Research Methods (BM040-3.

5-2)

ENGINEERING
RESEARCH PROCESS

VICKNESWARI DURAIRAJAH

9 STEPS IN ENGINEERING
RESEARCH PROCESS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
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Choose a problem/question
Review the literature
Define the research problem/question
Develop a hypothesis [or objectives]
Choose a method not as big an issue in
engineering
Carry out the research
Analyse your data
Write up your results AND conclusions
Identify significance, limitations & future research
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1. CHOOSE A
PROBLEM/QUESTION
Pick a problem/question youre 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

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Access to information
Access to resources
Theoretical background
Value of research does it make a
contribution
Researchers skills
Is question big enough AND small enough
Overall probability of successful
completion
Interest of the researcher

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, theres 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 earths 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 youve 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 didnt 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
Abstract
1. Introduction state the problem/question
2. Literature Review state the hypotheses/objectives
3. Methods
4. Results
5. Discussion
6. 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
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