SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Scientific research is the systematic investigation ofscientific theories and

hypotheses. A hypothesis is a single assertion, a proposed explanation of something
based on available knowledge, for something yet to be explained. One that is subject to
further experimentation.
Application of scientific method to the investigation of relationships among natural
phenomenon, or to solve a medical or technical problem.

PURPOSE OF RESEARCH
Research conducted for the purpose of contributing towards science by the
systematic collection, interpretation and evaluation of data and that, too, in a planned
manner is called scientific research: a researcher is the one who conducts this
research. The results obtained from a small group through scientific studies are
socialised, and new information is revealed with respect to diagnosis, treatment and
reliability of applications. The purpose of this review is to provide information about the
definition, classification and methodology of scientific research.
Before beginning the scientific research, the researcher should determine the
subject, do planning and specify the methodology. In the Declaration of Helsinki, it is
stated that ‘the primary purpose of medical researches on volunteers is to understand
the reasons, development and effects of diseases and develop protective, diagnostic
and therapeutic interventions (method, operation and therapies). Even the best proven
interventions should be evaluated continuously by investigations with regard to
reliability, effectiveness, efficiency, accessibility and quality’ (1).
The questions, methods of response to questions and difficulties in scientific
research may vary, but the design and structure are generally the same
CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH
Scientific research can be classified in several ways. Classification can be made
according to the data collection techniques based on causality, relationship with time
and the medium through which they are applied.
1. According to data collection techniques:
 Observational
 Experimental
2. According to causality relationships:
 Descriptive
 Analytical
3. According to relationships with time:
 Retrospective
 Prospective
 Cross-sectional
4. According to the medium through which they are applied:
 Clinical
 Laboratory
 Social descriptive research
Another method is to classify the research according to its descriptive or
analytical features. This review is written according to this classification method.
I. Descriptive research
a. Case series
b. Surveillance studies
II. Analytical research
a. Observational studies: cohort, case control and cross- sectional research
b. Interventional research: quasi-experimental and clinical research
I. Descriptive Research: in this type of research, the participant examines the
distribution of diseases according to their place and time in society. It includes
case reports, case series and surveillance studies.
 a. Case Report: it is the most common type of descriptive study. It is the
examination of a single case having a different quality in the society, e.g.
conducting general anaesthesia in a pregnant patient with
mucopolysaccharidosis.
b. Case Series: it is the description of repetitive cases having common
features. For instance; case series involving interscapular pain related to
neuraxial labour analgesia. Interestingly, malignant hyperthermia cases
are not accepted as case series since they are rarely seen during
historical development.
c. Surveillance Studies: these are the results obtained from the databases
that follow and record a health problem for a certain time, e.g. the
surveillance of cross-infections during anaesthesia in the intensive care
unit.
II. Analytical Scientific Research: the most important difference of this and the
descriptive research is the presence of a comparison group. They are
categorised as observational and interventional research.
a. Observational Research: the participants are grouped and evaluated
according to a research plan or protocol. Observational research is more
attractive than other studies: as necessary clinical data is available,
coming to a conclusion is fast and they incur low costs. In observational
studies, the factors and events examined by the researcher are not under
the researcher’s control. They cannot be changed when requested. All the
variables, except for the examined factor or event, cannot be kept
constant. Randomisation can be restrictedly used in some cases. It might
not be always possible to apparently and completely detect a cause and
effect relationship. The results are considerably similar to real-life
situations since the events are examined as they are and special
conditions are not created. Since the repetition of the observed cases is
impossible most of the times, it may not be possible to recreate the same
conditions.
Moreover, some studies may be experimental. After the researcher intervenes, the
researcher waits for the result, observes and obtains data. Experimental studies are,
more often, in the form of clinical trials or laboratory animal trials.
Analytical observational research can be classified as cohort, case-control and cross-
sectional studies.
 Cohort Studies (Prospective, Retrospective and Ambidirectional):A
cohort is a group formed by patients having common
characteristics. A cohort study is the one in which a group of
patients is followed-up in time, e.g. comparison of academic
performances of children (who underwent anaesthesia in their
neonatal period) in their adolescence.
 Firstly, the participants are controlled with regard to the disease under
investigation. Patients are excluded from the study. Healthy participants are evaluated
with regard to the exposure to the effect. Then, the group (cohort) is followed-up for a
sufficient period of time with respect to the occurrence of disease, and the progress of
disease is studied. The risk of the healthy participants getting sick is considered an
incident. In cohort studies, the risk of disease between the groups exposed and not
exposed to the effect is calculated and rated. This rate is called relative risk. Relative
risk indicates the strength of exposure to the effect on the disease.
Cohort research may be observational and experimental. The follow-up of
patients prospectively is called a prospective cohort study. The results are obtained
after the research starts. The researcher’s following-up of cohort subjects from a certain
point towards the past is called a retrospective cohort study. Prospective cohort studies
are more valuable than retrospective cohort studies: this is because in the former, the
researcher observes and records the data. The researcher plans the study before the
research and determines what data will be used. On the other hand, in retrospective
studies, the research is made on recorded data: no new data can be added.
In fact, retrospective and prospective studies are not observational. They
determine the relationship between the date on which the researcher has begun the
study and the disease development period. The most critical disadvantage of this type
of research is that if the follow-up period is long, participants may leave the study at
their own behest or due to physical conditions. Cohort studies that begin after exposure
and before disease development are called ambidirectional studies. Public healthcare
studies generally fall within this group, e.g. lung cancer development in smokers.
 Case-Control Studies: these studies are retrospective cohort
studies. They examine the cause and effect relationship from the
effect to the cause. The detection or determination of data depends
on the information recorded in the past. The researcher has no
control over the data.
 Cross-Sectional Studies: in cross- sectional studies, the patients or
events are examined at a particular point in time. Prevalence
studies (the percentage of a population having a disease at a
certain time) are the ones in which the diagnosis and disease
mechanism are detected and the cause and effect relationship is
examined at the same level.
Cross-sectional studies are advantageous since they can be concluded relatively
quickly. It may be difficult to obtain a reliable result from such studies for rare diseases.
Cross-sectional studies are characterised by timing. In such studies, the
exposure and result are simultaneously evaluated. While cross-sectional studies are
restrictedly used in studies involving anaesthesia (since the process of exposure is
limited), they can be used in studies conducted in intensive care units.
 b. Interventional Research (Experimental Studies): in this type of research,
there is a control group aimed to be tested. The researcher decides upon
which effect the participant will be exposed to in this study. Post-
intervention, the researcher waits for the result, observes and obtains the
data. Interventional studies are divided into two: quasi-experimental and
clinical research.
 Quasi-Experimental Research: they are conducted in cases in
which a quick result is requested and the participants or research
areas cannot be randomised, e.g. giving hand-wash training and
comparing the frequency of nosocomial infections before and after
hand wash.
 Clinical Research: they are prospective studies carried out with a
control group for the purpose of comparing the effect and value of
an intervention in a clinical case. Clinical study and research have
the same meaning. Drugs, invasive interventions, medical devices
and operations, diets, physical therapy and diagnostic tools are
relevant in this context.
Clinical studies are conducted by a responsible researcher, generally a
physician. In the research team, there may be other healthcare staff besides physicians.
Clinical studies may be financed by healthcare institutes, drug companies, academic
medical centres, volunteer groups, physicians, healthcare service providers and other
individuals. They may be conducted in several places including hospitals, universities,
physicians’ offices and community clinics based on the researcher’s requirements. The
participants are made aware of the duration of the study before their inclusion. Clinical
studies should include the evaluation of recommendations (drug, device and surgical)
for the treatment of a disease, syndrome or a comparison of one or more applications;
finding different ways for recognition of a disease or case and prevention of their
recurrence
FLOWCHART OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS
What is the Scientific Method?
The scientific method is a process for experimentation that is used to explore
observations and answer questions. Does this mean all scientists follow exactly this
process? No. Some areas of science can be more easily tested than others. For
example, scientists studying how stars change as they age or how dinosaurs digested
their food cannot fast-forward a star's life by a million years or run medical exams on
feeding dinosaurs to test their hypotheses. When direct experimentation is not possible,
scientists modify the scientific method. In fact, there are probably as many versions of
the scientific method as there are scientists! But even when modified, the goal remains
the same: to discover cause and effect relationships by asking questions, carefully
gathering and examining the evidence, and seeing if all the available information can be
combined in to a logical answer.
Even though we show the scientific method as a series of steps, keep in mind
that new information or thinking might cause a scientist to back up and repeat steps at
any point during the process. A process like the scientific method that involves such
backing up and repeating is called an iterative process.
Whether you are doing a science fair project, a classroom science activity,
independent research, or any other hands-on science inquiry understanding the steps of
the scientific method will help you focus your scientific question and work through your
observations and data to answer the question as well as possible.
 Detailed Help
Steps of the Scientific Method
for Each Step

Ask a Question: The scientific method starts when you ask a

question about something that you observe: How, What, When,
Who, Which, Why, or Where? Your Question
For a science fair project some teachers require that the question
be something you can measure, preferably with a number.

Background
Research Plan
Do Background Research: Rather than starting from scratch in
Finding
putting together a plan for answering your question, you want to be
Information
a savvy scientist using library and Internet research to help you find
the best way to do things and insure that you don't repeat mistakes
Bibliography
from the past.
Research
Paper

Construct a Hypothesis: A hypothesis is an educated guess about Variables

how things work. It is an attempt to answer your question with an
explanation that can be tested. A good hypothesis allows you to
Variables for
then make a prediction:
Beginners
"If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will happen."
State both your hypothesis and the resulting prediction you will be
testing. Predictions must be easy to measure. Hypothesis

Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment: Your experiment Experimental

tests whether your prediction is accurate and thus your hypothesis Procedure
is supported or not. It is important for your experiment to be a fair
test. You conduct a fair test by making sure that you change only Materials List
one factor at a time while keeping all other conditions the same.
You should also repeat your experiments several times to make Conducting an
sure that the first results weren't just an accident. Experiment
 Detailed Help
Steps of the Scientific Method
for Each Step

Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion: Once your

experiment is complete, you collect your measurements and
analyze them to see if they support your hypothesis or not.
Scientists often find that their predictions were not accurate and Data Analysis
their hypothesis was not supported, and in such cases they will & Graphs
communicate the results of their experiment and then go back and
construct a new hypothesis and prediction based on the information
Conclusions
they learned during their experiment. This starts much of the
process of the scientific method over again. Even if they find that
their hypothesis was supported, they may want to test it again in a
new way.

Final Report
Communicate Your Results: To complete your science fair project
you will communicate your results to others in a final report and/or a Abstract
display board. Professional scientists do almost exactly the same
thing by publishing their final report in a scientific journal or by
presenting their results on a poster or during a talk at a scientific Display Board
meeting. In a science fair, judges are interested in your findings
regardless of whether or not they support your original hypothesis.
Science Fair
Judging
GUIDELINES IN WRITING RESEARCH TITLE
The first thing journal editors and reviewers will see upon receiving your research
paper is the title, and will immediately form a view on what they should expect in your
research paper. Moreover, the tile of your research paper is the only aspect that will be
freely available to readers through search engines or indexing databases. It is therefore
imperative that you write a clear, persuasive title that leads readers to know more about
your research.
The following example will help you understand how you can go about writing a
good title for your research paper in 5 simple steps:
STEP 1
Ask yourself these questions and make note of the answers:
 What is my paper about?
 What techniques/ designs were used?
 Who/what is studied?
 What were the results?
STEP 2
Use your answers to list key words.
STEP 3
Create a sentence that includes the key words you listed.
STEP 4
Delete all unnecessary/ repetitive words and link the remaining.
STEP 5
Delete non-essential information and reword the title.
(Title length: min of 12 words)
Following the steps outlined above will help you arrive at an effective title for your
research paper.
Tips for Writing an Effective Research Paper Title
When writing a title in research, you can use the four criteria listed above as a guide.
Here are a few other tips you can use to make sure your title will be part of the recipe
for an effective research paper:
1. Make sure your research title describes (a) the topic, (b) the method, (c) the
sample, and (d) the results of your study. You can use the following formula:
[Result]: A [method] study of [topic] among [sample]
Example: Meditation makes nurses perform better: a qualitative study of mindfulness
meditation among German nursing students
2. Avoid unnecessary words and jargons. You want a title that will be
comprehensible even to people who are not experts in your field..
3. Make sure your title is between 5 and 15 words in length.
4. If you are writing a title for a university assignment or for a particular academic
journal, verify that your title conforms to the standards and requirements for that
outlet. For example, many journals require that titles fall under a character limit,
including spaces. Many universities require that titles take a very specific form,
limiting your creativity.
PREPARATION OF RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Your research proposal may contain the elements listed and described below.
This structure is intended as a guide only, and should be adapted to the requirements of
the subject area you are working in.
Working title
Your title should clearly reflect what you expect to be the main focus of your
thesis. You may want to use a title and a subtitle, separated by a colon. You will need to
write down this title many times during the course of your career as a research student,
and it is preferable that it be memorable and not unnecessarily long.
Context
(suggested word count: 750-1,000 words)
Outline the academic context from which your research emerges, and
demonstrate that you know the most important literature in the area. Crucially, establish
how your proposed thesis would make an original contribution to this area of
investigation. That is: make it clear what new insights you hope to produce, either
through your investigation per se, or by the juxtaposition or critical investigation of
currently available knowledge.
Research questions or aims
(suggested word count: 100-300 words)
Provide a statement of your research questions and of the aims of your
investigation. There may be one overriding aim which will require answers to several
more specific questions, but make sure that these are truly specific – one of the reasons
why many PhD applications are not successful is because the terrain outlined in the
relevant proposal is too broad for a doctoral project. Please also remember that a PhD
thesis is first and foremost an academic endeavour, not a survey or description of
current practice.
Research methods
(suggested word count: 750-1,000 words)
This section should outline the empirical work you plan to undertake, whether this
will take the form of an experiment or of an analysis of a visual or textual artwork. You
may want to refer to existing studies from which you have taken your inspiration. You
should identify the method or methods you propose to use, and justify these choices
(i.e. explain why this method is being used in preference to others). You should also
provide details of your proposed texts or sample/s (numbers of respondents and type of
sample) and/or secondary data sets, and again offer justification for these choices.
Further you should indicate how and why you will achieve empirical access, if this is a
pertinent issue (will you need to access archives? Will you need to gather data from
respondents?). Finally you may also indicate the status of the data you will gather – eg,
to what extent will these data capture or mirror the ‘reality’ of the phenomena under
examination? How objective can you as a researcher expect to be?, and so on. You will
certainly need to refer to the literature on research methods.
Please be aware that another reason why many applicants are rejected at
proposal stage is because they fail to offer sufficient detail of their proposed
methodology, or indeed to defend the choices they have made, or to demonstrate any
engagement with the relevant literature in this regard.
In some disciplines, it may be possible for a thesis to be based on theoretical
research where neither primary nor secondary data will be used. Here, the methods
section should explain exactly how the relevant theory will be cross-examined in order
to answer the research questions. Theoretical research typically involves an analysis of
a chosen research issue/question which engages critically with appropriate theorists or
theoretical traditions. You should explain what these traditions or theorists are and why
they have been selected to address your research question.
Reflections
(suggested word count: 300-500 words)
Here you should include reflections on potential practical and empirical
obstacles, conceptual/ theoretical problems and difficulties, ethics, your own perspective
on the issues at hand – and how these issues may impact on your studies. One of the
things the School will look for in a potential PhD student is an awareness of some of the
challenges you will face in progressing your proposed thesis project and of the extent to
which these represent unavoidable limitations.
Conclusion
(suggested word count: 100-200 words)
This should be a very brief wrap-up of your proposed thesis project, which summarizes
its key contributions and how you intend to realise them.
Proposed research timetable
A brief outline of the timetable for completion of the thesis, remembering that
activities can run concurrently and ensuring that you include any mandatory research
training. Ideally this timetable should be presented in three monthly segments.
References
A list of all and only works referred to in your proposal. Quality is more important
than quantity, demonstrating engagement with relevant literatures, both subject-specific
and methodological, as appropriate.
EXAMPLES OF RESEARCH PROPOSALS

TITLE: Youth Unemployment And Attitude Towards Employment: Comparative Study

Between Migrants And Non-Migrants
OBJECTIVES:
This research study will be guided by the following objectives:
 To analyse the link between unemployment among the youth and their attitudes
 To analyse the difference in unemployment rates between local youths and
immigrant youths
 To examine how attitudes affects the differences in unemployment rates of the
local youths and immigrant youths.

METHODOLOGY:
The survey response questionnaire will be of a qualitative research design to measure
the subjective response from the migrant and non-migrant youth population in Nigeria.
The focus of the survey questionnaire will be to assess the sentiment, or feelings, of the
youth population with regard to their current and future employment prospect.
Qualitative research involves the use of a subjective inquiry into the survey
questionnaire, which is necessary to establish a base for analysis to include
meaningful words, observations, stories, individualities, and chromatic renders with
minimal consideration of the number of participants (Higgs & Cherry, 2009). This
approach will enable the investigation and examination of the youth unemployment
issue with a small sample population, and hence allowing the investigation to proceed
with a limited budget. Furthermore, since the investigation requires a deeper analysis
and explanation on the links between attitudes and unemployment among the youths,
the use of qualitative methodology will allow the study to analyse the objectives
effectively.
The data will be collected from each participant of the sample population using
interview questions derived based on the objectives identified in the introduction. The
data will be coded by linking a number (1, 2, etc.) to each survey response question.
The investigation will collect data via semi-structured interviews. After data collection
is the analysis process. The analysis will be based on the observer’s impression as the
main analysis technique. The use of observer’s impression has been proven to be
simple and effective in producing in-depth analysis (Higgs & Cherry, 2009).
TITLE: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Oil and Gas Industry: A Conceptual
Research
OBJECTIVES:

 To identify the key dimensions and applications of Corporate Social

Responsibility

 To investigate the underlying motivations for the initiation and implementation of

CSR programmes by oil and gas companies

 To ascertain the function and impacts of CSR initiatives in the oil and gas
industry

 To determine the business benefits of CSR programmes for oil and gas firms

METHODOLOGY:

The proposed study is primarily a conceptual research dissertation that focuses on an

extensive conceptualization, contextualization, evaluation, and analysis of the key
issues relating to Corporate Social Responsibility in the oil and gas industry. A
conceptual research employs an analytical framework that is based on “a set of broad
theories and ideas that help the researcher to identify accurately the problem(s) they
seek to address, frame their research questions appropriately, and locate appropriate
literature on the research subject” (Smyth, 2004: 168). In using the conceptual research
method, this dissertation would combine theoretical and analytical aspects in order to
achieve its aims and objectives and provide pertinent answers to the research
questions.
In view of the fact that conceptual research requires access to an extensive pool of
resources, I would be relying greatly on diverse sources of secondary materials for
analysis. In this regard, some of the sources of secondary data for the research and
analysis include Electronic databases such as Questia, Jstor, Emerald Insight, and
Google Scholar. Of specific interest to me are journals that focus on CSR issues as well
as oil and gas management. Accordingly, three key streams of research would guide
the data collection from the above-mentioned secondary sources. These streams of
research would focus on (1) The defining elements and dimensions of CSR in general,
(2) Evaluation of the motivations and benefits of CSR implementation by oil and gas
companies, and (3) Analysis of ways by which CSR initiatives can be made to be more
relevant and beneficial to all stakeholders in the industry. Subsequently, I would explore
each of these streams of research in an attempt to develop a framework for
understanding why CSR has increasingly become a major issue in oil and gas
management, as well as the central and underpinning factors behind oil and gas
companies CSR programmes. This framework will thereafter be applied to existing
research on the same subject in order to ascertain its degree of validity and relevance.
TITLE: A Proposal to Review How Geophysical Precursors Can Help Predict
Earthquakes

OBJECTIVES:

 To explain three commonly monitored geophysical precursors: ground uplift and

tilt, increases in radon emissions, and changes in the electrical resistivity of
rocks.

 To show what happens to each of these precursors during the five stages of an
earthquake.

 To discuss how each of these precursors is used for short-term earthquake

predictions.

METHODOLOGY:
Plan of Action
This section presents my plan for obtaining the objectives discussed in the previous
section. Because of the recent earthquakes in California and Japan, there has arisen a
strong interest to predict earthquakes precisely. As a consequence of that strong
interest, many books and journals have been written on earthquakes and earthquake
prediction. I have gathered five books and several articles on the subject. In addition,
there are dozens of books and articles available in the library. These books and articles
should provide sufficient information for me to write my review. The following
paragraphs discuss how I will use these sources in my research.
The first goal of my research is to explain the physical principles behind monitoring
geophysical precursors. For example, why does the electrical resistivity of rocks
decrease before an oncoming earthquake? Or, what does a sudden increase in radon
emissions reveal about the future likelihood of a massive earthquake? The second goal
of my research is to show what happens to each of these precursors during the five
stages of an earthquake. To achieve these two goals, I will rely on three books that give
an overview to earthquake prediction: Earthquakes [Bolt, 1988], Earthquakes and
Geological Discovery [Bolt, 1993], and Earthquakes and Earth Structure [Hodgson,
1964].
A third primary goal of the literature review is to cover the accuracy of monitoring each
precursor. By accuracy, I mean how well does the method work in predicting the time,
place, and size of earthquakes. This discussion will not include many statistics on the
predictions of earthquakes, because at present there just haven't been enough
successful predictions to validate these types of statistics. Instead, I intend to evaluate
the potential accuracy of monitoring each precursor based on the opinions of experts
and preliminary data. To achieve this goal, I will rely on two of my most recent
sources: The Great Earthquake Experiment [Mileti and Fitzpatrick, 1993]
and Earthquakes and Geological Discovery [Bolt, 1993].
Should I require additional sources other than the ones I have, I will search for them in
the library system at the University of Wisconsin. Should I not be able to find that
information, I will modify the scope of my research accordingly.
Because the primary readers for my proposed literature review are engineering students
who are probably not familiar with the theories behind earthquakes, I will have to
provide selected background information frommy sources. These engineering students
already know that earthquakes are devastating. They also know that if earthquakes
could be predicted, people would be able to prepare for them and lives would be saved.
However, they may not know the different methods of predicting earthquakes. My intent
is to inform these students of three methods of predicting earthquakes.
A secondary audience for the review would be non-technical readers who either live in
earthquake-prone areas or are affected financially when earthquakes occur. My
proposed literature review will provide this group with an unbiased discussion of three
methods for earthquake prediction. This discussion, drawing much from overview
chapters in Earthquakes, Animals and Man [Deshpande, 1987] and California
Quake [Meyer, 1977], will put into perspective how accurate, or inaccurate, the named
methods are and what hurdles face engineers who try to predict earthquakes.

Management Plan
This section presents my schedule, costs, and qualifications for performing the
proposed research. The proposed research project culminates in a formal report that
will be completed by December 6, 1995. To reach this goal, I will follow the schedule
presented in Figure 1. Because I already possess several books and articles on
earthquake prediction, most of my time will be spent sifting through the information,
finding the key results, and presenting those results to the audience.
Figure 1. Schedule for completion of literature review. The two triangles represent
milestones for the project, the first being the formal presentation on November 11, 1996,
and the second being the formal report on December 6, 1996.
Given that I can obtain all my sources for the literature review from the library, there is
no appreciable cost associated with performing this literature review. The only costs,
which will be minor, are for copying articles, printing the review, and spiral binding the
review. I estimate that I can do these tasks for under $10.
I am a senior in the Geological Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin
at Madison. In my undergraduate courses I have taken rock mechanics, soil mechanics,
geophysics, and stratigraphy, all of which have included the principles of seismology
and stress-strain relationships. In addition, I have taken field courses on structural
geology that have introduced me to subsurface behaviors. I believe that these courses
and my hands-on experience will aid me in assimilating the proposed literature review.
For further information about my qualifications, see the attached resume (not attached
on this web site).
 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
College of Engineering and IndustrialTechnology
Civil Engineering Department
A.Y. 2017-2018 / 2nd Semester

RESEARCH
(CE Project 1 Lab)

Submitted by:
Dasilio, Rency M.
CEIT-02-801P
M / 1:30p – 4:30p

Submitted to:
Dr. Noel Hugo D. Binag