ENGINEERING RESEARCH PROCESS

VICKNESWARI DURAIRAJAH

Research Methods (BM040-3.5-2)

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9 STEPS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH PROCESS

1. Choose a problem/question 2. Review the literature 3. Define the research problem/question4. Develop a hypothesis [or objectives] 5. Choose a method – not as big an issue in

engineering 6. Carry out the research7. Analyse your data8. Write up your results AND conclusions9. Identify significance, limitations & future research

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1. CHOOSE A PROBLEM/QUESTION

• Pick a problem/question you’re interested in and to which you have some access.

• Many researchers try to study problems / questions that are fascinating, but cannot really be researched due to a variety of concerns.

• Sometimes equipment expenses are too high, or the researcher cannot gain access to the materials or resources required e.g. can YOU really get weapons grade plutonium?

• A broad research area is NOT a research question

– E.g. I want to research solar power

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CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING• Access to information• Access to resources• Theoretical background• Value of research – does it make a contribution• Researcher’s skills• Is question big enough AND small enough• Overall probability of successful completion• Interest of the researcher

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BREADTH OF THE TOPIC

• Pick a topic that is "narrow" enough that your research is focused, but not so narrow that it is unimportant.

• E.g. A project on “solar power” would be too broad. If the topic is narrowed to “new materials for collecting solar power”, there will be fewer problems, but the topic is still very broad.

• A better choice might be: increasing the efficiency of polycrystalline silicon wafers.

• Engineering topics tend to be very specific

• Your examiners may question the value of your project

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2. REVIEW THE LITERATURE

• Any problem/question that is worthwhile solving has, at least, been thought about by other people

• Read existing research to see if there are identified problems that you are interested in.

• Also, there’s no point doing research if someone else has ALREADY done exactly the same thing.

• You need to ensure that there is “a gap” in “the literature”. A gap may be a problem that has not been solved, a question that has not been answered etc.

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• Another reason for reading the literature is to learn how they did their research and what they found. Contemporary researchers utilize the knowledge learned by earlier researchers.

• A great many research problems/questions explore how two or more factors are related.

• Although it is very time consuming, reviewing the literature will help you to decide – which factors (i.e. variables) are important, – how to measure them, and – what findings to expect.

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• Remember, you can "borrow" anything you want from other studies as long as you give the authors proper credit

• In fact, you are expected to use their work to make your study better.

• If you don't thoroughly review the current literature, you are missing out on a lot of good information and you will be considered "lazy" by other researchers.

• Your examiners may question your research if you omit important research in your field or your review is out of date

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3. DEFINE THE RESEARCH PROBLEM/QUESTION

• The research problem/question is what you want to solve or answer. The literature review will help you decide which questions are important, especially as you gain familiarity with the topic.

• For example, you might discover while reading about solar power that some light frequencies are more difficult to collect than others

• Based on this, you might decide to examine whether different array structures are more effective at capturing a broad range of frequencies

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• Defining the research question is important because it guides your choice of methods If your question was:

• Are different array structures more effective at capturing a broad range of frequencies. You could: – Find the standard method for measuring the

efficiency of current arrays – Find or develop a set of benchmarks for current

arrays– Develop a series of new array designs and – Test these against the benchmark values

• Your methods must suit your research question.

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• You MAY replicate or extend an existing research study. Usually, replications are done to validate or generalize the findings from the first study or apply to another setting or environment.

• E.g. the most recent academic* study on the polycrystalline arrays is 3 years old. You question these findings of the recent improvements in production methods for polycrystalline arrays

• You decide to replicate an earlier benchmarking study to see if there has been a change

* Note: there may have been a lot of studies by “manufacturers” but you have no confidence in them, right !

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THE VALUE OF THE PROBLEM/QUESTION

• Academic research, particularly a PhD must “make a significant contribution to the body of knowledge”.

• Your examiners may reject your research if it only makes a small contribution.

• If someone else completes the same project as you before you do, then your research makes no contribution.

• If you design something that nobody wants and test it, then you have not made a valid contribution

• Your examiners will reject your research if it makes no contribution

• The safest thing is to base your research on problems already identified in the literature

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4. DEVELOP A HYPOTHESIS [OR OBJECTIVES]

• In engineering/scientific research, this is the next step.

• A hypothesis is: a statement of the relationships among the variables that a researcher intends to study.

• Hypotheses are testable – you should be able to gather data that either confirms or rejects the hypothesis. It may not be possible to do this in practice

• e.g. H1:an explosion in the earth’s core will rupture the planet.

• In “exploratory” research, we do not know enough about the variables involved to formulate a hypothesis.

• In such a case: do NOT state a hypothesis in your research. Once you state a hypothesis, you MUST test it.

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• Hypotheses are formulated before we do our research. It's not acceptable to do the research, poke around in the data, and then write up a hypothesis that "fits" what we found.

• Hypotheses should be based on theory and what previous researchers have found; they are not just “made up”. Hypotheses are logically reasonable predictions.

• Good hypotheses should be falsifiable:

– “All crows are black”, can be falsified by finding a single grey crow

– “Not all crows are black”, cannot be falsified by either a black or a grey grow

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• If you are NOT doing work with clear hypotheses:

• Define your objectives:

• state all the things you want to find out or achieve and describe them clearly and unambiguously

– To design 10 new polycrystalline arrays

– To test these designs with a range of light frequencies above the normal range used in current array designs

– To compare the performance of the new arrays with benchmark results for current arrays in the chosen range of “high” frequencies

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5. CHOOSE A METHOD AND METRICS

• Once you have a clear hypotheses or clear objectives, decide which method(s) will allow you to test the hypotheses or achieve the objectives

• Methods include:

– Formal experiments and quasi experiments

– System, method or model building etc.

– Field studies

– Surveys: questionnaires and interviews

– Observational studies

– Case studies

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• Metrics are how we measure our concepts. In social science research ,concepts are seldom easy to measure.

• In engineering, metrics are often some sort of performance and performance metrics are usually very well defined

• Read the literature and see what metrics other people used.

• If there are standard metrics, you need a very good reason to use any other metric

• Examiners may reject research if they think that the methods do not really test the hypotheses or meet objectives

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6. CARRY OUT THE RESEARCH

• Your method or methodology should say exactly what you are going to do. Now you have to do it.

• In our example, you would design some new arrays based on the literature or some underlying theory

• You would find a way to generate suitable light frequencies for your test (based on the literature)

• You would repeatedly test your new arrays with suitable frequencies, recording the results carefully

• Your examiners may challenge the validity of your results if you have not followed the method correctly

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7. ANALYSE THE RESULTS

• Most engineering research uses statistical methods because you only have a sample all the possible data

• In our example, the solar arrays produced results that varied slightly from one test to the next. Statistical methods will tell us if the variation is acceptable

• You must choose statistical methods that suit the type and quantity of data that you have

• Your examiners will challenge your results if i) you have used the wrong statistical method ii) you have used the right method but used it wrongly or iii) your data does not meet the underlying assumptions of the method

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8. WRITE UP YOUR RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

• Once you’ve analysed your results , you need to present those results and any statistical (or other) analyses you have carried out.

• These need to be orderly and clear• From your results you can draw some conclusions• E.g. Two of the new array designs collected significantly

more energy from frequencies higher than those used by current arrays.

• Can we conclude that the new array designs are better ?• No, because we didn’t test their performance in the

“normal” range.

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9. SIGNIFICANCE, LIMITATIONS & FUTURE

DIRECTIONS• So we know that the new arrays will capture

“high” frequencies better. Who cares? • If the problem/question is based on the literature,

some group of researchers must be interested in these results. Perhaps, array manufacturers would be interested in these results as well.

• If nobody will care, your results are probably have no significance, so you have not made a contribution

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• Every research project has some limitations intentionally imposed on it, usually as part of the scope

• In our example, we intentionally did not test the arrays in the “normal” range of frequencies. We also limited ourselves to 10 new designs.

• These choices limit our conclusions. We cannot conclude that:

• we have found the best design for “high” frequencies. • the new arrays are better than the current ones• This is NOT a problem unless it reduces the contribution

to a point where it will be rejected

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• Every limitation is a source of possible future research

• Other researchers could test the performance of the new arrays in the “normal” range

• Additional new designs, based on the best of the current designs, could be tested in the “high range”

• Hybrid designs could be developed to capture both “high” and “normal” frequencies

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THE RESEARCH PROCESS IS USED EVERYWHERE

• The process we have just seen is reflected very closely in the structure of your thesis

• Abstract1. Introduction – state the problem/question2.Literature Review – state the hypotheses/objectives3.Methods4.Results5.Discussion6.Conclusions

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ABSTRACT

• Write this last. It is an overview of your whole thesis, and is between 200-300 words.

• It tells the whole story of your research so a reader can decide if it is worth reading or not

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INTRODUCTION

• Usually longer than an abstract, and provides the following:

• background to the topic; • brief review of current knowledge (can include

the literature review); • indicates a gap in knowledge, states the aim of

your research and how it fits into the gap; • can include hypotheses; • can include an outline of the following chapters.

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LITERATURE REVIEW • Often part of the Introduction, but can be a separate

section.  • It is an evaluation of previous research on your topic,

where you show that there is a gap in the knowledge that your research will attempt to fill. 

• The key word here is “evaluation”.• Other authors use the expression “an analysis and

synthesis of the literature”. “Analysis” allows you to critically assess the literature in relation to YOUR research. “Synthesis” organises the literature to make it easy for your examiner/readers to understand

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METHODS

• Often the easiest part of the thesis to write. 

• It outlines which method you chose and why (your methodology);

• What is you project about and how it will work

• what, when, where, how and why you did what you did to get your results.

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RESULTS • Outlines what you found out in relation to your

research questions or hypotheses, presented in figures and in written text. 

• Results contain the facts of your research.  Often you will include a brief comment on the significance of key results, with the expectation that more generalised comments about results will be made in the Discussion section.  Sometimes Results and Discussion are combined:

• check with your supervisor and with highly rated past theses in your School.

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DISCUSSION• comments on your results; • explains what your results mean; • interprets your results in a wider context;  indicates

which results were expected or unexpected;• provides explanations for unexpected results. • The Discussion should also relate your specific

results to previous research or theory. You should point out what the limitations were of your study, and note any questions that remain unanswered. The Discussion CAN also include Conclusions/Future Research.

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CONCLUSIONS

• Very important!  This is where you emphasise that your research aims/objectives have been achieved. 

• You also emphasise the most significant results, note the limitations and make suggestions for further research. 

• Conclusions CAN include Future Directions