Chapter One

Introduction to Research Methodology

Research Methods in Software Engineering

(SE 4121)

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 Introduction: Outline
 What is research ?
 Objective of research
 Motivation and characteristics of research
 Scientific research method
 What is high quality research ?
 Significant of research
 Requirements of research
 Types of researches
 Research questions

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 What Is Research?
 Merriam-Webster’s definition:
1 : careful or diligent search
2 : scholarly investigation or examination;
especially : investigation or experimentation
aimed:
❑ at the discovery and interpretation of facts,
❑ revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of
new facts, or
❑ practical application of such new or revised theories
or laws
3 : the collecting and analyzing of information
about a particular subject 3
 What Is Research? (2)
 “A combination of investigation of past work
and effort in the present that will help others
in the future”
 A set of opposites
 Fun and frustration
 Small steps and large insights
 Building on others’ work and contributing your
own work
 Finding or developing something new that
changes the world….
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 What Is Research? (3)
• Research is an Organized and Systematic way of Finding
answers to Questions/problems
– Systematic: because there is a definite set of
procedures and steps which you will follow. There
are certain things in the research process which are
always done in order to get the most accurate results.

– Organized : because there is a structure or method

that should be followed to perform research
▪ It is a planned procedure, not a spontaneous one.
▪ It is focused and limited to a specific scope.

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 Meaning of Research …
– Finding Answers : is the end of all research.
Whether it is the answer to a hypothesis or even
a simple question, research is successful when we
find answers.
• Sometimes the answer is no, but it is still an answer.

– Questions : are central to research. If there is no

question, then the answer is not use .
▪ Research is focused on relevant, useful, and important
questions/problems.

▪ Without a question, research has no focus, drive,

or purpose.
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 Meaning of Research …
– Research is an academic activity
• Search for knowledge
• An art of scientific investigation
– Research comprises of
• defining and redefining problems.
• formulating hypothesis
• collecting, organizing, and evaluating data
• making assumptions and reaching conclusions
• Carefully testing the conclusions to determine
whether they fit the formulated hypothesis

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 Meaning of Research…
Research often makes use of various
Sources of Knowledge
• INTUITIVE (when coming up with an initial idea
for research)
• AUTHORITATIVE (when reviewing professional
literature)
• LOGICAL (when reasoning from findings to
conclusions)
• EMPIRICAL (when engaging in procedures that
lead to these findings by performing experiments)

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 Scientific Research

 Employs systematic observation and rational

processes to create new knowledge.
 Based on logical relationships not just beliefs.

 Involves an explanation of the methods used to

collect and analyze data;
• explanation to “why the results are meaningful?”

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 What Research is not
 Research isn’t information gathering:
 Gathering information from resources such as books
or magazines isn’t research.
 No contribution to new knowledge.

 Research isn’t the transportation of facts:

 Merely transporting facts from one resource to
another doesn’t constitute research.
 No contribution to new knowledge although this might
make existing knowledge more accessible.
 Missed the essence of research: the interpretation of
data.

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 What Research is not…

 Playing with technology Developing Android

applications
 Programming project

 Doing what others have already done

 However, each of these can be done as part

of research
 E.g,. Search for community problem, conduct
research, then solve their problem using mobile
phone (develop mobile apps)
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 Who Does Research?

 Graduate Students
 Masters Degree (lower standard)
 Ph.D. Degree (higher standard)

 Researchers at universities
 Post-Doctoral students
 Faculty members

 Researchers in industry
 Research scientists
 Many other technical workers

 Undergraduate students

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 Who Does Research? (2)
 Individuals
 Teams

 Teams almost always make the process

easier
 Division of labor
 Feedback from team members
 Each member can work to own strengths

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 What It Takes?

 Creativity
 Open mind
 Curiosity
 Patience
 Determination
 Positive Attitude
 Discipline and focus

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 Objectives of Research
 To discover answers to questions through the
application of scientific procedures and methods.

 To find out the truth which is hidden that has not

been discovered as yet.

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 Research Characteristics
▪ Originates with a question or problem.
▪ Requires clear expression of a goal.
▪ Follows a specific plan or procedure.
▪ Often divides main problem into sub problems.
▪ Tentatively guided by a research problem, question,
or hypothesis.
▪ Accepts certain critical assumptions.
▪ By its nature it is more circular and iterative.
▪ Requires collection and interpretation of data.
▪ Requires design, testing, and verification of
algorithms…
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MotivationMotivation
Significance
Significance
inofResearch
Objectives research
of in Research
ofResearch
research
… cont’d
… cont’d

To
What
•• Whatgainmakes
familiarity
makes
– Increased with
people
people
amount a phenomenon
undertake
undertake
of research or to
research?
research?
make progress possible.
achieve new
Desire to
– Research getinsights
a researchinto it; along with its
degree
Knowledge
– Research
Desire inculcates
to get
– consequential scientific
abenefits.
research degreethinking
along with and its
• To promotes the development
portray accurately
consequential of logical habitsof
benefits.the characteristics of a
– Desire to and
thinking solveorganization.
a challenge in solving the unsolved
particular individual,
Desire to solve a challenging
– problems. situation or a group;
problems.
– Complexity in business and government is increasing.
• To Desire
–– Desire to design
to
determine design appropriate
theappropriate policies
frequencypolicies
with which something
Thereoristowith
more information and Information
knowledge
– Desire
occurs
–– Desire to which
contribute
contribute toitthe
to is existing
the associated
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stockwith
of knowledge.
understand the world than before.
something
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–– Desire to getelse;
get intellectual joy
intellectual joy of
of doing
doing some
some creative
creative
Multi disciplinary professions have become common
work
– work
• To test atotohypothesis
Desire
–– Desire begive serviceof
of service toasociety
to casual relationship
society
between variables;
Orders from
–– Directives of government,
government. organizations (as an employee)
Development
Curiosity about
–– Curiosity about new new things,
things, etc....
etc....

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 Research as Career
 Rewarding and satisfying career
 Opportunities for life-long growth
 ICT - exciting fields for innovation
 Global career opportunities

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 Significance of research
– A means of income
– The outlet for new ideas and insights;
– The development of new styles and
creative work;
– The generalizations of new theories;
– Fountain of knowledge;
– Important source of guidelines for solving
different problems; etc.

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How does a researcher work ?
 make always notes in a “notebook”
 make summaries on what has been learned.
 make plans for the future all the time
(outlines, roadmaps)
 discuss, ask questions and argue (criticism)

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 Scientific Research Method

 Problem definition
 Hypothesis/Research question
 Sequence of experiments
 Randomization (random experiments by taking
sample data)
 Repetition (perform many times to converge)

 Change one parameter/experiment

 Prove/Disprove Hypothesis
 Document for others to reproduce results

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Scientific Research Method…

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 Scientific Research Method…
❑ Many activities carried out by computer
Engineers/scientists follow the scientific method:
◼ e.g., designing and implementing a large database
system requires
◼ hypothesizing about its behavior under various
conditioning,
◼ experimenting to test those hypotheses,
◼ analyzing the results, and
◼ possibly redesigning.
◼ e.g., debugging a complex program requires forming
hypotheses about where an error might be occurring,
experimenting to test those hypotheses, analyzing the
results, and fixing the bugs.
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 Research Projects
 Research begins with a problem.
 This problem need not be Earth-shaking.

 Identifying this problem can actually be the

hardest part of research.

 In general, good research projects should:

 Address an important question.
• original and significant
 Advance knowledge.

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Incorrect Choice - Research Projects

 The following kinds of projects usually don’t

make for good research:

 Comparing data sets.

 Correlating data sets.
 Problems with yes / no answers.

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 High-Quality Research
 Good research requires:
 The scope and limitations of the work to be clearly
defined.
 The process to be clearly explained so that it can
be reproduced and verified by other
researchers.
 A systematically planned design that is as
objective as possible.

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High Quality Research (cont.)
 Use Graphic Organizer
• A graphic organizer is a visual representation of
concepts, knowledge, or information that can incorporate
both text and pictures.
• Examples include calendars, maps, Venn diagrams, pert
diagram and flow charts.
• Graphic organizers allow the mind 'to see' undiscovered
patterns and relationships.
 Do a map of your research
 Establish relationships
• Use arrows

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 PERT Chart
(Program Evaluation and Review Technique)

March 3, 2014

Build Scanner

Jan 1, 2014 Jan 3, 2014 March 7, 2015 Nov 14, 2016

Integration
Start Design Build Parser
and Test

March 7, 2016

Build Code Dec 17, 2016

Generator
Finish

July 7, 2016

Write Manual

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3-29
 High-Quality Research (cont.)
 Good research requires:

 Highly ethical standards be applied.

 All limitations be documented.
 Data be adequately analyzed and explained.
 All findings be presented unambiguously and
 All conclusions be justified by sufficient evidence.

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 Research Requirements
Research requires resources, such as the following:

• Money (fund);
• People (group of researchers);
• Time and space (laboratory, real test bed);
• Experimental Subjects…
• Data

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 Research is both enjoyable and frustrating
 Enjoyment comes from considering a specific problem or
subject field you are interested in to solve.

 Frustration comes from discovering that it is not possible

to do the intended research at the start/middle/end of the
investigation.
• The Research topic may be challenging.
• The research must be completed within a given time
• Funds for experiments, travel, and so on may be limited
or even non-existent
• Finding academic supervisor related to the research area
with full engagement and interest.
• Unexpected results, at the end of the day
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 Ethical Issues in Research
• Ethical concerns
– Moral issues: honesty, truthfulness
– Legal implications: confidentiality/privacy,
– Neutrality
– Protecting Human Subjects

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 Types of Research
The basic types of research are:
– Exploratory (Investigative/priliminary)
– Descriptive (Surveying)
– Empirical/experimental (HW, simulation based)
– Analytical (Mathematical modeling)

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 Types of Research …
Exploratory Research (preliminary investigation)
• The result of an exploratory study may indicate that
further research can be reduced and/or certain
aspects of the larger study can be eliminated
• Exploratory study is conducted in the following
situation:
– To design a problem for investigation and to
formulate hypotheses;
– To determine priorities for further research;
– To gather data about the main problems of the research
on particular hypothetical statements;
– To increase the researcher’s interest in the problem;

– To explain basic concepts;

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 Types of Research …
Descriptive Research (A kind of surveying)
▪ Includes surveys and fact finding enquiries of
different kinds.
Major purpose:
▪ To put together researcher’s idea and research
results in a specific subject area.
Main characteristic :
▪ Researcher has no control over the variables
▪ The researcher can only report what has
happened and what is happening.

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 Types of Research …
 Descriptive Research …
 Examples:
 Survey to improve performance of TCP in Mobile Ad
Hoc Networks.
 A review of current Routing Protocols in Wireless
Sensor Networks
 A survey on Security Issues in wired and wireless
networks.
 Is conducted in the following situations:
 To analyze characteristics of certain systems
 (E.g, QoS, security, energy management,…)
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 Types of Research …
• Empirical/Experimental Research
– is commonly used in sciences such as computer science
and engineering, physics, chemistry, biology…

– It is a collection of research designs which uses

manipulation and controlled testing to understand
fundamental processes.

– Generally one or more variables are manipulated to

determine their effect on a dependent variable.

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 Types of Research …
Empirical/Experimental Research
Main purpose : finding the ‘reasons why?’
• desire to know how the fundamental factors relate to
the effects under predictions
• Usually referred as hypothesis testing research
• Such studies require procedures that
– Reduce unfairness and increase reliability
– Permit drawing inferences about causality
• Research design in such kind of studies means
Design of Experiments

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 Types of Research …

 Analytical research
 Researchers makes use of facts or information
already available, and analyze these to make critical
evaluation of a phenomenon.
 Applied research
 Aims at finding a solution for an immediate
problem facing a society or any industrial/business
organization.
 Fundamental research
 Is mainly concerned with formulation of theories.
(related to pure mathematics, driving formula)
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 Types of Research …

 Quantitative researches  Qualitative researches

 based on the  Concerned with
measurements of qualitative phenomena
quantity or amount (related to quality or
 E.g, some of quantitative kind)
metrics to study MANET  E.g, qualitative metrics to
routing protocols: End- study routing protocols in
to-end delay, MANET: QoS, security,
throughput, PDR,… scalability,
route/netwrok stability,…

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 Types of Research …
• From the point of view of time, we may
have
– One-time research : where the research is
confined to a single time - period.
– Longitudinal research: where the research is
carried on over several time periods.
• From the point of view of environment, we
have
– Real time test bed research
– Laboratory research (e.g. Experiment,simulation,emulation)
– Theoretical/analytical research

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 Types of researches…
 All other types of research are variations of
one or more of the above stated approaches,
based on
 the purpose of the research
 the time required to accomplish the research
 the environment in which the research is
conducted.

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 Research Questions
 A research question

 is problem or statement in-need of a solution or

answer.
 helps you to identify the things you need to find
out.
 helps you to know what you want to pay attention
to
 What a research aims to answer

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 Research Questions…
• General research questions
– Guide our thinking
– Are of great value in organizing the research project
– Are not specific enough to be answered
• Specific questions
– Direct empirical procedures
– Are the questions actually answered in the research
– Guide the type of data we need to collect

• It is useful to identify and separate the general

and the specific questions.

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 Research Questions…
• A research area is different from a topic
– Research area is the broader subject of your topic
• A topic is different from a question
– Topic is the broad subject of your questions
– A question is what you want to know about a topic

– Example of Research area

• Wireless and Mobile Networking
• Telecommunication
• Education
– Example of Topic
• Performance of Wi-Fi and Wi-Max in wireless networks
• Telecom Security
• Educational Technology
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 Research Questions…
The following are all questions
Ex:
• What is the data rate of Wi-Fi and Wi-Max?
• What is the level of Fraud detection in mobile
telephones?
• How can we get SMS in local languages on the
Mobile infrastructure?
• How can we determine the students’ learning style
in eLearning systems?
• How can we evaluate student satisfaction in use of
ICT in education?

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 What type of question are you asking?
 Existence:  Descriptive-Process
 Does X exist?  How does X normally work?
 Description & Classification  By what process does X
 What is X like? happen?
 What are its properties?  What are the steps as X
evolves?
 How can it be categorized?
 How can we measure it?  Relationship

 What are its components?  Are X and Y related?

 Do occurrences of X
 Descriptive-Comparative
correlate with occurrences
 How does X differ from Y? of Y?
 Frequency and Distribution
 How often does X occur?
 What is an average amount
of X?
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 What type of question are you asking?
 Causality  Design
 Does X cause Y?  What is an effective way to
 Does X prevent Y? achieve X?
 What causes X?  How can we improve X?
 What effect does X have on
Y?
 Causality-Comparative
 Does X cause more Y than
does Z?
 Is X better at preventing Y
than is Z?
 Does X cause more Y than
does Z
 under one condition but not
others? 49
 Research Questions…
• Critical Issue:
– Questions must be in principle answerable;
• Specific;
• Refer to something you can look at or find an
answer for;
• Hierarchy of the concepts
– Research Area
• Research topic
– research questions

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 Research Questions…
 The Role of Research Questions

Organize the research project and give it direction

and coherence
 Delimit the research project - show the boundaries
 Keep the researcher focused
 Indicate the data that will be needed
 Provide a framework for writing up the project

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 Research Questions…

 Good research questions are:

 Clear
 Specific
 Answerable
 Interconnected
 Substantially relevant

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