ) ( ) (also: ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Model of an alchemical laboratory: An Alchemical Laboratory c.1540 by Tom McRae
ME 503 Scientific Research Methods by lkay SALHOLU LECTURE 3 ENGINEERING

Adopted from: Benvenuto, E. 1991. An Introduction to the History of Structural Mechanics. New York: Springer-Verlag.; http://www.creatingtechnology.org/history.htm; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering, march 17, 2011 lkay SALHOLU, NEU
ME 503 ENGINEERING Engineering is the discipline, art, and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of people. The American Engineers' Council for Professional Development (ECPD, the predecessor of ABET)[1] has defined "engineering" as:
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: The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.[2][3][4]
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[1] ABET History [2] Science, Volume 94, Issue 2446, pp. 456: Engineers' Council for Professional Development [3] Engineers' Council for Professional Development. (1947). Canons of ethics for engineers [4] a b c d e f g h Engineers' Council for Professional Development definition on Encyclopaedia Britannica (Includes Britannica article on Engineering)
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OUTLINE 1. History of Engineering 2. Relationship With Science 3. Methodology 4. Problem Solving 5. Limitations 6. Diciplinary Connections 7. Tools 8. Methods 9. Main Branches 10. Major Branches SUMMARY
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1. History of Engineering The forerunners of engineers, practical artists and craftsmen, proceeded mainly by trial and error. Yet tinkering combined with imagination produced many marvelous devices. Many ancient monuments cannot fail to incite admiration. The admiration is embodied in the name engineer itself. It originated in the eleventh century from the Latin ingeniator, meaning one with ingenium, the ingenious one.
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(1. History of Engineering cont.)
The name (ingenium), used for builders of ingenious fortifications or makers of ingenious devices, was closely related to the notion of ingenuity, which was captured in the old meaning of engine until the word was taken over by steam engines and its like. Leonardo da Vinci bore the official title of Ingegnere Generale. His notebooks reveal that some Renaissance engineers began to ask systematically what works and why.
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Leonardo DaVinci (b. April 15, 1452 - d. May 2, 1519) , seen here in a self-portrait, has been described as the epitome of the artist/engineer. He is also known for his studies on human anatomy and physiognomy
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1. History of Engineering The history of engineering can be roughly divided into four overlapping phases, each marked by a revolution: i. Pre-scientific revolution: The prehistory of modern engineering features ancient master builders and Renaissance engineers such as Leonardo da Vinci. ii. Industrial revolution: From the eighteenth through early nineteenth century, civil and mechanical engineers changed from practical artists to scientific professionals. lkay SALHOLU, NEU
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Thomas Savery (1650-1715) was an English military engineer and inventor who in 1698, patented the first crude steam engine, based on Denis Papin's Digester or pressure cooker of 1679. Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729) was an English blacksmith, who invented the atmospheric steam engine, an improvement over Thomas Slavery's previous design. James Watt (1736-1819) was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, born in Greenock, who was renowned for his improvements of the steam engine. In 1765, James Watt while working for the University of Glasgow was assigned the task of repairing a Newcomen engine, which was deemed inefficient but the best steam engine of its time. That started the inventor to work on several improvements to Newcomen's design. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blsteamengine.htm
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iii. Second industrial revolution: In the century before World War II (before 1945), chemical, electrical, and other science-based engineering branches developed electricity, telecommunications, cars, airplanes, and mass production. iv. Information revolution: As engineering science matured after the war (after 1945), microelectronics, computers, and telecommunications jointly produced information technology.
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The International Space Station represents a modern engineering challenge from many disciplines. (From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering#cite_ref-ABET_History_0-0, lkay SALHOLU, NEU March 17, 2011 )
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2. Relationship With Science You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?" George Bernard Shaw There exists an overlap between the sciences and engineering practice; in engineering, one applies science. Both areas of endeavor rely on accurate observation of materials and phenomena. Both use mathematics and classification criteria to analyze and communicate observations.
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(2. Relationship With Science cont.)
Engineering is concerned with the design of a solution to a practical problem. A scientist may ask "why?" and proceed to research the answer to the question. By contrast, engineers want to know how to solve a problem, and how to implement that solution. In other words, scientists investigate phenomena, whereas engineers create solutions to problems or improve upon existing solutions. However, in the course of their work, scientists may have to complete engineering tasks (such as designing experimental apparatus or building prototypes), while engineers often have to do research.
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However, engineering research has a character different from that of scientific research. First, it often deals with areas in which the basic physics and/or chemistry are well understood, but the problems themselves are too complex to solve in an exact manner. The purpose of engineering research is then to find approximations to the problem that can be solved. In general, it can be stated that a scientist builds in order to learn, but an engineer learns in order to build.
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3. Methodology "An engineer is someone who can do for a dime what any fool can do for a dollar." The crucial and unique task of the engineer is to identify, understand, and integrate the constraints on a design in order to produce a successful result. It is usually not enough to build a technically successful product; it must also meet further requirements.
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(3. Methodology cont.)
Constraints may include available resources, physical or technical limitations, flexibility for future modifications and additions, and other factors, such as requirements for cost, manufacturability, and serviceability. By understanding the constraints, engineers deduce specifications for the limits within which a viable object or system may be produced and operated.
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4. Problem solving Engineers use their knowledge of science, mathematics, logic, economics and appropriate experience or tacit knowledge to find suitable solutions to a problem. Creating an appropriate mathematical model of a problem allows them to analyze it (perhaps, but rarely, definitively), and to test potential solutions. Usually multiple reasonable solutions exist, so engineers must evaluate the different design choices on their merits and choose the solution that best meets their requirements.
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(4. Problem solving cont.)
Engineers typically attempt to predict how well their designs will perform to their specifications prior to full-scale production. They use, among other things: prototypes, scale models, simulations, destructive tests, nondestructive tests, and stress tests. Testing ensures that products will perform as expected.
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(4. Problem solving cont.) (Genrich Altshuller (October 15, 1926 - September 24, 1998, a Russian engineer) , after gathering statistics on a large number of patents, suggested that compromises are at the heart of "lowlevel" engineering designs, while at a higher level the best design is that which eliminates the core contradiction causing the problem).
Engineers as professionals take seriously their responsibility to produce designs that will perform as expected and will not cause unintended harm to the public at large. Engineers typically include a factor of safety in their designs to reduce the risk of unexpected failure. However, the greater the safety factor, the less efficient the design may be. lkay SALHOLU, NEU
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(4. Problem solving cont.)
The study of failed products is known as forensic engineering, and can help the product designer in evaluating his or her design in the light of real conditions. The discipline is of greatest value after disasters, such as bridge collapses, when careful analysis is needed to establish the cause or causes of the failure.
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5. Limitations In most modern countries, certain engineering tasks, such as the design of bridges, electric power plants, and chemical plants, must be approved by a Professional Engineer. Laws protecting public health and safety mandate that a professional must provide guidance gained through education and experience.
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(5. Limitations cont.)
The governmental licensing, approving and controlling bodies somehow may not be in close collaboration and/or harmony. The decision makers and implementations bodies sometimes are on entirely different levels or frequencies. Even with strict testing and licensure, engineering disasters still occur. Therefore, the Professional Engineer adheres to a strict code of ethics. Each engineering discipline and professional society maintains a code of ethics, which the members pledge to uphold.
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6. Disciplinary Connections As earlier was mentioned, science attempts to explain newly observed and unexplained phenomena, often creating mathematical models of observed phenomena. Technology and engineering are attempts at practical application of knowledge of science. Scientists work on science; engineers work on technology. However, there is often an overlap between science and engineering. A short inter-relation of engineering with the other diciplines are summarized below.
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(6. Disciplinary Connections cont.)
Medicine & Biology : The study of the human body, albeit from different directions and for different purposes, is an important common link between medicine and some engineering disciplines. Medicine aims to sustain, enhance and even replace functions of the human body, if necessary, through the use of technology. There are significant parallels between the practice of medicine and engineering. Both professions are well known for their pragmatism the solution to real world problems often requires moving forward before phenomena are completely understood in a more rigorous scientific sense.
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Modern medicine can replace several of the body's functions through the use of artificial organs and can significantly alter the function of the human body through artificial devices such as, for example, brain implants and pacemakers. The fields of Bionics and medical Bionics are dedicated to the study of synthetic implants pertaining to natural systems.
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Conversely, some engineering disciplines view the human body as a biological machine worth studying, and are dedicated to emulating many of its functions by replacing biology with technology. This has led to fields such as artificial intelligence, neural networks, fuzzy logic, and robotics. There are also substantial interdisciplinary interactions between engineering and medicine
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Both fields provide solutions to real world problems. This often requires moving forward before phenomena are completely understood in a more rigorous scientific sense and therefore experimentation and empirical knowledge is an integral part of both. Medicine, in part, studies the function of the human body. The human body, as a biological machine, has many functions that can be modeled using Engineering methods.
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The heart for example functions much like a pump, the skeleton is like a linked structure with levers, the brain produces electrical signals etc. These similarities as well as the increasing importance and application of Engineering principles in Medicine, led to the development of the field of biomedical engineering that uses concepts developed in both disciplines. Newly emerging branches of science, such as Systems biology, are adapting analytical tools traditionally used for engineering, such as systems modeling and computational analysis, to the description of biological systems lkay SALHOLU, NEU
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Art: There are connections between engineering and art; they are direct in some fields, for example, architecture, landscape architecture and industrial design (even to the extent that these disciplines may sometimes be included in a University's Faculty of Engineering); and indirect in others.
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Other Fields: In Political science the term engineering has been borrowed for the study of the subjects of Social engineering and Political engineering, which deal with forming political and social structures using engineering methodology coupled with political science principles. Financial engineering has similarly borrowed the term.
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7. Tools Pocket PC Computers Calculator Historical: Slide rule
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Computer Use: As with all modern scientific and technological endeavors, computers and software play an increasingly important role. As well as the typical business application software there are a number of computer aided applications (Computeraided technologies) specifically for engineering. Computers can be used to generate models of fundamental physical processes, which can be solved using numerical methods.
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(Computer Use cont.)
One of the most widely used tools in the profession is computer-aided design (CAD) software which enables engineers to create 3D models, 2D drawings, and schematics of their designs. CAD together with Digital mockup (DMU) and CAE software such as finite element method analysis or analytic element method allows engineers to create models of designs that can be analyzed without having to make expensive and timeconsuming physical prototypes.
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These allow products and components to be checked for flaws; assess fit and assembly; study ergonomics; and to analyze static and dynamic characteristics of systems such as stresses, temperatures, electromagnetic emissions, electrical currents and voltages, digital logic levels, fluid flows, and kinematics. Access and distribution of all this information is generally organized with the use of Product Data Management software.
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There are also many tools to support specific engineering tasks such as Computer-aided manufacture (CAM) software to generate CNC machining instructions; Manufacturing Process Management software for production engineering; EDA for printed circuit board (PCB) and circuit schematics for electronic engineers; MRO applications for maintenance management; and AEC software for civil engineering. In recent years the use of computer software to aid the development of goods has collectively come to be known as Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). lkay SALHOLU, NEU
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8. Social Context Engineering is a subject that ranges from large collaborations to small individual projects. Almost all engineering projects are beholden to some sort of financing agency: a company, a set of investors, or a government. The few types of engineering that are minimally constrained by such issues are pro bono engineering and open design engineering.
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(8. Social Context cont.)
By its very nature engineering is bound up with society and human behavior. Every product or construction used by modern society will have been influenced by engineering design. Engineering design is a very powerful tool to make changes to environment, society and economies, and its application brings with it a great responsibility. Many engineering societies have established codes of practice and codes of ethics to guide members and inform the lkay SALHOLU, NEU public at large.
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Engineering projects can be subject to controversy. Examples from different engineering disciplines include the development of nuclear weapons, the Three Gorges Dam, the design and use of Sport utility vehicles and the extraction of oil. In response, some western engineering companies have enacted serious corporate and social responsibility policies.
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Engineering is a key driver of human development. Sub-Saharan Africa in particular has a very small engineering capacity which results in many African nations being unable to develop crucial infrastructure without outside aid. The attainment of many of the Millennium Development Goals requires the achievement of sufficient engineering capacity to develop infrastructure and sustainable technological development.
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All overseas development and relief NGOs make considerable use of engineers to apply solutions in disaster and development scenarios. A number of charitable organizations aim to use engineering directly for the good of mankind: Engineers Without Borders Engineers Against Poverty Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief Engineers for a Sustainable World
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8. Methods Mathematics, particularly Algebra, Geometry and Calculus Physics Chemistry Materials science
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9. Main branches Engineering, much like other science, is a broad discipline which is often broken down into several sub-disciplines. These disciplines concern themselves with differing areas of engineering work. Although initially an engineer will usually be trained in a specific discipline, throughout an engineer's career the engineer may become multi-disciplined, having worked in several of the outlined areas. Engineering is often characterized as having four main branches:
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(9. Main branches cont.)
1. Chemical engineering The exploitation of chemical principles in order to carry out large scale chemical process, as well as designing new specialty materials and fuels. 2. Civil engineering The design and construction of public and private works, such as infrastructure (roads, railways, water supply and treatment etc.), bridges and buildings.
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3. Electrical engineering a very broad area that may encompass the design and study of various electrical & electronic systems, such as electrical circuits, generators, motors, electromagnetic/electromechanical devices, electronic devices, electronic circuits, optical fibers, optoelectronic devices, computer systems, telecommunications and electronics.
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4. Mechanical engineering The design of physical or mechanical systems, such as power and energy systems, aerospace/aircraft products, weapon systems, transportation products engines, compressors, powertrains, kinematic chains, vacuum technology, and vibration isolation equipment.
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10. Major branches (Top 15)

- Aerospace engineerin - Agricultural engineering - Architectural engineering - Biomedical engineering - Computer engineering - Civil engineering - Chemical engineering - Electrical engineering - Environmental engineering - Industrial engineering - Materials engineering - Mechanical engineering - Petroleum and natural gas engineering - Railway systems engineering - Software engineering
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http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/engineering/teaching/studying
Imperial College London England: Studying engineering at Imperial: Engineering courses are offered in five main branches of engineering: aeronautical, chemical, civil, electrical and mechanical. There are also courses in computing science, software engineering, information systems engineering, materials science and engineering, mining engineering and petroleum engineering.
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Design of a turbine requires collaboration from engineers from many fields
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SUMMARY Engineering activities are based on the development of new Knowledge (scientia), new 'made things' (techn) and/or new ways of working and doing (praxis). Scientia, Techn and Praxis are three important dimensions of a comprehensive conception of Engineering as a whole. Engineering, as Scientia, is mostly developed in academia; as Techn is practiced in industry generating technological innovations.
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(SUMMARY cont.)
As Praxis is carried out in technical and nontechnical organizations, supporting managerial activities and technical procedures, via methodical and methodological design and implementation. This is why Engineering provides one of the most solid academic and professional substrata for bridging among universities, industries, and governments.
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An analytical perspective supporting the scheme shown above can be found in the article "The Essence of Engineering and Meta-Engineering: A Work in Progress" (Callaos, 2008) which is available at www.iiis.org/Nagib-Callaos/Engineering-and-Meta-Engineering
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Indeed, it is quite possible to say that, without engineers and their ingenious engines, there would have been no World as we know it.
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ME 503 Scientific Research Methods by lkay SALHOLU LECTURE 4 PART 1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Adopted from: Edward V. Berard, What Is a Methodology?, The Object Agency, http://www.itmweb.com/essay553.htm ; and http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html#top (The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill); Research Methodology Dr. Deryck D. Pattron, Ph.D. Public Health Scientist & Consultant All Rights Reserved 2009, Dr. Deryck D. Pattron
lkay SALHOLU, NEU
What is Research Methodology? Research Methodology is defined as a highly intellectual human activity used in the investigation of nature and matter and deals specifically with the manner in which data is collected, analyzed and interpreted.
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METHODOLOGY Introduction Scientific Method 1. Defining the Question 2. Locating Resources/Gathering Information 3. Forming a Hypothesis/Hypotheses 4. Planning Research Collection Methods 5. Collecting Data 6. Organizing & Analyzing the Data 7. Interpreting Data & Drawing Conclusions 8. Communicating the Results 9. Limitations Summary
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Introduction Although the success or failure of many engineering efforts may be attributed to "luck," "fate," or "destiny," engineering, by and large, is not based on these items. Probably the most important idea behind engineering is that one can systematically and predictably arrive at pragmatic, cost-effective, and timely solutions to real world problems. Luck may indeed play a role in most engineering efforts, but most engineers would like to think that they have a significant amount of control over the outcome of an engineering effort.
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The most worthwhile engineering techniques are those which: can be described quantitatively, as well as qualitatively, can be used repeatedly, each time achieving similar results, can be taught to others within a reasonable timeframe,
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can be applied by others with a reasonable level of success, achieve significantly, and consistently, better results than either other techniques, or an ad hoc approach, and are applicable in a relatively large percentage of cases.
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True engineers are not magicians. If a good engineer discovers what is apparently a better way of doing things, he or she attempts to tell others about his or her method. Magicians must, by the very nature of their business, keep their techniques shrouded in mystery. A good engineer is _not_ a "guru," a "wizard," or a "shaman."
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A good engineer may be "talented," "gifted," or "intuitive," but in any case, a good engineer can simply and effectively communicate to others the techniques he or she uses to achieve a high rate of success. Engineering differs from science. Engineering uses science, mathematics, engineering disciplines, and excellent communication skills to develop pragmatic, cost-effective, and timely solutions for real world problems. A scientist is often not an engineer, however, an engineer must have a firm grounding in science.
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The Scientific Method-A Model for Conducting Scientific ResearchThe scientific method is a process for forming and testing solutions to problems, or theorizing about how or why things work. It tries to reduce the influence of "faith" or bias or prejudice (misjudgement) of the experimenter so that the process is valid anywhere in our world.
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(The Scientific Method (Cont.))
A simple problem solving may have two options: 1. Working through steps of the sceintific method (The steps are explained in the proceeding ppts), 2. Solving an every-day problem with the scientific method (Scintific method As its name indicates, it represents the methodology that defines and differentiates scientific knowledge from other types of knowledge.).
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From: http://www.molwick.com/en/scientific-methods/043-research-methods.html
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The Scientific Method (Cont.)
1. Defining the Question 2. Locating Resources/Gathering Information 3. Forming a Hypothesis 4. Planning Research Collection Methods
5. Collecting Data 6. Organizing & Analyzing the Data 7. Interpreting Data & Drawing Conclusions 8. Communicating the Results
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Defining the Question: This step involves narrowing possible topics and then choosing the question to be the focus of your research. Your question should be specific. You may need to gather more information before you decide on your final question.
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(Defining the Question)
Ask yourself: Specifically, what do I want to know? What is the purpose of asking this question? What will the answer tell me? Can this question be answered through research? (Can I describe how I might answer it?) Is it feasible? (Can I do it with the time and equipment available to me?)
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Forming a Hypothesis:
HYPOTHESIS: The term derives from the Greek, hypotithenai meaning "to put under" or "to suppose." In common usage in the 21st century, a hypothesis refers to a provisional idea whose merit requires evaluation.
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Forming a hypothesis step helps you answer the research related questions. A hypothesis is a tentative statement that proposes a possible explanation to some phenomenon or event. A useful hypothesis is a testable statement which may include a prediction. A hypotheses should not be confused with a theory.
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Theories are general explanations based on a large amount of data. Usually, a hypothesis is based on some previous observation. How Are Hypotheses Written? Global climate change may cause sea level rise. Salt in soil may affect plant growth. Electromagnetic radiation may influence human health. Water content changes concrete shock resistance.
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Locating Resources/Gathering Information & Materials: This step helps you to become smarter about the topic you are researching and how you can research it. The more information you have, the better research question you can ask. To help you gather information, ask yourself: (?....)
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Planning the Research/Developing Data Collection Methods: This step involves making a very specific plan about how you will conduct your research and collect your data. In the end, your procedure should be clear enough so that someone else could follow it exactly. To plan your research and develop your procedure, ask yourself:
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Ask yourself: How will I answer my research question/test my hypotheses? What data do I need to collect? How will I collect these data? What equipment or supplies do I need? Do I have a reference point (control) with which to compare my data? To answer my question, do I need to manipulate variables?
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(Ask yourself)
How many (samples, sites, tests, etc.) do I need? What record-keeping techniques (e.g. data sheet, journal) will I use? Are my data collection techniques organized and thorough? Are there sequential steps to my research? If so, what are they? How will I plan my time?
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Collecting Data: Be sure that you write down all of the information (data) that could affect the answer to your research question. When you collect the data, ask yourself: Am I recording all relevant data? Can I read and understand my notes? Am I keeping track of what I did at each step? Am I being objective in my data collection?
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Organizing & Analyzing the Data: This step gives you the chance to pull together the data you've collected and look at it more closely. Compare and contrast the information you've gathered to see the results of your research.
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Ask yourself: How will I organize and summarize the data I've collected? What do my data show? How should I present my data graphically so that others can see the results clearly? (e.g. bar graphs, tables, pie charts, line graphs, etc.) Are the results significant? Are there tests I might use to tell me if the results are significant?
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Interpreting the Data & Drawing Conclusions: In this step, stand back from your data and look at it more critically. Decide what conclusions you can draw. Ask yourself: What alternative hypotheses might explain these results? Am I considering all relevant data, including extremes or "oddball data" in my analysis? How might my sampling or data collection methods have affected these results?
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What answer do my results provide to my original question? How do my results compare to what I expected to happen (my hypothesis)? What can I conclude from my results? How do my conclusions affect the community or "big picture" (implications)?
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Communicating the Results: Now it's time to share your work. Ask yourself: Who is my audience? What is the best way to communicate to my audience? (e.g. written report, oral or poster presentation, video, etc.) What visual aids will help my audience clearly understand this research? Have I addressed all of the following components of my research in my communication?:
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Introduction to question, purpose of this research and why it is interesting or matters Description of methods used to collect data Results Conclusions What questions are raised by my research? How do others respond to my work?
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Common mistakes The hypothesis is assumed to be the "answer" and is not supported with testing Data is ignored that doesn't support your outcome Beliefs/bias blind you to fatal flaws in the testing phase Systematic errors are not noticed and are repeated within each experiment. These bias the outcome's standard deviation Equipment or conditions are not adequate
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9. Limitations What are some of the Limitations Encountered when Doing or Thinking of Doing a Research Project?: Time constraints Financial consideration Anticipating and avoiding problems Equipment limitations Human resource limitations Out of the box thinking In the box thinking
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SUMMARY The scientific method has four steps; 1. Observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena. 2. Formulation of an hypothesis to explain the phenomena. 3. Use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomena, or to predict quantitatively the results of new observations. 4. Performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters and properly performed experiments.
ME 503 Scientific Research Methods by lkay SALHOLU LECTURE 4 PART 2

Adopted from: Research Method: http://www.petech.ac.za/robert/resmeth.htm
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RESEARCH METHODS AND RESEARCH VARIETIES Introduction Methods of Research An Overvew of Some Research Methods
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Introduction The research method you will follow, is directly connected to your problem statement and goal of research. Because the research goal and problem may vary different methods of research can be utilized. Research is a purposeful, precise and systematic search for new knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, or for the reinterpretation of existing knowledge, skills, attitudes and values.
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The various kinds of human science research can be subdivided according to three criteria: 1.The measure of generality and applicability: basic research applied research in-service research action research 2. The level of ordering: descriptive research
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Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive research answers the questions who, what, where, when and how. - prophetic research - diagnostic research is research on a disease that someone might get diagnosed with.
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3. The measure of control by researchers: library research field research laboratory research
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OTHER NAMES GIVEN TO RESEARCH: Micro-study Macro-study Longitudinal (diachronic) study Cross-sectional (synchronic) study Pilot study
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AN OVERVIEW OF SOME RESEARCH METHODS: 1. In-service research In-service research is related to the key research themes of service design, service delivery, service innovation and service marketing. In-service research is not concerned with one sector of the economy - services - but with the service as an activity that takes place across all areas of the economy - service economy.
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2. Action research Action research is regarded as research that is normally carried out by practitioners (persons that stand in the field of work). It is a method par excel lance for instructors/trainers. It enables the researcher to investigate a specific problem that exists in practice. A further refinement of this type of research is that the results obtained from the research should be relevant to the practice. In other words it should be applicable immediately.
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Action research is characterized according to (Jacobs et al. 1992) by the following four features: i. Problem-aimed research focuses on a special situation in practice. Seen in research context, action research is aimed at a specific problem recognizable in practice, and of which the outcome problem solving is immediately applicable in practice.
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ii. Collective participation. A second characteristic is that all participants (for instance the researchers and persons standing in the practice) form an integral part of action research with the exclusive aim to assist in solving the identified problem. iii. Type of empirical research. Thirdly, action research is characterized as a means to change the practice while the research is going on.
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iv. Outcome of research can not be generalized. Lastly, action research is characterized by the fact that problem solving, seen as renewed corrective actions, can not be generalized, because it should comply with the criteria set for scientific character.
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Action research
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3. Historical research Historical research, as the term implies, is research based on describing the past. This type of research includes for instance investigations like the recording , analysis and interpretation of events in the past with the purpose of discovering generalizations and deductions that can be useful in understanding the past, the present and to a limited extent, can anticipate the future (Landman 1988).
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Historians should consequently aspire to getting to the original events that took place and therefore the researcher is dependent on the availability of documentary sources. According to Klopper (1990: 62) collected data for historical research should pass the following test before it can be applied for research purposes namely: external evidence or criteria that will account for the authenticity of the information should be included;
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internal evidence or criteria should be included that will explain the meaning of the data. Although the chronological sequence of events should be precisely acknowledged, researchers should bear in mind the fact that mere compilation of chronological events is not considered research in itself. An investigation can only be regarded as scientific research when the researcher interprets the events that took place by pointing out their relationship to the problem investigated, and explaining their meaning.
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Lastly, it should be mentioned that historical research also encompasses research concerning the origin, development and influence of ideas of the past. As examples, aspects like the origin, development and influence of communism, democracy, capitalism etc can be mentioned. Should you like to do this type of research you can consult the recommended literature listed in the bibliography.
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4. Descriptive research The term descriptive is self-explanatory and terminology synonymous to this type of research is: describe, write on, depict. The aim of descriptive research is to verify formulated hypotheses that refer to the present situation in order to elucidate it. Descriptive research is thus a type of research that is primarily concerned with describing the nature or conditions and degree in detail of the present situation (Landman 1988). The emphasis is on describe rather than on judge or interpret.
Descriptive research
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According to Klopper (1990) researchers who use this method for their research usually aim at: demarcating the population (representative of the universum) by means of perceiving accurately research parameters; and recording in the form of a written report of that which has been perceived. The aim of the latter is, that when the total record has been compiled, revision of the documents can occur so that the perceptions derived at can be thoroughly investigated .
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Because the total population (universum) during a specific investigation can not be contemplated as a whole, researchers make use of the demarcation of the population or of the selection of a representative test sample. Test sampling therefore forms an integral part of descriptive research. In descriptive research the following steps should be included: Problem selection and problem formulation. The research problem being tested should be explicitly formulated in the form of a question.
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Literature search. Intensive literature search regarding the formulated problem enables the researcher to divide the problem into smaller units. Problem reduction. Hypothesis formulation. Test sampling. The researcher should determine the size of the test sample. Information retrieval. The application of appropriate information retrieval techniques to comply with the criteria set for authenticity and competency, is relevant.
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General planning. Any research requires sound planning. Report writing. The report entails the reproduction of factual information, the interpretation of data, conclusions derived from the research and recommendations. While writing a report you should make sure that you understand the meaning of the terminology used. Consult the recommended sources for detailed explanations. However, further reference must be made to aspects related to test sampling.
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Test sampling As mentioned previously, when descriptive research is exposed, demarcation of the population become unavoidable. Test sampling therefor forms an integral part of this type of research. Two important questions arise frequently when test sampling is anticipated by researchers, namely: - How big should the test sample be? - What is the probability of mistakes occurring in the use of test sampling (instead of the whole population)?
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Special care should be taken with the selection of test samples. The results obtained from a survey can never be more authentic than the standard of the population or the representatives of the test sample, according to Klopper (1990). The size of the test sample can also be specified by means of statistics (See Data Validation and and Evaluation). It is important for the researcher to bear in mind that it is desirable that test sampling be made as large as possible.
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The next three factors should be taken into consideration before a decision is made with regard to the size of the test sample: - What is the grade of accuracy expected between the test sample and the general population? - What is the variability of the population? (This, in general terms, is expressed as the standard deviation.) - What methods should be used in test sampling?
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Bias Saying When you attempt descriptive research, you should take care that the test sample reflects the actual population it represents. The following example holds validity for the latter: you cannot make a statement regarding all first-year students if you do not include all first-year students in your research. If you do make such a statement, you have to select enrolled first-year students at all the tertiary institutions or a balanced proportional manner, and include the latter when you select your test sample for your research.
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Landman ( 1988) points out that, when a test sample does not truly represent the population (universum) from which it is drawn, the test sample is considered a bias sample. It then becomes virtually impossible to make an accurate statement or to predict about the population.
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From: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/b/bias.asp (March 24, 2011)
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RESOURCE LIST - Jacobs, CD; Haasbroek, JB & Theron, SW 1992 Effektiewe Navorsing. Navorsingshandleiding vir tersire opleidingsinrigtings. Geesteswetenskaplike komponent. Pretoria: Universiteit van Pretoria. - Klopper, CH 1990 Referaat gelewer tydens 'n vergadering van lede van die vereniging van SA Bourekenaars: Komitee van hoofde van bourekenaarsdepartemente by universiteite gehou op 29 September 1989. UP-dosent, 11(2): 43 - 72. - Landman, WA 1988 Navorsingsmetodologiese Grondbegrippe. Pretoria: Serva
ME 503 Scientific Research Methods by lkay SALHOLU LECTURE 6 LITERATURE REVIEW
Adopted from: http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html#top (The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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LITERATURE REVIEW Definition Introduction Differences Characterization Authors Why? Strategies Actions and hints References
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LITERATURE REVIEWS Througout this lecture we will explain what a literature review is and offer insights into the form and construction of a literature review in the applied sciences, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. This is due the fact that any kind of academic
research starts with a literature review.
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Short definition A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge on a particular topic. It is a paper the main purpose of which is to annotate and/or critique the literature in a particular subject area. It can either be: a selective bibliography providing advice on information sources; comprehensive, covering the main contributors to the field with an exploration of their views.
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Introduction The "literature" of a literature review refers to any collection of materials on a topic, not necessarily the great literary texts of the world. "Literature" could be anything from a set of government pamphlets on British colonial methods in Africa to scholarly articles on the rural housing architecture or face recognition by image processing. And a review does not necessarily mean that your reader wants you to give your personal opinion on whether or not you liked these sources.
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Then can be said with ease that a literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area, and sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time period. A literature review can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information.
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It might give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations. Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates. And depending on the situation, the literature review may evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant.
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Diferrentiation of literature review and academic research paper. Main focus of an academic research paper is to support personal argument, but the focus of a literature review is to summarize and synthesize the arguments and ideas of others. The academic research paper also covers a range of sources, but it is usually a select number of sources, because the emphasis is on the argument.
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Likewise, a literature review can also have an "argument," but it is not as important as covering a number of sources. In short, an academic research paper and a literature review contain some of the same elements. In fact, almost all academic research papers will contain a literature review section. But it is the aspect of the study (the argument or the sources) that is emphasized that determines what type of document it is.
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Characterization A good literature review is characterized by: a logical flow of ideas, current and relevant references with consistent, appropriate referencing style, proper use of terminology, and an unbiased and comprehensive view of the previous research on the topic. According to Cooper (1988) "a literature review uses as its database reports of primary or original scholarship, and does not report new primary scholarship itself.
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(Characterization cont.)
The primary reports used in the literature may be verbal, but in the vast majority of cases reports are written documents. The types of scholarship may be empirical, theoretical, critical/analytic, or methodological in nature. Second a literature review seeks to describe, summarize, evaluate, clarify and/or integrate the content of primary reports".
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(Characterization cont.)
A good literature review is characterized by: a logical flow of ideas, current and relevant references with consistent, appropriate referencing style, proper use of terminology, and an unbiased and comprehensive view of the previous research on the topic.
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The authors Literature reviews are written occasionally in the humanities, but mostly in the sciences and social sciences; in experiment and lab reports, they constitute a section of the paper. Sometimes a literature review is written as a paper in itself. Before writing the literature review: Clarify Find models Narrow your topic Consider whether your sources are current
Why? A crucial element of all research degrees is the review of relevant literature. So important is this chapter that its omission represents a void or absence of a major element in research (Afolabi 1992). According to Bourner (1996) there are good reasons for spending time and effort on a review of the literature before embarking on a research project. These reasons include: to identify gaps in the literature to avoid reinventing the wheel (at the very least this will save time and it can stop you from making the same mistakes as others)
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to carry on from where others have already reached (reviewing the field allows you to build on the platform of existing knowledge and ideas) to identify other people working in the same fields (a researcher network is a valuable resource) to increase your breadth of knowledge of your subject area
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to identify productive works in your area to provide the intellectual context for your own work, enabling you to position your project relative to other work to identify opposing views to put your work into perspective to demonstrate that you can access previous work in an area to identify information and ideas that may be relevant to your project to identify methods that could be relevant to your project
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www-development.deakin.edu.au/wmt/delete_from_uat.php
As far as the literature review process goes, ultimately the goal for students is to complete their review in the allocated time and to ensure they can maintain currency in their field of study for the duration of their research (Bruce 1990).
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Strategies for writing the literature review - Find a focus A literature review, like a term paper, is usually organized around ideas, not the sources themselves as an annotated bibliography would be organized. This means that you will not just simply list your sources and go into detail about each one of them, one at a time. As you read widely but selectively in your topic area, consider instead what themes or issues connect your sources together.
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Do they present one or different solutions? Is there an aspect of the field that is missing? How well do they present the material and do they portray it according to an appropriate theory? Do they reveal a trend in the field? A raging debate? Pick one of these themes to focus the organization of your review. Shortly: A literature review should never be just a list.
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- Construct a working thesis statement Then use the focus you have found to construct a thesis statement. Some sample thesis statements for literature reviews are as follows: The current trend in treatment for congestive heart failure combines surgery and medicine. More and more cultural studies scholars are accepting popular media as a subject worthy of academic consideration. Variabilities of social behaviours versus communication- development-. Science and Engineering conjointly.
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- Consider organization - First, cover the basic categories Introduction: Gives a quick idea of the topic of the literature review, such as the central theme or organizational pattern. Body: Contains your discussion of sources and is organized either chronologically, thematically, or methodologically (see below for more information on each subject). Conclusions/Recommendations: Discuss what you have drawn from reviewing literature so far. Where might the discussion proceed?
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i.Organizing the body a. Chronological b. By publication c. By trend d. Thematic Thematic reviews of literature are organized around a topic or issue, rather than the progression of time. However, progression of time may still be an important factor in a thematic review. The only difference here between a "chronological" and a "thematic" approach is what is emphasized the most.
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But more authentic thematic reviews tend to break away from chronological order. A review organized in this manner would shift between time periods within each section according to the point made. e. Methodological
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- Other sections Current Situation: Information necessary to understand the topic or focus of the literature review. History: The chronological progression of the field, the literature, or an idea that is necessary to understand the literature review, if the body of the literature review is not already a chronology.
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(Other sections cont.)
Methods and/or Standards: The criteria you used to select the sources in your literature review or the way in which you present your information. For instance, you might explain that your review includes only peer-reviewed articles and journals. Questions for Further Research: What questions about the field has the review sparked? How will you further your research as a result of the review?
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Actions and hints Begin composing Once the general pattern of organization is settled, each section can be writen. Use evidence Interpretation of the available sources must be backed up with evidence to show that what is said is valid. Be selective Select only the most important points in each source to highlight in the review. Use quotes sparingly
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Summarize and synthesize Remember to summarize and synthesize your sources within each paragraph as well as throughout the review. Use caution when paraphrasing Make sure that you always refer (use proper reference) to others work, AVOID PALAGRISM! (Will be dealt with this subject extensively during the progress of the course) Revise, revise, revise
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Revising, Revising, Revising
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MAKE SURE
Precise Clear Forthright Familiar Concise Fluid
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REFERENCES Afolabi, M. (1992) 'The review of related literature in research' International journal of information and library research, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 59-66. Bourner, T. (1996) 'The research process: four steps to success', in Greenfield, T. (ed), Research methods: guidance for postgraduates, Arnold, London. Cooper, H. (1998). Synthesizing Research: A Guide for Literature Reviews. The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill : http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_re view.html#top
ME 503 Scientific Research Methods by lkay SALHOLU LECTURE 7 Experimental Research Method
Adopted from: Personal knowhow and i. http://personal.stevens.edu/~ysakamot/730A/basic/; ii. R.M. Mottola 2009 The Basics of Experimental Design [A Quick and NonTechnical Guide] liutaiomottola.com/myth/expdesig.html iii. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiment iv. Martyn Shuttleworth (2008) http://www.experimentresources.com/conducting-an-experiment.html (April 5, 2011) vi. http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2005/10/23/21201/003
lkay SALHOLU, NEU
THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD

1. Experiments in the Laboratory 1.1. Advantages of laboratory experiments 1.2. Limitations of laboratory experiments 2. Field Experiments 3. Natural Exeriments 4. Conducting an Experiment 5. Errors in Scientific Experiments
Scientific method Observe, hypothesize, experiment, evaluate. What are the skills you learn in this course good for? Scientific method as an attitude Evaluating evidence Approaching problems "The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking." - Albert Einstein-
Scientific explanations are: Empirical (based on observation) Predictive (vs. post-hoc) Testable (can be falsified) Tentative (Aristotle > Newton > Einstein > ?) Rigorously evaluated (replication, competing theories) Parsimonious and general (simple and powerful) Objective (can be replicated) Rational (explanations follow from observations)
Scientific thought Assumption: Nature is structured by laws that govern its operation To manage technology and human decisionmaking We want to be able to predict and control behavior. We need to understand laws of behavior. Scientific inquiry seems to offer the best possibility. Other ways of approaching problems: Method of authority Commonsense explanations Rational method
THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD (Experiment: Latin: ex- periri, "to try out") Modern science began with the full development of its own distinctive method of investigation: experiment. Experimentation is the method of establishing causal relationships by means of controlling variables. An experiment is a cornerstone of the empirical approach to acquiring data about the world and is used in both natural sciences and social sciences. An experiment can be used to help solve practical problems and to support or negate theoretical assumptions.
The experimenter does not merely observe nature; he/she manipulates it by holding some factor(s) constant while varying others and measuring the results. He knows that the tree of knowledge will not simply drop its fruit into his open mind; the fruit must be cultivated and picked, often with the help of instruments designed for the purpose. The experimental method is usually taken to be the most scientific (the top-gun) of all methods, the method of choice. The main problem with all the non-experimental methods is lack of control over the situation. The experimental method is a means of trying to overcome this problem.
The experiment is sometimes described as the cornerstone of most of the sciences: This is partly due to the central role experiments play in many of the physical sciences. A subtantial amount of technical research uses the experimental method, i.e. physical sciences, biology and engineering. An experiment is a study of cause and effect. It differs from non-experimental methods in that it involves the deliberate manipulation of one variable, while trying to keep all other variables constant.
1. Experiments in the Laboratory (Controlled experiments): In experiments we try to keep all aspects of the situation constant except one - the one we are looking at. We call the factor which we then measure, the dependent variable (DV), because, if our ideas are correct, it depends on the independent variable. The variable which is being manipulated by the researcher is therefore called the independent variable (IV) and the dependent variable is the change in behaviour measured by the researcher.
All other variables which might affect the results and therefore give us a false set of results are called confounding variables (also referred to as random variables) (RV). To demonstrate a cause and effect hypothesis, an experiment must often show that, for example, a phenomenon occurs after a certain treatment is given to a subject, and that the phenomenon does not occur in the absence of the treatment.
A controlled experiment generally compares the results obtained from an experimental sample against a control sample, which is practically identical to the experimental sample except for the one aspect whose effect is being tested (the independent variable). A good example would be a drug trial. The sample or group receiving the drug would be the experimental one; and the one receiving the placebo would be the control one.
In many laboratory experiments it is good practice to have several replicate samples for the test being performed and have both a positive control and a negative control. The results from replicate samples can often be averaged, or if one of the replicates is obviously inconsistent with the results from the other samples, it can be discarded as being the result of an experimental error (some step of the test procedure may have been mistakenly omitted for that sample). Most often, tests are done in duplicate or triplicate.
A positive control is a procedure that is very similar to the actual experimental test but which is known from previous experience to give a positive result. A negative control is known to give a negative result. The positive control confirms that the basic conditions of the experiment were able to produce a positive result, even if none of the actual experimental samples produce a positive result.
The negative control demonstrates the base-line result obtained when a test does not produce a measurable positive result; often the value of the negative control is treated as a "background" value to be subtracted from the test sample results.
Sometimes the positive control takes the quadrant of a standard curve
Standard curve
Controlled experiments can be performed when it is difficult to exactly control all the conditions in an experiment. In this case, the experiment begins by creating two or more sample groups that are probabilistically equivalent, which means that measurements of traits should be similar among the groups and that the groups should respond in the same manner if given the same treatment. This equivalency is determined by statistical methods that take into account the amount of variation between individuals and the number of individuals in each group.
In fields such as microbiology and chemistry, where there is very little variation between individuals and the group size is easily in the millions, these statistical methods are often bypassed and simply splitting a solution into equal parts is assumed to produce identical sample groups. Once equivalent groups have been formed, the experimenter tries to treat them identically except for the one variable that he or she wishes to isolate.
1.1. Advantages of laboratory experiments: Experiments are the only means by which cause and effect can be established. It has already been noted that an experiment differs from non-experimental methods in that it enables us to study cause and effect because it involves the deliberate manipulation of one variable, while trying to keep all other variables constant. Sometimes the independent variable (IV) is thought of as the cause and the dependent variable (DV) as the effect.
It allows for precise control of variables. The purpose of control is to enable the experimenter to isolate the one key variable which has been selected (the IV), in order to observe its effect on some other variable (the DV); control is intended to allow us to conclude that it is the IV, and nothing else, which is influencing the DV.
Experiments can be replicated. We cannot generalise from the results of a single experiment. The more often an experiment is repeated, with the same results obtained, the more confident we can be that the theory being tested is valid. The experimental method consists of standardised procedures and measures which allow it to be easily repeated. It is also worth noting that an experiment yields quantitative data (numerical amounts of something) which can be analysed using inferential statistical tests. These tests permit statements to be made about how likely the results are to have occurred through chance.
1.2. Limitations of laboratory experiments: Artificiality: The experiment is not typical of real life situations. Most experiments are conducted in laboratories. Therefore it should be difficult to generalise findings from experiments because they are not ecologically valid (true to real life). It has already been noted that a strength of the experimental method is the amount of control which experimenters have over variables. However it must also be noted that it is not possible to completely control all variables. There may be other variables at work which the experimenter is unaware of. A very major problem with the experimental method concerns ethics.
2. Field Expeiments Studies which are carried out in the natural environment, be that a hospital, a school, sea, lake, land or the street, are known as field studies, or if experimental in nature, field experiments. In field experiments the researcher is testing hypotheses in a similar way to the way it would be done in the laboratory. The main difference is that many of the extraneous variables the researcher would be able to control in the laboratory, are not able to be controlled in the field.
One obvious advantage of the field study is that it is able to overcome the criticism that findings from laboratory settings are not generalisable to the "real world". Field studies take place in this real world, so generalisation is therefore not a problem field studies are said to have high external, or ecological validity.
3. Natural Experiments The term "experiment" usually implies a controlled experiment, but sometimes controlled experiments are prohibitively difficult or impossible. In this case researchers resort to natural experiments, also called quasi-experiments. Natural experiments rely solely on observations of the variables of the system under study, rather than manipulation of just one or a few variables as occurs in controlled experiments.
To the degree possible, they attempt to collect data for the system in such a way that contribution from all variables can be determined, and where the effects of variation in certain variables remain approximately constant so that the effects of other variables can be discerned. The degree to which this is possible depends on the observed correlation between explanatory variables in the observed data. When these variables are not well correlated, natural experiments can approach the power of controlled experiments.
Usually, however, there is some correlation between these variables, which reduces the reliability of natural experiments relative to what could be concluded if a controlled experiment were performed. Also, because natural experiments usually take place in uncontrolled environments, variables from undetected sources are neither measured nor held constant, and these may produce illusory correlations in variables under study.
Much research in several important science disciplines, including economics, political science, geology, paleontology, ecology, meteorology, and astronomy, relies on quasiexperiments. For example, in astronomy it is clearly impossible, when testing the hypothesis "suns are collapsed clouds of hydrogen", to start out with a giant cloud of hydrogen, and then perform the experiment of waiting a few billion years for it to form a sun.
However, by observing various clouds of hydrogen in various states of collapse, and other implications of the hypothesis (for example, the presence of various spectral emissions from the light of stars), we can collect data we require to support the hypothesis. An early example of this type of experiment was the first verification in the 1600s that light does not travel from place to place instantaneously, but instead has a measurable speed.
Observation of the appearance of the moons of Jupiter were slightly delayed when Jupiter was farther from Earth, as opposed to when Jupiter was closer to Earth; and this phenomenon was used to demonstrate that the difference in the time of appearance of the moons was consistent with a measurable speed.
4. Conducting an Experiment Science revolves around experiments, and learning the best way of conducting an experiment is crucial to obtaining useful and valid results.
When scientists speak of experiments, in the strictest sense of the word, they mean a true experiment, where the scientist controls all of the factors and conditions. Real world observations, and case studies, should be referred to as observational research, rather than experiments. For example, observing animals in the wild is not a true experiment, because it does not isolate and manipulate an independent variable.
With an experiment, the researcher is trying to learn something new about the world, an explanation of why something happens.The experiment must maintain internal and external validity, or the results will be useless. When designing an experiment, a researcher must follow all of the steps of the scientific method, from making sure that the hypothesis is valid and testable, to using controls and statistical tests.
All scientists use reasoning and operationalization and the steps of the scientific process is not always a conscious process. Following the basic steps will usually generate valid results, but where experiments are complex and expensive, it is always advisable to follow the rigorous scientific protocols. Whilst it is rarely practical to follow each step strictly, any aberrations must be justified, whether they arise because of budget, impracticality or ethics.
i. Stage One After deciding upon a hypothesis, and making predictions, the first stage of conducting an experiment is to specify the data groups. These should be large enough to give a statistically viable study, but small enough to be practical. In the physical sciences, this is fairly easy, but the biological and behavioral sciences are often limited by other factors.
ii. Stage Two The data should be divided into a control and a test group, to reduce the possibility of confounding variables.This, again, should be random, and the assigning of subjects to data should be blind or double blind. This will reduce the chances of experimental error, or bias, when conducting an experiment. Again, any deviations from this process must be explained in the conclusion.
iii. Stage Three This stage of conducting an experiment involves determining the time scale and frequency of sampling, to fit the type of experiment. iv. Stage Four The penultimate stage of the experiment involves performing the experiment according to the methods stipulated during the design phase.The independent variable is manipulated, generating a usable data set for the dependent variable.
v. Stage Five The raw data from the results should be gathered, and analyzed, by statistical means. This allows the researcher to establish if there is any relationship between the variables and accept, or reject, the null hypothesis. These steps are essential to providing excellent results. Whilst many researchers do not want to become involved in the exact processes of inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning and operationalization, they all follow the basic steps of conducting an experiment. This ensures that their results are valid.
5. Errors in Scientific Experiments A look at various types of errors that can take place in scientific work. These include parallax and systematic errors, errors in the equipment used, and random errors. Peer review and repetition of experiments by other scientists can help to keep such errors to a minimum.
Errors Agreements on measurements and results in experiments for scientists can be very controversial. Errors aid in this issue by altering data and shifting precision and accuracy. Some errors are conscious, and others, scientists aren't aware of. Many methods, however, are used by scientists to detect and eliminate these errors.
Parallax error and systematic error are examples of human mistakes that can be prevented. Parallax error occurs when the experimenter makes a general error in either calculation or measurement. The way to correct this mistake is to do multiple trials. Systematic error occurs when there is a mistake in the method or problem of the experiment. The only way to fix this error is by doing the experiment again, or testing the hypothesis by an entirely new method.
Another common error in experiments is errors in equipment. Equipment can never be 100% accurate. However, it should come very close. It is important to test the equipment's margin of error and utilize this in the analysis of the data. The experimenter should find how accurate the device is, and then incorporate this information into his or her results. Keeping track of significant figures and finding the mean and standard deviation in data are crucial in eliminating these equipment errors.
The final type of common error in experiments is random errors. These can be almost any type of error in experiment. The most effective way to eliminate random errors is to do multiple trials and rule out the incorrect data by using standard deviation and graphing analysis to find an agreeing result. There are other ways to eradicate errors such as peer review and repetition of work by other experimenters. For the most part, these methods are unnecessary unless the other methods have failed. Eliminating error is essential in a successful experiment, however it is very hard to completely avoid the mistakes. In practicing the mentioned methods, results should be more pleasing.
From: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/r/raw_data.asp (April 5, 2011)
Practical Example Calculations Related to above Experiment Let f1 be the force applied on the plunger and f2 be the force acting on the ram. Let A1 be the area of the plunger and A2 be the area of the ram. p will be the intensity of pressure produced by the force f1. therefore, pressure intensity produced by the force f1 = (force applied on the plunger f1) / (area of the plunger A1)
http://www.brighthub.com/engineering/mechanical/articles/71269.aspx#ixzz1IqInJRv6
As per Pascal's law, the intensity of pressure in a static fluid is transmitted equally in all directions, so the above intensity of pressure produced by the plunger will be equally transmitted in all directions and hence the pressure intensity at the ram will be equal to the force applied on the plunger f1 divided by area of the plunger A1. Also pressure intensity on the ram = (force acting on ram f2) / (area of the ram A2). Equating the pressure intensity on the ram, we get (f1 / A1) = (f2 / A2). The total force acting on the ram f2 = (force applied on the plunger f1 area of the ram A2) / area of the plunger A1
For Example, Consider a ram of 300 mm diameter to be moved, the diameter of plunger is 20mm, and the force applied on the plunger is 100N. Then the Force available at the ram = (Force applied on the plunger Area of the ram) / Area of the plunger Area of the ram = ( 3.140.32 ) / 4 Area of the ram=0.07068 mm2 Area of the plunger or piston = ( 3.14 .022 ) / 4 Area of the plunger or piston =0.00031 mm2 Force available at the ram = (100 0.07068 ) / 0.00031 Force available at the ram =22509.55 N Thus from the above example, it is clear that the force applied manually on the system is only 100N and this is converted to 22510N approximately which can be able to operate the heavy system that cannot be operated manually.
ME 503 Scientific Research Methods by lkay SALHOLU LECTURE 8 THE BASICS OF EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
Adopted from: Personal knowhow and i. http://personal.stevens.edu/~ysakamot/730A/basic/; ii. R.M. Mottola 2009 The Basics of Experimental Design [A Quick and NonTechnical Guide] liutaiomottola.com/myth/expdesig.html
THE BASICS OF EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 1. Design of Experiment 2. A formal mathematical theory 2.1.Comparison 2.2. Randomization 2.3. Replication 2.4. Blocking 2.5. Orthogonality 2.6. Use of experimental factors 3. Example
Within the realm of experimental research, there are three major types of design: TRUE-EXPERIMENTAL QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL PRE-EXPERIMENTAL If you choose to conduct experimental research, one of your most important tasks will be to choose the design that gives your research the best combination of internal and external validity. At the same time, it must be practical enough so that you can actually do the research in your own circumstances.
Remember, no particular type is right for all situations. Real-world constraints will often dictate what is practical or possible. In any case you need to be careful to recognize the weaknesses of the design you choose. Do not attempt to prove things or make claims in your findings that are beyond the capabilities of your design. STEP 1: Identifying the Research Problem The process starts by clearly identifying the problem you want to study and considering what possible methods will affect a solution. Then you choose the method you want to test, and formulate a hypothesis to predict the outcome of the test. (Literature rewiev)
STEP 2: Planning: The next step is to devise an experiment to test your hypothesis. (Literature rewievs) STEP 3: Conducting the Experiment STEP 4: Analyzing the Data The fourth step is to collect and analyze the data. This is not solely a step where you collect the papers, read them, and say your methods were a success. You must show how successful. You must devise a scale by which you will evaluate the data you receive, therefore you must decide what indicators will be, and will not be, important. (Literature rewievs)
STEP 5: Reporting of the results: - Abstract: Summarize the project: its aims, participants, basic methodology, results, and a brief interpretation. - Introduction: Set the context of the experiment. - Review of Literature: Provide a review of the literature in the specific area of study to show what work has been done. Should lead directly to the author's purpose for the study. - Statement of Purpose: Present the problem to be studied.
- Participants: Describe in detail participants involved in the study; e.g., how many, etc. Provide as much information as possible. - Materials and Methods (Procedures): Clearly describe materials and methods (procedures). Provide enough information so that the experiment can be replicated, but not so much information that it becomes unreadable. Include how participants were chosen, the tasks assigned them, how they were conducted, how data were evaluated, etc.
- Results: Present the data in an organized fashion. If it is quantifiable, it is analyzed through statistical means. Avoid interpretation at this time. - Discussion: After presenting the results, interpret what has happened in the experiment. Base the discussion only on the data collected and as objective an interpretation as possible. Hypothesizing is possible here.
- Limitations: Discuss factors that affect the results. Here, you can speculate how much generalization, or more likely, transferability, is possible based on results. This section is important for quasi-experimentation, since a quasi-experiment cannot control all of the variables that might affect the outcome of a study. You would discuss what variables you could not control. - Conclusion: Synthesize all of the above sections. - References: Document works cited in the correct format for the field. - Annex(es): Documentation of the additional information and/or calculations etc.
1. Desingn of Experiments Design of experiments (DoE) is the design of all information-gathering exercises where variation is present, whether under the full control of the experimenter or not. (The latter situation is usually called an observational study.) Often the experimenter is interested in the effect of some process or intervention (the 'treatment') on some objects (the 'experimental units'), which may be people. Design of experiments is thus a discipline that has very broad application across all the natural and social sciences. It is also called experimental design at a slight risk of ambiguity (it concerns designing experiments, not experimenting in design).
2. A formal mathematical theory The first statistician to consider a formal mathematical methodology for the design of experiments was Sir Ronald A. Fisher . (As an example, he described how to test the hypothesis that a certain lady could distinguish by flavor alone whether the milk or the tea was first placed in the cup.) While this sounds like a frivolous application, it allowed him to illustrate the most important means of experimental design:
2.1. Comparison In many fields of study it is hard to reproduce measured results exactly. Comparisons between treatments are much more reproducible and are usually preferable. Often one compares against a standard or traditional treatment that acts as baseline. 2.2. Randomization There is an extensive body of mathematical theory that explores the consequences of making the allocation of units to treatments by means of some random mechanism such as tables of random numbers, or the use of randomization devices such as tossing up a coin.
Provided the sample size is adequate, the risks associated with random allocation (such as failing to obtain a representative sample in a survey, or having a serious imbalance in a key characteristic between a treatment group and a control group) are calculable and hence can be managed down to an acceptable level. Random does not mean haphazard, and great care must be taken that appropriate random methods are used.
2.3. Replication Where measurement is made of a phenomenon that is subject to variation it is important to carry out repeat measurements, so that the variability associated with the phenomenon can be estimated. 2.4. Blocking Blocking is the arrangement of experimental units into groups (blocks) that are similar to one another. Blocking reduces known but irrelevant sources of variation between units and thus allows greater precision in the estimation of the source of variation under study.
2.5. Orthogonality Orthogonality concerns the forms of comparison (contrasts) that can be legitimately and efficiently carried out. Contrasts can be represented by vectors and sets of orthogonal contrasts are uncorrelated and independently distributed if the data are normal. Because of this independence, each orthogonal treatment provides different information to the others. If there are T treatments and T - 1 orthogonal contrasts, all the information that can be captured from the experiment is obtainable from the set of contrasts.
2.6. Use of factorial experiments instead of the one-factor-at-a-time method. These are efficient at evaluating the effects and possible interactions of several factors (independent variables). Analysis of the design of experiments was built on the foundation of the analysis of variance, a collection of models in which the observed variance is partitioned into components due to different factors which are estimated and/or tested.
Some efficient designs for estimating several main effects simultaneously were found by Raj Chandra Bose and in 1940 at the Indian Statistical Institute, but remained little known until the Plackett-Burman designs were published in Biometrika in 1946. Developments of the theory of linear models have encompassed and surpassed the cases that concerned early writers. Today, the theory rests on advanced topics in abstract algebra and combinatorics. As with all other branches of statistics, there is both classical and Bayesian experimental design.
3. Example This example is attributed to Harold Hotelling. Although very simple, it conveys at least some of the flavor of the subject. [Please reffer to: Herman Chernoff, Sequential Analysis and Optimal Design, SIAM Monograph, 1972.; Box,G. E, Hunter,W.G., Hunter, J.S., Hunter,W.G., "Statistics for Experimenters: Design, Innovation, and Discovery", 2nd Edition, Wiley, 2005, ISBN: 0471718130; Pearl, J. Causality: Models, Reasoning and Inference, Cambridge University Press, 2000. ]
The weights of eight objects are to be measured using a pan balance that measures the difference between the weight of the objects in the two pans. Each measurement has a random error. The average error is zero; the standard deviations of the probability distribution of the errors is the same number on different weighings; and errors on different weighings are independent. Denote the true weights by 1,.......,8
Considering two different experiments: 1. Weigh each object in one pan, with the other pan empty. Call the measured weight of the ith object Xi for i = 1, ..., 8. 2. Do the eight weighings according to the following schedule and let Yi be the measured difference for i = 1, ..., 8:
left pan right pan 1 st weighing: 1234 5678 2 nd 1238 4567 3 rd 1458 2367 4 th 1678 2345 5 th 2468 1357 6 th 2578 1346 7 th 3478 1256 8 th 3568 1247 Then the estimated value of the weight 1 is:
Y1 + Y2 + Y3 + Y4 Y5 Y6 Y7 Y8 1 = 8
The question of design of experiments is: which experiment is better? The variance of the estimate X1 of 1 is 2 if we use the first experiment. But if we use the second experiment, the variance of the estimate given above is 2/8. Thus the second experiment gives us 8 times as much precision. Many problems of the design of experiments involve combinatorial designs, as in this example.
Summary of The Basics of Experimental Design
Goal of the basic experimental design is to get the maximum information with the minimum number of experiments.
ME 503 Scientific Research Methods by lkay SALHOLU LECTURE 9 OTHER RESEARCH METHODS
Adopted from: i. http://personal.stevens.edu/~ysakamot/730A/basic/; ii. R.M. Mottola 2009 The Basics of Experimental Design [A Quick and Non-Technical Guide] liutaiomottola.com/myth/expdesig.html iii. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiment
lkay SALHOLU, NEU
RESEARCH METHODS (Continuation) 1.Natural Observation 2.Survey 3.Case Study 4.Correlational Research
1. Natural Observation 1.1. Observational Research Observational research consists of systematic observation. The word systematic implies a sensible and replicable procedure for collecting data. Data might be collected with a video recording device or by administering a questionnaire or in any other way that can be adequately described for other scientists who wish to repeat the observations. No experiment is conducted. The researcher does not attempt to alter the world during the data collection phase. The data are analyzed, and researchers look for interesting or important patterns.
1.1.1. Definition of the observational research. The naturalistic observation can be defined as a non-experimental approaches used in the field or in real-life settings. In the naturalistic observation method the researcher very carefully observes and records some behavior or phenomenon, sometimes over a prolonged period, in its natural setting. The subjects or phenomena are not directly interfered with in any way. In the natural sciences this may involve observing an animal or groups of animals or some physical phenomena, such as the eruption of a volcano.
1.1.2. Naturalistic observation Naturalistic observation is observational research that takes place in a natural or everyday setting such as a school. Usually there is an effort to minimize the observer's impact by carrying out observations secretly or from a hidden vantage point. With preschoolers a stationary video camera with a wide-angle lens can be put near the ceiling in one corner of the room, without influencing behavior. First this techique was used to study the phenomenon of group glee in preschoolers. This was done by video recordings of 596 preschool classes taught by student teachers. This lead to the identification of what factors set off the group glee, and reactions of teachers.
Notice that a naturalistic study need not take place "out in nature." It simply documents naturallyoccurring events. 1.1.3. Controlled or standardized observation. Controlled observation occurs when observational research is carried out under carefully arranged conditions. Each subject is exposed to the same situation, to see differences between individual reactions. For example, a group of babies may be exposed, one at a time, to a laboratory situation called stranger approaches. A stony-faced stranger approaches the mother and takes the baby out of her arms.
Around the age of 7-8 months, some babies seem to find this very alarming. Some cry even at the sight of an approaching stranger. However, not all babies go through this "stranger anxiety" phase. Researchers can test hypotheses about what factors make stranger anxiety more or less likely by testing a variety of mother/baby pairs. The controlled setting and carefully arranged conditions allow researchers to compare reactions of different children.
1.1.4. Standardized testing Standardized testing is a form of controlled observation using testing procedures previously shown to be reliable and valid. Most of you are familiar with paper-and-pencil standardized tests such as the SS (now YGS). Though many educators recognize that standardized tests have a place in the arsenal of tools used to assess student achievement, critics feel that overuse and misuse of these tests is having serious negative consequences on teaching and learning.
From: http://www.solidarity.com/hkcartoons/teachertoons/miketesting2.html
1.1.5. Microanalysis Microanalysis is detailed analysis of very brief events. Sometimes researchers notice interesting things simply by slowing down a quick movement. This can be done with video cameras set to capture many images per second. For example, developmental psychologist Daniel Stern used microanalysis to study the "mother/baby dance," a tendency of mothers and babies to synchronize their muscle movements.
1.2. Stregnths The major strength of this method is that it allows researchers to observe behavior in the setting in which it normally occurs rather than the artificial and limited setting of the laboratory. Further uses might include studying nature for its own sake or using nature to validate some laboratory finding or theoretical concept.
1.3.Limitations The limitations of this method are many. First and foremost this is a descriptive method, not an explanatory one. That is, without the controlled conditions of the laboratory, conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships cannot be drawn. Behavior can only be described, not explained. This method can also take a great amount of time. Researchers may have to wait for some time to observe the behavior or phenomenon of interest. Further limitations include the difficulty of observing behavior without disrupting it and the difficulty of coding results in a manner appropriate for statistical analysis.
4. Example The August 7, 1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens How do you measure a high speed volcanic flow? An observer uses a camera, a timer, and the laws of physics to calculate the speed from an eruption at Mount St. Helens. velocity = distance / time
Picture from:http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosya:MSH80_eruption_mount_st_helens_05-18-80.jpg
CONCLUSION The literature on observation reveals how complex, challenging, and creative this research method is. Observational research differs from other methods in that it requires the researcher to have more specialized training on how to observe, what and how to record the data, how to enter the field and leave it, and how to remain detached and involved at the same time. The use of one's senses, as well as other data collection techniques, make observation a more holistic type of research that allows the researcher to gain a better understanding of insiders from their own perspective.
2. Survey (survay) Description: The survey, a type of non experimental, descriptive study, does not involve direct observation by a researcher. Rather, inferences about behavior are made from data collected via interviews or questionnaires. Interviews or questionnaires commonly include an assortment of forced-choice questions (e.g. True-False) or open-ended questions (e.g. short answer essay) to which subjects are asked to respond.
Survey research is one of the most important areas of measurement in applied social research. The broad area of survey research encompasses any measurement procedures that involve asking questions of respondents. A "survey" can be anything form a short paper-and-pencil feedback form to an intensive one-on-one in-depth interview. This sort of data collection is sometimes referred to as a self-report. Once again, this is a non experimental, descriptive approach.
2.1. Stregths Surveys are particularly useful when researchers are interested in collecting data on aspects of behavior that are difficult to observe directly (such as thoughts about suicide) and when it is desirable to sample a large number of subjects. Surveys are used extensively in the social and natural sciences to assess attitudes and opinions on a variety of subjects.
2.2. Limitations Furthermore, this method is descriptive, not explanatory, and, therefore, cannot offer any insights into cause-and-effect relationships. The major limitation of the survey method is that it relies on a self-report method of data collection. Intentional deception, poor memory, or misunderstanding of the question can all contribute to inaccuracies in the data.
Engineering Survays The survey which is conducted for determining quantities and for collecting data for the designing of engineering works such as roads, railways, etc., is known as Engineering Survey. Engineering survey have following types: i. Reconnaissance Survey The Survey which is done for the feasibility and rough cost of the project is known as Reconnaissance Survey.
ii. Preliminary Survey The survey in which more precise information is required for the choice of best location or the project and to estimate the exact quantities and costs of project is known as Preliminary Survey. iii. Location Survey The survey for setting out the work on the ground is known as location survey. (Reconnaissance means military observation of an area to gain information. Feasibility means either the project will complete or not.)
iv. Field Survey Engineering surveys in general and specifically field surveys are particularly useful to gain the actual values of variables under study, and the relationship bonding among them. Surveys are suitable as a balance to other observations.
From: http://www.thetestequipment.com/articl es/engineering-survey.html; April 14, 2011)
Field Survey Example-Geophysical

Geophysical Surveys: Active Versus Passive Geophysical surveys can be classified into one of two types; Active and Passive. Passive geophysical surveys are ones that incorporate measurements of naturally occurring fields or properties of the earth.
Example of Survey-Geophysical (Active)
In conducting active geophysical surveys, on the other hand, a signal is injected into the earth and then measured how the earth responds to this signal. These signals could take a variety of forms such as displacement, an electrical current, or an active radiometric source.
Active and passive geophysical surveys each have their own set of advantages and disadvantages.
From: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/survey.asp
3. Case Study 3.1. Definition: obtaining detailed information about an individual event (natural or artificial) and/or to develop general principles about behavior. Case study research excels at bringing us to an understanding of a complex issue or object and can extend experience or add strength to what is already known through previous research. Case studies emphasize detailed contextual analysis of a limited number of events or conditions and their relationships. Researchers have used the case study research method for many years across a variety of disciplines.
It is sometimes very helpful to study one event (natural or artificial) or to study one person (or a very small group of people) in great depth to learn as much information as possible. This method is particularly useful in studying rare disorders or circumstances. Researcher Robert K. Yin defines the case study research method as an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used (Yin, R. K. (1984). Case study research: Design and methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.).
Some authors proposes six steps that should be used in a case study: Determine and define the research questions Select the cases and determine data gathering and analysis techniques Prepare to collect the data Collect data in the field Evaluate and analyze the data Prepare the report
Three types of cases may thus be distinguished: i. Key cases ii. Outlier cases iii. Local knowledge cases Case studies require a lot of time, effort, and attention to details. Yet, they reveal more about a particular subject than any other research method. Generalizing the findings to other cases, regions, people or groups is usually difficult.
3.2. Streghts Case studies are particularly useful when researchers want to get a detailed contextual view of an individual's life or of a particular phenomena. In the social sciences they are often used to help understand the social and familial factors that might be part of the development of some form of deviant behavior in an individual.
(3.2. Streghts cont.)
Natural scientists might use this method to study a single animal or a single instance of some physical phenomenon. Case studies are also useful when researchers cannot, for practical or ethical reasons, do experimental studies.
3.3. Limitations First and foremost this is a descriptive method, not an explanatory one. That is, without the controlled conditions of the laboratory, conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships cannot be drawn. Behavior can only be described, not explained.
(Limitations cont.)
Case studies also involve only a single individual or just a few and therefore may not be representative of the general group or population. In the social sciences case studies often rely on descriptive information provided by different people. This leaves room for important details to be left out. Also, much of the information collected is retrospective data, recollections of past events, and is therefore subject to the problems inherent to memory.
Case Study Example Tsunami from Japan earthquake 11th March 2011, 10pm Waves Stirred Up by
Earthquake Cause Wide Destruction
Japan was hit by an enormous earthquake on March 11, 2011, that triggered a deadly 23foot tsunami in the country's north. The giant waves deluged cities and rural areas alike, sweeping away cars, homes, buildings, a train, and boats, leaving a path of death and devastation in its wake. Video footage showed cars racing away from surging waves. As of Tuesday, March 22, more than 8,600 were confirmed dead. That number will likey continue to rise with more than 13,000 people still missing.
Deadliest Tsunamis in History

Fatalities Year 350,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 40,000 36,500 30,000 26,360 25,674 15,030 2004 1410 b.c. 1755 1908 1782 1883 1707 1896 1868 1792 8.4 7.6 8.5 6.4 7.0 8.5 Magnitude Principal areas 9.0 Indian Ocean Crete-Santorini, Ancient Greece Portugal, Morocco, Ireland, and the United Kingdom Messina, Italy South China Sea, Taiwan Krakatau, Indonesia Tokaido-Nankaido, Japan Sanriku, Japan Northern Chile Kyushu Island, Japan
Source: National Geophysical Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Further examples: Impact of the war on the Iraqs ecosystem. Life history and social behaiviour of a person born and grown in jail till the school age. 2006 Pacific Ocean tsunami episode influence on human behaiviour. Case study houses : Smith, Elizabeth A. T. (2007). Case Study Houses. Taschen. ISBN 978-3-82284617-9. (See next two slides)
4. Correlational research 4.1. Definition: Correlation is classified as a nonexperimental, descriptive method. The reason for that is because variables are not directly manipulated as they are in the experimental method. Although correlation is often described as a method of research in its own right, it is really more of a mathematical technique for summarizing data, it is a statistical tool.
A correlational study is one designed to determine the degree and direction of relationship between two or more variables or measures of behavior. 4.2. Correlation Recall that correlation is a measure of direction and degree of relationship between two variables. A correlation coefficient is a numerical index of that relationship.
A positive (measure of direction) correlation or direct relationship is indicated by a positive (+) sign before the coefficient. This indicates that a high score on one variable is associated with a high score on the second variable.
A negative correlation or inverse relationship is indicated by a negative (-) sign before the coefficient. This indicates that a high score on one variable is associated with a low score on the second variable.
From: http://www.nvcc.edu/home/elanthier/methods/correlation.htm
Example The following data consist of observations for the weights of 10 different automobiles (in 1000 kg) and the corresponding fuel consumptions (liters per 50 km). Weight (x) Fuel Consumption (y) 3.4 5.5 3.8 5.9 4.1 6.5 2.2 3.3 2.6 3.6 2.9 4.6 2.0 2.9 2.7 3.6 1.9 3.1 3.4 4.9 We would like to find out how y is correlated to x and whether we could represent that correlation in a functional form valid within the range of the data.
The simplest way to find out qualitatively the correlation is to plot the data. In the case of our example, as seen from Figure 1 on the next slide, a strong positive correlation between y and x is evident, i.e., the plot reveals that as the weight increases, the fuel consumption increases as well. How can we quantify the degree of correlation? This is usually done by specifying the correlation coefficient R, defined as;
xi i yi i 1 R= n 1 i =1 i i
n
(1)
where x and x denote the sample mean and the sample standard deviation respectively for the variable x, and y and y denote the sample mean and the sample standard deviation respectively for the variable y.
Now, let's assume that a perfect linear relationship exists between the variables x and y. i.e., yi = axi + b for i = 1, 2, ... , n with a 0. Now verify using the definitions of the mean and the variance that y = a x + b and y = | a| x . This implies from Eq. 1 that R = a/| a|. Or in other words, R = 1 if a > 0 and R = - 1 if a < 0. The case R = 1 corresponds to the maximum possible linear positive association between x and y, meaning that all the data points will lie exactly on a straight line of positive slope.
Similarly, R = - 1 corresponds to the maximum possible negative association between the statistical variables x and y. In general, -1 R 1 with the magnitude and the sign of R representing the strength and direction respectively of the association between the two variables. For the data given in Figure 1, R = 0.977 implying a strong positive correlation between the fuel consumption and the weight of the automobile.
In case there is no relationship among the two variablaes under investigation the correlation coefficient appears to be zero.
The two relation between varibles also can be curuvilinear
4.2.Correlational strength Correlations, whether positive or negative, range in their strength from weak to strong. Positive correlations will be reported as a number between 0 and 1. A score of 0 means that there is no correlation (the weakest measure). A score of 1 is a perfect positive correlation, which does not really happen in the real world. As the correlation score gets closer to 1, it is getting stronger. So, a correlation of 0.8 is stronger than 0.6; but 0.6 is stronger than 0.3.
Negative correlations will be reported as a number between 0 and -1. Again, a 0 means no correlation at all. A score of 1 is a perfect negative correlation, which does not really happen. As the correlation score gets close to -1, it is getting stronger. So, a correlation of -0.7 is stronger than -0.5; but -0.5 is stronger than -0.2. Remember that the negative sign does not indicate anything about strength. It is a symbol to tell you that the correlation is negative in direction. When judging the strength of a correlation, just look at the number and ignore the sign.
The ecological fallacy was in studying countries when one should have been studying people. When the association is in the same direction for both individuals and groups, the ecological correlation, based on averages, will typically overstate the strength of the association in individuals. That's because the variablity within the groups will be eliminated. In the picture to the left, the correlation between the two variables is 0.572 for the set of 30 individual observations. The large blue dots represent the means of the crosses, plus signs, and circles. The correlation for the set of three dots is 0.902
LECTURE 10 INTEGRATED RESEARCH
Adopted from: Stewart Robinsona, Richard E. Nanceb, Ray J. Paulc, Michael Piddd and Simon J.E. Taylorc, (2003), Simulation model reuse: definitions, benefits and obstacles, doi:10.1016/j.simpat.2003.11.006 ; http://home.ubalt.edu/ntsbarsh/simulation/sim.htm (April 25, 2011)
lkay SALHOLU, NEU
RESEARCH METHODS (Continuation) LECTURE 10 Part 1 Simulation and Modeling Research Method Introduction Modeling and Simulation Factors affecting Technology areas Simulation applications Advantages Limitations
Introduction Nature is non-linear and too complex to carry out meaningfull and sometimes ethical experiments. Even if it was not, our ability of controlling parameters (variables) is limited only to certain circumstances i.e. laboratory experiments. For various of reasons, frequently we are in need of controlling our environment and the natural variables. The scientific and technical community of the modern world do not have such a facility.
Introduction (cont.)
Is there a reliable, fast, repeatable and feasible method of doing it? The answer is yes, a strong tool to persuade such a mission is mathematics: Utilise an appropriate mathematical as a model, predict, and imitate the event, modeling and simulation. Modeling and simulation is one of rising subject as a research method.
Introduction (cont.)
Some definitons: System: A system exists and operates in time and space. Model: A model is a simplified representation of a system at some particular point in time or space intended to promote understanding of the real system. Simulation: A simulation is the manipulation of a model in such a way that it operates on time or space to compress it, thus enabling one to perceive the interactions that would not otherwise be apparent because of their separation in time or space.
A Simple Model of Evaporation and Boiling (liquid to gas)
From: http://www.esa.int/TEC/Modelling_and_simulation/TEC89CNWTPE_0.html Modelling and Simulation
Modeling and Simulation Modelling plays an essential role in science: models give us the chance to analyse and understand real world and phenomena, and to gain some sort of control over it. In doing so a process of abstraction is fundamental in order to get an idealization that at the same time is as much simple as possible, but sufficiently complex as to adequately represent the fundamental process we are interested in.
Following Gilbert and Terna (2000) descriptions of real world can be of three types: verbal descriptions, logic or mathematical descriptions, and functional or simulation models. Verbal models are characterized by the highest level of flexibility, but at the same time are those less immediate in terms of generalization degree, and are not computable making larger the distance between ideas theorization and empirical verification.
A mathematical model instead offers a well defined content and a larger degree of generalization: it's computable, and it can be used to calculate the values of the parameters that define the process we are analysing since it is nothing more than a system of equation that describes the relationships among variables. Both these representations share a high degree of abstraction and, in the formalization case, also of simplification.
Functional models on the contrary are closer to real world, less abstracted and more able to be generalized: a model in conflict with physical laws can be described with words, and can also be formalized with mathematics, but it cannot be reproduced in reality. Unfortunately in social sciences is not so easy to create experiments or functional models, and the lack of repeatability of phenomena and the extreme subjectivity of the elements that rise them make difficult to define in a unique and unambiguous way the cause and effect relationships.
Simulation in general is to pretend that one deals with a real thing while really working with an imitation. In operations research the imitation is a computer model of the simulated reality. With simulation we directly create phenomena and forecasts (predictions) concerning the behaviour of a system: simulation is real, since the dynamic of the system is happening taking place from time to time.
The prescriptive simulation attempts to use simulation to prescribe decisions required to obtain specified results. Recent developments on "single-run" algorithms for the needed sensitivities (i.e. gradient, Hessian, etc.) make the prescriptive simulation feasible.
Reproducing reality is fundamental in order to achieve a better comprehension of it, both from the side of the scientist who observes, and from that of the individual involved in the process, who is often not conscious of its role in the system nor of the consequences of his actions or of the reasons why he acts in a certain way.
Modelling is an iterative process, which includes mapping the problem from the real world to its model in the world of models (the abstraction process), model analysis and policy implementations, till mapping the solution back to the real system. Strategies, structures and decision rules used in the real world can be represented and tested in virtual world of the model: feedbacks alter our mental models and lead to the design of new strategies, new structures and new decision rules.
In static analytical modelling the results functionally depend simply on the input, that is, a number of parameters. In the case of complex dynamic systems analytical solution usually does not exist or may be very hard to find: that's the reason why it can be useful to apply simulation modelling. A simulation model may be considered as a set of rules that define how the system being modelled will change in the future given its present state: execution of the model takes it through discrete or continuous state changes over time.
It is rather difficult to estimate enrgy output of a wind system (shown in the below figure), however energy can be estimated by modeling and simulating (next figure).
Wind distribution in a vertical cross section perpendicular to the oncoming wind at x/D2 (units in m/s). From: Micro-scale, model-based analysis of wind and energy yield information in wind parks Gnter Gross, Institut fr Meteorologie und Klimatologie Universitt Hannover, D-30419 Hannover, Phone: 0049-(0)511-7625408, Fax.: 0049-(0)511-762-4418, E-mail: gross@muk.uni-hannover.de Sabine Mllhoff & Norbert Lanfer GEO-NET Umweltconsulting GmbH, D-30161 Hannover, Phone: 0049-(0)511-3887200, Fax.: 0049-(0)511-3887201, E-mail: moellhoff@geo-net.de & lanfer@geo-net.de Christine Land, meteoterra, D-31737 Rinteln, Phone: 0049-(0)173 252 29 75, E-mail ch.land@meteoterra.de
Scatter diagram of simulated versus observed one hour energy yield values for the period August 2004 to July 2005.
In addressing real world systems Borshchev & Filippov (2004) arrange both problems and corresponding paradigms in simulation modelling on a scale of levels of abstraction. At the detailed level stands physical modelling where individual objects with exact sizes, distances, velocities and timings matter, that is to say mechanical control system, exact physical trajectories and so on. A bit higher we find warehouse logistics models or transportation models. A middle to high abstraction range can be reserved to supply chains and traffic macro models.
Dynamic Systems or physical modelling is at the bottom of the chart: this paradigm is used in mechanical, electrical, chemical and other technical engineering disciplines as a standard part of the design process. Mathematically it is the more powerful instrument (the MATLAB Simulink is the perfect example): it expresses models through a number of state variables and algebraic differential equations of various forms over these variables. In contrast with the System Dynamics, integrated variables have direct physical meaning and are not aggregate of any entities.
The mathematical diversity and complexity in dynamic systems domain can be much higher than in system dynamics, and the tools used for dynamic system simulation could easily solve any System Dynamics problem: but, Dynamic System tools do not support the way System Dynamics modellers think. In the path of research "simulation helps the analyst understand how well a systems performs under a given regime or a set of parameters."
In the discrete event simulation paradigm the simulation model possesses a state at any point in time. In other words, the simulation state remains unchanged unless a simulation event occurs, at which point the model undergoes a state transition. The model evolution is governed by a clock and a chronologically ordered event list: each event is implemented as a procedure whose execution can change state variables and possibly schedule other events.
Simulation based performance evaluation can be thought of as a statistical experiment: 1. The modeller performs multiple simulation runs, using independent sequences of random numbers. Each run is called a replication. 2. One or more performance measures are computed form each replication.
3. The performance values obtained are actually random and mutually independent, and together form a statistical sample. To obtain more reliable estimate of the true value of each performance metric, the corresponding values are averaged and confidence interval about them constructed.
Simulation of airflow over an engine From: http://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Simulation (April 15, 2011)
Example: "Simulation of Dynamic Systems with Matlab and Simulink". In principle the behaviour of dynamic systems can be explained by mathematical equations and formulae which embody either scientific principles or empirical observations, or both, related to the system. When the system parameters and variable change continuously over time or space, the models consist of coupled algebraic and differential equations. Simulation models are commonly obtained from discrete time approximations of continuous time mathematical models. More than one simulation model can be developed from a single mathematical model of a system.
SolidWorks Instant3D Updates Equations in Real-Time
v + v . v = p + 2 v + f t
From: http://www.solidsmack.com/solidworks-instant-3d-equation-tip/2008-03-27/
References (For the above section) BORSHCHEV A and FILIPPOV A (2004) From system dynamics and discrete event to practical agent based modeling: Reasons, techniques, tools. See: http://www.xjtek.com. GELL-MANN M (1994) The Quark and the Jaguar. New York: Freeman and Company. GILBERT N and TERNA P (2000) How to build and use agentbased models in social science. Mind and Society, I(1): 57-72. RAIMONDI A (2003) Un modello di Simulazione di Impresa con MATLAB, Simulink e Stateflow. Master Degree Thesis, University of Turin. Available at: http://web.econ.unito.it/terna/tesi/raimondi/raimondi.zip. TERNA P (2002) Simulazione ad agenti in contesti di impresa. Sistemi Intelligenti, XIV(1): 33-51. Systems Simulation: The Shortest Route to Applications: Avilable at http: //home.ubalt.edu/ntsbarsh/simulation/sim.htm (April 15, 2011)
Factors affecting Simulation modelling is something that can be used in a variety of different situations. Most commonly it is used to represent the effect of changes to a situation, such as a process variable or even an entire process. It can be usefully employed to show the effects of "what if" scenarios, such as what will happen to process turnaround times if the number of customer interactions increases by 25%, without a corresponding increase in available staff to deal with the customers.
It allows a realistic view of any given situation by considering many different factors that may affect a process, including ; Bottlenecks Interruptions Queuing Waiting times Elapsed time Different flow rates of a process variable
Technology Areas Simulation technology and tools making simulators Real-time simulation Hardware-in-the-loop Distributed simulation and interoperability Graphical simulation, visualisation and virtual reality technology Rationalisation of simulation development through portability and standards
Simulation Applications Mission definition and demonstration Crew training Design, prototyping and verification of systems Supporting software validation (mostly in engineering and architecture) Mission/System (end-to-end) modelling, to support the definition of new missions Attitude and Orbit Control System, Trajectory, Guidance and Control, Navigation simulators Mathematical analysis models of payloads systems Demonstration and promoting of space systems by real-time visualisation .
Advantages One of the clear benefits of simulation modelling is that it provides a dynamic model which can give a realistic view of a situation before it is actually implemented. As simulation modelling software can be relatively low cost (compared to the cost of installing a new process), for a large and expensive process, this can be extremely cost effective. eg. the cost of building a dynamic simulation model of a new motor car production line far outweighs the cost of the real thing.
Limitations Its main disadvantage is that for low volume, low cost processes, purchasing and building a simulation model can be expensive, time consuming and unnecessarily expensive.
From: http://www.ocpe.gmu.edu/programs/msa/msa_lifecycle.php (April 15, 2011)
From: http://www.usc.edu/dept/ATRIUM/Papers/ARQ/VISTA.html (April 15, 2011)
Lecture 10 Part 2
Integrated Research
Need of integrated research What is Integrated research?
Need of integrated research The to days complex and high-tech societal needs brought along the multidisciplinary research. Many of the difficult questions facing todays society have a number of the following characteristics: They are often complex (with some considered as being "wicked") They may have been a long time in the making; although there are also surprises; There may be a lot of uncertainty about cause and effect;
Solutions often involve many people or organizations and concerted effort; A range of stakeholder values could be involved; they may be interwoven or polarized. Many different types of organizations (e.g. councils, stakeholder panels, agencies, NGOs, intergovernmental bodies, policy makers, decision makers, etc.) have sought more integration of research and/or research outcomes. The very concept of sustainability across multiple societal and environmental sectors raises the issue of integration.
Our rural and regional landscapes are subject to multiple and complex interventions whether for production, settlement, infrastructure or conservation purposes, or even for rehabilitation. i.e. in Cyprus our water systems are under intense pressure and multiple demands of different groups. Our society faces choices driven by complex economic and social pressures. At times these are seen as straightforward and linear while at other times there is a web of connections and drivers. Research is seen in many ways and is undertaken in many ways by individuals or teams.
Some of these identify issues or gaps and integrate at the outset although they may work in different ways - individually or in groups but with a mechanism that ensures the information is integrated whether immediately or at a later stage. At other times people combine to integrate existing information to address specified issue or gaps. They build, they create, they value add and seek anew.
It is recognized that integrated research projects that depend on teams can present challenges and opportunities and require specific resources, personnel and time provision. At other times the requirements may be simpler. The approaches do not need to be complex. What is Integrated research: There are many views about the nature of integrated research.
Some of these include: Multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research that brings together different methods or conceptual approaches to the conduct of the research; Research that describes complex systems from a number of perspectives; Aggregation of past research to value add or achieve a synthesis and perspective greater than the sum of the individual parts;
Integrated research is not limited to research conducted by researchers with different disciplinary interests, but should be based on methods that integrate data from many different sources across and within disciplines to make inferences about phenomena that are too broad to be explained by one discipline alone. Integrated research can be done by individuals or by groups - the important characteristic is in the approach to research design and analysis. These can be tried and true or innovative or experimental.
There are many ways in which the members of an organization, of different organizations or multi-national group, can become involved in integrated research projects. These include: Participation in one of the identified integration themes, leading to collaboration on integrated research projects (i.e. EU Framework Seven Research Programme (FP7) ); Initiating a new integration theme through discussion and collaboration with members of the group and/or outsider researchers;
Collaboration with other researchers on projects within a single discipline but using a variety of perspectives to answer a question; Undertaking a disciplinary research project identified as key to future collaboration and/or input to a particular issue; Undertaking synthesis of work previously completed by a variety of researchers to provide answers to broader system wide questions; Exploring methodologies (for example statistical techniques) from a variety of disciplines to provide new perspectives on current research questions. Or other ways that you identify......
From: http://www.irean.vt.edu/
Example : Integrated Research and Education in Advanced Networking Project Overview: This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award allows students from computer engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, industrial and systems engineering, and business to work with technology developers and advanced users from industry and government on multidisciplinary research targeted at the vision of the future Internet as the common, ubiquitous and global communications infrastructure.
(Example cont.)
The program will integrate research on broadband wireless access, mobile access to Internet resources and applications, Internet appliances, quality of service, heterogeneous network security, and management of large-scale networks. The educational program develops students' ability to conduct research, integrate technical, business, regulatory, and global issues, work effectively in distributed, culturally diverse, multidisciplinary teams, communicate effectively, and conduct themselves in an ethical and professional manner.
From: http://www.irean.vt.edu/ (Example cont.)
The program leverages existing university investments to create this state-of-the-art distributed graduate education and research training program at two sites. Virginia Tech's Alexandria Research Institute provides access to industrial and government partners and a foundation in multidisciplinary and international programs. The main campus in Blacksburg provides access to the university's traditional research strengths and advanced networking infrastructure. Steady-state enrollment is to be at least 19 students, with an average of five to six U.S. Ph.D. graduates per year.

by lkay SALHOLU
LECTURE 11 DATA VALIDATION AND EVALUATION

Adopted from: http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html#top (The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) Experiment Resources (2009), Statistics Tutorial, and Retrieved from Experiment Resources: http://www.experiment-resources.com/statisticstutorial.html and http://www.experiment-resources.com/statisticstutorial.html#ixzz0UMvWdkQi
lkay SALHOLU, NEU
"You mean my data appears flawed? From: www.weac.org/.../cartoons/2003-2004/101.aspx
DATA VALIDATION AND EVALUATION Quality control Quality assurance Data quality assurance Statistics Significance Test Hypothesis Testing Relationship Between Variables Nonparametric Statistics
To arrive at measurable & reliable data, it is critical to invest in right people and right technology. It is beleived that with right application of fact analysis, data and can be god. Hence measurable data is the only reliable data. Incoherent data is generated when transaction applications capture data which is meaningless. Inaccurate data is data that is misleading, incorrect or without generalized formatting, contains spelling or punctuation errors, data that is input in a wrong field or duplicate data.
Quality Control (QC) In engineering, architure and manufacturing, quality control and quality engineering are used in developing systems to ensure products or services are designed and produced to meet or exceed customer requirements. Quality control is the branch of engineering and manufacturing which deals with assurance and failure testing in design and production of products or services, to meet or exceed customer requirements.
Quality assurance (QA) Quality assurance, or QA for short, refers to planned and systematic production processes that provide confidence in a product's suitability for its intended purpose. It is a set of activities intended to ensure that products (goods and/or services) satisfy customer requirements in a systematic, reliable fashion. Two key principles characterise QA: "fit for purpose" (the product should be suitable for the intended purpose) and "right first time" (mistakes should be eliminated). One of the most widely used paradigms for quality assurance management is the PDCA (Plan-Do-CheckAct) approach, also known as the Shewhart cycle.
Data Quality Assurance Data quality is the reliability and effectiveness of data, particularly in a data warehouse. Data quality assurance (DQA) is the process of verifying the reliability and effectiveness of data. Maintaining data quality requires going through the data periodically and scrubbing it. Typically this involves updating it, standardizing it, and de-duplicating records to create a single view of the data, even if it is stored in multiple disparate systems.
There are many data quality principles that apply when dealing with the scientific data and especially with the spatial aspects of those data. These principles are involved at all stages of the data management process. A loss of data quality at any one of these stages reduces the applicability and uses to which the data can be adequately put. These include: Data capture and recording at the time of gathering,
Data manipulation prior to digitization (label preparation, copying of data to a ledger, etc.), Identification of the collection (observation) and its recording, Digitization of the data, Documentation of the data (capturing and recording the metadata), Data storage and archiving, Data presentation and dissemination (paper and electronic publications, web-enabled databases, etc.), Using the data (analysis and manipulation).
All these have an input into the final quality or fitness for use of the data and all apply to all aspects of the data-the what-, the spatial portion the where and other data such as the who and the when (Berendsohn, W.G. 1997. A taxonomic information model for botanical databases: the IOPI model.Taxon 46: 283-309).
Metadata definition provides information about the distinct items, such as: means of creation, purpose of the data, time and date of creation, creator or author of data, placement on a network (electronic form) where the data was created, what standards used etc.
Data verification is used to ensure that the requirements stated in the planning documents are implemented as prescribed. Data validation is used to ensure that the results of the data collection activities support the objectives of the research as documented in the Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP), or permit a determination that these objectives should be modified.
Data Quality Assessment (DQA) is the scientific and statistical evaluation of data to determine if the data are of the right type, quality, and quantity to support their intended use. DQA helps complete the Data Life Cycle by providing the assessment needed to determine that the planning objectives are achieved.
There are five steps in the DQA Process: Review the Data Quality Objectives (DQOs) and Survey Design. Conduct a Preliminary Data Review. Select the Statistical Test. Verify the Assumptions of the Statistical Test. Draw Conclusions from the Data. These five steps are presented in a linear sequence, but the DQA process is applied in an iterative fashion much like the DQO process.
From: EPA
Conduct a Preliminary Data Review In this step of the DQA process, the analyst conducts a preliminary evaluation of the data set, calculating some basic statistical quantities and looking at the data through graphical representations. By reviewing the data both numerically and graphically, the analyst can learn the structure of the data and thereby identify appropriate approaches and limitations for their use.
This step includes three activities: i. reviewing quality assurance reports ii. calculating statistical quantities iii. graphing the data (e.g., histograms, scatter plots, confidence intervals, ranked data plots, quantile plots, spatial or temporal plots) Select the Statistical Test The statistical tests, presented in handout titled data validation statistical methods, are applicable for the data obtained by different research methods and purposes.
HANDOUT Handout discusses the rationale for selecting the statistical methods recommended for the final status survey in more detail.
Statistics: Minimum value Maximum value Mean value (average) Median value modal value Standard deviation
Statistics
Adopted from: Experiment Resources (2009), Statistics Tutorial, and Retrieved from Experiment Resources: http://www.experiment-resources.com/statisticstutorial.html and http://www.experiment-resources.com/statisticstutorial.html#ixzz0UMvWdkQi.
This statistics tutorial is a guide to help you understand key concepts of statistics and how these concepts relate to the scientific method and research. Scientists frequently use statistics to analyze their results. Why do researchers use statistics? Statistics can help understand a phenomenon by confirming or rejecting a hypothesis. Statistics is often vital to change scientific theories.
Research Data This section is about understanding how data is acquired and uses. The results of a science investigation often contain much more data or information than the researcher needs. This data-material, or information, is called raw data. To be able to analyze the data sensibly, the raw data is processed into "output data". There are many methods to process the data, but basically the scientist organizes and summarizes the raw data into a more sensible chunk of data. Any type of organized information may be called a "data set". This is usually ranked as Meta-data.
Central Tendency and Normal Distribution Mean, Median, Mode, and Range Mean, median, and mode are three kinds of "averages". There are many "averages" in statistics, but these are, I think, the three most common, and are certainly the three you are most likely to encounter in your pre-statistics courses, if the topic comes up at all. The "mean" is the "average" you're used to, where you add up all the numbers and then divide by the number of numbers. is repeated, then there is no mode for the list.
The "median" is the "middle" value in the list of numbers. To find the median, your numbers have to be listed in numerical order, so you may have to rewrite your list first. The "mode" is the value that occurs most often. If no number repeated, then there is no mode for the list. The "range" is just the difference between the largest and smallest values.
Normal Probability Distribution. Normal probability distribution, also called Gaussian distribution refers to a family of distributions that are bell shaped. These are symmetric in nature and peak at the mean, with the probability distribution decreasing away before and after this mean smoothly, as shown in the figure on slide No: 25. The figure also shows a family of curves with different peaks centered about the same mean, which differ in their spread and height. = Mean of the Population = Standard Deviation
Mean, x (or ) =
X
i =1
For a normal distribution, the mean, median and mode are all equal. The normal distribution function can be written in terms of the mean and standard deviation as follows:
The standard deviation;
( X i X )2
i =1
About 68% of all values lie within one standard deviation from the mean; 95.4% of all values lie within two standard deviations from the mean and 99.7% of all values lie within three standard deviations from the mean.
From: http://www.wiley.com/college/sc/reid/chap6.pdf, May 6,2011
Significance Test If the standard deviation is known, the appropriate significance test is known as the z-test, where the test statistic is defined as;
(x ) z=
0
/ n
Tests for Unknown Mean and Unknown Standard Deviation
(x ) t=
0
s/ n
s is the estimated standard deviation.
Hypothesis Testing How do we know whether a hypothesis is correct or not? Why use statistics to determine this? Using statistics in research involves a lot more than make use of statistical formulas or getting to know statistical software. Making use of statistics in research basically involves learning basic statistics understanding the relationship between probability and statistics
comprehension of inferential statistics. knowledge of how statistics relates to the scientific method. Statistics in research is not just about formulas and calculation. Experimental Errors: Type I Error - Type II Error Whilst many will not have heard of Type I error or Type II error, most people will be familiar with the terms false positive and false negative, mainly as a medical term.
For example, a test, promising a 99.9% accuracy rate. This means that 1 in every 1000 tests could give a false positive, informing a patient that they have the virus, when they do not. Conversely, the test could also show a false negative reading. This is why most tests require duplicate samples, to stack the odds up favorably. A one in one thousand chance becomes a 1 in 1 000 000 chance, if two independent samples are tested.
Type III Errors Many statisticians are now adopting a third type of error, a type III, which is where the null hypothesis was rejected for the wrong reason. In an experiment, a researcher might postulate a hypothesis and perform research. After analyzing the results statistically, the null is rejected. The problem is, that there may be some relationship between the variables, but it could be for a different reason than stated in the hypothesis. An unknown process may underlie the relationship.
Relationship Between Variables Correlation (linear relationship) Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Spearman rho Partial Correlation and Multiple Correlation Regression analysis and other modeling tools Linear Regression Multiple Regression A Path Analysis is an extension of the regression model A Factor Analysis attempts to uncover underlying factors of something. The Meta-Analysis frequently make use of effect size
An ANOVA, or Analysis of Variance, is used when it is desirable to test whether there are different variability between groups rather than different means. Analysis of Variance can also be applied to more than two groups. The Fdistribution can be used to calculate p-values for the ANOVA. Analysis of Variance One way ANOVA Two way ANOVA Factorial ANOVA Repeated Measures and ANOVA
Nonparametric Statistics Some common methods using nonparametric statistics: Cohen's Kappa Mann-Whitney U Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient
From: http://www.google.com.tr/imgres?imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com, May 2, 2011
ME 503 Scientific Research Methods by lkay SALHOLU LECTURE 12 WRITING REPORT

By .Saliholu with information from A Practical Guide Writing Research Report; Source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/lab_report_comple te.html Scientific Reports
lkay SALHOLU, NEU
From: http://www.google.com.tr/search?q=writing+reports&hl, may 6, 2011
Writing a Report Introduction Aim IMRAD
Introduction This guide aims to help you write a research paper. It contains an overview on writing academic papers such as the term paper, graduation project, graduate thesis, research paper or other academic essays written in the format of the research paper. Some thoughts from the APA-standard and the MLA-standard has been integrated to help its purpose.
Aim The main purpose of a scientific report is to communicate. A typical structure and style have evolved to convey essential information and ideas as concisely and effectively as possible. Precise formats vary by discipline and scientific journal, but always treat them as flexible
Background and Pre-writing You did an experiment or research study for your work, and now you have to write it up for your supervisor or examining committee to review. You feel that you understood the background sufficiently, designed and completed the study effectively, obtained useful data, and can use those data to draw conclusions about a scientific process or principle. But how exactly do you write all that? What are their expectations? How can you display your findings in a decent way? etc. etc.....
Generally speaking, people investigating some scientific hypothesis have a responsibility to the rest of the scientific world to report their findings, particularly if these findings add to or contradict previous ideas. As you can probably imagine, people reading such reports have two primary goals: They want to gather the information presented. They want to know that the findings are legitimate. Your job as a writer, then, is to fulfill these two goals.
The main purpose of scientific report writing at university is to communicate the results of your experiments and/or research work. The process of writing a scientific report also gives you valuable practice in articulating the theoretical and empirical bases of a particular experiment, what you did, and what you interpret your results to mean. Although this document gives a general description of the sections of a scientific report; you should check the practices adopted by your department.
Report Structure The basic format scientists have designed for research reports consists: Introduction Methods and Materials Results Discussion This format, sometimes called "IMRAD," (Introduction, Methods, Research [and] Discussion) may take slightly different shapes depending on the discipline or audience; some ask you to include an abstract or separate section for the hypothesis, or call the Discussion section "Conclusions," or change the order of the sections (some professional and academic journals require the Methods section to appear last).
Section
Scientific method step Introduction States the hypothesis of your work Methods details how the hypothesis was tested provides raw (i.e., un-interpreted) data collected considers whether the data obtained support the hypothesis
As well as... explains how you derived that hypothesis and how it connects to previous research; gives the purpose of the experiment/study clarifies why you performed your study in that particular way expresses the data in table form, as an easy-to-read figure, or as percentages/ratios explores the implications of your finding and judges the potential limitations of your experimental design
Results
Discussion
Before Starting to Write The best way to prepare to write a report is to make sure that you fully understand everything you need to about the research or experiment. Obviously, if you don't quite know what went on during the research process, you're going to find it difficult to explain it satisfactorily to someone else. Lets assume that you want to write a simple experiment report. To make sure you know enough to write the report, complete the following steps:
1. Read your experiment manual thoroughly, well before you start to carry out the experiment. Ask yourself the following questions: What are we going to do in this experiment? (That is, what's the procedure?) Why are we going to do it that way? What are we hoping to learn from this experiment? Why would we benefit from this knowledge? Answering these questions will lead you to a more complete understanding of the experiment, and this "big picture" will in turn help you write a successful report.
2. Make use of your supervisor or lab advisor as you perform the experiment. If you don't know how to answer one of the questions above, for example, your lab advisor or supervisor will probably be able to explain it to you (or, at least, help you figure it out). 3. Plan the steps of the experiment carefully. Also, take some time to think about the best way to organize the data before you have to start putting numbers down. If you can design a table to account for the data, that will tend to work much better than jotting results down hurriedly on a scrap piece of paper (Always use a lab note book!).
4. Record the data carefully so you get them right. You won't be able to trust your conclusions if you have the wrong data. 5. Consult with your lab partners about everything you do. Collaborate with your partners, even when the experiment is "over." What trends did you observe? Was the hypothesis supported? Did you all get the same results? What kind of figure should you use to represent your findings? The whole group can work together to answer these questions.
6. Consider your audience. You may believe that audience is a non-issue: if you write with only your lab instructor in mind, you may omit material that is crucial to a complete understanding of your experiment, because you assume the instructor knows all that stuff already. Try to write towards somebody who is familiar with the subject but not an expert on that issue.
Alternatively, you could envision yourself five years from now, after the reading and lectures for this course have faded a bit. What would you remember, and what would you need explained more clearly (as a refresher)? Once you've completed these steps as you perform the experiment, you'll be in a good position to draft an effective lab report.
Introduction Introduction usually contains four basic elements: the purpose, the scientific literature relevant to the subject, the hypothesis, and the reasons you believed your hypothesis viable. We will go through each element of the Introduction to clarify what it covers and why it's important. Then we can formulate a logical organizational strategy for the section.
Purpose (or objectives) The purpose is not the same as the hypothesis. Basically both provide some indication of what you expect the experiment to show. The purpose is broader, and deals more with what you expect to gain through the experiment/research. In a professional setting, the hypothesis might have something to do with how monoatomic layer conducts current, but the purpose of the experiment is to learn more about monoatomic layer formation. Some reports don't often have this wide-ranging a goal, but you should still try to maintain the distinction between the hypothesis and the purpose.
Hypothesis For starters, most people say that you should write out your working hypothesis before you perform the experiment or study. Many beginning science students neglect to do so and find themselves struggling to remember precisely which variables were involved in the process or in what way the researchers felt that they were related. Write your hypothesis down as you develop it (you'll be glad you did).
As for the form a hypothesis should take, it's best not to be too fancy or complicated; an inventive style isn't nearly so important as clarity here. There's nothing wrong with beginning your hypothesis with the phrase, "It was hypothesized that . . . Be as specific as you can about the relationship between the different objects of your study.
In other words, explain that when term A changes, term B changes in this particular way. Readers of scientific writing are rarely content with the idea that a relationship between two terms exists (they want to know what that relationship entails). Put more technically, most hypotheses contain both an independent and a dependent variable. The independent variable is what you manipulate; the dependent variable is what changes as a result of your manipulation. Be sure that your hypothesis includes both variables.
Justify your hypothesis You need to do more than tell your readers what your hypothesis is; you also need to assure them that this hypothesis was reasonable, given the circumstances. If you posit that a particular relationship exists between the independent and the dependent variable, what led you to believe your "guess" might be supported by evidence?
Scientists often refer to this type of justification as "motivating" the hypothesis, in the sense that something propelled them to make that prediction. Often, motivation includes what we already know, or rather, what scientists generally accept as true. But you can also motivate your hypothesis by relying on logic or on your own observations.
Background/previous research This part of the Introduction demonstrates to the reader your awareness of how you're building on other scientists' work. If you think of the scientific community as engaging in a series of conversations about various topics, then you'll recognize that the relevant background material will alert the reader to which conversation you want to enter. Authors writing journal articles use the background for slightly different purposes. The readers of academic journals tend to be professionals in the field, authors explain the background in order to permit readers to evaluate the study's pertinence for their own work.
On the other hand, you write toward a much narrower audience, such as your supervisor, your examining committee members etc., and so you must demonstrate that you understand the context for the experiment or study you've completed. In any event, both professional researchers and graduates need to connect the background material overtly to their own work.
Methods and Materials As with any piece of writing, your Methods section will succeed only if it fulfills its readers' expectations, so you need to be clear in your own mind about the purpose of this section. Let's review the purpose as we described it above: in this section, you want to describe in detail how you tested the hypothesis you developed and also to clarify the rationale for your procedure. In science, it's not sufficient merely to design and carry out an experiment.
Ultimately, others must be able to verify your findings, so your experiment must be reproducible, to the extent that other researchers can follow the same procedure and obtain the same (or similar) results. When you write your Methods section, keep in mind that you need to describe your experiment well enough to allow others to replicate it exactly.
Content Sometimes the hardest thing about writing this section isn't what you should talk about, but what you shouldn't talk about. Writers often want to include the results of their experiment, because they measured and recorded the results during the course of the experiment. But such data should be reserved for the Results section. In the Methods section, you can write that you recorded the results, or how you recorded the results (e.g., in a table), but you shouldn't write what the results were, not yet. Here, you're merely stating exactly how you went about testing your hypothesis.
How much detail? Be precise in providing details, but stay relevant. Ask yourself, "Would it make any difference if this piece were a different size or made from a different material?" If not, you probably don't need to get too specific. If so, you should give as many details as necessary to prevent this experiment from going away if someone else tries to carry it out. Probably the most crucial detail is measurement; you should always quantify anything you can, such as time elapsed, temperature, mass, volume, etc.
Rationale: Be sure that as you're relating your actions during the experiment, you explain your rationale for the protocol you developed. In a professional setting, writers provide their rationale as a way to explain their thinking to potential critics. On one hand, of course, that's your motivation for talking about protocol, too. On the other hand, since in practical terms you're also writing to your supervisor, explaining the rationale indicates that you understand the reasons for conducting the experiment/research in that way, and that you're not just following orders. Critical thinking is crucial, robots don't make good scientists.
Structure and style Organization is especially important in the Methods section because readers must understand your experimental procedure completely. Many writers are surprised by the difficulty of conveying what they did during the experiment, since after all they're only reporting an event, but it's often tricky to present this information in a coherent way. There's a fairly standard structure you can use to guide you, and following the conventions for style can help clarify your points.
Subsections: Occasionally, researchers use subsections to report their procedure when the following circumstances apply: 1) if they've used a great many materials; 2) if the procedure is unusually complicated; 3) if they've developed a procedure that won't be familiar to many of their readers. Narrative structure: Think of this section as telling a story about a group of people and the experiment they performed. Describe what you did in the order in which you did it.
Past tense: Remember that you're describing what happened, so you should use past tense to refer to everything you did during the experiment. Passive voice vs. first person: In the past, scientific journals encouraged their writers to avoid using the first person ("I" or "we"), because the researchers themselves weren't personally important to the procedure in the experiment. Remember that other researchers should ideally be able to reproduce experiments exactly, based on the report;
using first person indicates (to some readers) that the experiment cannot be duplicated without the original researchers present. To help keep personal references out of reports, scientific conventions also dictated that researchers should use passive voice, in which the subject of a sentence or clause doesn't perform the action described by the verb.
Results The Results section is often both the shortest and most important part of your report. Your Materials and Methods section shows how you obtained the results, and your Discussion section explores the significance of the results, so clearly the Results section forms the backbone of a scientific report. This section provides the most critical information about your experiment: the data that allow you to discuss how your hypothesis was or wasn't supported. But it doesn't provide anything else, which explains why this section is generally shorter than the others.
Before you write this section, look at all the data you collected to figure out what relates significantly to your hypothesis. You'll want to highlight this material in your Results section. Resist the urge to include every bit of data you collected, since perhaps not all are relevant. Also, don't try to draw conclusions about the results, save them for the Discussion section. In this section, you're reporting facts. Nothing your readers can dispute should appear in the Results section. Most Results sections feature three distinct parts: text, tables, and figures.
Text This should be a short paragraph, generally just a few lines, that describes the results you obtained from your experiment. In a relatively simple experiment, one that doesn't produce a lot of data for you to repeat, the text can represent the entire Results section. Don't feel that you need to include lots of extraneous detail to compensate for a short (but effective) text; your readers appreciate discrimination more than your ability to recite facts. In a more complex experiment, you may want to use tables and/or figures to help guide your readers toward the most important information you gathered. In that event, you'll need to refer to each table or figure
Feel free to describe trends that emerge as you examine the data. Although identifying trends requires some judgment on your part and so may not feel like factual reporting, no one can deny that these trends do exist, and so they properly belong in the Results section. As in the Materials and Methods section, you want to refer to your data in the past tense, because the events you recorded have already occurred and have finished occurring.
Tables You shouldn't put information in the table that also appears in the text or use a table to present irrelevant data, just to show you did collect these data during the experiment. Tables are good for some purposes and situations, but not others, so whether and how you'll use tables depends upon what you need them to accomplish. Tables are useful ways to show variation in data, but not to present a great deal of unchanging measurements. How useful is the table?
As a rule, try not to use a table to describe any experimental event you can cover in one sentence of text. Here's an example of an unnecessary table from How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, by Robert A. Day:
When you do have reason to tabulate material, pay attention to the clarity and readability of the format you use. Here are a few tips: Number your table. Then, when you refer to the table in the text, use that number to tell your readers which table they can review to clarify the material. Give your table a title. This title should be descriptive enough to communicate the contents of the table, but not so long that it becomes difficult to follow. The titles in the sample tables above are acceptable.
Arrange your table so that readers read vertically, not horizontally. For the most part, this rule means that you should construct your table so that like elements read down, not across. Think about what you want your readers to compare, and put that information in the column (up and down) rather than in the row (across). Usually, the point of comparison will be the numerical data you collect, so especially make sure you have columns of numbers, not rows.
(from A Short Guide to Writing about Chemistry, by Herbert Beall and John Trimbur).
Make sure to include units of measurement in the tables. Line up numbers on the right, like this: 1058 432 7 or on the decimal point. Don't use vertical lines as part of the format for your table. This convention exists because journals prefer not to have to reproduce these lines because the tables then become more expensive to print. Consequently, if you use the table-drawing option in your word-processing software, choose the option that doesn't rely on a "grid" format (which includes vertical lines).
Figures How to include figures in the report? Although tables can be useful ways of showing trends in the results you obtained, figures (i.e., illustrations) can do an even better job of emphasizing such trends. Report writers often use graphic representations of the data they collected to provide their readers with a literal picture of how the experiment went.
When to use a figure? Remember the circumstances under which you don't need a table: when you don't have a great deal of data, or when the data you have don't vary a lot. Under the same conditions, you would probably forgo the figure as well, since the figure would be unlikely to provide your readers with an additional perspective. Scientists really don't like their time wasted, so they tend not to respond favorably to redundancy.
Figures can include maps, photographs, penand-ink drawings, flow charts, bar graphs, and section graphs ("pie charts"). But the most common figure by far, is the line graph. You have to know how to design your graph to meet your readers' expectations. Some of these expectations follow:
Keep it as simple as possible. You may be tempted to signal the complexity of the information you gathered by trying to design a graph that accounts for that complexity. But remember the purpose of your graph: to dramatize your results in a manner that's easy to see and grasp. For maximum effectiveness, limit yourself to three to five lines per graph; if you have more data to demonstrate, use a set of graphs to account for them, rather than trying to cram it all into a single figure.
Plot the independent variable on the horizontal (x) axis and the dependent variable on the vertical (y) axis. Remember that the independent variable is the condition that you manipulated during the experiment and the dependent variable is the condition that you measured to see if it changed along with the independent variable. Placing the variables along their respective axes is mostly just a convention, but since your readers are accustomed to viewing graphs in this way, you're better off not challenging the convention in your report.
Label each axis carefully, and be especially careful to include units of measure. You need to make sure that your readers understand perfectly well what your graph indicates. Number and title your graphs. As with tables, the title of the graph should be informative but concise, and you should refer to your graph by number in the text (e.g., "Figure 1 shows the increase in the solubility rate as a function of temperature").
Many editors of professional scientific journals prefer that writers distinguish the lines in their graphs by attaching a symbol to them, usually a geometric shape (triangle, square, etc.), and using that symbol throughout the curve of the line. Generally, readers have a hard time distinguishing dotted lines from dotdash lines from straight lines, so you should consider staying away from this system. Editors don't usually like different-colored lines within a graph, because colors are difficult and expensive to reproduce; colors may, however, be great for your purposes.
Try to gather data at regular intervals, so the plot points on your graph aren't too far apart. If you're worried that you didn't collect data at sufficiently regular intervals during your experiment, go ahead and connect the points with a straight line, but you may want to examine this problem as part of your Discussion section.
Make your graph large enough so that everything is legible and clearly demarcated, but not so large that it either overwhelms the rest of the Results section or provides a far greater range than you need to illustrate your point If you create a set of graphs, make them the same size and format, including all the verbal and visual codes (captions, symbols, scale, etc.).
An example of a simple colored figure with two variables distinguished with different geometrical shapes is given below.
5 4
NO3
Monthly variations of upper layer N,P average values at the Bosphorus-Black Sea entrance
NO3
PO4
0.3 0.25
PO4
3 2 1 0
0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0
jan
feb
mar
apr
may jun
jul
Aug sep
oct
nov dec
Figure 6. The annual variations of monthly averages of DIN and DIP in the Bosphorus upper-lower layer flows at the Strait entrances. (after S.Turul)
Discussion The discussion section is probably the least formalized part of the report, in that you can't really apply the same structure to every type of experiment. In simple terms, here you tell your readers what to make of the Results you obtained. If you have done the Results part well, your readers should already recognize the trends in the data and have a fairly clear idea of whether your hypothesis was supported. Because the Results can seem so self-explanatory. Basically, the Discussion contains several parts, in no particular order, but roughly moving from specific to general:
Explain whether the data support your hypothesis Acknowledge any anomalous data or deviations from what you expected Derive conclusions, based on your findings, about the process you're studying Relate your findings to earlier work in the same area (if you can) Explore the theoretical and/or practical implications of your findings
Conclusions
References Websites LabWrite Project 2000. [www.ncsu.edu/labwrite] A repository of great aids to writing successful lab reports, including pre- and post-lab checklists and a Microsoft Excel tutorial. University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center. [www.wisc.edu/writing] Useful tables describing the content of each section and how to provide it. Includes a sample lab report. Follow the links: "Handouts" to "Academic Writing" to "Writing Science Reports." Books and paers Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 4th edition. Washington, DC: APA Press, 1994. Commonly considered a handbook of formatting and other relatively minor issues (e.g. whether to represent numbers as numerals or words), but also features good tips for making your writing more professional in appearance and tone. See especially the first two chapters, "Content and Organization of a Manuscript" and "Expression of Ideas." Blum, Deborah and Mary Knudson, eds. A Field Guide for Science Writers: the Official Guide of the National Association of Science Writers. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Extremely useful as an indicator of the expectations science readers have for professional-level writing. Lots of helpful material regarding formatting, but also includes more about stylistic choices than do the similar CBE and APA manuals.
Booth, Wayne, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. In many writers' opinions, the best and most practical guide to the research process. Leads the reader through all the stages of the research process, from developing a question into a problem that can be addressed, to planning and drafting, to revising for clarity and comprehension. The last three chapters are especially helpful. Briscoe, Mary Helen. Preparing Scientific Illustrations: a Guide to Better Posters, Presentations, and Publications. 2nd edition. New York: Springer Publications, 1996. Emphasis on presentations at conferences and similar forums, but also probably the most comprehensive discussion about designing tables and graphs. Council of Science Editors. Scientific Style and Format: the CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers. 7th edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Like the APA manual, the CSE manual is most often regarded by writers as an encyclopedia of arcane formatting rules, but it does contain a good deal of information about science writing in general. (Note that this used to be called the CBE Manual; the organization that produces it was formerly called the Council of Biology Editors.) Davis, Martha. Scientific Papers and Presentations. San Diego: Academic Press, 1997. Similar in topic and approach to Briscoe's work mentioned above, but more readable and less exhaustive. A useful guide, particularly for writers who find visuals difficult to design or realize. Day, Robert A. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. 4th edition. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1994. Informative and entertaining guide to what editors look for in manuscripts (and what editors really hate in manuscripts as well). Very practical, relying heavily on anecdote to make
From: http://www.google.com.tr/search?q=writing+reports&hl, May 6, 2011
LECTURE 14 WRITING AND PRESENTING A THESIS
Compiled by .Saliholu from Levine S. Joseph, Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan USA http://www.LearnerAssociates.net, (Last Updated: 01/21/2009 02:57:32)
lkay SALHOLU, NEU
cover page to Sren Kierkegaard's university thesis
Writing and Presenting Thesis (or Dissertation)
Picture from: http://www.google.com.tr/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thewritersworkshop.net/
Introduction The aim of this guide is to assist graduate students in thinking through the many aspects of crafting, implementing and defending a thesis or dissertation. It is an attempt to make the task of finishing a graduate degree easier. Throughout of this lecture we will not focus on the actual implementation of the research but we will look at many of the quasi-political aspects of the process. Such topics as how to select a supportive committee, making a compelling presentation of your research outcomes and strategies for actually getting the paper written will be discussed.
Many of the ideas that are presented in this lecture can be used successfully by other graduate students studying under the guidance of other advisers and from many different disciplines. As mentioned earelier, the use of this document carries no guarantee - implied or otherwise. When in doubt check with your department or even better with your adviser.
Probably the best advice to start with is the idea of not trying to do your research entirely by yourself. Do it in conjunction with your adviser. Seek out his/her input and assistance. Stay in touch with your adviser so that both of you know what's happening. There's a much better chance of getting to the end of your project and with a smile on your face.
Up to this lecture we have discussed the issues related to research methods, how to write a research proposal, writing a research report and I think now this is the part we've been waiting for: WRITING THE THESIS AND/OR DISSERTATION. Assuming that you have come up with a good idea for research, had your proposal approved, collected the data, conducted your analyses and now you're about to start writing the dissertation. If you've done the first steps well this part shouldn't be too bad. In fact it might even be enjoyable!
WRITING A THESIS Writing process can be split into stages Getting in the Mood Writing the First Draft
Finishing
Example of a Mind Map
WRITING A GRADUATE THESIS Important to all writers is the development of clear, concise, logical and accurate communication of ideas. In thesis writing, a structured format helps to achieve this end. A thesis contains several sections, each addressing a pertinent aspect of a study: CHAPTER 1: Introduction CHAPTER 2: Methods and Materials CHAPTER 3: Results CHAPTER 4: Discussion(s) [CHAPTER 5: Conclusions/Implications] This format, sometimes called "IMRAD,"
The major myth in writing a dissertation is that you start writing at Chapter One and then finish your writing at Chapter Five. This is seldom the case. The most productive approach in writing the dissertation is to begin writing those parts of the dissertation that you are most comfortable with. Then move about in your writing by completing various sections as you think of them. At some point you will be able to spread out in front of you all of the sections that you have written.
You will be able to sequence them in the best order and then see what is missing and should be added to the dissertation. This way seems to make sense and builds on those aspects of your study that are of most interest to you at any particular time. Go with what interests you, start your writing there, and then keep building!
If you prepared a comprehensive proposal you will now be rewarded! Pull out the proposal and begin by checking your proposed research methodology. Change the tense from future tense to past tense and then make any additions or changes so that the methodology section truly reflects what you did. You have now been able to change sections from the proposal to sections for the dissertation. Move on to the Statement of the Problem and the Literature Review in the same manner.
It is assumed that you're using some form of word processing on a computer to write your dissertation. (if you aren't, you've missed a major part of your doctoral preparation!) If your study has specific names of people, institutions and places that must be changed to provide anonymity don't do it too soon. Go ahead and write your dissertation using the real names. Then at the end of the writing stage you can easily have the computer make all of the appropriate name substitutions. If you make these substitutions too early it can really confuse your writing.
As you get involved in the actual writing of your dissertation you will find that conservation of paper will begin to fade away as a concern. Just as soon as you print a draft of a chapter there will appear a variety of needed changes and before you know it another draft will be printed. And, it seems almost impossible to throw away any of the drafts! After awhile it will become extremely difficult to remember which draft of your chapter you may be looking at.
If possible, print each draft of your dissertation on a different color paper. With the different colors of paper it will be easy to see which is the latest draft and you can quickly see which draft a committee member might be reading. The one area where I would caution you about using a word processor is in the initial creation of elaborate graphs or tables. I've seen too many students spend too many hours in trying to use their word processor to create an elaborate graph that could have been done by hand in 15 minutes. So, the simple rule is to use hand drawing for elaborate tables and graphs for the early draft of your dissertation.
Make sure your data are presented accurately so your advisor can clearly understand your graph/table, but don't waste the time trying to make it look word processor perfect at this time. Once you and your advisor agree upon how the data should be graphically represented it is time to prepare "perfect" looking graphs and tables. Dissertation-style writing is not designed to be entertaining. Dissertation writing should be clear and unambiguous. To do this well you should prepare a list of key words that are important to your research and then your writing should use this set of key words throughout.
There is nothing so frustrating to a reader as a manuscript that keeps using alternate words to mean the same thing. If you've decided that a key phrase for your research is "educational workshop", then do not try substituting other phrases like "in-service program", "learning workshop", "educational institute", or "educational program." Always stay with the same phrase - "educational workshop." It will be very clear to the reader exactly what you are referring to.
Review two or three well organized and presented dissertations. Examine their use of headings, overall style, typeface and organization. Use them as a model for the preparation of your own dissertation (CAUTION: While doing so, for the format always refer to the thesis writing directory of your depatrment not the model!). In this way you will have an idea at the beginning of your writing what your finished dissertation will look like. A most helpful perspective!
A simple rule - if you are presenting information in the form of a table or graph make sure you introduce the table or graph in your text. And then, following the insertion of the table/graph, make sure you discuss it. If there is nothing to discuss then you may want to question even inserting it. Another simple rule - if you have a whole series of very similar tables try to use similar words in describing each. Don't try and be creative and entertaining with your writing. If each introduction and discussion of the similar tables uses very similar wording then the reader can easily spot the differences in each table.
The Table of Contents is always helful to the reader as well as to the writer too. Use the Table of Contents to help you improve your manuscript. Use it to see if you've left something out, if you are presenting your sections in the most logical order, or if you need to make your wording a bit more clear. You can easily copy/paste each of your headings from throughout your writing into the Table of Contents. Then sit back and see if the Table of Contents is clear and will make good sense to the reader.
You will be amazed at how easy it will be to see areas that may need some more attention. Don't wait until the end to do your Table of Contents. Do it early enough so you can benefit from the information it will provide to you.
If you are including a Conclusions/Implications section in your dissertation make sure you really present conclusions and implications. Often the writer uses the conclusions/implications section to merely restate the research findings. The Conclusions/Implication section, is a key section of the dissertation and is sometimes best done after you've had a few days to step away from your research and allow yourself to put your research into perspective. If you do this you will no doubt be able to draw a variety of insights that help link your research to other areas.
I usually think of conclusions/implications as the "So what" statements. In other words, what are the key ideas that we can draw from your study to apply to my areas of concern. The last part of the dissertation is the Suggestions for Further Research section. This section is usually written at the very end of your writing project and little energy is left to make it very meaningful.
The biggest problem with this section is that the suggestions are often ones that could have been made prior to you conducting your research. Read and reread this section until you are sure that you have made suggestions that emanate from your experiences in conducting the research and the findings that you have evolved. Make sure that your suggestions for further research serve to link your project with other projects in the future and provide a further opportunity for the reader to better understand what you have done.
Now it's time to write the last chapter. But what chapter is the last one? My perception is that the last chapter should be the first chapter. I don't really mean this in the literal sense. Certainly you wrote Chapter One at the beginning of this whole process. Now, at the end, it's time to "rewrite" Chapter One. After you've had a chance to write your dissertation all the way to the end, the last thing you should do is turn back to Chapter One.
Reread Chapter One carefully with the insight you now have from having completed Chapter Five. Does Chapter One clearly help the reader move in the direction of Chapter Five? Are important concepts that will be necessary for understanding Chapter Five presented in Chapter One?
We can split the writing process into stages Getting in the Mood Writing the First Draft
Finishing
THE THESIS/DISSERTATION DEFENSE The name - a dissertation defense may suggest some sort of war that you're trying to win. And, of course, with three or five of them and only one of you it sounds like they may have won the war before the first battle is held. I wish they had called it a dissertation seminar or professional symposium. I think the name would have brought forward a much better picture of what should be expected at this meeting.
Regardless of what the meeting is called, try to remember that the purpose of the meeting is for you to show everyone how well you have done in the conducting of your research study and the preparation of your dissertation. In addition there should be a seminar atmosphere where the exchange of ideas is valued. You are clearly the most knowledgeable person at this meeting when it comes to your subject. And, the members of your committee are there to hear from you and to help you better understand the very research that you have invested so much of yourself in for the past weeks. Their purpose is to help you finish your degree requirements.
The following ideas should help you keep the meeting on your agenda. The most obvious suggestion is the one seldom followed. Try to attend one or more defenses prior to yours. Find out which other students are defending their research and sit in on their defense. In many departments this is expected of all graduate students.
At the defense try and keep your focus on the interactions that occur. Does the student seem relaxed? What strategies does the student use to keep relaxed? How does the student interact with the faculty? Does the student seem to be able to answer questions well? What would make the situation appear better? What things should you avoid? You can learn a lot from sitting in on such a meeting.
Find opportunities to discuss your research with your friends and colleagues. Listen carefully to their questions. See if you are able to present your research in a clear and coherent manner. Are there aspects of your research that are particularly confusing and need further explanation? Are there things that you forgot to say? Could you change the order of the information presented and have it become more understandable?
Don't try circulating chapters of your dissertation to your committee members as you are writing them. This practice is most annoying and often creates considerable problems for the student. You must work closely with your dissertation director (advisor). He/she is the person you want to please. Develop a strategy with the dissertation director regarding how and when your writing should be shared. Only after your dissertation director approves of what you have done should you attempt to share it with the rest of the committee. And by then it's time for the defense.
If you prematurely share sections of your writing with committee members you will probably find yourself in a situation where one committee member tells you to do one thing and another member says to do something else. The committee meeting (the defense) allows the concerns of committee members to surface in a dialogical atmosphere where opposing views can be discussed and resolved.
It's important that you have the feeling when entering your defense that you aren't doing it alone. As was mentioned earlier, your major professor should be seen as an ally to you and "in your corner" at the defense. Don't forget, if you embarrass yourself at the defense you will also be embarrassing your dissertation director. So, give both of you a chance to guarantee there is no embarrassment. Meet together ahead of time and discuss the strategy you should use at the defense. Identify any possible problems that may occur and discuss ways that they should be dealt with. Try and make the defense more of a team effort.
Don't be defensive at your defense! This is easy to say but sometimes hard to fulfill. You've just spent a considerable amount of time on your research and there is a strong tendency for YOU to want to defend everything you've done. However, the committee members bring a new perspective and may have some very good thoughts to share. Probably the easiest way to deal with new input is to say something like "Thank you so much for your idea. I will be giving it a lot of consideration."
There, you've managed to diffuse a potentially explosive situation and not backed yourself or the committee member into a corner. Plus, you've not promised anything. Try and be politically astute at this time. Don't forget that your ultimate goal is to successfully complete your degree.
Probably the most disorganized defense is the one where the dissertation director began the meeting by saying, "You've all read the dissertation. What questions do you have for the student? Questions started to be asked that bounced the student around from one part of the dissertation to another. There was no impression of order and the meeting almost lost control due to its lack of organization. Advisor s have to help their students to organize the defense as an educational presentation.
Consider tape recording your defense. Using a small portable recorder, record your entire presentation and also the questions and comments of the committee members. This helps in two ways. First, the student has documentation to assist in making suggested changes and corrections in the dissertation. The student can relax more and listen to what is being said by the committee members. The tape recorder is taking notes! Second, the student has a permanent record of his/her presentation of the study.
By keeping the paper charts and the tape together, they can be most useful for reviewing the research in future years when a request is made for a presentation. This may not be possible for all cases. In order to record the defense you have to ask permit of the committee. The bet way of doing so is to arrange via your thesis director (advisor). Try to get permit of the committee much ahead of the dissertation date.
The last but not the least, get busy and prepare an article or paper that shares the outcomes of your research. There will be no better time to do this than now. Directly after your defense is when you know your study the best and you will be in the best position to put your thinking on paper. If you put this writing task off it will probably never get done. Capitalize on all of the investment you have made in your research and reap some additional benefit - start writing. GOOD LUCK!
Rene-Theophile-Hyacinthe Laennec (1781-1826) thesis title page
LECTURE 15 RESEARCH ETHICS
NEU FAS
We know youll be angry, but we love each other and we want to spend the rest of our lives together
CONTROVERSIES Introduction Controversies in Modern Science The controversies The existence of controversy
Introduction A scientific controversy can be defined as a persistent disagreement over scientific knowledge. This can include the content of the knowledge, for example claims about facts and theories. It can also include scientific method, namely how research is carried out. The focus here is on natural science, such as physics, chemistry and biology.
Controversies are part of our life; sometime it opens a new world as we delve in such matter to know about it more and more. Controversies in science make it a subject of interest. Sometime it clouds our thoughts and belief but as somebody has aptly said, Controversy, though always an evil in itself, is sometimes a necessary evil. Human mind is always driven by mystery around it, in fact mystery in life and the world around us keeps going. This has led to many interesting findings, but some cases still remain the subject of speculation as no conclusion has been reached till now. From: New Delhi, Thu, 31 Jan 2008 Binita Tiwari
January 22, 2008 at 04:47 pm
Life on Mars? NASA finds image of naked woman on Mars
NU FAS
The image was later found to be the artistic creation of a blogger!
From: http://www.606studios.com/bendisboard/showthread.php?t=139490
(a statement by: R.G. Jordan) Scientific revolution simply is the recognition that a understanding of science has to be based on observation and experiment and that ideas, theories, hypotheses must be tested against nature itself. Before the revolution, scientific ideas were based largely on dogma and authority.
Science is empirical because knowledge and understanding rely on observation and experience. So, in summary, for something to be a subject of scientific inquiry it has to be measurable; in that sense, science is self-correcting, i.e., there are checks and balances. sound science, flawed science, and pseudo science. How do they differ?
Nuclear power: the existence of controversy Though significant citizen opposition did not develop until nearly two decades after the earliest nuclear power plants, since the 1970s the technology has been publicly debated in nearly every country in which it has been introduced or proposed, which includes most rich countries and many Third World countries such as India and the Philippines.
The only exceptions have been countries with authoritarian governments that have been able to suppress popular debate, as in China and the former Soviet Union.
The rapid globalisation of the controversy in the 1970s depended on two main factors: the prior globalisation of nuclear power technology and the emergence of citizen opposition.
References
- Curtis, Tom (1992). The Origin of AIDS. Rolling Stone 626 (19 March): 54-59, 61, 106, 108. - Jordan, R.G. (2004), Scientific Controversies, http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:2Bxg89BHABEJ:course s.science.fau.edu/~rjordan/phy1931/useful_notes/what_is_scien ce.pdf+What+is+science+...+what+is+not+science%3F+R.G. +Jordan&cd=3&hl=tr&ct=clnk&gl=tr - Rdig, Wolfgang (1990). Anti-nuclear Movements: A World Survey of Opposition to Nuclear Energy. Harlow: Longman.
- Martin Brian (2008), Globalization (2008) The globalisation of scientific controversy, www.globalization.icaap.org/content/v7.1/Martin.html -Tiwari Binita (2008), Controversies in Science, New Delhi, Thu, 31 Jan 2008
RESEARCH ETHICS
Adopted from: http://www.experiment-resources.com/ethicsin-research.html and .saliholu
With science becoming an increasingly important social institution, scientists have become more accountable to the broader society that expects to benefit from their work.
lkay SALHOLU, FMS-NEU
Ethics in research are very important when you're going to conduct an experiment. Ethics should be applied on all stages of research, such as planning, conducting and evaluating a research project. The first thing to do before designing a study is to consider the potential cost and benefits of the research.
RESEARCH - COST AND BENEFITSANALYSIS We evaluate the cost and benefits for most decisions in life, whether we are aware of it or not. This can be quite a dilemma in some experiments. Stem cell research is one example of an area with difficult ethical considerations. As a result, stem cell research is restricted in many countries, because of the major and problematic ethical issues.
As mentioned earlier errors in science can be classified as; - Honest error - Negligent error, and - Misconduct in science How should anomalous data be treated? How do values influence research? How should credit for scientific accomplishments be allocated? What are the borderlines between honest error, negligent error, and misconduct in science?
ETHICAL STANDARDS - RESEARCHERS SHOULD... avoid any risk of considerably harming people, the environment, or property unnecessarily. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is an example of a study which seriously violated these standards. not use deception on people participating, as was the case with the ethics of the Stanley Milgram Experiment obtain informed consent from all involved in the study.
preserve privacy and confidentiality whenever possible. take special precautions when involving populations or animals which may not be considered to understand fully the purpose of the study. not offer big rewards or enforce binding contracts for the study. This is especially important when people are somehow reliant on the reward. not plagiarize the work of others
not skew their conclusions based on funding. not commit science fraud, falsify research or otherwise conduct scientific misconduct. A con-study, which devastated the public view of the subject for decades, was the study of selling more coke and popcorn by unconscious ads.
The researcher said that he had found great effects from subliminal messages, whilst he had, in fact, never conducted the experiment. not use the position as a peer reviewer to give sham peer reviews to punish or damage fellow scientists. Basically, research must follow all regulations given, and also anticipate possible ethical problems in their research. Competition is an important factor in research, and may be both a good thing and a bad thing. Whistleblowing is one mechanism to help discover misconduct in research.
THE SELECTION OF DATA An expensive experiment yielded the data presented on next slide. However a newly proposed theory predicts results indicated by the curve. During the measurements there were uncontrolable-unpredictable power fluctuations. Another group doing similar experiments had gotten results confirming the theoretical prediction.
(THE SELECTION OF DATA)
(THE SELECTION OF DATA)
1. How should the data from the two suspected runs be handled? 2. Should the data be included in tests of statistical significance and why? 3. What other sources of information, can help?
The challenge for individual scientists is to acknowledge and try to understand the suppositions and beliefs that lie behind their own work so that they can use that selfknowledge to advance their work. Such selfexamination can be informed by study in many areas outside of science, including history, philosophy, sociology, literature, art, religion, and ethics. If narrow specialization and a single-minded focus on a single activity keep a researcher from developing the perspective and fine sense of discrimination needed to apply values in science, that person's work can suffer.
THE ALLOCATION OF CREDIT The principle of fairness and the role of personal recognition within the reward system of science account for the emphasis given to the proper allocation of credit. In the standard scientific paper, credit is explicitly acknowledged in three places: in the list of authors, in the acknowledgments of contributions from others, and in the list of references or citations. Conflicts over proper attribution can arise in any of these places.
THE ALLOCATION OF CREDIT (cont.)
Citations serve many purposes in a scientific paper. Failure to cite the work of others can give rise to more than just hard feelings. Some people succeed in science despite their reputations. Many more succeed at least in part because of their reputations.
Error and Negligence in Science Scientific results are inherently provisional. Scientists can never prove conclusively that they have described some aspect of the natural or physical world with complete accuracy. In that sense all scientific results must be treated as susceptible to error. If that trust is misplaced and the previous results are inaccurate, the truth will likely emerge as problems arise in the ongoing investigation. But researchers can waste months or years of effort because of erroneous results, and public confidence in the integrity of science can be seriously undermined.
MISCONDUCT IN SCIENCE Beyond honest errors and errors caused through negligence are a third category of errors: those that involve deception. Making up data or results (fabrication), changing or misreporting data or results (falsification), and using the ideas or words of another person without giving appropriate credit (plagiarism)- all strike at the heart of the values on which science is based. These acts of scientific misconduct not only undermine progress but the entire set of values on which the scientific enterprise rests.
MISCONDUCT IN SCIENCE (cont.)
Anyone who engages in any of these practices is putting his or her scientific career at risk. Even infractions that may seem minor at the time can end up being severely punished.
RESPONDING TO VIOLATIONS OF ETHICAL STANDARDS One of the most difficult situations that a researcher can encounter is to see or suspect that a colleague has violated the ethical standards of the research community. To be sure, raising a concern about unethical conduct is rarely an easy thing to do. Someone who is confronting a problem involving research ethics usually has more options than are immediately apparent. Many institutions have prepared written materials that offer guidance in situations involving professional ethics. YK ETK KURLU, YD ETK ST KURULU FMS-NEU lkay SALHOLU,
NEU Faculty of Engineering

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ME 503

ME 503 Scientific Research Methods by lkay SALHOLU

lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU

Books (available in the NEUs Grand Library):

lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU

From: http://www.educatorscorner.com/index.cgi?CONTENT_ID=539 http://www.educatorscorner.com/images/cartoon_finaltstb-lg.gif

From: http://www.educatorscorner.com/index.cgi?CONTENT_ID=539 http://www.educatorscorner.com/images/cartoon_finaltstb-lg.gif

lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU

RESEARCH Scientific research

lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU

lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU

lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU

From: http://www.experiment-resources.com/ (March 7, 2011)

lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU

lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU

lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU

A 2.5 kg brick is supported by a piece of aerogel weighing only 2 grams.

Aerogel's insulating properties displayed From: http://www.lbl.gov/Education/ELSI/research-main.html

lkay SALHOLU, FAS-NEU