What is Research and Development (R&D)?

Research is a scientific investigation aimed at discovering and applying new facts, techniques

and natural laws. At its heart is inquiry into the unknown, addressing questions not previously

asked. Research is done by a wide range of organisations: universities and colleges;

government agencies; industry and contract organisations. Research projects vary widely in

content and also in style, from open ended exploration of concepts to working towards specific

targets.

Development in an industrial context is the work done to finalise the specification of a new

project or new manufacturing process. It uses many of the methods of scientific inquiry, and

may generate much new knowledge, but its aim is to create practicable economic solutions.

The combined term Research and Development can be seen as the work in an industrial or

government context concentrating on finding new or improved processes, products etc., and

also on ways of introducing such innovations.

The use of the term R&D may not wholly encompass the activities intended to be covered by

the Guidelines, but has been adopted by the authors as the most appropriate and convenient

single term.

CONTENT OF RESEARCH

Writing a research report A research report can be based on practical work, research by reading or a study of an organisation or industrial/workplace situation.

1.   Preparing Identify the purpose/the aims of the research/research question.   Identify the audience.– lecturer/supervisor/company/organization management/staff. The amount of background included will vary depending on the knowledge of the “audience”.

2. Collecting and organising information

There are two main sources of information depending on the research task:

1. Reading — theory and other research

2. Research — experiments, data collection ‐ questionnaires, surveys, observation, interviews.

Organise and collate the information in a logical order. Make sure you record the bibliographic information of your reading as you go along.   See Quick Tips on mind mapping techniques.

3. Planning Before writing the report, prepare a detailed plan in outline form.   Consider the following: Logical organisation Information in a report must be organized logically. Communicate the main ideas followed by supporting details and examples. Start with the more important or significant information and move on to the least important information.   Headings Use headings and suitable sub headings to clearly show the different sections. In longer reports the sections should be numbered. 

4. Writing the report

 1. Draft the report from your detailed plan.  

 2. Do not worry too much about the final form and language, but rather on presenting the ideas coherently and logically.  

 3. Redraft and edit. Check that sections contain the required information and use suitable headings, check ideas flow in a logical order and remove any unnecessary information.

4. Write in an academic style and tone.  

 • Use a formal objective style.

 • Generally avoid personal pronouns; however, some reports based on your own field experience or work placement can be reflective the first person can be used. For example, “I observed..”. If in doubt about this, check with the lecturer.

SOURCE- www.rmit.edu.au/studyandlearningcentre/ February 2007 Ph: 9925 3600

Hypothesis Criteria and Guidelines

 Hypothesis Criteria

-Is written in a declarative sentences.

-Is written in the present tense. There is a positive relationship between the number of times children have been hospitalized and their fear of hospitalization.

-Contains the population.

-Contains the variables.

-Is empirically testable

Guidelines for critiquing hypothesis and research Questions

-Does the study contain a hypothesis or hypotheses?

-Is each hypothesis clearly worded and concise?

-Is the hypothesis written in a declarative sentences?

-Is each hypothesis directly tied to the study problem?

-Does each hypothesis contain the population and at least two variables?

-Is it apparent that each hypothesis contain only one prediction?

-if the study contains research questions, are the questions precise and specific?

-Do the research questions further delineate the problem area of the study?

Classifications of hypothesis

Simple or complex:

A Simple hypothesis: concerns the relationship between one independent and one dependent variable (bivariate study). In experimental studies the independent variable may be considered the cause, and the dependent variable may be considered as the effect.

Example: there is a negative relationship between denial and reports of anxiety among post myocardial infarction patients

A complex hypothesis:

Concerns a relationship where two or more independent variables, two or more dependent variables, or both, are examined in the same study (multivariate).

Example: there is a positive relationship between patient perception of pain control and (a) complaints of pain and (b) requests for pain medication

Note : remember that hypothesis are not required if only one variable is being examined.

Hypothesis and research question

 

A hypothesis is a statement of the predicted relationship between two or more variables

Purposes-  

Allow theoretical propositions to be tested in the real world.

Guide the research design.

Dictate the type of statistical analysis for the data

Provide the reader with an understanding of the researchers expectations about the study before data collecting begins.

Source of Hypothesis-

 

From the researchers own experiences.

From previous research studies.

From theoretical propositions. This is the most important source of a hypothesis. This process of a hypothesis derivation involves deductive reasoning. A propositional statement is isolated from the study frame work and empirically tested.

Note(1) : 

Nursing research involves both inductive and deductive means of formulating hypothesis.

Note(2):

Hypothesis should always be written before the study and should not be changed after the study results are examined

  

The age of instructional design - a focus on content

The main topic of the research during this period, starting from the ‘50s
was related to what content should be taught by using technology and how it
should be organized.The performance criterion was related to teacher performance. In other words, an educational technology is effective if  it can be used to teach the
same contents with the same learning outcomes as teachers do. 
Robert Gagné had an important contribution, by this time to the
instructional design research, stating that knowledge acquisition could be
facilitated by hierarchical sequencing of instruction, from subordinated knowledge
to more complex abilities (Gagné, 1962; White & Gagné, 1978). The main idea of
this theory was that former learning of some prerequisite knowledge facilitates
later acquisition of higher-order skills, but this doesn’t happen when the
prerequisites are learned out of the learning sequences (Gagné, 1962; White &
Gagné, 1978). Also, Gagné (1968) proposed a descriptive theory of the instructive
strategy that includes nine events, which, in his opinion, are critical for an efficient
instruction. The sequence of events are: (1) gaining attention, (2) informing the
learner about the objective, (3) stimulating recall of prerequisite learning, (4)
presenting the stimulus material, (5) providing learning guidance, (6) eliciting the
performance, (7) providing feedback about performance correctness, 8) assessing
performance, (9) enhancing retention and transfer
.
Capitalizing on these ideas, educational technologies have tried to create
tools aiming to maximize learning outcomes of the students. Gagné and Briggs
(1979) provided prescriptions for each of these instructional events, based on the
type of learning - intellectual abilities, cognitive strategy, verbal information,
attitudes, motor abilities (according to the descriptive theory of knowledge,
elaborated by Gagné) - combining them in a matrix with five different models of
instruction. The work of the two authors had at least two major consequences for
the instructional designers (Reigeluth & Curtis, 1987):
  
TO BE CONTINUE .......

Source : Cogniţie, Creier, Comportament / Cognition, Brain, Behavior
Romanian Association for Cognitive Science. 
Volume XI, No. 1 (March), 115 - 129

 

Research trend in Modern world for the field of eduction.

THE EVOLUTION OF RESEARCH IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 

The field of educational technology found its origins in the discovery made
by researchers and practitioners of the fact that the instruction can be planned,
projected, evaluated and revised before being applied on students. In other words it
can be treated as an object on which a set of procedures i.e. technologies) can be
applied. 
Educational technology is, according to the definition of the Association
for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), “...the theory and
practice of design, development, utilization, management and evaluation of
processes and resources for learning” (Seels & Richey, 1994, p. 231). Another
definition is the one offered by Reisser (1987), who states that educational
technology is the systematic way of designing, utilization and evaluation of the
teaching/learning process, in terms of specific objectives, based on research in
human learning and communication fields and on combining  human and technical
resources.
The research made in the educational technology field, according to Winn
(2002) has moved through four  stages or “ages”, each being built on the previous
one and each of them being characterized by a specific focus, specific theoretical
assumptions and practical implications.
In what follows, we will review the „ages” of educational technology
research, discussing the key theoretical issues, the research directions and the
weakness associated with each of these stages. 

1. The age of instructional design - a focus on content 
2. The age of the message design - a focus on format
3. The age of simulation - a focus on interactions
 
To be continue ........




Sources : www.cognitrom.ro

Vital role of theory in research work

Increasingly philosophers and scientists have affirmed that all knowledge is theory-laden and that methods are theory-driven. These assertions raise important questions related to the role of theory in qualitative research. There are scholars who propose that qualitative research can enhance understanding and expand theoretical knowledge from a disciplinary perspective. And there are others who contend that qualitative inquiry is purely inductive and that its validity can therefore be judged by the extent to which preconceived theory is absent from it. The purpose of this article is to examine three qualitative methods, grounded theory, ethnography, and phenomenology, and their use in nursing in order to explicate the role of theory in knowledge development. The authors propose that, by nature, inquiry, discovery, and theoretical interpretation coexist simultaneously and must be recognized as such if the theory-research linkage is to advance nursing science through qualitative research.