RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND REPORT WRITING

Stages of a research project

Engineers and scientists strive to use Science and Technology for benefit of society.
Research is required for development of new technology, optimization of processes based on
existing technology and application of existing technology for development of new products
consumer as well as industrial. The basic steps in a research project may be summarized as
under:
Identification of need of the research
Translation of Consumer needs into Technical specifications
Consumers may be interested in a good quality detergent. But this need, unless it is translated
into technically measurable parameter, is not of much use. A detergent cleans clothes because
when it is mixed with water it creates a medium with low surface tension. To start research on
quality of detergent it may be necessary to specify the surface tension of the liquid when a
specific quantity of detergent is added to a fixed quantity of pure water.
Identification of response and means of measurement
If you want to start research to improve the quality of detergent powder, the surface tension
of the mixture may be taken as the response and you should be in a position to measure it.
Identification of factors which are more significant
Once we have defined the response, it may be required to identify factors which significantly
affect the response. The quality of the detergent may improve when some chemicals like X Y
or Z, in appropriate proportion are added to the detergent.
Previous research in the field with strength and weakness
It is essential to gather knowledge from previous research, if any in the area of interest.
Assumptions
Strategy for optimizing the process
Now you can design strategies, based upon your perception, or belief to improve the cleaning
power of the detergent.
Proper Experimental design and metrics and tools for measurement
Analysis of the result and conclusion
However the experimental result has to be analyzed to test the potential of your suggestion to
improve the response
After the experimental results are analyzed and conclusions are drawn, it may be required to
present the entire work in form of a technical report (Thesis, Technical paper, Proposal for
funding for extension of the project, or a Popular article)
Potential Readers
Technical report, like a product should be written considering the needs of the potential
reader. Before you start writing it is required to consider the following
What is the purpose of the report?

Who are the potential readers of the report?

What are their needs?

How will they use the information contained in the document?

Typical examples of technical reports are given below

Type of Report
Thesis
Paper
Research Proposal
Popular Article

Potential readers
Examiners
Referees,
Scientifically
literate people
Funding agencies

Use
Evaluation
Information of feasible
application
Judge quality and promise
fro funding
Intelligent but uninformed Introduction to new ideas
people

If it is a thesis it should be designed to satisfy the examiners They expect details of all
relevant parts of your research: why you did it, its background, your thinking, what you did,
your conclusions and your views on where it is going. They dont want the irrelevant parts
like details of how standard equipment works.
A paper is read by one or more skilled referees, and, if accepted, by a scientifically informed
audience. It should contain information of interest to an engineer. Typical area of interest are
new facts about technical processes, system design ( production system or service system),
system optimization etc.
A research proposal usually addresses two markets. One is the funding agency like AICTE,
DST etc. They will look for a match between their priorities and yours. The other is the
referees that the funding agency will depend upon for expert opinion. They will judge the
quality, promise and relevance.
Hardest to write is a popular article, addressing an audience who is intelligent one should
always assume that but who may know nothing of your subject. Here style, always
important, must be fine-tuned to meet their needs. Make no mistake. Write poorly and youll
bore, exasperate and ultimately lose your readers. Write well, and theyll respond in the way
you plan.

Organization of a Technical Document

A Technical report should contain the following attributes
Title

Attribution (Authors)

Abstract

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Literature Review

Experimental Procedure

Results, Discussion

Conclusions

Acknowledgement

Future Work

Reference

Appendix (if any)

List of Figures (if necessary)

List of Tables (if necessary)

List of Abbreviations (if necessary)

Title
Title should be meaningful and brief. Consider the following titles
Fatigue of Metal Foams
The Mechanical Response of Cymat and Alporas Metallic Foams to Uni-axial Cyclic
Loading
The former is better than the later even if it is less specific
Attribution
The names of the authors, with all initials; the Institute or organization with full address For
example the following is a proper attribution
A.M.Harte and C.Chen,
The Cambridge Centre for Micromechanics,
Cambridge University Engineering Department,
Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK
January 1999.
The Abstract
A reader decides to read the abstract if its title suggests that he would get some useful
material from it. Similarly, based on the abstract the reader decides whether to read on. Plan
your abstract to tell the reader, as briefly as possible, what he will find. No waffle, no
spurious details. Try not to exceed 100 words. Imagine that you are paying a penalty for each
word Plan for one sentence each on motive, method, key results, and conclusions. Dont
exceed 3 sentences on any one.
Introduction
A good introduction starts with ordinary things that the reader can easily relate to his/her
existing knowledge, and immediately catches readers attention thus making the reader
wanting to read on. Then it outlines the problem and why it is worth tackling. Briefly give an
account of the main contributors, summarize the status of the field when the research was
started, provide any specialized information that the reader might need if he is to understand
what follows; State what will be done that has not been done before (new experimental
approach? new data? new model? new interpretation?); Keep it as brief as possible whilst
still doing all the above mentioned
In short the introduction should contain the following
What is the problem and why is it interesting?

 Who are the main contributors to previous research in the field?

What did they do?
What novel thing will you reveal?
Literature Review
This is where you establish the foundation of your project: In the topic of the research you
proposed, what has been accomplished and what is still lacking? It is a piece of discursive
prose, not a list describing or summarizing one piece of literature after another, not a pile of
arguments or sections copied from textbook or research papers. You must read extensively,
digest, analyze and find the logic among different researchers views on a topic or topics
surrounding the problem or issue concerned. Organize the chapter into sections that present
themes or identify trends, including relevant theories. Based on this, your topic is put up to
be addressed.
Procedure
The three major elements for this chapter are equipments, materials and method. This chapter
should exclusively cover what YOU do and use to carry out YOUR study for YOUR project.
Results should not be here. This chapter should dedicated to What I use and how Im going
to measure a particular property under what kind of conditions.
The research may be based on experimentation, modeling, or computational procedures.
For experimental work put in details of equipment used together with detailed measurement
conditions, such as speed of loading, sampling frequency, voltage, current, step size, number
of measurements, etc. If you are developing a model you should mention the assumptions,
mathematical tools used etc. If you are developing a computer software you should provide
inputs to the program, computational tools used, and the way data is analyzed to produce the
result
Remember this portion is not for discussion of results, It for telling the reader how the result
was obtained. Give sufficient details so that the reader can reproduce the results.
Results
In this chapter you present the output of the experiments, model or computations. The
output should be treated output, analyzed output, not simply the machine printout The data
should be reported without opinion or interpretations at this stage. Define all symbols and
units. Whenever possible include graphics in from of schematic diagram, graph.
But remember always describe the graph, figure or table before inserting it into the text. They
should never pup out from no where.
Give error-bars or confidence-limits for numerical or graphical data.
Provide for error-bars or confidence limits whenever required
Do not mix results with discussion
Discussion
Here you discuss your results, extract principles, relationships, or generalizations from the
results. The function of discussion is to describe the analysis, mechanism, models and
theories and lead the reader through a comparison of these experimental or computational
results. Put forward the most significant conclusions first; develop subsidiary conclusions
after that. Be clear and concise, and do not waffle. Keep in mind, this is where you express
YOUR opinion, YOUR argument or YOUR explanation of what is going on based on the
results you presented. Therefore, combining discussion and the results you will draw

conclusions in the conclusion section. The result chapter provides the basis and the
discussion chapter is the argument for the conclusions you will draw.
Conclusion
The reader after scanning through the abstract may proceed to the conclusion before he
decided to read the whole paper. Do not duplicate the Abstract as the Conclusions or vice
versa. The Abstract is an overview of the entire paper. The Conclusions are a summing up of
the advances in knowledge that have emerged from it.
Use statistical analysis data to strengthen your conclusions.
For example consider the following statements
In general steels heat treated as discussed in the paper will be stronger as well as tougher
compared to steel heat treated by the normal procedure
The novel heat-treatment described in Section 2 gives steels which, on the average, are 10%
stronger and 20% tougher than those heat-treated in the normal way.
With 95% confidence it can be concluded that steel heat treated by procedure suggested in
Section 2 will be stronger by 6 % and tougher by 15% compared to steel heat treated by the
normal procedure.
The last style should be preferred to first or the second
Acknowledgements
Thank people who have helped you with ideas, technical assistance, materials or finance.
Keep it simple, give full names and affiliation, and dont get sentimental.Sample of
acknowledgement is given below:
I wish to thank Prof. L.M. Brown of the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, for suggesting
this review, and to acknowledge my debt to the books listed below.
Future Work:
This chapter should only list the work that was beyond the scope of your project but which
has a bearing on the system under study.
Appendix:
Your project may consist of complex mathematical derivations, voluminous experimental raw
data etc If these form a part of the main text, they lead to loss of continuity. For example your
paper may be optimization of process parameters for deep drawing of cups. This may require
an experiment to determine the coefficient of friction. This experiment is not a part of the
project. If it is included in the main text, the reader will loose continuity while reading the
report. Such peripheral details should be included as appendix.
But remember Appendix is not a place you dump all experimental data regardless of whether
it is used or not used in the main chapters. Appendix should house tedious but essential
derivations, data tables etc., that would disrupt the flow of ideas in the main text if not put
away. All appendices should be mentioned in the main text.
Abbreviations:
All abbreviations should be spelled out for the first time when they appear, including
that in the abstract.
A list or table of symbols and abbreviations should be included for bigger size reports
Figures and Tables:
Anyone scanning your paper will look at the figures and their captions, even if they do not
read the text. Make each figure as self-contained as possible, and give it both a title (on the

figure itself) and an informative caption (below it). Make sure that the axes are properly
labeled, that units are defined and that the figure will tolerate reduction is size without
becoming illegible. Label each curve of graphs. Some suggestions for figures are given
below:
Table should be arranged such that the title of the table precedes the table itself, not at
the bottom of the table.
Figures should be arranged such that the title and figure caption come after the figure
itself, i.e., at the bottom of the figure.
All figures and tables should come in only after they have been mentioned or call
upon in the text
In figure caption, it helps to elaborate or highlight the points to be made; always
consider the purpose of putting the figure there (e.g. what do the figures prove or
illustrate?)(What do you want your reader to learn from this figure?) In research
papers (journal papers) it is not common to highlight this in figure caption because of
the page length concern. But in reports, it is usually good to put it in. This helps the
authors in deciding whether it is necessary even to include that figure or not. It also
helps to lead the reader to the point you want to make.
Keys and legends should be presented such that they can be easily differentiated and
recognized (On screen, one can see colors, but printed copy is usually black and
white. Be considerate of this)
References
Cite significant previous work taken from elsewhere
Cite sources of theories, data, or anything else you have taken from elsewhere
References must be complete: name, initials, year, title, journal,
References tell the reader where an idea, prior results and data have come from. It is
important that you reference all such sources. It is a conventional courtesy to reference the
originators of key ideas or theories or models, even if you modify them.
There are almost as many different formats for references as there are journals.

Some tips for Paper Writing

Proper Organization
Poor writing lacks order, mixes ideas and fails to progress in a logical sequence. There is a
proper place for your ideas. Do not write ideas out of place. Remember who you are writing
for. Tell them what they want to know, not what they know already or do not want to know.
Define everything
Define all symbols and abbreviations.
For example the time period of a simple pendulum is given by
t 2

l
g

Where
t is the time period
l is the length
g is acceleration due to gravity

Define all symbols used

Leave a double space on either side of a symbol when it appears in the text.
The measurements, made with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), allows you to use
the abbreviation SEM thereafter.
Avoid weak qualifiers
Avoid weak qualifiers: very, rather, somewhat, quite
For example consider the following sentences
The agreement of the experimental result with theory is quite good
The idea could rather easily be extended to nonlinear functions
The first statement suggests that the agreement of theoretical and experimental result is not as
good as it should be.
The second statement prompts the reader to wonder why it was not extended to nonlinear
functions
Revise and rewrite
Revising is part of writing. Nobody gets it right first time; some go through 8 or 10 drafts.
Excellent papers are mostly rewritten
Do not overstate, over emphasize or apologize
All of these undermine the readers confidence in your judgment.
Observe the following statements. These were from actual manuscripts
This paper questions the basic assumptions of fracture mechanics.
This significant finding will be very useful for design of heat exchangers
Unfortunately, there was insufficient time to complete the last set of tests
The first sentence will fill the reader with mistrust. After all fracture mechanics works.
The second statement is also not in good taste. The significance of the work should be left to
be judged by the reader.
The third sentences, that apologizes for non-completion of required tests suggests bad
planning and incompetence.
Use appropriate language
Use standard symbols and terms. Calling Youngs modulus G will confuse, even after
youve defined it.
Minimize the use of acronyms and abbreviations.
For example consider the following sentence.
The MEM, analyzed by FE methods, was photographed by SEM
This is bad writing. Find other ways of saying it, even if it takes more words.
Start with a god first sentence
Dont start introductions (or anything else) with platitudes. Tell the reader something he does
not already know. For example consider the following openings sentence
It is widely accepted that X (your topic) is important
Here the reader starts yawning before youve started. Try to get a new fact, new idea or a
revealing comparison into the first line. For example consider the following:

Metal foams are a new class of material attracting interest world-wide and with great
potential for industrial applications. P, Q, and R have developed theoretical models to predict
the strength of metal foams. Comparison of the experiments with the models suggests that the
measured strength are less than those predicted by the models..
The first sentences is a platitude; the second involve the reader in details, the relevance of
which is not yet clear; only in the third sentence describe the problem
A better style will be to write as under:
Foams are not as strong as they should be. Models, which describe polymer foams well,
overestimate their strength by factor of 2 to 5. This research explores the reasons for this
discrepancy..
P,Q, R have developed models to estimate the strength of metal foams..
Here the opening sentence points to a fact that needs explanation and establishes the need for
research. This may make the reader inquisitive to continue reading. It describes the research
of other researchers only after establishing the need of the current work. Remember the
opening sentence should be chosen carefully.
Seek helpful examples and analogies
Consider the following sentence
One cause of rolling friction is material damping. A rolling ball deforms the surface on
which it rolls. If the work done in this deformation is lost through damping, a frictional force
opposes motion. It is like riding a bicycle through sand: the rubbing sand particles dissipate
energy much as atom or molecular rearrangements do.
Here the bicycle analogy is appropriate; it relates the scientific problem to one which is
familiar.
Linking sentences
Each sentence in a paragraph should lead logically to the next and each paragraph should be
linked to the next paragraph.. Edit your paper to find the links.
For example consider the following sentence
..This behavior suggests that the process is diffusion-controlled. A model based on
this idea is developed next.
Diffusion is responsible for relaxing stresses at grain boundaries
Before reading the second paragraph, the reader knows what it is about.