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15 views22 pages

CH 2

Uploaded by

eyob alemayehu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Addis Ababa Institute of Technology

School of Civil and


Environmental Engineering

Scientific Research Methods

Dr. Eng. Yonas Minalu

[email protected]

1
Content

• Unit 1: The Concept of Research


• Unit 2: Types of Research
• Unit 3: Process in Research Proposal
Development
• Unit 4: Process in Conducting Research
• Unit 5: Research Ethics
• Unit 6: Reporting Research Findings

2
Lesson 1: Classification of Research

• Research can be classified in terms of:


• Goal of research
• Specific objectives of research
• Approaches of research
• Designs
• The type of data used in research, and
• Fields of study.
3
Lesson 1: Classification of Research
• Based on goal of research (nature of problem
to be solved)
 Basic research (Theoretical)
 Applied research (Practical)
• Based on Objectives of Research
 Descriptive
 Explanatory
 Exploratory
4
Lesson 1: Classification of Research

• Based on approaches of research


 Qualitative
 Quantitative
• Based on designs
 Experimental
 Non-experimental

5
Lesson 1: Classification of Research

 Classification based on Type of Data (type of data


generated and used)
 Primary (Field)
 Secondary (Desk)
 Classification based on Fields of Study
 Natural science
 Social science research,
 Educational research,
 Behavioral science research
 Health science research, etc.
6
2.1 Basic/Pure Scientific Research

• Explaining the world around us


• Primary objective - advancement of knowledge and
the theoretical understanding of the relations among
variables.
• Results often of no immediate practical value
• Driven by curiosity in a scientific question
• Motivated by a need to expand human knowledge

7
2.1 Basic/Pure Scientific Research
• The major aims of basic research
 Formulate, expand, or evaluate theory
 Discovery of knowledge
• Forms of basic research
 Discovery – new idea or explanation emerges
 Invention – new technique or method
 Reflection – re-examining existing theory in a new
context
 Basic research lays the foundation for applied
research
8
2.2 Applied Scientific Research

• Designed to solve practical problems and improve the


human condition
(Ex. Engineering, Medical, and environmental research)

• Purpose – to test theories and apply to specific real


situations
(Ex of theory. “Is traffic congestion avoidable?”) must
be converted to specific research questions….

9
Lesson 3: Descriptive, Explanatory and
Exploratory Research

• Descriptive – describe and interpret some aspect of


a phenomena

• Explanatory – establish cause and effect relationship


between variables

• Exploratory – gaining background information and


understanding of a problem

10
3.1 Descriptive Research Methods

• Surveys:
– Describing the nature of existing conditions
– One-shot data gathering (economical and
efficient)
– Represents a wide target population
– Generates numerical data
– Provides descriptive, inferential and
explanatory information

11
3.1 Descriptive Research Methods
• Observation Studies:
– Observes behavior that occurs in its natural
environment
– Important features:
• Noninterference
• Observation of phenomena in the real world
• Useful when subject is little or not known
• Describes a phenomena but not why it occurred

12
3.1 Descriptive Research Methods

• Case Studies:
– detailed contextual analysis of a limited
number of events or conditions and their
relationships
– explorations of a project or application as
it develops in a real-world setting

13
3.2 Explanatory Research Methods

• Purpose - the desire to know "why?”


• Looks for causes and reasons,
• Builds on both exploratory and descriptive
researches,
• Explaining things (not just reporting).

14
3.2 Explanatory Research Methods

• Determining the accuracy of the theory


• Providing evidence to support or refute an
explanation or prediction
• Testing a theory's predictions or principles
• Causal explanations (dependent and
independent variables)

15
3.3 Exploratory Research Methods

• Conducted to gain background information and


better understanding of a problem
• determine the best research design,
• develop hypotheses,
• understand how to measure a variable,
• determine data collection method,
• rely on secondary research such as literature review
• Results usually not useful for decision-making, but
can provide insight into a given situation.
16
Lesson 4: Qualitative and Quantitative
Research

• Qualitative Research:
– no attempt to quantify results through
statistical summary or analysis.
– looks for meaning
– Describes behavioral aspects and other factors
studied in the social sciences and humanities.
– Interviews, group discussions, observations
without formal measurement

17
Lesson 4: Qualitative and Quantitative
Research

• Quantitative Research:
• develop and employ mathematical models, theories
and hypotheses pertaining to natural phenomena
• based on measurements
• starts with a theory or a general statement
proposing a general relationship between variables.
• involves collecting and analyzing numerical data and
applying statistical tests.

18
Reading assignment

• Differences between Qualitative and


Quantitative Research
• Limitations of qualitative and quantitative
research

19
Lesson 5: Primary and secondary research

Primary research
• Refers to research that has involved the collection
of original data specific to that particular research
project, for example through using research
methods such as questionnaires or interviews.

Secondary research
• Refers to research where no such original data is
collected, but the research project uses existing
(or secondary) sources of data, for example
census or archive data. 20
Thank you, any question
…..??

21
Class exercise

• Select one research concept/idea in the


field of transportation

• Lets put one research concept/idea and


change the research type based on the
classifications discussed above.

22

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