Research Methodology

The goal of the course is to develop an appreciation of the issues that arise in doing research that contributes to improving computing knowledge, practice and skill in addressing these issues. The outcomes of this course are as follows.

Certificate on Completion

About Course

Welcome to Research Methodology, a foundational course designed to equip you with the essential skills and knowledge required to design, conduct, and evaluate research in academic and professional settings. In today’s rapidly evolving academic and professional landscape, the ability to design rigorous research and apply appropriate methods is essential. This course will guide you through the major research approaches used in modern scholarships, equipping you with both theoretical foundations and practical tools. In this course, you will explore and apply a range of research methods, including: Quantitative Methods, Experimental and quasi-experimental designs, Surveys and structured questionnaires, Correlational and predictive studies,Statistical analysis and hypothesis testing

Authorship and Attribution

This course has been developed and authored by Riphah International University faculty and staff for self-paced learning. The core content, exercises, and learning materials were originally created by Riphah faculty to support the achievement of the course learning outcomes. Where applicable, the course may also include supplementary publicly available resources or Open Educational Resources (OER) to enhance the learning experience.

What You'll Learn

By the end of this course, you will be able to: 

  • Understand research terminology; Define research; Explain and apply research terms
  • Understand, describe and compare the main quantitative and qualitative research methods
  • Critically read and analyze published research articles; and identify and evaluate the underlying reasoning of the research
  • Understand statistical analyses of data and interpret the results of the analysis.

Prerequisites

This course has no formal prerequisites and is designed to be accessible to learners from diverse academic backgrounds, starting with fundamental concepts before progressing to advanced research skills.

Who Can Take This Course?

Research methodology course is designed for MSSE students who are interested in pursuing MSSE with research thesis.

Course Outline

About Author

Author’s Introduction (Video)

Importance of Research Methodology Course

Study Research Methodology (Video)

What is Research (Video)

Basic Concepts

What is Knowledge (Video)

What is Science (Video)

Journal and Conference Publication (Reading)

Bibliography and References (Reading)

How to install and use Zotero (Reading Material)

Research

Importance of Research Philosophy (Video)

A Bigger Picture (Video)

Paradigm

Research Paradigm (Video)

Types of Research Paradigm (Video)

Types Pragmatic (Video)

Practice Quiz (Problem)

Approaches

Q & Q Approaches (Video)

Practice Quiz (Problem)

Types and Examples

Types and examples (Video)

Prompt Template for generating Practical Exams using LLM (Reading Material)

Research Onion

Putting it All Together (Video)

The Reach Onion Examples (Video)

Practice Quiz (Problem)

Research Onion for Smart IoT-Enabled Mobile Applications (Reading Material)

Introduction to Literature Review

What is Literature Review (Video)

Purpose of Literature Review (Video)

Practice Quiz (Problem)

Literature Review

Read Step-1 (Video)

Read Step-2 (Video)

Read Step-3 (Video)

Analysis

Analysis-How to Do (Video)

Analysis-Concept Centric (Video)

Systematic Literature Review (Reading Material)

Ethnography and Action Research

Action Research (Video)

Action Research – An Example (Reading Material)

Ethnography (Video)

Ethnography – An Example (Reading Material)

Preliminaries

Concepts and Definitions (Video)

Definition

Defining the Experiment (Video)

Eliciting Better Quality Architecture Evaluation Scenarios (Reading Material)

Planning

Hypothesis Development (Video)

Practice Quiz (Problem)

Planning

Selection of Variables and Subjects (Video)

General Design Principles (Video)

Design Selection

A controlled experiment on top-down vs. bottom-up (Reading Material)

Experimental Design (Video)

Experiment Design-2 (Video)

Cross Over Experimental Design (Video)

Planning Part-2

Instrumentation and Validation (Video)

Operations

Execution of the Experiment (Video)

Quasi – Experiment (Reading)

Practice Quiz (Problem)

Introduction

What is a Survey (Video)

Survey Process

Survey Process – Setting Objectives (Video)

Survey Process – Design Survey (Video)

Survey Process – Design Survey (Choose Collection Mode) (Video)

Survey Process-Part 2

Survey Process – Develop Instrument(Video)

Survey Process – Develop Instrument (Types of Questions) (Video)

Develop Instrument (When to Use Questions) (Video)

Survey Process-Pretesting

Pretesting part 1 (Video)

Pretesting part 2 (Video)

Sampling and Population

Choosing Sampling Frame (Video)

Probability Sampling

Random Systematic Sampling (Video)

Stratified Cluster Sampling (Video)

Non-Probability Sampling

Convenience and self-selection (Video)

Snowball and quota (Video)

Purposive sampling part 1 (Video)

Purposive sampling part 2 (Video)

Quantitative Analysis

Quantitative Data Analysis (Video)

Types of Quantitative Analysis (Video)

Standard Deviation (Reading)

Correlational Data Analysis (Video)

Correlational Data Analysis (Reading)

Practice Quiz (Problem)

Inferential Data Analysis (Video)

Choosing Statistical Tests (Video)

Quantitative Analysis Part-2

Experimental – 1F1T (Video)

Experimental – 1F2T (Video)

Experimental – 1F 2+T (Video)

Survey-QDA (Video)

Graded Quiz (Problem)

Skills You Will Gain

Research Fundamentals Research Paradigms Research Design Literature Review Ethnographic Methods Experimental Planning Survey Methods Data Analysis

Course Information

Duration

Approximately 22 Hours

Course Information

Difficulty Level

Intermediate

Learning Mode

Fully Online (Asynchronous)

Learning Type

Self Paced

Language

Both English & Urdu

Instructor/Curator

Course Instructor