1. Research Methods in Science and Engineering
Nezih Pala
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Florida International University

2. Purpose 2
To make attendees familiar with the process of rigorous research in an academic environment.
To encourage attendees to critically evaluate research papers they read.
To outline the processes required to undertake a research project.

3. Topics Overview of the Research Process Literature Search3
Overview of the Research Process
Literature Search
Report Writing, Data Collection & Presentation
Statistical Analysis of Data and Sampling
Making a Presentation
Survey Research Methods
Review

4. Overview of the Research Process
Topic 1 4
Overview of the Research Process

5. What is Research? 5
Creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications
Discovery of new things that can been independently verified by other professionals.
Something new to humanity (not just new to you or your group).

6. Good & Bad Research Examples6
Case 1 A high school research paper
Case 2 A good idea
Case 3 Tested outcomes for a new idea

7. The Scientific Method The Outcome is Recognised7
The Outcome is Recognised
as a Major contribution
to the field
An idea
Discovery
Independent verification:
literature, experiment,
numerical model,
analytical model, etc
Prior
knowledge
Submit
Report,
Thesis,
Journal or
Conference
Paper
Assessors
Independent verification:
literature,
numerical model,
analytical model, etc

8. The Research Community8
All use the same scientific method.
All follow the same ethical principles.
All use the same language and terms.
All provide information to the world-wide community reported in a full and open manner.
All acknowledge the previous work of others.

9. Publications and Referencing9
The archival literature (must be printed somewhere and unalterable).
Must be reviewed by independent professionals before publication.
Must be complete so others can reproduce the results.
These three form the basic validity test!

10. Types of Publication 10
Scientific papers (refereed journal and conference papers)
Trade articles
Newspaper articles
Infomercials
Advertisements
You must only rely on refereed papers in accredited journals and conferences.

11. How can you tell? Length of title References (and their quality)11
Length of title
References (and their quality)
Author’s name and affiliation
Evidence that the paper has been reviewed and revised.
Date of submission & date of publication.
The paper includes a review of previously published work.
Conclusion contains a critical reflection on the contents of the article.

12. Topic 2 12
Literature Search

13. Literature Review Who has done what and how?13
Who has done what and how?
What is their plan for “further work”?
Have they reported more recent work in a conference?
What opportunities are available for confirming the results of others and expanding their results and conclusions?

14. What is Literature? 14
Literature is a collection of all the scholarly writings on a topic.
These writings can be in the form of scholarly
peer reviewed articles,
conference proceedings,
dissertations
books,
and other sources alike.

15. Why Literature Review? A C B 15
Research is about telling a story, kind of like a chain story where each writer starts with a partial story created by others and takes it where the imagination leads. The existing literature is the story so far. You have to know where you are before you can go forward. But research is not just one linear story; many different lines of study contribute to the story you are trying to write.
Your job in the literature review is to see where all the loose ends are in the various fields that are most closely related to what you want to do and to figure out what needs to be done next. The background to any good story has to be explained carefully or the reader doesn't know why one thing is important and something else is not; the reader has to understand what's going on.
In the same way, researchers need the background in the literature of their discipline to know what's going on in their field of study. So, how do you turn a network of articles into a cohesive review of the literature? How do you find and tell the "story" behind your research topic?
Reviewing the literature is like participating in a conversation. As you read and evaluate articles you begin to understand how they are connected and how they form the story that the authors are telling. Then you start to formulate your own response or contribution.
This process - discovering relationships in the literature and developing and connecting your own ideas to it - is what helps you turn a network of articles into a coherent review of the literature.

16. Why Literature Review? Research Process Literature Review 16
Understand topic
reduces time spent looking for information
helps locate a ‘niche’ in the literature
helps clarify the scope of your research topic
helps define and “refine” the research question(s)
helps find data and research methods
maximizes quality and appropriateness of results
helps identify experts/ important works in the field
Develop your own ideas
Literature Review

17. Types of Literature Review17
Part of a larger work
e.g. Introduction to a journal article
e.g. Thesis / Dissertation
Selective
Comprehensive
So what does a literature review look like? There are different types of literature reviews that you may encounter, or be required to write, while in graduate school. Literature reviews can range from being selective to comprehensive. They can also be part of a larger work or stand alone. A course assignment is an example of a selective review. It focuses on a small segment of the literature on a topic and makes up the entire work. The literature review in a thesis or dissertation is an example of a comprehensive review that is part of a larger work. Most research articles begin with a selective literature review to establish the context for the research reported in the paper. Often this is part of the introduction. Other literature reviews are meant to be fairly comprehensive and also to stand alone. This means that the entire article is devoted to reviewing the literature.
e.g. Course assignment
e.g. Review article
Stand alone work

18. patch antennas, dielectric, electrically small, mutual coupling
Key Words 18
Essential for searching the literature.
Must be both general and specific.
patch antennas, dielectric, electrically small, mutual coupling
Prominent researchers’ names.
Einstein
Other useful keywords
Review

19. Searching the Web 19
Google scholar

20. Searching the Web 20
Google scholar

21. Searching the Web Journals and publisher’s indexes21
Journals and publisher’s indexes
IEEE Xplore digital library

22. Searching the Web Journals and publisher’s indexes22
Journals and publisher’s indexes
Thomson Reuters Web of Science :
Elsevier
and many more.

23. Dissertation Search 23

24. IP Searching Patents US: http://www.uspto.gov/24
Patents
US:
World:
Country Based Searching

25. Citation Managers 25
Using proper citation style allows us to give credit to the creators of the material we are using. It is how we use information responsibly and respectfully.
By using citations, our claims and theories become more authorized and credible because we are providing supporting evidence from other sources. Citations also allow us to be honest about our contributions and avoid plagiarism.
Citation managers allow researchers to save and organize their citations as well as generate bibliographies and works cited lists. Citations from numerous databases can be imported into Citation managers.

26. Citation Managers 26

27. Social Networks for Researchers27

28. Social Networks for Researchers28

29. The process 29 Topic: Choose, explore focus.
Research: Collect information
Work with Brain:
Read articles, take notes, shape ideas
Keep track of citations (RefWorks etc.)
Write:
Revise, proof-read, include biography
Writing a literature review is a process with several key steps. Let's look at each part of this process in more detail.
Your first step involves choosing, exploring, and focusing a topic. At this stage you might discover that you need to tweak your topic or the scope of your research as you learn more about the topic in the literature.
Then, of course, you'll need to do some research using article databases, the library catalog, Google Scholar, and other sources to find scholarly information.
All along you'll be using your brain. You'll want to evaluate what you find and select articles, books, and other publications that will be the most useful. Then, you will need to read through these articles and try to understand, analyze, and critique what you read.
While researching and organizing your paper, you'll collect a lot of information from many different sources. You can use citation management software like RefWorks, EndNote, or Zotero to help you stay organized.
Then, of course, you'll need to write and revise your paper and create your final bibliography. One more thing: Writing a literature review is a process, but it is not always a linear process. One step does lead to another, but sometimes your research or reading will point you back to earlier steps as you learn more about your topic and the literature.

30. How to get most out of it? Collect & read relevant literature30
Collect & read relevant literature
Provide an overview of significant literature
Highlight key concepts & papers
Describe
Summarize
Compare & contrast
Critically evaluate
Analyze
Organize
At this point you might be wondering how do I actually review the literature I find? Let's look at what it means to review the literature.
In the most general sense it means that you collect and read all the relevant papers and other literature on your topic. You want to provide an overview but also highlight key concepts and important papers. As you read you may start by describing and summarizing each article. Then you can start to make connections by comparing and contrasting those papers.
You will also need to evaluate, analyze, and organize the information from your reading.

31. Quality of a paper Incremental advance compared to paradigm shift.31
Incremental advance compared to paradigm shift.
Lateral translation research.
Number of citations says it all:

32. How to get most out of it? 32 Refutes Supports
When you work with the literature you will read and critically examine articles and books to see what's important or out of scope and analyze arguments for strengths and weaknesses.

33. How to get most out of it? Discover relationships between sources33
Discover relationships between sources
Identify major themes and concepts
Identify critical gaps and disagreements
Your goal should be further and integrate and synthesize what you find in the literature into something new. Ideally, you will create your own conceptual map or outline of the literature on your topic.
When working with the literature it is important to look for relationships between publications. Some of the important relationships between publications that you discover might include major themes and important concepts, as well as critical gaps and disagreements.
But don't fall into the trap of making your review a laundry list of summaries of the works you read. A literature review is not an annotated bibliography.
Your goal should be to go one step further and integrate and synthesize what you find in the literature into something new. Ideally, you will create your own conceptual map or outline of the literature on your topic.

34. How to get most out of it? 34
For example, let's say as you read you discover three major concepts that are important in the literature and relevant to your research. You should then identify how the literature - that is, the content in individual articles, books, and other publications - relates to the concepts you discovered.
Some publications may be relevant to several concepts; others may apply to only one concept. What's important is that you develop and present your own organization and understanding of the literature.

35. How to get most out of it? 35
Then, when you write your literature review you will end up with a document that is organized by the concepts and relationships you found and developed based on your reading and thinking. Your review will not only cover what's been published on your topic, but will include your own thoughts and ideas.
You will be telling the specific story that sets the background and shows the significance of your research.

36. Activity 36
Use and enter the key words from the paper you have.
Did you find it?
What else did you find?

37. Activity 37
Find some scientific terms in your paper, and check the definition. (Why not wikipedia?)
Key word searches, key word selection.
Definition of terms.

38. Topic 3 38
Report Writing

39. Publication delays 39
Check your paper and see the submission date and the publication date.
This delay may mean that this team has moved forward with their research. Following their suggestions for further work might have you gazumped.
Conferences often have a 6 month delay between abstract submission and the conference presentation.

40. Planning for an outcome40
What is convincing “proof”?
What is the evidence you will provide?
Data
Sampling techniques
Accuracy.
Who is interested in this research?
Where will you release (publish/present) your research results?

41. Anticipating problems41
Team planning meetings
Circulate outcomes immediately following the meeting
Action items
Equipment calibration
Reliable power
Preventing Data loss

42. Publication of Data Internal report? Choosing a conference42
Internal report?
Choosing a conference
Choosing a journal

43. Journal rankings Impact factor Half life43
Impact factor
Half life
Citations (Google, ISI Thomson Web of Knowledge, Scopus, etc)
Weaknesses of the ranking systems
H index – The number of papers that have more than that number of citations for person.

44. Research Planning Concurrent Engineering Concurrent Research44
Concurrent Engineering
Assembling the equipment
Arranging access to the site
Writing the paper draft
Choosing the journal
Concurrent Research

45. Using the right language45
Definition of terms (standards, standard usage, standard methods of analysis).
Standard Measurement Procedures
Standard values (eg copper conductivity)
Spelling (US English or UK English?), Lexicon and naming conventions.
Key words in publications
This is vital for accurate electronic searching of indexes.

46. The title 10-15 words is most common. Must be sufficiently specific.46
10-15 words is most common.
Must be sufficiently specific.

47. The Abstract – an example47
High speed electronic beam switching is a desirable feature of smart antennas.

48. The Abstract – an example48
High speed electronic beam switching is a desirable feature of smart antennas. Most smart antennas are too large for most applications and require significant power during normal operations.

49. The Abstract – an example49
High speed electronic beam switching is a desirable feature of smart antennas. Most smart antennas are too large for most applications and require significant power during normal operations. A thirteen element switched parasitic antenna was optimised for gain, speed and beam coverage.

50. The Abstract – an example50
High speed electronic beam switching is a desirable feature of smart antennas. Most smart antennas are too large for most applications and require significant power during normal operations. A thirteen element switched parasitic antenna was optimised for gain, speed and beam coverage. Antenna characteristics were determined at 1.8 GHz by finite element modelling and measurements on a prototype.

51. The Abstract – an example51
High speed electronic beam switching is a desirable feature of smart antennas. Most smart antennas are too large for most applications and require significant power during normal operations. A thirteen element switched parasitic antenna was optimised for gain, speed and beam coverage. Antenna characteristics were determined at 1.8 GHz by finite element modelling and measurements on a prototype. The antenna had a gain of +9.8 dBi, a footprint of less than one half wavelength squared and was switched ion less than 100 ms.

52. The Abstract – an example52
High speed electronic beam switching is a desirable feature of smart antennas. Most smart antennas are too large for most applications and require significant power during normal operations. A thirteen element switched parasitic antenna was optimised for gain, speed and beam coverage. Antenna characteristics were determined at 1.8 GHz by finite element modelling and measurements on a prototype. The antenna had a gain of +9.8 dBi, a footprint of less than one half wavelength squared and was switched ion less than 100 ms. This is a better performance compared to previous antennas.

53. The Abstract – a general guide53
2 sentences on the wider field – context and significance.
2 sentences on the research method
2 sentences on the results and conclusions.

54. Scientific writing style - Do’s and Don’ts54
Past tense
Third person
Usually timing of events is not included unless it is essential to data collection.
Sections and subsections (one level? two level? three level?).
Quotes from other authors – not common!

55. Creating equations 55
There are standard symbols for quantities (eg V=IR).
There are standard forms for scalar symbols (often lower case, italics, not-bold) and vector symbols (upper-case, bold).
The symbols must be the same font on every occasion used in the equations and in the main text.
All symbols must be defined.
MS Equation editor allows for equation creation.
There are standard upper-case and lower-case type settings.

56. Data Collection & Presentation56

57. Types of Data Quantitative data (numerical)57
Quantitative data (numerical)
Integers (eg animal counts, packets received, bit error rate)
Non-integers (eg analog sensor output)
Qualitative data (descriptive words)
Binary data (yes/no, success/failure, present/absent etc)
Scalar information (1D, 2D, 3D, nD)
Vector information (1D, 2D, 3D, nD)

58. Quantitative Data 58
Kelvin’s First Law of Measurement: “The measurement must not alter the event being measured”.
Microwave current measurements?
The impedance of an antenna?

59. Data Presentation 59
Plots (2D and 3D), histograms, pie charts, tables of numbers.
Printed papers usually black and white (lines distinguished by dots, dashes, ellipse, legend etc)
Colour in power point slides and web publishing.
For comparison plot more than one data set on the same graph using the same scale.
Images and flow charts.
Interpolation and extrapolation.
Curve fitting (covered in later lectures)
Contour plots.

60. Plotting and analysis tools60
MS EXCEL (Chart Wizard - 4 steps) - demonstration
Matlab (plot, subplot, contour, quiver, etc)

61. Graphing Guidelines Always plot discrete points clearly.61
Always plot discrete points clearly.
Do not join points unless you have a continuous mathematical function.
To compare data plot several lines on the same axes.
Consider including error bars on all points

62. 62 X X

63. Matlab scalar 2D plots 63
contourf
image
surf
mesh

64. Matlab vector 2D plots 64 quiver North-south (meters)
East-west (meters)

65. Qualitative Data 65
This can be a challenge as everyone will use a different description.
One approach is to convert qualitative data to quantitative data (eg rate from very bad to very good on a score of 1 to 10).

66. Decision Matrix 66 Vehicle Cost Size Warranty Delivery time Comfort
Total Score
Mazda 3 6 8 7 37
Mazda 2 34
Ford Focus 35
Honda 5 28
Toyota Camry 4 33 VW 2 3 23

67. Decision Matrix - Histogram67
Score
Survey Questions

68. Data Collection 68
Asking the right questions without leading the person (survey instruments - questionaires).
Use redundant questions that always need a positive response (discussed in a later lecture).
Survey results (Is 35% return good enough?).

69. Flow Charts (MS Word) 69
Initiate equipment
Yes/No?
Stop process

70. Activity Plotting analysis using MS eXcel. Flow chart using MS word.70
Plotting analysis using MS eXcel.
Flow chart using MS word.

71. Statistical Analysis and Sampling
Topic 5 71
Statistical Analysis and Sampling

72. Normal Distribution 72
From:

73. Experimental error? How does this compare with your results?73
How does this compare with your results?
Is your result significant statistically?

74. Linear correlation 74
Need to fit a line to your data? Quote the linear correlation coefficient (linear regression)

75. Sampling Population – every possible candidate.75
Population – every possible candidate.
Sample population – a small number of candidates selected from the population.
It is impossible to know from an examination of your sample alone, if your sample is representative of the whole population.

76. Examples: 76
In Australia the total population over 18 years votes in an election.
Before the election, the press like to take a small sample the population to estimate the likely outcome of an election. This is called “polling”.
They hope that the sample is representative of the entire population.
How do they select a representative sample for a telephone poll?
Post code?
Telephone book?
In the street or shopping centre?
etc

77. All samples may be biased77
Why?
Age?
Shyness/openness?
Work times (shift workers)?
etc

78. Example 6 people live in a single house78
6 people live in a single house
We want to randomly select 2 to get an idea of the use of mobile phones in the house.
To do this we could:
visit at 10am on a week day.
visit at 3pm on a week day.
telephone at 8pm on a week day.
visit on Saturday morning at 10am.
Visit on Sunday afternoon at 3pm.
etc

79. We ask the question: 79
How do you rate your use of a mobile phone on a scale of 1 to 10?
10 means very continuously (>20 hours per week)
1 means never (<30 minutes per week)

80. We have the following opinions80
Mary stays at home, goes shopping and drives children to school at 8am and pick up at 3pm. 4
Fred drives to work for night shift. Leaves at 7pm and comes home at 6am. 2
Asif is a 9am – 5pm office worker who rides the train. 5
Sri is a part time sales person drives around the city from 10am to 2 pm. 8
Chen cycles to University 9am and back at 3pm. 7
Rocco is retired and stays in the house all day. 1
Average value is 4.5/10

81. How many possibilities?81
If we select 2 people from the total population of n people we have P combinations where
! indicates factorial where 5! = 5x4x3x2x1.
For a population of 6 we have 15 possibilities.

82. There are 15 different combinations82
Lowest result from a sample of two people would be Rocco and Fred (2 and 1) – Mean is 1.5/10.
Highest sample of two would be Sri and Chen (7 and 8) – Mean is 7.5/10.
5 combinations lie between 4 and 5
11 combinations lie between 3 and 6
13 combinations lie between 2 and 7
15 combinations lie between 1 and 8

83. Compromise required 83
The greater the need for a very accurate result, the smaller the chance of fulfilling this, even with the best method of approach.

84. Sampling Strategies 84
Clustered Sampling: Select a sample from only those parts of the population which are relevant; eg chose only those people who use the road at peak hour.
Stratified Sampling: Select a sample proportionally to those who are likely to use the road at peak hour and those that don’t. (4/6 use at peak hour and 2/6 don’t, so use a sample of 3, two who travel at peak hour and one that does not)
Destructive Sampling: If the sample is destroyed by sampling (i.e. their mind is changed), then clearly you should not sample all people.

85. Chassis strength testing85
A production line of note book computers produces 2000 units per day.
The company is required to strength-test to failure15 samples every day.
How do we select those samples?

86. The Monte-Carlo Method86
A random sampling technique to define the effect of a large number of parameters on an outcome. (Usually between 0.1% and 1% of total population).
Usually applied to complex systems described by mathematics.
One randomly selects the parameters and calculates the outcome.
Used in optimisation.

87. Random Sampling 87
How can I choose a team of 6 people randomly from this class?
Family name?
Student number?
Seating location in the class?
Every third person?
Every person must have an equal probability of being chosen.

88. Random Numbers Excel function =rand() 88
Excel function
=rand()

89. Sample Rate Number of samples per second.89
Number of samples per second.
In a digital recording sensor system this might be obvious initially, but there may be “overheads” when you need time to send and/or store data.
In an analog system this is regulated by the filter response (eg mechanical needle, DMM update speed, noise reduction filter).
Over-sampling and under-sampling.
Nyquist sampling (twice the maximum frequency of interest).

90. Topic 5 90
Making a Presentation

91. Preparing a Power Point Presentation91
Maximum number of slides – one per minute!
Optimal number of slides – one per 2 minutes
Use slides as a reminder of what you will say.
During your presentation, do not read what is on the slides.
100 words maximum on each slide.

92. Preparing a Power Point Presentation92
Font size? (large!)
Graphs? (large!)
Colours? (clearly distinguishable, high contrast, minimal background colour – not dark)
Movies? (check on the presentation computer before your talk – usually they don’t work!)
Pictures? (not too dark)
Lighting? (Keep the room lights up so you can see the audience)

93. Images 93
You MUST acknowledge the source of image if it is not yours including
MS word image library (in this presentation)
Pictures taken from web sites
Pictures taken from colleagues
Graphs taken from papers etc

94. Organisation: 10 minute talk94
Title slide (Name and affiliation) 1
Outline slide (Major sections) 1
Introduction (Wider research context) 1
Main text (method, apparatus, results) 4-6
Conclusions 1
References 1

95. Nervous? Hints for overcoming nervousness:95
Hints for overcoming nervousness:
Memorise the first 2-3 sentences (opening sentences).
Make sure you have key words on your power point to trigger your memory.
Do not start speaking until the title slide is visible to the audience.

96. Being Polite! Before you speak96
Introduce yourself to the session chair before the session starts.
Load your presentation before the session starts.
Wait for the chair to introduce you before you speak.
Switch off your mobile telephone.

97. Being Polite! During your talk97
Thank the chairperson for the introduction.
Speak clearly
Pretend you are talking to the back row of seats in the room (project your voice).
Acknowledge your co-authors in Slide 1.
Rigidly stick to the allocated presentation time.
Clearly indicate the presentation is finished by a slide and say “thank you” to the audience.
Do not invite questions from the audience. (This is the role of the chair person)

98. Being Polite! After your talk98
Go quickly back to your seat.
Do not discuss your paper with others during the next talk.
If necessary, leave the room (politely – do not slam the door).
Once the session is complete, thank the chair person.

99. Why References? For scientific rigour.99
For scientific rigour.
In case someone in the audience has made a major contribution to the field.
So the audience can follow up on your previous publications.

100. Survey Research Methods
Topic 6
100
Survey Research Methods

101. This is about how to prepare and analyse a survey (questionaire)
101
This is about how to prepare and analyse a survey (questionaire)

102. “Sick building” Survey
102
The research question:
Do you think that working in this building is making you feel sick?

103. Designing a Survey Role of the researcher Develop the research plan
103
Role of the researcher
Develop the research plan
Design the survey instrument
Select the sample population
Issue/distribute the survey
Prompt the sample population for responses
Analyse the data
Generate conclusions

104. Who are the stake-holders
104
Selecting the sample population
Who are the stake-holders?
What’s in it for them? (No interest can mean no completion)
Random selection from a large population
Inclusion –
Those that are keen to participate will respond
Are they a biased sample?
Exclusion
Will people be offended if they are not asked to respond?

105. Who are the stake-holders
105
You must be able to defend your sample population selection

106. Anonymous Responses Arguments for “yes” – Anonymous
106
Arguments for “yes” – Anonymous
Sample population might be less influenced by who is asking the questions
Respondents might be less concerned about others learning of their opinions
Arguments for “no” – Non-anonymous
Who will you send the results to?
Who will you send the reward (chocolates) to?
How do you know who to follow up about returning the survey?

107. Confidentiality
107
You need to ensure that confidentiality is assured before the survey is sent out.
Consider using an independent third party to administer the survey.
I have been asked to complete a survey which asked for sufficient personal information to be identified uniquely.
How will you report “free” comments?

108. Feedback
108
It is assumed that your sample population (and the full population) will want access to the results.
You must explain how will this be done at the beginning of the survey.

109. Sample Time lines
109
Week 1: Pre-survey letter of introduction (Wider research context and brief research plan)
Week 2: Survey send out
Week 3: Mid-survey reminder letter
Week 4: Last minute final reminder
Week 6: Post-survey analysis report completed

110. Rating system – 5 point scale
110
Strongly disagree 1
Disagree
Neutral 3
Agree 4
Strongly agree
Neutral allows respondents to “sit on the fence”

111. Rating system – 4 point scale
111
Strongly disagree 1
Disagree
Agree 3
Strongly agree
This forces respondents to show positive or negative attitudes.

112. Topics for “Sick building” survey
112
General personal well being
Lighting
Ventilation
Noise and vibration
Odour
Electromagnetic radiation
Security
Demographics of respondents

113. Hints for writing questions
113
Keep is very simple – avoid jargon
Use one concept per question – avoid multiple concepts
Keep wording positive – avoid negative words and phrases, double negatives
The first question should be the “over-all question” – Never place a controversial question at the beginning.
Place demographics questions at the end – Demographics at the beginning can raise suspicions.
Keep related questions together – Difficult for the respondent to remain coherent
Use three questions per topic – Do not over question, don’t waste people’s time.

114. Statement wording
114
I don’t feel well most of the time (negative wording).
I enjoy good health.
I am satisfied with the ventilation and the lighting environment (double-barrelled question).
I am satisfied with the ventilation.
I am satisfied with the lighting.
The University does not do a bad job of keeping us informed about work place health and safety issues. (double negative)
The University does a good job of keeping us informed about work place health and safety issues.
Many students feel ill as soon as they walk into the building. (projecting the feelings of others).
Students enjoy working in this building.

115. Judgemental versus Observational
115
This work environment is just as good as other places where I have worked.
I am happy with this work environment.
The University listens and acts on student and staff concerns about the building environment.
I am satisfied with the University’s response to student concerns about the building environment.

116. Judgemental versus Observational
116
This work environment is just as good as other places where I have worked.
I am happy with this work environment.
What if you asked both statements to be rated?
The conclusions would be different

117. Reverse scoring
117
Q10: I am not happy with this work environment. (1 – 5)
Q35: I am happy with this work environment. (1 – 5)
You would need to reverse score Q10 for proper statistics.
The dangers include:
Donkey vote gives confusion (What do you do if you get 5 for both?)
Was the question misread?
Was the respondent annoyed?

118. Sample Open ended questions and comments
118
Please identify at least three things that cause you concern in this work environment.
Please identify at least three things that you like about this work environment.

119. Reporting Calculate averages and statistics for each theme.
119
Calculate averages and statistics for each theme.
Construct a Histogram and report the mean value
E.g. 80% rated the noise environment neutral or better.
Or: 20% indicated that the noise environment was not good.
Report selective quotes on open questions.

120. Missing Data Did the respondent simply forget one question?
120
Did the respondent simply forget one question?
Maybe the question was not relevant to that person?
Was the question too personal?
Was the question confusing? Could it have been scored as a 1 for one interpretation and a 5 using another interpretation.

121. Accuracy and Reliability
121
On a 5 point scale there are 5 possible answers.
Your mean value for the sample population can be expressed to several decimal places.
How many places are significant?
Return to Normal Distribution statistics based on z score.

122. References
122
Connolly, P.M. & Connolly, K.G., 2004, Employee opinion questionaires, Pfeiffer.
Rosenfeld, P., Edwards, J.E., & Thomas, M.D., (eds), 1993, Improving organizational surveys, SAGE Pub.
Images from MS Word Clip Art.

123. Review
123

124. 1. The Research Process Independent verification of results.
124
Independent verification of results.
Designing the experiment for outcomes
Journal rankings

125. 2. Literature Search
125
Using the web etc

126. 3. Report writing, Data Collection & Presentation
126
Abstract
Referencing
Equations
Figures
Conclusions and Further work
Qualitative and quantitative data
Plotting techniques for multi-dimensional data

127. 4. Statistical Analysis and Sampling
127
Regression analysis
How to select a random sample.

128. 5. Making a Presentation
128

129. 6. Survey research methods
129
How to create and analyse a survey.

130. Why this presentation?
130
To develop an understanding of the scientific environment in which research is conducted.

131. Student Evaluation of Course
131
Survey!