COS 409: Research Methodology and Technical Report Writing

 

 

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, students should be able to:
1. describe research, types, approaches, significance of research, research methods,
research process, criteria and strategy for good research;
2. discuss the principles of scientific research, scientific investigation, problem formulation,
and technique of the research problem;
3. describe the various elicitation methods;
4. develop appropriate data collection instruments;
5. conduct the literature review process; and
6. prepare briefs as well as technical reports and know how to cite referenced works and
prepare references and bibliography.

Course Contents
Foundations of Research. Types of Research. Research Approaches. Significance of Research.
Research Methods versus Methodology. Research Process. Criteria and Strategy for Good
Research. Principles of Scientific Research. Scientific investigation. Problem Formulation and
Its Techniques. Developing Research Proposal and Research Plan. Formulation of Research
Questions and Hypothesis Testing. Developing Research Proposal and Research Plan.
Literature Review. Procedure for Reviewing Related Relevant Studies. Methods for Collection
of Primary and Secondary Data. Elicitation Techniques – Questionnaires, Interviewing,
Ethnography, etc. Guidelines for Constructing Data Instruments. Methods of AnalysingData in
Computing and Related Disciplines. System Design: Architectural design, input design, process
design, output design. Use case analysis, sequence diagram, activity diagram, deployment
diagram, etc.Types of Reports. Technical Report Writing. Layout and Mechanics of Writing a
Research Report. Standard Techniques for Research Documentation. Interpretation and
Presentation of Results. How to Cite Referenced Works and Prepare References and
Bibliography.