RESEARCH METHODOLOGY & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

( 21RMI56 )

Module -1
Research: Research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or
suggested solution; collecting, organizing and evaluating data, making deductions and reaching
conclusions and carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the f ormulating
hypothesis. The manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to
extend , correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in
the practice of an art.
Research in simple terms refers to search for knowledge. It is a scientific and systematic
search for information on a particular topic or issue. It is also known as the art of scientific
investigation. Several social scientists have defined research in different ways.

In the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, D. Slesinger and M. Stephension (1930) defined

research as “the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to
extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in the construction of theory or
in the practice of an art”.

Research Methods Vs Methodology:

Research methods include all those techniques/methods that are adopted for conducting research.
Thus, research techniques or methods are the methods that the researchers adopt for conducting
the research studies. On the other hand, research methodology is the way in which research
problems are solved systematically. It is a science of studying how research is conducted
scientifically. Under it, the researcher acquaints himself/herself with the various steps generally
adopted to study a research problem, along with the underlying logic behind them. Hence, itis not
only important for the researcher to know the research techniques/ methods, but also the scientific
approach called methodology.

What is the definition of research methodology?

The process used to collect information and data for the purpose of making business decisions.
The methodology may include publication research, interviews, surveys and other research
techniques, and could include both present and historical information.
Research methodology is a term that basically means the science of how research is done scientifically.
It is a way to systematically and logically solve a problem, help us understand the process not just the
product of research, and analyzes methods in addition to the information obtained by them.
What are the types of research methodology?
 Basic research
 Applied Research
 Problem oriented research
 Problem solving
 Quantitative Research
 Qualitative Research

Research Problem: A research problem is a statement about an area of concern, a condition to

be improved, a difficulty to be eliminated, or a troubling question that exists in scholarly literature,
in theory, or in practice that points to the need for meaningful understanding and deliberate
investigation.
What is research problem statement?
A problem statement is the description of an issue currently existing which needs to be addressed.
It provides the context for the research study and generates the questions which the research
aims to answer. The statement of the problem is the focal point of any research.
How do you identify the problem?
Here are seven-steps for an effective problem-solving process.
1. Identify the issues. Be clear about what the problem is.
2. Understand everyone's interests.
3. List the possible solutions (options).
4. Evaluate the options.
5. Select an option or options.
6. Document the agreement(s).
7. Agree on contingencies, monitoring, and evaluation.

Necessity of Defining a Research Problem:

The problem to be researched needs to be described unambiguously as that will help you to
discriminate useful data from the unrelated ones. A proper formulation of research problem will
allow the investigator to be on the track in contrast to an ill-defined problem may possibly create
difficulties.
Questions like: What data are to be gathered? What attributes of data are appropriate and need to
be analyzed? What relations should be investigated. What methods should be employed for the
 purpose? as well as other questions turn up in the head of the investigator who can well plan his
strategy and find solutions to these kinds of questions only when the research problem has been
well defined. Therefore, defining the problem accurately is a necessity for any research and is a
step of the highest value.
In fact, formulation of a problem is often vital than its solution. It is only on thoroughly describing
the problem that we can work out the research design and can efficiently proceed all the
consequential steps needed while doing research.
Important Points to Keep in Mind while Defining the Research Problem
1. The correct question needs to be addressed if research is to help decision makers. A right
answer to the wrong question leads either to bad advice or to no advice.
2. Usually in problem we have an inclination to rationalize and defend our actions once we
have started upon a specific research plan. The perfect time to examine and think about
alternative techniques is in the planning stage. If it is completed unnecessary expense of
false start and redoing work may be prevented.
3. An excellent beginning in problem definition is to ask what the decision maker want to
know if the requested information can be gathered without error and without expense.
4. Another excellent rule to follow is “Never settle on a specific strategy” without
developing and taking into consideration at least one alternate option”.
5. The problem definition stage of research is the determination and structuring of the
decision maker’s question. It should be the decision maker’s question and not the
researcher’s question.

6. What decision do you face? Unless you have decision to make, there isn’t any research
problem.

7. What are the alternatives? In case there are no options to choose, once again there is
absolutely no research problem.
8. What are the factors for selecting the best alternative? Unless you have criteria for
evaluation, again there’s no problem.
The researcher should stay away from the acceptance of the superficial and the obvious. Frequently we all
hear that a problem clearly expressed is a problem half solved. This statement indicates the necessity of
defining a research problem in research methodology . This actually also results in a smoother progress
on all the following steps which are needed for finishing a research project.
Types of Research:
There are different types of research. The basic ones are as follows.
Descriptive Versus Analytical:
Descriptive research consists of surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different types. The main
objective of descriptive research is describing the state of affairs as it prevails at the time of study.
The term ‘ex post facto research’ is quite often used for descriptive research studies in social
sciences and business research. The most distinguishing feature of this method is that the
researcher has no control over the variables here. He/she has to only report what is happening or
what has happened. Majority of the ex post facto research projects are used for descriptive studies
in which the researcher attempts to examine phenomena, such as the consumers’ preferences,
frequency of purchases, shopping, etc. Despite the inability of the researchers to control the
variables, ex post facto studies may also comprise attempts by them to discover the causes of the
selected problem. The methods of research adopted in conducting descriptive research are survey
methods of all kinds, including correlational and comparative methods.
Meanwhile in the Analytical research, the researcher has to use the already available facts or
information, and analyze themto make a critical evaluation of the subject.
Applied Versus Fundamental: Research can also be applied or fundamental in nature. An attempt
to find a solution to an immediate problem encountered by a firm, an industry, a business
organization, or the society is known as applied research. Researchers engaged in such researches
aim at drawing certain conclusions confronting a concrete social or business problem.
On the other hand, fundamental research mainly concerns generalizations and formulation of a
theory. In other words, “Gathering knowledge for knowledge’s sake is termed ‘pure’ or ‘basic’
research” (Young in Kothari, 1988). Researches relating to pure mathematics or concerning some
natural phenomenon are instances of Fundamental Research. Likewise, studies focusing on human
behavior also fall under the category of fundamental research.
Thus, while the principal objective of applied research is to find a solution to some pressing
practical problem, the objective of basic research is to find information with a broad base of
application and add to the already existing organized body of scientific knowledge.

Quantitative Versus Qualitative:

Quantitative research relates to aspects that can be quantified or can be expressed in terms of
quantity. It involves the measurement of quantity or amount. Various available statistical and
econometric methods are adopted for analysis in such research. Which includes correlation,
regressions and time series analysis etc,.
On the other hand, Qualitative research is concerned with qualitative phenomena, or more
 specifically, the aspects related to or involving quality or kind. For example, an important type of
qualitative research is ‘Motivation Research’, which investigates into the reasons for certain human
behaviour. The main aim of this type of research is discovering the underlying motives and
desires of human beings by usingin-depth interviews. The other techniques employed in such
research are story completion tests, sentence completion tests, word association tests, and other
similar projective methods. Qualitative research is particularly significant in the context of
behavioural sciences, which aim at discovering the underlying motives of human behaviour. Such
research helps to analyse the various factors that motivate human beings to behave in a certain
manner, besides contributing to an understanding of what makes individuals like or dislike a
particular thing. However, it is worth noting that conducting qualitative resea rch in practice is
considerably a difficult task. Hence, while undertaking such research, seeking guidance from
experienced expert researchers is important.

Conceptual Versus Empirical:

The research related to some abstract idea or theory is known as Conceptual Research. Generally,
philosophers and thinkers use it for developing new concepts or for reinterpreting the existing
ones. Empirical Research, on the other hand, exclusively relies on the observation or experience
with hardly any regard for theory and system. Such research is data based, which often comes up
with conclusions that can be verified through experiments or observation. Empirical research is
also known as experimental type of research, in which it is important to first collect the facts and
their sources, and actively take steps to stimulate the production of desired information. In this
type of research, the researcher first formulates a working hypothesis, and then gathers sufficient
facts to prove or disprove the stated hypothesis. He/she formulates the experimental design,
which according to him/her would manipulate the variables, so as to obtain the desired
information. This type of research is thus characterized by th e researcher’s control over the
variables under study. In simple term, empirical research is most appropriate when an attempt is
made to prove that certain variables influence the other variables in some way. Therefore, the
results obtained by using the experimental or empirical studies are considered to be the most
powerful evidences for a given hypothesis.
Other Types of Research:
The remaining types of research are variations of one or more type of research. They vary in terms
of the purposeof research, or the time required to complete it, or may be based on some other similar
factor. On the basis of time, research may either be in the nature of one -time or longitudinal time
series research. While the research is restricted to a single time-period in the former case, it is
conducted over several time-periods in the latter case. Depending upon the environment in which
 the research is to be conducted, it can also be laboratory research or f ield - setting research, or
simulation research, besides being diagnostic or clinical in nature. Under such research, in-depth
approaches or case study method may be employed to analyse the basic causal relations. These
studies usually undertake a detailed in-depth analysis of the causes of certain events of interest, and
use very small samples and sharp data collection methods. The research may also be explanatory
in nature. Formalized research studies consist of substantial structure and specific hypotheses to be
verified. As regards to historical research, sources like historical documents, remains, etc. Are
utilized to study past events or ideas. It also includes philosophy of persons and groups of the past
or any remote point of time.
Research has also been classified into decision-oriented and conclusion-oriented categories. The
decision-oriented research is always carried out as per the need of a decision maker and hence,
the researcher has no freedom to conduct the research according to his/her own desires. On
theother hand, in the case of Conclusion-oriented research, the researcher is free to choose the
problem, redesign the enquiry as it progresses and even change conceptualization as he/she wishes
to. An operation research is a kind of decision-oriented research, where in scientific method is
used in providing the departments, a quantitative basis for decision -making with respect to the
activities under their purview.

Steps in Research Process

Research process contains a series of closely related activities which has to carry out by a
researcher. Research process requires patients. There is no measure that shows your research is
the best. It is an art rather than a science. Following are the main steps in social or business research
process.
1. Selection of Research Problem
2. Extensive Literature Survey
3. Making Hypothesis
4. Preparing the Research Design
5. Sampling
6. Data collection
7. Data Analysis
8. Hypothesis Testing
9. Generalization and Interpretation
10. Preparation of Report
Selection of Research Problem
The selection of topic for research is a difficult job. When we select a title or research statement,
then other activities would be easy to perform. So, for the understanding thoroughly the problem
it must have to discuss with colleagues, friend, experts and teachers. The research topic or problem
should be practical, relatively important, feasible, ethically and politically acceptable.
Literature Review or Extensive Literature Survey
After the selection of research problem, the second step is that of literatu re mostly connected with
the topics. The availability of the literature may bring ease in the research. For this purpose
academic journals, conference and govt. reports and library must be studied.
Making Hypothesis
The development of hypothesis is a technical work depends on the researcher experience. The
hypothesis is to draw the positive & negative cause and effect aspects of a problem. Hypothesis
narrows down the area of a research and keep a researcher on the right path.
Preparing the Research Design
After the formulation of the problem and creating hypothesis for it, research Design is to prepare
by the researcher. It may draw the conceptual structure of the problem. Any type of research design
may be made, depend on the nature and purpose of the study. Daring R. Design the information
about sources, skill, time and finance is taken into consideration.
Sampling
The researcher must design a sample. It is a plan for taking its respondents from a specific areas
or universe. The sample may be of two types:
1. Probability Sampling
2. Non-probability Sampling
Data collection
Data collection is the most important work, is researcher. The collection of information must be
containing on facts which is from the following two types of researcher.
Primary Data Collection: Primary data may be from the following.
1. Experiment
2. Questionnaire
3. Observation
4. Interview
Secondary data collection: it has the following categories:
1. Review of literature
2. Official and non-official reports
3. Library approach
Data Analysis
When data is collected, it is forwarded for analysis which is the most technical job. Data analysis
may be divided into two main categories.
Data Processing: it is sub-divided into the following.

Data editing, Data coding, Data classification, Data tabulation, Data presentation, Data
measurement
Data Exposition: Date Exposition has the following sub-categories.
Description, Explanation, Narration, Conclusion/Findings, Recommendations/Suggestions
Hypothesis Testing
Research data is then forwarded to test the hypothesis. Do the hypothesis are related to the f acts
or not? To find the answer the process of testing hypothesis is undertaken which may result in
accepting or rejecting the hypothesis.
Generalization and Interpretation
The acceptable hypothesis is possible for researcher to arrival at the process of generalization or
to make & theory. Some types of research has no hypothesis for which researcher depends upon
on theory which is known as interpretation.
Preparation of Report
A researcher should prepare a report for which he has done is his work. He must keep in his mind
the following points:
Report Design in Primary Stages
The report should carry a title, brief introduction of the problem and background followed by
acknowledgement. There should be a table of contents, grapes and charts.
Main Text of the Report
It should contain objectives, hypothesis, explanations and methodology of the research. It must be
divided into chapters and every chapter explains separate title in which summary of the findings
should be enlisted. The last section would be clearly of conclusions to show the main theme of
the R-study.
Closing the Report
After the preparation of report, the last step in business research process contains of bibliography,
references, appendices, index and maps or charts for illustration. For this purpose the information
should more clearer.

Ethics in Business Research

Ethics are norms or standards of behavior that guide moral choices about our behavior and our
relationship with others.
 As in other aspects of business, all parties in research should exhibit ethical behavior.
The goal of ethics in research is to ensure that no one is harmed or suffered adverse consequences
from research activities.
However, unethical activities are pervasive and include violating non-disclosure agreement,
breaking respondent confidentiality, misrepresenting results, deceiving people, invoicing
irregularities, avoiding legal liability, and more.
⚫ As research is designed, several ethical considerations must be balanced:
⚫ Protect the rights of the participant or subject.
⚫ Ensure the sponsor receives ethically conducted and reported research
⚫ Follow ethical standards when designing research
⚫ Protect the safety of the researcher and team
⚫ In general, research must be designed so a respondent does not suffer physical harm,
discomfort, pain, embarrassment, or loss of privacy. Begin data collection by explaining
to respondent the benefits expected from the research.
⚫ Explain that their rights and well-being will be adequately protected and say how that will
be done. Be certain that interviewers obtain in the inform consent of the respondent. The
use of deception is questionable; when it is used, debrief any respondent who has been
deceived.
Limitations of Social Science Research
⚫ The question of objectivity has been central to the methodological debates of the social
sciences from the beginning. It means the willingness and ability to examine evidence
dispassionately. It is the first condition of research.
Limits of social science
a) Social scientist is part of human society and their judgments are subjective and coloured by
researchers own experience.
b) The subject matter of social science research is too complex. All propositions are limited
particular social groups and contexts.
c) All members of the society have different values, social researcher will unconsciously
influenced by their values.
d) Social scientist fails to achieve objectivity because the respondents are human beings have
certain human problems. e.g. refusal of respondent, improper understanding, reluctance etc,.All
these problems cause biases and invalidate the research findings and conclusions.
Types of research Misconduct

Research ethics involves treating others fairly, being honest about methods and results, repeating
results as much as possible to avoid mistakes, protecting the health of research, ensuring safety in the
laboratory, etc. includes. To avoid inaccuracies, the research should be peer-reviewed before it is
published. Research fraud described in Section
Search Documents may include: Section
(i)Fabrication: Fabrication is the creation of documents or a test of knowledge in the belief that the
person understands the results of the analysis. or the test is OK but will not be able to wait for results
due to time pressure from the supervisor or user.
(ii) Falsification (falsification of information): Falsification refers to the misrepresentation or
misinterpretation of an information or test, or the making, respectively, of illegal changes to support
a hypothesis, even if actual data from experimental data suggest otherwise. Fraud and fabrication of
information and results undermines engineering research, introduces false information into the
database, undermines the trust of stakeholders, undermines cost increases, hinders scientific progress,
and causes real and avoidable delays in technological development.
Data errors can also occur due to poor testing or inaccurate measurements. The image of engineering
scientists as objective seekers of truth is often tarnished by the discovery of information about fraud.
While researchers want to continue working on published data that could become part of research
papers, they can avoid this bad practice by always trying to reproduce results.
(iii) Plagiarism (excluding the use of someone else's work): Plagiarism is manifest when a person
uses or reuses another work (including parts) (text, document, table, picture, diagram or content) as
it appears in his work. emerges out. Thank you. Copying or reusing one's own published work is
called self-plagiarism, which is bad practice in the scientific literature. Although the increase in
search terms on the Internet seems to encourage plagiarism in some cases, it can also be detected by
software packages.
(iv) Other types of research bias: Significant deviations from accepted behavior can be interpreted
as research bias. In cases where deception and harm are in question, fraud is considered to have taken
place. Sooner or later moral violations will occur. Submitting an article to two different journals at
the same time is also a violation of the copyright. Another problem is that when there are errors in
the text or published content, these errors are usually not made public for public access unless a
competent researcher presses them to create the error and provide a good resemblance to the correct
version, which is not always available. . primary research goal.
How can we warn reviewers, reviewers or editors about plagiarism? Article
 The Secretary-General informs and informs all concerned. Section
 Or readers who come across articles or books during research.
Although there are many free and paid materials for school leave, they are not criminal, they only get Similar
score in content analysis, similarity index of published content and unpublished content.
However, a similar score does not guarantee that the document is free of plagiarism. Whether the content is
plagiarism should be evaluated by human eyes. It is important to look at individual ratings of sources, not
overall results. Setting a parameter to a parameter of maximum similarity means under-utilizing the tool.
Patchwork plagiarism is difficult to measure.
There are some simple and ethical ways to avoid the same thing in the next post. Sometimes some
published content is good for a research paper; maybe it can make a connection or strengthen a claim. Printed
material is provided for fair use purposes. People do not create scientific results out of nothing. However,
important points can be explained in your own words, so there is no need for copying.
It is important to emphasize the importance in all this. However, the mention of a source does not
mean that a sentence (or sentence) in the main content can be repeated. Researchers should practice writing
in such a way that readers can distinguish the author's ideas or conclusions from other sources. This practice
allows people to decide whether they are overusing or relying on the content of available information.

Ethics in Engineering Research

Ethics is generally concerned with the processes or skills that distinguish bad behavior from wrong. Everyone
knows some moral principles, but there are differences in their interpretation and application. Moral
development proceeds through various stages of development. Ethics can be used to evaluate, recommend
or interpret policy.
Engineering researchers must make ethical decisions and be responsible for the impact of their
research. Information used in engineering research is important because it affects people.
Some practices may be acceptable to some people in some circumstances, and the reasons for their
acceptance may not be entirely valid. Today we have unprecedented access to data, unprecedented options
for data analysis, and the emergence of engineering studies involving data. Engineering ethics provides us
with a rulebook; teach us how to decide what is allowed and what is not. Scientists make various choices
regarding ethics and the impact of technology in various ways:
(i) By setting ethical standards up front, engineering scientists can influence the full benefits of advancing
technology.
(ii) Researchers can also tap into the power of design—the process of transforming needs into designs
designed to meet those needs.
Ethical decisions should be made to determine the importance and importance of the requirements while
creating the process.
(iii) Third, engineering scientists must choose different options to complete similar tasks.
Research findings often have negative side effects. It is the primary responsibility of scientists to
ensure that the hazards/risks associated with the technology they develop are minimized and to
evaluate safer alternatives. The design should have a centralized security where possible, or have
security features and a variety of independent security measures to avoid danger, or, if Yes, a
control system in case the main system fails.

There are many reasons for an engineer to become involved in a research project. There are
benefits to society as part of an engineer’s charter as well as personal rewards.
There is significant excitement in new discoveries. The possibility of developing something
completely new, something of benefit to humanity and something to add to the world-wide body
of knowledge is a strong motivation for undertaking research. While practicing engineers may
leave their mark on society through buildings, dams, rail-lines, aircraft, electronics products,
medical devices, etc, usually the team of engineers or their company might only be known to the
general public through a temporary sign on the work-site or a slim column in a newspaper.
Sanitation and pipeline engineers, software engineers and many others might never be recognised
publicly. It is often the case that the names of engineers become known when there are
catastrophic failures. The publication of research outputs in the archival literature means that
names of the members of the research team will never be lost in time. The research team will be
recorded permanently.

A successful research project can enhance your career. The peer review process and open
publication means that the team is capable of work at the highest possible standard. This
recognition is world-wide and can be used to advantage in developing tenders
for international projects.
The process of research training is part of every engineering undergraduate degree
programme. Every laboratoiy experiment and every calculation is part of the development of an
engineer, and the skills learnt are part of the expertise that can be used in research projects. For
this reason many undergraduate engineering degree programmes either include or plan to include
a research project or a research methods component.
In a complementaiy way, engineering faculty staff should mandate that laboratory
reports, assignments and other deliverables employ the typical research requirements outlined in
the research writing format, statistical analysis, appropriate checks on the validity of results and
appropriate referencing. In addition, the development of lecture material and other resources
should follow the norms of research methods, referencing, etc. This solid reinforcement of
research techniques can greatly improve the quality of graduates and improve the student
experience in undergraduate engineering programmes.

Engineering Ethics
As engineers are involved in all major infrastructure projects (dams, bridges, roads, railway lines,
electricity distribution, telecommunications, vehicles, etc), it is not surprising that when one of
these facilities fails, caused either by natural events (earthquakes, adverse weather, landslides,
material failure, etc) or by human intervention (terrorist attack, stadium overloading, land
contamination, water contamination, air pollution, lack of maintenance of facilities, land
subsidence due to mining, etc), inevitably some of the blame and responsibility is levelled at the
engineers who undertook the design, construction, maintenance and control of the facilities
These societies are designed to minimize the likelihood of repeat occurrences through
member registration and mandated self-improvement. This is achieved through two methods;
firstly by the free exchange of information between practitioners, and secondly, through an
adherence to codes of ethics which are designed to eliminate poor practice and, in extreme cases,
to prevent negligent and incompetent people from placing the community at risk by working on
such projects. These professional engineering societies therefore engage in processes of
accreditation of individuals and university degree programmes, and the publication of research,
engineering standards (best practice) and failure analyses.

Engineering societies require that practising engineers take a holistic view of projects
which deliver a complete solution providing maximum benefit to all stakeholders (e.g. the
community, the users of the product or service, their company or organization commissioned to
undertake the work, and the environment both local and international).

In most countries professional engineers are registered. It may be mandated in law

that only a registered engineer is allowed to build a bridge or sign off on a control circuit used in
a theme park ride. Without the signature of a registered engineer, the work is not permitted to
start, or not permitted to operate.
The registration process requires the person to be suitably trained (a university degree in
engineering is most common) and must pledge to work within the guidelines of a Code of Ethics.
Should engineers not conduct themselves appropriately, they can be removed from the register
of professional engineers and barred from continuing to practise. Most engineering codes of
ethics also prohibit engineers from practising outside their engineering discipline.