ITEC0700/ NETE0501/ ISEC0502
Research Methodology#3
Suronapee Phoomvuthisarn, Ph.D.
suronape@mut.ac.th
Scientific Methods
Suronapee Phoomvuthisarn, Ph.D.
suronape@mut.ac.th
Outline
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Scientific method
Research terminology
Type of research
Process of conducting research
Summary
Exercises
Scientific method
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Scientific method (วิธีการทางวิทยาศาสตร์ ) คือ การ
แสวงหาความรู้หรื อความจริ งทางวิทยาศาสตร์ อย่างมีกระบวนการที่
เป็ นแบบแผน มีขนตอนที
ั้
่สามารถปฏิบตั ิตามได้
The “scientific method” attempts to
minimize the influence of the researchers'
bias on the outcome of an experiment.
Steps
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Observe (Leading to problems)
Set hypothesis
Test hypothesis
Repetitive
Research Terminology
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Research (Re - search)
◦ Stems from the root of “scientific methods”
◦ Research หมายถึง การค้ นคว้ าหาข้ อความรู้ (complex
reality) ความจริง หรื อคาตอบที่เชื่อถืดได้ จากปั ญหา ด้ วย
กระบวนการตลอดจนขันตอนที
้
่เป็ นระบบ
◦ The research go beyond description and
require analysis!! (Initiated by the why
question)
 What are the radiation levels in different parts of Thailand?
 Why are the radiation levels different in various geographical
areas?
 What is the evidence?
Type of research
Basic research
◦ มุ่งหาความรู้ ผลของการวิจยั จะออกมา
เป็ นกฎหรื อทฤษฎี
 Applied research
◦ มุ่งนาผลการวิจยั ไปใช้ ประโยชน์
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Another Type of research
การวิจยั เชิงประจักษ์ (Empirical research) เป็ นการ
วิจยั ซึง่ ข้ อความรู้ที่ได้ จะต้ องเป็ นไปตามข้ อมูลหรื อหลักฐานที่
รวบรวมมาเพื่อยืนยันความรู้นนั ้
 การวิจยั แบบทางการ (Formal research) เป็ นการวิจยั ซึง่
ข้ อความรู้ที่ได้ เป็ นไปตามหลักเหตุผลทางตรรกศาสตร์ หรื อใช้
การอนุมาน (Deduction) เป็ นหลักจะเป็ นการวิจยั ทางด้ าน
คณิตศาสตร์ และทางด้ านปรัชญา
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Classical steps of scientific method
Other steps of scientific method
Process of conducting research
Step1, 2: Identifying research area +
finding a research topic
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Explore and understand the literature base of the
area
◦ It will give you ideas of the area of interests.
 Producing your spider diagram!!!
◦ You need to understand what other researchers have
done in your area.
◦ You can criticize effectively what others have done.
◦ You can then spot areas which have not been
researched.
 Identify gaps and unanswered questions in the literature
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You can identify research problems before or
after exploring the literature
Step3: Formulate research questions
The most important step in research ! Often
comes from the thought:
 It is the questions raised for challenging
your initial idea (or preliminary solutions) to
solve the research problems identified in the
previous step.
 The research question defines the “area of
interest” but it is not a declarative statement
like a hypothesis. (if…..then…..)
 Research question must be capable of being
confirmed or refuted. The study must be
feasible.
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Examples
Q1: Feasibility: Is the VAM able to discourage raters from
cheating (e.g., lies) in trust systems for SOC?
 Q2: Architecture Support: What are the appropriate distributed
architectures for supporting the integration of the VAM into trust
systems for SOC?
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◦ Q2.1: Extensibility: How do the architectures keep trust systems’
normal
◦ functionalities and incur only affordable overhead costs when
integrating with the VAM?
◦ Q2.2: Scalability: How do the architectures ensure highly scalable
systems when integrating with the VAM?
◦ Q2.3: Decentralization: How do the architectures capture the VAM’s
truth-telling property in fully distributed environments such as SOC?
◦ Q2.4: Performance: How do the architectures incur less significant
performance overheads when integrating with the VAM, and still
achieve scalability?
Step4: Research Design
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Research approach (in pre-empirical stage)
◦ Include planning in research approach to carry out the research
 Answer what – research methodology
 Answer how – research methods
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Design Experiment (in empirical stage)
◦ Includes planning in detail all the steps of the experimental
phase. In engineering research it often includes the design of a
prototype / system architecture.
◦ Identify the variables that will be manipulated and measured –
the research outcomes must be measurable. In other words:
 What needs to be controlled in order to get an unbiased answer to the
research question.
◦ Therefore: it is necessary to not only design a prototype /
system but also the thesis validation method !
 How to validate the thesis?
Research methodology
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The systematic study of methods that are, can be or
have been applied within a discipline or a particular set
of procedures.
It refers to a rational or philosophical assumptions that
underline a particular study (more than a simple set of
methods)
Answer “What,
Research methods (ขันตอนในการท
้
าวิจยั )
A systematic series of steps taken to
complete a certain talk or reach a certain
objective.
 Answer “how”
 Examples
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1. Identify samples and scope
2. Create Experiments
3. Testing data with empirical experiments and
1. Observe the results
2. Compared with hypothesis
Data
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การวิจยั เชิงคุณภาพ (Qualitative research) เป็ นการวิจยั ที่
ใช้ ข้อมูลเป็ นข้ อความบรรยายลักษณะที่แตกต่างกันของสิ่งที่จะศึกษา
หรื อตัวแปรซึง่ เป็ นข้ อมูลที่ทาเป็ นปริ มาณหรื อตัวเลขไม่ได้
เช่น
การศึกษาชีวิตความเป็ นอยูข่ องสัตว์ป่า
การวิจยั เชิงปริมาณ (Quantitative research) เป็ นการวิจยั
ที่ใช้ ข้อมูลเป็ นปริ มาณหรื อตัวเลขแทนลักษณะที่แตกต่างกันของสิง่ ที่
จะศึกษาหรื อตัวแปร เช่น การศึกษาสติปัญญาของเด็กไทย การ
เปรี ยบเทียบผลสัมฤทธิ์ทางการเรี ยนระหว่างการสอนแบบรอบรู้กบั
การสอนตามปกติ
The use of interviews might be thought of as
qualitative techniques.
The differences between qualitative
and quantitative approach
The similarities between qualitative
and quantitative approach
Which methods suit?
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The best advice in those cases is to step
back from questions of method [and
tools], and give further consideration to
the purposes and research questions,
bearing in mind that the way questions
are asked influences what needs to be
done to answer them.(Punch 2005: 240)
Examples
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Research Methodology
◦ In this thesis, an architecture-based approach and a
suitable mapping technique are proposed to develop the
research solutions – (1) the mapping technique and (2) the
VAM-based architectures – for preventing exploitation of
trust systems by raters’ cheating behavior, while achieving
interfacing metrics. A trust negotiation protocol
encapsulated with the VAM is defined and realized in the
relevant VAM components. These components interact
with trust components in an architectural framework.
These VAM-based architectures are also optimized with
regard to impact on the quality attributes, including
extensibility, scalability, decentralization and performance.
The improvement solution will be based on test cases in
which these quality attributes are observed. Further
architectural improvement will be devised in the light of
empirical evidence.
Examples (2)
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The flow of the work is summarized in
Figure 1.
Examples (3)
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The proposed research method consists of
three stages, as follows:
Build the Core Architecture with the VAM
Applied.
…..
(2) Extend the Core Architecture.
…..
(3) Perform Evaluation with Three Exploratory
Case Studies.
…...
(1)
Step5:Data collection
Doing it !
 Implementation of methods (e.g.
prototyping) and auxiliary tools (e.g.
simulation)
 Pilot testing and refinement.
 Field vs. Laboratory work.
 Any ethical considerations ?
 Confirm results by retesting !
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Step6: Data analysis
What did your experiment show?
 Qualitative data analysis or Quantitative
data analysis.
 Discussion regarding some of the findings
on experimental result the thesis has
made (focus on answering research
questions)
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Step7: Answer questions
Provide the arguments of your findings to
support the research contribution you
have claimed earlier
 A research result is not a contribution to
the field if no one knows about it or can
use it !
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◦ Write scientific papers, make presentations
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Write thesis and consider next steps
◦ Recommendations for further research.
Summary
have a good understanding of the
research terminology, scientific methods
and research process.
 have decided, or be closer to deciding,
which methods you are going to use, and
be able to justify that choice;
 have a clearer idea of your own
methodological preferences.
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Exercises
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Note down the research methodology
and research methods you plan to use.
◦ What are their advantages and disadvantages?
◦ What other methods might you use as
alternatives?
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Select a research paper or a master’s
thesis and find research question(s).
References
Chapter 3 of L. Blaxter, C. Hughes, and M. Tight, How to
Research, 4th Edition, Open University Press, 2010
 ฉขัน
้ ตอนในการทาวิจัยwww.sukhothai.ru.ac.th/inforusc/.../6.ขัน้ ตอน
ในการทาวิ จยั .doc
 Lecture 2 of Dr. Supakorn in research methodology course in
MUT
 Chapter5, How to Get a PhD: A Handbook for Students and
Their Supervisors 4th edition, Philips, E. and Puqh, D.S.
 Estelle Phillips (Author), D.S. Pugh (Author)Chapter 1-2,
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: A GUIDE TO FOR
RESEACHERS IN MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL ..., BILL
TAYLOR, GAUTAM SINHA,TAPOSH GHOSHAL
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Questions
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By now, you may have a fairly clear answer
to the following questions:
◦ How are you going to do the research?
◦ What is your strategy and approach?
◦ What techniques or methods are you going
to use?
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What ‘s next?
◦ Reading literature..
Additional slides
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Deduction and Induction
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Deduction (Aristotle)
◦ Is a reasoning process that begins with a selfevidence principle and draw from it a
conclusion relating to a particular case.
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Induction (Francis Bacon)
◦ Is a reasoning process that begins with a
specific case and draw from it a conclusion of
wider and more general relevance.
Case studies
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Case studies, as the name indicates,
concentrate on special cases.
Generalizations from case studies must be
handled with care.
To serve as a foundation for generalizations,
case studies should be related to a
theoretical framework, which in turn may be
adjusted as case study results provide new
evidence. The ‘generalizability’ of case studies
can be increased by strategic selection of
critical cases (Mikkelsen 2005: 92, emphasis
in original)
Experiments
The experiment is a situation in which the
independent variable is carefully manipulated by
the investigator under known, tightly defined and
controlled conditions, or by natural occurrence.
 At its most basic, the experiment consists of an
experimental group which is exposed to the
intervention under investigation and a control
group which is not exposed. The experimental
and control groups should be equivalent, and
investigated systematically under conditions that
are identical (apart from the exposure of the
experimental group), in order to minimise
variation between them.(Bowling 2002: 216,
emphasis in original)
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Surveys
A social survey is a type of research strategy.
By this we mean that it involves an overall
decision – a strategic decision – about the
way to set about gathering and analysing
data.
 The strategy involved in a survey is that we
collect the same information about all the
cases in a sample
 Usually, the cases are individual people, and
among other things we ask all of them the
same questions. (Aldridge and Levine 2001: 5,
emphasis in original)
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