Role of IT in Research: How to improve productivity of Research Process

7/2/2014
1
ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN RESEARCH :
A STUDY OF TOOLS WITH REFERENCE TO IMPROVE
THE PRODUCTIVITY OF RESEARCH PROCESS
Sharad Jambukar
3 May 2014
1
Summary
Research process is systematic inquiry for quest in researcher’s mind
and is executed with various activities. Reading and reviewing the
body of knowledge in search and pursuit of inquiry is a critical
activity that researcher has to undertake along with collection of
information, statistical analysis and presentation.
Application of computer and information technology (IT) to analyze
complex data has made complicated research designs practical.
Computers have by now become an indispensable part of research
process in the physical and behavioral sciences as well as in the
humanities.
The research student in this age of computer technology must be
exposed to the methods and use of computers in order to improve
the efficiency and effectiveness of the research work. Objective of
this presentation is to provide an overview of various IT tools and
methods of improving research work. 2

7/2/2014
2
Content
1. Research Process
– Overview of all research stages and research activities
2. Computer and Information Technology
– Basics of Computer
– Information Technology
3. Needs Assessment of Researcher
– Issued faced by researcher
– Challenges in conducting research
– Possible Solutions
4. Application of computer and information technology in research
– Data Collection Tools- Online Survey etc
– Research Documentation Tools- Quiqqa, Mendely comparison and overview etc
– Statistical applications for data analysis
5. Challenges observed in adopting information technology in research process
– Skills & Training
– Resource Availability
– Attitude to Change
6. Conclusion
3
Content
1. Research Process
6. Conclusion
4

7/2/2014
3
Research
• “Systematic and scientific search for gaining
information and knowledge on a specific topic or
phenomena.”
• Method of Critical Thinking
• It refers to,
– Enunciating the problem
– Formulating a hypothesis
– Collecting the fact or data
– Analysing the facts
– Reaching certain conclusion
5
Characteristics of Research
1. Systematic Approach
2. Objectivity
3. Reproducible
4. Relevancy
5. Control
6

7/2/2014
4
Objectives of Research
1. Exploration : To understand
2. Description: What is going on
3. Explanation: Cause & Effect
4. Prediction: What will Happen
5. Intelligent Intervention
6. Awareness
7
Research Process
Problem
Definition
Hypothesis
Generation
Decide Type of
Study
Decide
Method of
Data Gathering
Develop
Analysis Plan
Data Collection
Analysis
Execution
Draw
Conclusions
8

7/2/2014
5
Research Design
• F Kerlinger: It’s the plan, structure & strategy
of investigation conceived so as to obtain
answers to research questions and control
variance.
• P.V. Young: It is the logical & systematic
planning and directing a piece of research.
9
Features of Good Research Design
1. Need for Study
2. Review of Previous Studies
3. Statement of Problem
4. Objectives of Study
5. Formulation of Hypothesis
6. Operational Definitions
7. Scope of the Study
1. Geography
2. Content
3. Chronological Scope
8. Sources of Data
9. Method of Collection
10. Tools and Techniques
11. Sampling Design
12. Data Analysis
13. Presentation of Results
14. Time Estimates
15. Financial Budget
10

7/2/2014
6
Content
1. Research Process
– Research activities simplification
6. Conclusion
11
Evolution of Computer
1812 – Charles Babbage began designing the “Difference Machine”, which is considered one of the first programmable computers.
1820s – Charles Babbage completed his designs on the “Difference Machine”.
1830s – Designs for the “Analytical Engine” were made by Charles Babbage.
1839 – Photography was invented by Louis Daguerre and William Henry Fox.
1876 – Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.
1895 – The movie projector was invented by the Lumiere brothers.
1906 – The “Vacuum Tube” was invented.
1923 – The first television picture was transmitted by John Logie Baird.
1945 – 1946 – The ENIAC was invented by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert. This was the first noteworthy modern computer.
1947 – The transistor was invented by John Bardeen, William Shockley and Walter Brattain.
1952 – The first mass produced computer was made and sold by the IBM Company.
1952 – The first computer game was designed and created, “Tic-Tac-Toe” by A.S Douglas.
1954 – The silicon transistor was created.
1964 – Computer systems that use icons, windows and a mouse were designed by Douglas Engelbart.
1971 – The microprocessor was invented by Ted Hoff.
1976 – The first “Apple” computer was invented by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
1976 – The first computer operated by computer disks was invented by Gary Kildall.
1981 – The “Personal Computer” was released by the IBM Company.
1983 – The “Apple Lisa” personal computer was released by the Apple Company.
1985 – An outline of the Quantum Computer was published by David Deutsch.
1989 – The “World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee.
1995 – With the launch of the Amazon Bookstore online shopping became popular.
2003 – Electronic devices that could send emails, access the web and could receive phone calls became commercial.
2008 – More than 300,000 computers were shipped around the world.
Ref: http://evolutionofcomputers.edublogs.org/q3-the-timeline/
12

7/2/2014
7
Basics of Computer
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
Input
Devices
(Enters the
computer
program
and data
into
internal
storage)
Output
Devices
(Records
results
from
internal
storage)
Control Unit
(Interprets the computer program,
directs the operation of all components
and units of the system)
Internal Storage
(Holds the computer program and data
and makes them available for processing
Arithmetic – Logical Unit
(Performs all arithmetic operations and
logical comparisons)
13
How Computer Works ?
In terms of overall sequence of events a computer
program is input into the internal storage and
transmitted to the control unit, where it becomes
the basis for overall sequencing and control of
computer system.
After designated calculations and comparisons
have been completed output is obtained from the
internal storage of the CPU.
14

7/2/2014
8
Characteristics of Computer
1. Speed
2. Diligence
3. Storage
4. Accuracy
5. Automation
6. Binary Digits
15
Characteristics of Computers
1. Speed – computers can perform calculations in
just a few seconds that human beings would
need weeks to do by hand.
2. Diligence – being a machine a computer does
not suffer from the human traits of tiredness
and lack of concentration. It will perform
millions of calculations exactly in the same
speed and accuracy as the first one.
16

7/2/2014
9
3. Storage – Although the storage capacity of the
present day computer is much more than its earlier
counterpart but even then the internal memory of
the CPU is only large enough to retain a certain
amount of information just as human brains selects
and retains what it feels to be important and
relegates unimportant details to the back of the
mind or just forgets them.
4. Accuracy – the computers accuracy is
consistently high. Errors in the machinery can occur
but due to increased efficiency in error detecting
techniques these seldom lead to false results.
17
5. Automation – Once a program is in the
computers memory all that is needed is the
individual instructions to it which are transferred
one after the other to the control unit for
execution.
18

7/2/2014
10
6. Binary digits – computers use only binary
number system (a system in which all the numbers
are represented by a combination of two digits one
and zero) and thus operates to the base of two,
compared to the ordinary decimal arithmetic
which operates on a base of ten. Computers use
binary system because the electrical devices can
understand only ‘ON’ (1) or ‘OFF’ (0)
19
Information Technology
• The branch of engineering that deals with the use
of computers and telecommunications to retrieve
and store and transmit information*
• Information technology (IT) is the application of
computers and telecommunications equipment
to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate
data**
• Basic function as per Value Engineering: To record
and retrieve data
• IT deals with overall system including computer
and communication.
•( Wordweb Dictionary, Princeton University)
•** Daintith, John, ed. (2009), "IT", A Dictionary of Physics, Oxford University Press 27

7/2/2014
11
IT has evolved to connect the information all around
the world in faster and cheaper manner
Source: Radar Networks & Nova Spivack, 20007 –www. Radarnetworks.com Taken from:Pratt, J. (Ed.). (2014, April 28). SEMANTIC ENHANCEMENT OF LEGAL INFORMATION… ARE WE UP
FOR THE CHALLENGE? Retrieved 2014, from blog.law.cornell.edu: http://blog.law.cornell.edu/voxpop/2010/02/15/semantic-enhancement-of-legal-information%E2%80%A6-are-we-up-
for-the-challenge/
28
Content
1. Research Process
– Needs of Researcher
– Literature Review
6. Conclusion
29

7/2/2014
12
Needs of Researcher
• Literature Review:
– Read Journals, Books, Website, eJournals, Articles, Thesis, Research
Papers
– Visit library and Search for requisite topic and literature
– Taking notes and maintaining references for bibliography and citation
• Data Collection:
– Collect secondary data from archives, specialized institutions,
Government Organizations
– Collect primary data through personal interviews, Questionnaires(
Letter, Mail, email)
• Data Analysis:
– Arrangement of Data
– Apply statistical methods and conduct calculations
– Conduct complex and iterative analysis eg. Segmentation
30
Literature Review
• A Very Important Step in all the Research
activities
• At least 70% understanding comes by reading
• You can not review what you don’t understand
• It gives formulation for your research
• It indicates that you have understood the
important issues about the topic
31

7/2/2014
13
Concerns for Researcher
1. Improper Library Management: The libraries are not managed systematically. Much of
the precious time of the researchers is spent in looking for books, reports, newspapers,
etc. rather than searching relevant information from them.
2. Insufficient Interaction: There is no proper interaction between researchers and the
business establishments, government institutions, etc. This leads to a great deal of data
going untapped.
3. Lack of Confidence in data sharing: Most of the business establishments are of the
opinion that, researchers can misuse the data provided by them. As such, they are
reluctant to divulge details of their company. This affects the research studies for which
that particular data may be of utmost importance.
4. Lack of Resources : Most of the institutions lack computing facilities and lack of budget
for providing common research facilities. Though such is made available, resource
constraint for making it available for 24X 7 , renders it non useful.
5. Data Handling: Researchers are essentially concerned with huge storage of data,
their faster retrieval when required and processing of data with the aid of various
techniques.
Ref: blog.reaspro.com, Reseapro Scientific Services (P) Ltd. 32
Time & Effort Required in Research
Project
Research Activity
Time Taken for
Activity (% of Total
Work)
Effort Required (% of Total Effort
required for research work)
Physical Mental Total
Literature Review 30% 15% 10% 25%
Data Collection 50% 52% 13% 65%
Data Analysis 10% 1% 4% 5%
Other Administrative
Work 10% 4% 1% 5%
Total 100% 72% 28% 100%
Ref: Interviews with researchers who have completed their doctoral research and research students 33

7/2/2014
14
Opportunity to Reduce Time and Effort of research
work using IT & improve Quality
Research
Activity
Opportunity How Information Technology
Can Help?
Literature
Review
1. Reduce time required to do more in
available time
2. Reduce physical efforts,
3. Improve the reach and depth
• Internet
• Online Research Databases
•Research Documentation Tools like Quiqqa and
Mendely
Data
Collection
1. Collect secondary data from online
archives
2. Reduce time required to collect data
from respondents
3. Reach large no of respondents in short
time
• Online Research Data collection agencies like
EnterpriseSurvey of World Bank, ZEW of European
council
•Recording of interviews and observations using
mobile cameras
•Email Surveys
•Online Survey Tools eg. Survemonkey
•Social Networking Sites eg. Linkedin
Data Analysis 1. Reduce computation time required
and
2. Eliminate the monotony of iterative
calculations,
3. Perform complex analysis which
otherwise could not have been
possible with human skills
• High end configuration of Computing Devices to
handle large data eg. Server and large memory
capacity
• Statistical analysis tools such as SAS, SPSS, R
Analytics, Minitab
34
Content
1. Research Process
– Literature Review & Research Documentation Tools
– Data Collection Tools
– Statistical applications
6. Conclusion
35

7/2/2014
15
Some Application of Information Technology
Applications in Various uses
Educations
provide a large data bank of information
aid to time tabling
Carry out lengthy or complex calculations
provide students profiles
assist teaching and learning processes
assist in career guidance
Commerce
assist the production of text material
handle payroll of personnel, invoicing, record keeping, sales analysis, financial
forecasting
Banks & Financial
institutions
cheque handling
updating of accounts
printing of customer statements
Interest printing
Management
planning of new enterprises
finding the best solution from several options
helpful in inventory management, sales forecasting and production planning
useful in scheduling of projects
Kothari, C. R. (2004). Rese. In C. R. Kothari, Research Methodology:Methods and Techniques (p. 361). New Delhi: New Age International Ltd, Publishers.
36
Role of Computer in Research
Computer Applications
Applications in Some of the various uses
Industry
in process control
in production control
used for load control by electricity authorities
computer aided designs to develop new products
Communications &
transportation
useful in electronic mail
useful in aviation
facilitate routine jobs such as crew schedule, time tables, maintenance schedule, etc
helpful to railways, shipping companies
used in traffic control and also in space flight
Scientific Research model processing
performing computations
Research and data analysis
Homes used for playing games
can be used for educational aid
home management is facilitated
37

7/2/2014
16
Opportunity to Reduce Time and Effort of research
work using IT & improve Quality
Research
Activity
Opportunity How Information Technology
Can Help?
Literature
Review
1. Reduce time required to do more
in available time
2. Reduce physical efforts,
3. Improve the reach and depth
• Internet
• Online Research Databases
•Research Documentation Tools like Quiqqa
and Mendely
Data
Collection
1. Collect secondary data from
online archives
2. Reduce time required to collect
data from respondents
3. Reach large no of respondents in
short time
• Online Research Data collection agencies
like EnterpriseSurvey of World Bank, ZEW of
European council
•Email Surveys
•Online Survey Tools eg. Survemonkey
•Social Networking Sites eg. Linkedin
Data
Analysis
1. Reduce computation time
required and
2. Eliminate the monotony of
iterative calculations,
3. Perform complex analysis which
otherwise could not have been
possible with human skills
• High end configuration of Computing
Devices to handle large data eg. Server and
large memory capacity
• Statistical analysis tools such as SAS, SPSS, R
Analytics, Minitab
38
Research Documentation Tools
Demo: www.quiqqa.com
39

7/2/2014
17
Ref: Quiqqa.com
40
Data Collection Tools- Survey
• Software tools for surveys are varied, ranging from desktop
applications to complex web systems for monitoring
consumer behavior.
• The list includes all forms of surveys and data capture
techniques: PAPI, CATI, CAPI, CAWI, on-line and off-line.
– PAPI: Pen and Paper Interviewing
– CATI: Computer Assisted Telephonic Interviewing
– CAPI: Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing
– CAWI: Computer Assisted Web Interviewing
• Various such survey tools available are categorized as
– Computer-Assisted Survey Information Collection (CASIC) Software
– Comparison of notable such software is illustrated
41

7/2/2014
18
Survey Tools: Comparison of CASIC
Product Developer Headquarters First public release Delivery method License
Google Docs
Google Inc
Mountain
View, California,USA 2008 SAAS
Proprietory
FormStack
Formstack, LLC
Indianapolis, Indiana, U
SA 2006 SAAS
Proprietory
Cvent Web Surveys
Cvent LLC McLean, Virginia, USA 2006 SAAS
Proprietory
SurveyGizmo
Surveygizmo
Boulder, Colorado, US
A 2006 SAAS
Proprietory
Qualtrics Qualtrics Lab Inc Provo, Utah, USA 2005 SAAS Proprietory
LimeSurvey The LimeSurvey
project team Hamburg, Germany 2003 On premise
GNU GPL
QuestionPro
Survey Analytics LLC
Seattle, Washington, U
SA 2002 SAAS
Proprietory
SurveyShare
Research Tools, Inc
Chapel Hill, North
Carolina,USA 2001 SAAS
Proprietory
KeySurvey
Worldapp LLC
Braintree, Massachuset
ts,USA 2001 SAAS, ON PREMISE
Proprietory
CreateSurvey Imposant LLC Moscow, Russia 1999 SAAS Proprietory
SurveyMonkey SurveyMonkey.com
LLC
Palo
Alto, California, USA 1999 SAAS
Proprietory
Zoomerang
MarketTools, Inc.
San
Francisco, California,U
SA 1999 SAAS
Proprietory
FormSite
Vroman Systems, Inc.
Downers
Grove, Illinois,USA 1998 SAAS
Proprietory
Confirmit ConfirmitInc Oslo, Norway 1996 SAAS Proprietory
SAAS: software as Services
On Premise: Software need to be installed in users premises, on hardware owned by users
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_survey_software,Personal Usage as customer for few softwares
42
Statistical Software Tools
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_statistical_packages and Personal usage of software,Ref: Training Workshop at Sankhyanalytics
Sr
No Product Developer Latest version
Open
source Software license Interface Written in Scripting languages
1JMP SAS Institute September, 2013 No Proprietary GUI/CLI JSL (JMP Scripting Language)
2LIMDEP Econometric Software, Inc., William Greene May, 2012 No Proprietary CLI/GUI Fortran,C++
3Maple Maplesoft 18.00; March 05, 2014 No Proprietary CLI/GUI
4Mathematica Wolfram Research 9.0.1; February 1, 2013 No Proprietary CLI/GUI
5MATLAB MathWorks New releases twice per year No Proprietary CLI/GUI C++, Java
6MedCalc MedCalc Software bvba 1-Feb-14 No Proprietary GUI
7Minitab Minitab Inc. 18-Feb-14 No Proprietary CLI/GUI
8NCSS NCSS, LLC 1-May-12 No Proprietary GUI
9NLOGIT Econometric Software, Inc., William Greene May, 2012 No Proprietary CLI/GUI Fortran,C++
10NMath Stats CenterSpace Software 1-Nov-09 No Proprietary CLI
11NumXL Spider Financial 1-Oct-09 No Proprietary GUI C++, VBA C, C++, C#, VB, VBA, .NET
12Origin OriginLab October, 2013 No Proprietary GUI C++ LabTalk
13RATS Estima 1-Oct-10 No Proprietary CLI/GUI
14SAS SAS Institute 1-Dec-11 No Proprietary CLI & GUI SAS language
15SHAZAM SHAZAM Analytics Ltd 1-Jun-12 No Proprietary CLI/GUI FORTRAN, C++, C
16SPSS IBM 1-Aug-13 No Proprietary CLI/GUI Java R, Python, SaxBasic
17Stata StataCorp 24-Jun-13 No Proprietary CLI/GUI C ado, mata
18TSP TSP International 1-Sep-09 No Proprietary CLI Fortran
19WPS World Programming 1-Feb-12 No Proprietary CLI/GUI C, Assembler SAS language
20WINKS TexaSoft 1-Aug-13 No Proprietary GUI
Fortran, Visual
Basic
21XploRe MD*Tech 28-Jun-05 No Proprietary GUI
22ADaMSoft Marco Scarno 5-May-12 Yes GNU GPL CLI/GUI Java
23Dataplot Alan Heckert 1-Mar-05 Yes Public domain CLI/GUI
24Epi Info Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 26-Jan-11 Yes Public domain CLI/GUI Microsoft C#
25gretl The gretl Team 1.9.14; November 21, 2013 Yes GNU GPL CLI/GUI C
26OpenEpi A. Dean, K. Sullivan, M. Soe 23-Jun-11 Yes GNU GPL GUI JavaScript, HTML
27PSPP GNU Project 0.8.2; January 13, 2014 Yes GNU GPL CLI/GUI C Perl (by PSPP-Perl[3])
28R R Foundation 6-Mar-14 Yes GNU GPL CLI/GUI[4] C, Fortran, R[5]
Python (by RPy), Perl (by
Statistics::R module)
29
Revolution
Analytics Norman Nie 29-Jun-05 Yes Proprietary CLI/GUI
30ROOT ROOT Analysis Framework 30-Jun-10 Yes GNU GPL GUI C++ C++, Python
31Sage >100 developers worldwide 5.8, March 2013 Yes GNU GPL CLI & GUI Python, Cython Python
32Salstat Alan J. Salmoni, Mark Livingstone 26-Jun-05 Yes GNU GPL CLI & GUI
Python, Numpy,Sci
py Python
33SCaViS SCaVis Analysis Framework 30-Jun-13 Yes GNU GPL CLI & GUI Java Java, Jython, Groovy, JRuby
34SciPy Enthought 7-Apr-13 Yes BSD CLI Python, C,Fortran Python
35SOCR UCLA 28-Oct-08 Yes LGPL GUI Java
36SOFA Statistics Grant Paton-Simpson 1.4.3; March 16, 2014 Yes AGPL GUI Python Python
37Statsmodels Statsmodels Developers 13-Aug-13 Yes BSD CLI Python, C Python
43

7/2/2014
19
Content
1. Research Process
– Literature Review & Research Documentation Tools
– Data Collection Tools
– Statistical applications
– Limitations of IT
6. Conclusion
44
Skills Required for Researcher to utilize IT
Researchers interested in developing skills in computer
analysis while consulting the computer centers must be
aware of the following steps
1. Basic skills in handling computer and internet
2. Data organization and coding
3. Storing the data in the computer
4. Selection of appropriate statistical measures / techniques
5. Selection of appropriate software packages
6. Execution of the computer programs
7. Attitude change in order to do the research work in
different way. i.e. using computer
45

7/2/2014
20
Limitations of IT
1. Researchers should also be aware of the following limitations of computer
based analysis
2. Computerized analysis requires setting up of an elaborate system of
monitoring collection and feeding of data.
3. All these require time, effort and money. Hence computer based analysis may
not prove economical in case of small projects
4. Various items of details which are not being specifically fed to computer may
get lost sight of
5. The computer does not think; it can only execute the instructions of a
thinking person. If poor data or faulty programs are introduced in to the
computer the data analysis would not be worthwhile. The expression garbage
in garbage out describes this limitation very well.
46
Conclusion
1. Time and effort required to undertake research can be minimized with
appropriate use of Information Technology
2. Reduction in effort due to IT as well as increased speed and access can
improve quality of research work.
3. Time saved can be utilized for learning new concepts and acquiring new
skills that would certainly help in improve the quality of research work.
4. Overall research process can be followed meticulously with proper
record maintenance and that can be made available for further
researchers (at Institute level)
5. Effective use of IT, can help save the research cost.
6. Behavioral change management is necessary to adopt IT in research and
altitudinal change with innovative approach can help realize the
effectiveness of IT better.
7. IT solutions are being aligned with the way human beings consume
information and will become more human friendly in future.
47

7/2/2014
21
Bibliography
1. Comparison of Statistical Packages. (2014, May 2). Retrieved from www.wikipedia.org:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_statistical_packages
2. Comparison of Survey Softwares. (2014, May 2). Retrieved from www.wikipedia.org:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_survey_software, Personal Usage as customer
for few softwares
3. Evolution of Computers. (2014, April 29). Retrieved from evolutionofcomputers.edublogs.org:
http://evolutionofcomputers.edublogs.org/q3-the-timeline/
4. Kogent Learning Solutions Inc, Pandya, Kiran et all. (2014). SPSS in Simple Steps. New Delhi:
Durga Enterprises, Delhi.
5. Kothari, C. R. (2004). Rese. In C. R. Kothari, Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques
(p. 361). New Delhi: New Age International Ltd, Publishers.
6. Pratt, J. (Ed.). (2014, April 28). SEMANTIC ENHANCEMENT OF LEGAL INFORMATION… ARE WE
UP FOR THE CHALLENGE? Retrieved 2014, from blog.law.cornell.edu:
http://blog.law.cornell.edu/voxpop/2010/02/15/semantic-enhancement-of-legal-
information%E2%80%A6-are-we-up-for-the-challenge/
7. Reseapro Scientific Services (P) Ltd. (2014, April 28). Problems encountered by Researcher In
India. Retrieved from www.Reaspro.com: http://blog.reseapro.com/2012/08/problems-
encountered-by-researchers-in-india/
8. Research Reference Manager. (2014, April 28). Retrieved from Quiqqa: www.quiqqa.com
48

Role of IT in Research: How to improve productivity of Research Process

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Role of IT in Research: How to improve productivity of Research Process

Similar to Role of IT in Research: How to improve productivity of Research Process (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Role of IT in Research: How to improve productivity of Research Process