RESEARCH METHODOLOGY EEE 4209

LECTURE 5 & 6
 Common Mistakes in Writing Literature Review

• Inadequate introduction: Be sure to incorporate the key theoretical points or integrative

theoretical framework early in the literature review by presenting the overall theoretical
framework up front and using the remainder of the literature review to flesh it out.

• Inadequate coverage of evidence: Be sure to describe studies methods and specific

results, not just their conclusions.

• Lack of integration: Be sure to explicitly explain how the procedures and observations
of the various studies fit together and relate to your research topic.

• Blurring assertion and proof: Be sure to distinguish between assertion and evidence, or
what you or others argue versus what you or others find.

2
• Lack of critical appraisal: Be sure to indicate how strong or how weak the overall
evidence is for each main point of your literature review this can be done by
providing critiques of groups of studies rather than commenting on each study
individually as many studies on the same topic may be subject to similar flaws and
criticisms and finally provide a summary as to how strong the evidence is.

• Selective review of evidence: Be sure to include counterexamples or domains of

evidence that may contradict the main conclusions and patterns in the literature to
provide a balanced and unbiased review of the relevant literature.

• Stopping at the present: Be sure to point out unresolved issues and questions, and
what needs to be done in future research, perhaps identifying issues that your study
will address. 3
 Referencing and Reference Styles
• All academic writing draws on the ideas and findings of other researchers and
writers.

• In your research, you will frequently refer to the opinions and findings of others in
order to support the points you make.

• Whenever you do so, it is essential to include information about the original source
in order to:

 Acknowledge that you have used the words or ideas of another writer.
 If you do not acknowledge the source of your information, you are
plagiarising, i.e. claiming credit for someone else’s words or ideas.

4
 Show that a statement or argument you have made is supported by evidence and
allow readers to assess the validity of that evidence.

 In other words, you are showing the readers that you have read widely to
develop your argument or ideas, and that you have strong evidence to support
those ideas.

 Allow readers to locate/trace the source if they want more information.

 It is important, therefore, that full and accurate details of each source are given.

 To enable the reader distinguish your ideas from someone else’s.

5
 Plagiarism
• Plagiarism is using someone else’s words or ideas as your own. You are
plagiarising if, for instance, you quote someone’s exact words without using
quotation marks and including the source of the quote, or if you re-write another
writers ideas in your own words without acknowledging the source of those ideas.

• It is important to remember that plagiarism is not simply using another writers

words; it is using another writers words or ideas without acknowledging the
source.

• Plagiarism is a very serious offence in academics since it is considered a form of

theft.

• Often, students plagiarise accidentally rather than intentionally. 6

• You can reduce the risk of unintentionally plagiarising by following a few key steps:
 Keep full records of the bibliographic details of the sources you consult. If you forget to write
down those details while you are taking notes, you might have difficulty finding the source
again when it comes time to write your research.

 In your notes, clearly identify information you have quoted and information you have
paraphrased. A quote is a passage you have copied exactly from the original source; a
paraphrase is a passage that includes ideas from the source that you have written in your own
words, sentence structure and style. When you copy the exact words from someone else’s
writing, always put quotation marks (“ ”) around the words in your notes. Later, when you are
writing your research, the quotation marks will remind you that those words are not yours.

 Understand the mechanics of referencing, and always reference whenever you quote or
7
paraphrase.
 When to Reference?
• You should provide the source (i.e. provide a reference, or citation) when you:

1. Quote someone else’s words (written or spoken), i.e. copy the words exactly.

2. Re-word or refer to someone else’s ideas or findings (written or spoken).

3. Use factual data (e.g. facts, statistics, information from graphs) or equation from
other sources.

4. Reprint a diagram, chart or other illustration.

5. Use someone else’s way of organizing or presenting information (e.g. a design

format, a model).

6. Need to show the reader that you have evidence for a statement or argument you
have made. 8
• It is not necessary to provide a reference when:
a) Use general knowledge in the subject area in your own words. At first,
it may be difficult for you to judge what is and is not general
knowledge in the subject.

 If in doubt, you are better to play safe and provide a reference.

b) Use general common knowledge in your own words.

c) Use your own knowledge such as your own research findings.

9
 Referencing Styles/Systems

• There are several referencing systems used in academic writing.

• The way you are required to reference sources in an engineering research, for
instance, is likely to be different from that required in a social science research.

• The way in which the basic information (i.e. the author, the title, and the
publication details) is presented in the body of the text and at the end of the text
differs from one referencing system to another.

• The following are two broad types of referencing systems:

 Parenthetical systems: In this system of referencing, the source information is
presented in the text in brackets (parentheses) in form of:

10
a) Author-date: The source information usually includes the author and the date of
publication in brackets (parentheses). Example; APA (American Psychological
Association) style.

b) Author-page: The source information usually includes the author and the page
number(s) in brackets (parentheses). Example; MLA (Modern Language
Association) style.

• The reference list is presented at the end of the text alphabetically according to the
author’s name. Example of APA style:

• Alcohol abuse is linked to genetic factors (Smith, 1991) as well as to

environmental factors (Dwyer, 1992).
11
• (2) Notation systems: In this system of referencing, the source information is
presented in the text as a number:

a) Footnote: A source is referred to, a superscript number (e.g.1) is placed in the text.
This number refers the reader to a footnote or reference list that provides further
information about the source. Example; Chicago style.

b) Series of numbered references: A source is assigned a number in square brackets

1 in the text.
• This number refers the reader to a reference list that provides further information
about the source. Example; IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics

Engineers) style. 12
• Within each system there are a number of variations. These variations are called
styles, and the differences between them are usually minor. (Often styles vary only
in punctuation.)

• No-one expects you to learn all the referencing styles. Even the most experienced
academic writers will have a Style Guide on their bookshelves to which they refer
frequently.

• As a student, you are expected:

 to understand the basic principles of referencing

 to know which system and style your institution prefers and to follow exactly the
guidelines for that style. IEEE referencing style is recommended for you. 13
 Guidelines for IEEE Referencing Style

Citing References in the Text

• Where a source is referred to within the text of a work it is only necessary to

identify the source by a number in square brackets.

• Once you have numbered the reference use the same number if it is cited again.

• Place bracketed citations within the line of text, before any punctuation, with a

space before the first bracket.

14
a) For a single citation:

 This theory was first put forward in 1802 [1].

 Tafara [2] has argued that...

 If the authors are more than two, cite the surname of the first author followed by
et al. (and others)

 Example: Tafara et al. [2] has argued that...

b) For multiple citations:

 When citing more than one source, list each reference number separately with a
comma or dash between each reference: E.g. [1], [6], [10] or [1] - [4].
15
Reference List
• The reference list consists of full references to the sources you have used to
produce your work.

• A book reference is cited as follows:

• [Ref. No.] Author(s) initials. Family name. Title (in italics), Edition. Place of
publication, Publisher, Year of publication, Page numbers.

• Example:

• [1] R. Pears and G. Shields. Cite Them Right, 2nd ed. Hampshire: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2013. (for editors with an edition and no page numbers). or

• [2] R. Pears and G. Shields, Cite Them Right. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan,
2013, pp.100-120. (for authors, no edition and with page numbers).
16
• A journal article is cited as follows:
• [Ref. No.] Author(s) initials. Family name. Title of article (In quotation marks),
Title of Journal (In italics - Either spell out the entire name of a journal you
reference or use the standard abbreviations.), Volume, Issue number, Page
numbers, Month and Year of publication.

• Example:
• [3] C. Lee, M. Eden and M. Unser, “High-quality Image Resizing using Oblique
Projection Operators”, IEEE Trans. Image Processing, vol.7, no.5, pp. 679-692,
May 1998.

17
• A conference paper is cited as follows:

• [Ref. No.] Author(s) initials. Family name. Title of paper (In quotation marks), Title of
Conference (In italics), Country (City), Date, Page numbers.

• Example:
• [4] P. A. Reid, “European standardization”, Presented at International Broadcasting
Conference, USA, Chicago 12-15 June1997, pp. 180-187.

• A thesis or dissertation is cited as follows:

• [Ref. No.] Author(s) initials. Family name. Title of thesis (In quotation marks), Type of
qualification, Department, University, Place, Year of Publication.

• Example:
• [5] A. J. Kennerly, “Miniature microwave filters for cellular telephone handsets”, PhD thesis,
Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Bradford, Bradford, 2002.
18
• An eBook is cited as:
• [Ref. No.] Author(s) initials. Family name. Title (in italics). Edition (in brackets), Year Type of
medium (in square brackets). DOI or Internet address Date accessed (in square brackets)

• Example:
• [6] M. E. El-Hawary, Electric Power Applications of Fuzzy Systems, 1998 [eBook]. Available:
http://www.knovel.com [Accessed: 4 Jun. 2010].

• A webpage is cited as follows:

• [Ref. No.] Author(s) initials. Family name. (if no author organization/corporate author instead)
Year and month in brackets. Title (in italics). Available: Internet address. Date accessed(in square
brackets).

• [7] University of Bradford, (2010, April). School of Engineering, Design and Technology.

• Available: http://www.eng.brad.ac.uk [Accessed: 25 May 2010.] 19

 Bibliographic software

 Mendeley

 EndNote

 Jabref

 Zotero

20
 Writing a Research Proposal
• A research proposal is plan that details reasoned, rigorous and systematic inquiry
into a topic to justify the need for study.
• The proposal gives an indication of your intention for the research, justifying why
you are proposing the research, and aims to persuade the reader of the value,
feasibility and validity of your research.

• A research proposal must demonstrate that:

– you are engaging in genuine and worthwhile research and that there is a need
for the research.

– the research is significant and important, and that it will contribute something
original to the field you are working in.
21
• the research has been informed by previous research.

• the research has clear aims and objectives

• you can complete the research in the expected time period

• the topic aligns with your interests and capabilities, and there are supervisors
available who are open to working with you

• there is enough funding or available equipment to be able to collect the data

• you have developed suitable and feasible methodological approach to achieve your
objectives

22
 Essential ingredients of a research proposal

• think through your data collection methods

• outline the steps in your proposed research
• justify your research
• anticipate a realistic timetable
• anticipate potential problems

• Note that the research proposal you are submitting is not rigid, and that it will
probably change in focus and perhaps substance as you develop your ideas and
progress in through the necessary stages of conducting the research.
23
 Structure of a Research Proposal
Title Page
• It should contain:
 your research area through a tentative or proposed title:

 The title should be clear and unambiguous, its usually refined at the end of
writing the proposal.

 The title sets the first impression

 Should be descriptive, specific and convey the importance of the work

 your name and supervisors names.

 the institutional or university name, as well as the specific department.

 the degree level being attempted. 24

Table of Contents

• A table of contents should:

• list the research proposal sections and subsections in a hierarchical way, using titles

and subtitles

• give accurate page references for each section

25
Abstract
•The abstract is a brief summary of the entire proposal. A good abstract accurately
reflects the content of the proposal, while at the same time being coherent, readable,
and concise.
•Because it highlights the entire proposal, it would be wise to wait and write the
abstract last.
•This way, one merely has to reword information that was previously written.
•Therefore, the abstract should capture in brief the following:
a) The background of the problem
b) The statement of the problem and the research gaps the research intents to fill
c) The main aim of the proposed research
d) Data acquisition (proposed methodology)
e) What is expected to be achieved at the end of the research
f) What is unique?
26
Introduction

• This section is usually divided into the following subsections:

• Background: This should provide background information that orientates the
reader to the research’s general context of the problem. Introduce the topic at hand,
and provide a brief definition of the theory from which the study is based.

• What is known, what is unknown, why it matters. Critically evaluate the relevant
literature and Clearly identify the gaps you will address.

• Problem Statement: In this subsection, inform the reader of the research need and
motivation.
• This is an attempt to convince the reader that the research will be useful,
interesting, or significant for the academic community, and may be suggestive of
the research ‘gap which arises from the literature review. 27
• The following questions should be answered: Why does this research study need to
be conducted? What specific issues does this study raise that have not been
observed in other literature pertaining to the topic? Answering these questions will
allow readers to understand why this particular study is important and how the
study will attempt to answer new, never-before asked questions.

• Objectives: Here, the purpose of the research is unambiguously and concisely

stated. Also the specific aims of the proposed research are outlines. These aims
should be related the main purpose.

• Each specific aim will require one or more methodologies, and it is always
advisable to have these methodologies in mind when you write your specific aims.
28
Literature Review

• The purpose of this section is to:

a) demonstrate to your readers that you have read enough and you have acquired
theoretical background to your study and you are aware of up-to-date and
important knowledge on your topic.

b) demonstrate to your readers that you have critically reviewed the literature and you
have identified the gaps existing and methodologies which can be used to fill these
gaps.

• At the end of this section, always provide a summary of the identified gaps.

29
Methodology
• This section details the approaches you will use to achieve your specific
objectives. As stated earlier, each specific objective should have a methodological
approach to achieve it.
• It should capture how data will be acquired whether it is a survey, experiment,
modeling, observation, secondary data of analysis, etc.
• If data will be acquired through experiments, then design should present the
experimental set ups for data acquisition.
• If data will be acquired through modeling and simulation, then present the
governing modeling equations and design simulation flow charts.
• Describe also the strategy you intend to use for data analysis. Specify whether the
data will be analyzed manually or by computer.
• For computer analysis, identify the program and where appropriate the statistical
procedures you plan to perform on the data.
• What will you do if things don’t work out????????
30
Expected Outcomes
• A research proposal does not have a conclusion section, instead present what you
anticipate to achieve at the end of the study. The outcomes should be consistent
with the outlined specific objectives, that is, each specific objective should have
corresponding outcome(s).

• Also include some paragraphs discussing the significance of the proposed study,
such as how the results will affect future research, policy, etc., that is, how the
knowledge or results generated by your study will be beneficial to the society.
These may be technological, economic or academic benefits.

31
References

• This section should provide a list of the sources or academic works that have been

consulted when developing the proposal

• It is recommended you use the IEEE reference style as discussed earlier.

• Use reference software for referencing and generation of your references list.

32
Appendices
• This section should provide relevant documents which are best not seen in the
main proposal text (because they affect readability).
• These may include:
 Theoretical information and equations which did not appear on the text, but you
feel they are important to the reader.
 Pilot study data.
 Interview questions and surveys questionnaires.
 List of equipment required for the research: Indicate those available. In case of an
unavailable equipment, indicate how and where you will access it.
 Budget: Indicate in tabular form the cost implication of your research.
 Work Schedule: List the various operational steps you need to undertake in your
research and indicate against each the date by which you aim to complete that task.
Its recommended to use a Gantt chart.
33
General Guidelines for Writing a Research Proposal
• Since a research proposal is a short report, use sections instead of chapters

• Title page should not be page numbered

• Use Roman page numbers from the Table of Contents to the Abstract.

• Use Arabic page numbers from the Introduction section on words.

• Each section should begin on a new page.

• Text should be justified

• Text font should be Times New Roman with font size of 12 pts and line spacing of 1.5
through out.

• Using the text font indicated above, it is recommended that the total page numbers of the
body of the proposal (from Introduction to Expected Outcomes) should be between 15-25
pages. 34
• Avoid use of too long sentences which affect clarity and makes it hard for the
reader to comprehend.

• Avoid use of too long paragraphs. This is a common problem that makes it harder
to read a paper.

• Avoid a paragraph of one sentence. A paragraph should be a collection of

sentences.

• Don't use awkward, vague, long-winded, or too informal language. The best
writing is concise and to the point.

• Always ensure you cited your sources each time you express an idea that is not
you own. 35
• Ensure you utilized the correct style for citing articles or books. I recommend IEEE
referencing style.

• Avoid writing in first person, such as I, We, Our…e.t.c. Always writing using the
third person.

• Avoid too much rambling – going “all over the map” without a clear sense of
direction. (The best proposals move forward with ease and grace)

• Ethics, no plagiarism

• Use active verbs throughout.

• Make sure your proposal does not contain any grammatical/spelling mistakes or
typos; engage proofreader. 36