What is Research

H. Sadrhosseini
Sharif University of Technology- International Campus
 Research in science and technology is one of the most
important factors responsible for changes in society.
What is science?
 "A theory is scientific if, it yields results which can be
repeated by others under controlled conditions."
 "Science is a step-by-step process. At each step
science analyses and concludes upon its experiences
and each next step depends on the outcome of the
preceding one.
 "an advanced problem solving method, yielding a
solution, which is not already public knowledge"
Definition of problem requires:
 Experience
 Creativity
 Originality

 The knowledge that the study produces must be new

to a wider audience
 The solution to a problem should not be available in
literature
 The research should be feasible with resources that
may be available

“Write a research proposal”

 Most projects in
science and
technology will work
with a particular
model in mind of the
problem that the
investigators try
either to prove or
disprove.
A successful project should be made public:

 Other researchers may reproduce or extend the investigation

 Compare your results with their own or others' results

 Allow others to check if the reported results are true or not

afflicted with errors or incomplete and dubious results.
Category Based on

Empirical vs. Theoretical Research Methodology

Basic vs. Applied Research and Applicability

Development research

University vs. Non-university Locality

Public vs. Private Funding Research Funding

Empirical:
 Goals: Test the validity of various existing theoretical
laws; supply facts for future laws by using the
measured and observed quantities

 Tools: Observational and experimental work including

all kinds of instrumentation and lab equipment

Theoretical:
 Goals: Formulate laws that summarise the empirical
data describing the phenomena under study

 Tools: pencil, paper, and computer

Basic:
 Goal: Finding out how nature works

Applied:
 Goal: To extend the findings from basic research into
useful technics that may be developed into products
to cover the needs of society

without basic research, there will be no applied

research.
Universities:
 Mostly basic research

Industrial laboratories:
 Applied research

Government laboratories:
 Both research
Familiarise yourself with what is available in the
university:
 Go to library and examine the thesis submitted to
the department of interest.

 Visit all professors whose research seems interesting

and discuss the options available

 Talk with other graduate students

Once a possible topic is found:

 Discuss the topic with the responsible professor in

detail

 Read and study the suitable material

 Go to library for recent published data

 Learn something about instrumentation – work with

an experienced graduate student
 Do not spend too much time trying out various
options. If a cooperation with the professor is
missing, it is appropriate to begin
 For a problem to be researchable it must
demand an interpretation of data leading to a
discovery of fact.
 Consider the details
 Do careful literature survey. Determine what is known
and what is not known.
 Explore the facilities to be used. Learn how to use
them.
 Do some preliminary experiments.
 Request advice
 Consult to the thesis advisor frequently.
 Ask for advice from Thesis Committee if available.
 Write the proposal
 Stress on known and unknowns, together with a
research plan, facilities available or needed, cost etc.
 Always watch for time left. Try to obey the research
plan.

 Write everything (opinions or results). Do not trust on

your mind. Keep a special logbook and record every
detail with date and time.

 Do not wait for the end of the research to write your

thesis. Start writing the draft
 Submit the complete edition to thesis advisor for
revision. Consider his/her suggestions and do the
necessary corrections

 Apply for the formation of the Thesis Defense Jury

and submit one copy of the final version to each
member.

 Defend your thesis

 Consider all remarks and improvements suggested

during the defense and do necessary corrections if
necessary.
 Undergraduate  Graduate
Guided training in Independent,
facts and technics analytical thinking
 Do not be too eager to start research work. Do not seize
the first research idea that comes along.

 A problem which seems a “researchable problem’’ after a

careful literature survey may turn out to be a solved
problem.

 Collective knowledge gained may be of significant future

value. Therefore you should attempt to develop a research
problem in an area that is closely related to your
professional goals.
 What is important is improving your skills in analysis,
questioning, interpretation, driving conclusions,
discussing, reporting, intuition, seeing, developing
problems, planning, eagerness to learn & discovery and
independent and group work"

 Research outcomes should be publishable. Some topics are

“hot subjects’’
 “ Formulations are followed in answering any
given problem in an orderly procedure’’,
developed by scientists and philosophers for
many years.

 There is no solid recipe or technique but

scientific method does have some steps which
may not always be one after the other, but
interconnected to each other:
 Maintain
connected with professors,
graduate students and other researchers

 Discussnot only your own specialty, but

dissimilar areas as well.

 Readreports and abstracts in several

research journals
A good background is necessary to combine
small vague questions for a fully formed
problem or investigate them individually.
 Literature review combined with preliminary
observations will solve some parts of the problem or
clarify the problem's nature and properties.
 Clarify Problem, Divide into Subproblems.
 Divide into parts that can be solved individually
 Hypothesize
 Use your creative powers to generate possibly several
hypotheses. Even ridiculous ideas may help.
 Deduce Consequences, Make Predictions and Design
Experiments.
 Use logic and reason
 Experiment, Analyze Results, Test Hypothesis
 Test the hypothesis if it was proved or disproved with
the data collected.
 Develop Theory, Publish Results
 Explain the relationships that describe the observed
results.
 Try also to explain the weaknesses and anomalies
(bad data reading etc..) in the experiments.
 Stress on unsolved problems to be solved in future
research.
The Research Plan
 It enforces you to state the ideas behind the
hypothesis and the relationships among the project’s
different parts
 It may allow others to offer criticisms and suggestions
that might improve the project's design
 It guides your activities and assures that the
researcher includes all necessary procedures, during
that project’s course
 The plan provides a standard against which you can
evaluate the project’s completeness and validity.
 It enforces you to state all ideas in written form
After having identified a project, write a research plan
which includes:
 General introduction
 Objectives or hypothesis
 Description of the final product
 Procedures to be followed
 Plans for carrying out an evaluation of results
 You need to provide a brief literature review of
research findings and opinions relevant to your
problem
The plan just guides you. It is not inflexible and
unchangeable. In promising cases, change it with the
approval of the supervisor.
A hypothesis:
 It represents the researcher’s perception of pattern
or relationship among phenomena
 It is your most important mental technique
 It places clear and specific goals before the research
workes and provides a basis for selecting research
procedures to meet the goals.
 Declarative Form states a relationship between the
variables that the experimenter expects will emerge.
“There will be no significant difference between the mechanical
properties of polyethylene using straw as an additive or using no
additive.”

 Null Hypothesis states that no relationship exists

between the variables concerned.
"There will be no significant difference between the mechanical
properties of polyethylene using straw as an additive"

 Question Form
“Is there a significant difference in the mechanical properties of
polyethylene if it is used as an additive” (good for new
researchers).
a Hypothesis
 Tests for checking the validity of hypothesis
 Test for broader scope
 to prove a certain theory for restricted situation is also applicable in
other situations
 stronger theory if proved.
 Test for limits
 to test the validity of extreme degrees
“Newtonion theory work for macroparticles but fails for microparticle.”
 Test for improved accuracy
 to discover the specific factors and degrees that characterize
phenomena or theory that has been described before “generally”
 “Being specific is often the only thing that distinguishes the scientist’s
predictions from common sense predictions”
 Test core assumptions
 to identify assumptions that are unproven, often unidentified, in
development of many theories.
 proving them strengthens; disproving invalidates the theory, or asks for
the modification of theory.
A hypothesis should meet the following criteria:
 You should have definite reasons, based on either
Theory or Fact, for considering the hypothesis worthy
of testing.
 Literature findings may result with conflicting results.
 Hypothesis may conflict with them but it should not conflict
with majority of previously reported information.
 A hypothesis should be testable.
 All variables should be measurable and subject to
statistical treatment.
 A hypothesis should be as brief as possible, consistent
with clarity.
Methodology is a sub-category of planning and the following
categories that relate to different major categories of data.
 Historical method
Data derived from a historical investigation
 Descriptive survey
Data derived from single observation
 Analytical survey
For quantifiable data requiring statistical interpretation to
gain it's meaning
 Experimental method
Results are attained by using an experimental method in
which at least one independent variable has been manipulated.
(Important in “scientific and technical” research.)
Consider:
 Areas of study
Will the effort be concerned with people, things,
records, thoughts and ideas, or dynamics?
 Research problem
Can you illustrate the problem in short, concise terms,
in the question form?
 Availability of Data
 Academic qualification
Are you qualified to search for your solution?
 Data gathering
Familiarity with use of data sources, equipment to get
data, access to these sources etc…
 Enable you to familiarize with existing knowledge and
understanding of a topic.
 Understand unexpected problems
 Reveal previously unknown or unfamiliar sources of
data and related research.
 Evaluate and compare your research with accepted
research standards
 Get entirely new ideas and approaches to the
problem.
 Save time. "Two hours in the library can save six
months in the laboratory"
 They instruct the researcher about the topic. They
are usually simple and contain relatively fresh (2-3
year) and concise information
 They may guide the researcher in going directly to
specific information sources through footnotes and
bibliography and teach the names of important
persons in the research field.

Take as many notes as possible at this stage, even in

the form of headlines, which might later serve as key
words. Record the names, sources and authors of
reports which, seem to be important.
 Use previously identified key words to conduct a
database search in citation indexes
 Using the authors' names and report titles from the
general information search, consult appropriate
citation indexes to identify subsequent writing that
the refers to these authors and reports

Consequently a pool of related literature will be

formed. The next step is to select the source that
"actually" relates to the research problem. Use
"abstracts" at this stage. (An abstract summarises a
report's contents and conclusions)
 Finally obtain a copy of the selected literature
report. What shall you do if you cannot find a report
in your local library?
 The library may get it through "inter-library loan"
 If it is out of print, it may be found through some
special booksellers. (Consult to your book store or
librarian)
 If it is unpublished, you may get a copy from the
institution that sponsored the research - or - from the
author himself
 If it is a thesis or dissertation, you can order a copy
 The literature review is an argument that other people's
writings prove the importance and need for the proposed
research
 Use structures like "A and B prove C, which implies D, all of
which indicates E". (A logical progression from one thought
to the next which requires thought, clear organization, and
preparation)
 Break the report into sections with headings for clarity
 The style should be as a synopsis of what he or she has
learned from reading the literature.
 "Paraphrase if possible, and quote only when necessary."
 Summarize
 It follows the title, name of the authors and
their addresses
 The body of the abstract, is a summary of the
content of paper
 It may be supplemented with keywords
 Index: A database providing access to mass of
literature by using "subject", "author", "place",
"date" or other keywords
 Citation index: is a reference tool that
represents bibliographic data on published
journal articles which includes all the cited
references