Research methodology

WHY DO RESEARCH?

Research is a fascinating endeavor. In my own opinion, it is one of the most rewarding activities one could engage in. While doing research, you will inevitably push the frontiers of human knowledge in an area that you have chosen for yourself. What you choose is quite important and is likely to be very specific. But that which you will end up learning will help you in almost all spheres of life, and hence will be of general value to you. Research training inevitably results in an eye for detail, a desire for perfection, a stronger work ethic, and an ability to learn a new topic on one's own. All these qualities are of immense worth in an increasingly knowledge-oriented society.

For me, in addition to being a passion, research is also a fantastic teaching tool. This is so because research provides several "teaching moments", where concepts can be re-visited and appreciated in a new manner. I have seen research being particularly rewarding to students, who wish to see the practical relevance of lessons learn during their courses. Besides, research is what gives birth to knowledge. Through research, the teacher and the taught are engaging in the process that gives birth to human knowledge. If you were to ask me, that is truly a remarkable privilege! So the teachers and the taught (including me) have a responsibility to make the best out of the opportunities available to them.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

I will talk about my research methodology in "broad strokes", and will talk about it in the context of what I call as "ingredients of good research".

(i) Ingredients of good research

Good research requires a combination of a bird's-eye view of a subject and persistent engagement with the nitty-gritty details of a specific problem. A "bird's eye view" of the subject enables the researcher to understand the relevance of her/his results, which is in turn helpful for interpreting and understanding the impact of one's work. Likewise, an "eye for detail" enables the researcher to examine the tiniest details with great care and precision, ensuring the accuracy of the statements and claims s/he makes. This combination, which includes a combination of bird's eye view, and an eye for details, is somewhat rare, which is why good research is so precious and hard to come by. Also a good researcher usually has a very long attention span. This is so because pushing the frontiers of knowledge requires long and extensive engagement with a specific topic, which often requires an impressive attention span. If one wishes to be a researcher, it is helpful to cultivate some of these qualities. Hence, a sensible research methodology involves sensitivity to these basic "ingredients", which is essential to good research.

(ii) Methodology

Much of my research philosophy and methodology can be understood if you look at the section called "For Graduate Students". The bottom line is that one must never lose the "big picture", while engaging in details. Both the big picture and the details are essential to good science. The balance of these two aspects of science is essential to good research. Keeping the "Ingredients of Good Research" in my mind, here is my flowchart for good research methodology. I must mention here: I am by no means the most experienced researcher, hence do not expect this flowchart to be dogmatic. This flowchart will most likely be adapted or modified as I gain more experience in the years to come.

An algorithm for good research

Identify a problem that excites you. The problem should be sufficiently "addictive" to you so that you spend night and day musing about the problem at hand.
Understand the overall context of the problem, using an extensive literature survey. Do not miss out on the latest developments in the field. Being conversant with the latest developments will help you understand the plausible significance of your research findings.
In light of the recent literature, clearly define your hypothesis.
Think of where you would like to communicate your results. I like to think about this earlier on, rather than later in the project. This helps plan the paper carefully. In other words, have a mental picture of how the paper will look when it is completed.
Clearly lay out an action plan and timeline for yourself, so that you can schedule and pace yourself accordingly. Be sure that your timelines and action plans are reasonable.
Now that your hypothesis is clearly defined, come up with a clear-cut experimental design.
Start your experiments, and identify crucial experimental variables and sources of error. This is very important.
Fine-tune your hypothesis based on what you are finding. This may also necessitate a revisit to the action plan and the timeline.
After fine-tuning your hypothesis enough and ensuring consistency in results, start thinking about overall trends that you are observing. Always keep the "big picture" in mind as you wrestle with these nitty-gritty details.
After you have wrestled with your data, interpreted it, and placed it in context, write up the most coherent paper you can.
Your paper/patent/report must be such that the reader should be able to understand the primary findings and their context by merely reading the introduction and conclusion, with occasional glances at the figures. Ensure that the impact of your work is somewhat obvious even to the non-specialist. This will increase your readership. The experimental section and the results section must be a thorough discussion on the nitty-gritty details.
Communicate the paper, with a nice cover letter, which concisely states your contributions, and places it in context. The choice of journal is non-trivial and might require a lot of experience and exposure (and confidence in your own abilities). So, a good discussion about that with your experienced and supportive colleagues might help.

Abstracting services and you

It is no secret that we live in a world of information explosion. How do we keep up with recentmost reports in our chosen area of science or technology? Researchers often turn to abstracting services to help them zero-in on the most interesting papers, based on a handful of "descriptors". As people who are involved in the process of knowledge generation, we must be aware of the abstracting services operate. Ultimately, our work too will be classified in to specialized categories. If you understand essentials of abstracting, chances are that you will think very carefully about how to present your work, so that your target audience easily finds your work.

Knowing essentials of indexing and abstracting is enormously helpful in writing good abstracts and titles for your patents and papers. Most science and engineering students are never taught the basics of abstracting. Kindly spend some time thinking about how indexing services assign "descriptors" to your articles/patents, and how they establish "access points" for your articles. The descriptors (or key words) we use in our abstracts are used by services (eg. Scopus, Inspec, SciFinder etc) to classify and categorize our patents/articles. Hence it is essential that you choose descriptors for your work very carefully.

Time spent understanding the essentials of abstracting is time well-spent! I hope we develop the skills to make our articles/patents more visible.

As I sign off here, let me reiterate: crafting out carefully worded abstracts, titles, figure captions, and conclusions is essential to creating impact in a world facing information overload. explosion!

Academic integrity

All those whom I teach or write papers with are expected to know professional ethics, and develop a strong work culture. Academic integrity is of highest importance to a scientist. In academic circles, it is totally unacceptable for a person to claim a work that is not his or her own. This standard holds for any one who is creating and reporting scientific knowledge. Whether it is a paper that you may have written as part your coursework, or an article you wish to publish in a journal, you are expected to uphold principles of academic integrity.

While writing a paper, to determine who your co-authors are, you must think carefully about all those people who contributed significantly to the evolution of the theme(s) you talk about. If a person, contributed to the idea (even if it was through a casual coffee table discussion), s/he owns part of your idea and must be credited accordingly. A strong work ethic within the academia will ensure a more open culture, and will encourage free exchange of ideas, which will certainly benefit science and the society at large.

While writing papers healthy referencing practices must be followed. Every statement you make that is based on a previous report you have read, should be suitably referenced. Like wise, you cannot "copy and paste" even from your own previous publication. You will need to re-write sentences carefully, and reference that previous paper suitably.

While taking a course in a university, your homework submissions must be done while upholding professional ethics as well. Your solution set should not be a duplicate of your friend's submission. Of course discussions are encouraged, but you are expected to present your solutions in a step wise manner, so that you understanding (or lack thereof) of the subject is clear to the instructor. This will enable your instructor to assist you in the best possible manner as well.

Academic integrity is a very serious issue, and cannot be over-emphasized. Violation of ethical practices have negatively impacted the careers of several people both in academia and industry. Many bridges are burnt, and our culture gets tarnished when integrity is not part of our professional practice. For our own sake, let us resolve to be ethical professionals. It is helpful to create a culture wherein we can trust one another with our knowledge and ideas.