Architectural Research - Research Design and Research Proposal

Research Methods in Architecture

Research Design - Research Proposal

Dr. Yasser Mahgoub

THE FUTURE STARTS HERE Spring 2023

Research Design

Dr. Yasser Mahgoub

Research Projects

• Research projects begin with a good definition of the research problem:

–

What do you know about the problem?

–

What do you want to know about the problem?

–

What do you want to do with the results?

Research Projects

• Then you commit yourself to a way of working: – focusing on a particular problem and – deciding on the research design and setting that will solve your problem best.

–

What do you want to find out?

–

What design will give you useful information?

–

What setting will use your resources effectively?

What is Research Design?

• A research design is a step-by-step approach used by a researcher to conduct a scientific study.

• It includes various methods and techniques to conduct research so that a research problem can be handled efficiently.

Research Strategies

• Research Approaches

–

Diagnostic

–

Descriptive

–

Theoretical

• Research Designs

–

Case study

Approaches

Designs

–

Action –

Survey –….

• Research Settings

–

Natural –

Contrived

• Research Evaluation

–

Settings

–

Validity

Reliability

Evaluation: Validity & Reliability

Research Approaches

Diagnostic Studies

• Diagnostic studies help you deepen your understanding of a setting.

• They provide suggestive evidence on a broad realm.

• They offer insight into the structure and dynamics of a whole situation. For trustworthiness of findings, diagnostic studies rely on the consistency, clarity, and coherence of the insights they develop in the situation being studied. Researchers who want more precise measurements of particular attributes of a group or situation may carry out a descriptive study based on conceptual frameworks developed in diagnostic ones.

• Example: TheUrbanVillagers

Interview with Herb Gans, Author of The Urban Village (Minute 22)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzhPFPQ1jXE&ab_channel=TheWestEndMus

eumBoston%2CMA

Research Approaches

Descriptive Studies

• Descriptive studies describe and measure as precisely as possible one or more characteristics and their relations in a defined group.

• Developing clear concepts and translating these into something that can be counted as a manifestation of the concept are particularly crucial problems in descriptive research.

• This study provides the answer to “what” and does not provide the answers to “how” , “when”, and “why” .

• Example: StudyofFearAmongResidentsof the Pruitt-IgoeHousingProjectinSt.Louis

Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVpcs7tG

DD4&ab_channel=NinePBS

Research Approaches

• Theoretical Studies

• Theoretical studies set specific hypotheses suggested by experiences elsewhere or primarily derived from more comprehensive theory.

• Such studies tend to increase general insights and to focus more on the conceptual framework of a problem than on the precise nature of the group they are observing

• Example: SocialPressuresin

Informalgroups

Research Design

Case Study

• A case-study research design is used for the in-depth and detailed study of a subject. This technique is usually used to narrow down a big problem into small discrete easily researchable problems.

• The case study research design is useful to test the applicability of specific theory or model on the real-life phenomena.

• A case-study research design is useful in those scenarios where there is not much information is known or available about the phenomena.

Research Design

Action research

• In action research studies changes are made and analyzed that have direct and lasting consequences on people beyond those in the research project.

Comparative action research settings may occur naturally or may be created analytically by careful sampling.

Research Design

• Survey

• A survey design is useful when investigators want to find out in detail about a phenomenon, such as housing satisfaction, or about a class of elements.

• Survey researchers who study large populations often choose to gather data that are easy to quantify and therefore less time-consuming to analyze than qualitative data.

• For this reason frequent research methods used in surveys are mail questionnaires, observing physical traces, observing behavior, and interviews.

Research Design

Cohort Research design

• A cohort study is generally conducted on a certain population (have some commonality or similarity) over a period of time.

• A cohort study is usually applied in medical sciences and social sciences.

• A cohort study makes note of statistical occurrence with a specialized subsection of the population, which is unified by similar characteristics that are relevant with the problem being investigated, instead of studying statistical occurrence with the general population.

•

Research Design

Causal design

• This type of research study is used to analyze the phenomena of conditional statements like “if A, then B” .

• The purpose of using this type of research is to evaluate the impact of a specific change on the existing standards and conventions.

• A causal explanation is required to test the hypothesis. Causality can be determined by observing the variation in the variables which are assumed to be causing a change in the other variables.

•

Research Design

Longitudinal design

• Longitudinal research design makes repetitive experiments and makes multiple observations.

• In this type of research design, the same group of people is interviewed at regular intervals. In this way, the researcher tracks their behavior and identify variables that have caused the change in their behaviors.

Research Design

• An experimental design is appropriate when investigators want to measure the effects that an action has in a particular situation. In an experiment you want to be able to focus observation on a small number of attributes at one time. To do so, you need control, so that you can be as sure as possible that the effects you observe result from experimental changes.

– Controlgroup and Experimentgroup

– BeforeandAfterthe action Milgram's

Research Design

• Historical design

• In this type of research data from the past is collected, evaluated and the hypothesis is defended based on the outcomes.

• To make this type of research, a lot of resources like logs, documents, notes, diaries, reports, official records, archives, and non textual data like maps, images, drawings, audios are used.

• This research is difficult to conduct because documents should be authentic and authorized.

Research Design

• Observational research

• This type of research design is used to draw results by comparing subjects under research with a controlled group.

• An observational study can be of two types. In the first type, your subjects know that you are observing them and in the second type, you observe your subjects without letting them know.

Research Design

Parametric Study

• Parametric research consists of the systematic manipulation of one variable (Independent), and making measurements on another variable (Dependent) though to be directly influenced by the independent variable, while keeping all other conditions constant by means of control variable

Research Design

Multivariant Study

• In many situations, identifying one or even a restricted set of variables is difficult - especially in the case of behavioral studies of building environments where many physical and personal factors are present.

Research Settings

Natural Settings

• Natural settings offer researchers the unique opportunity to observe people in settings they choose to come to, engaged in activities a contrived setting could not re-create.

• Natural settings are particularly appropriate for diagnostic studies in which investigators want to find out what is actually going on - what elements, relationships, and dynamics are salient.

• In natural settings you can also carry out an experiment, by manipulating a part of a physical environment, a particular social behavior, or a policy.

•

Research Settings

Contrived Settings

• Contrived settings are planned and controlled research environments in which to observe people and gather data from them.

One such setting is the experimental laboratory, in which investigators control the setting, choose participants randomly, effect controlled changes, and measure some attribute of the subjects after those changes.

Research Evaluation

• Validity

• The validity of a measurement is concerned with whether the property beingmeasured is what should be measured - i.e., are we measuring the right thing?

Research Evaluation

• Reliability

• Reliability refers to whether other researchers performing similar studies obtain equivalent results.

Research Evaluation

• Neutrality

• The results collected in research should be free from bias and neutral. •

Discuss and get evaluated your conclusion with experienced multiple individuals and consider those who agree with your research

results.

Research Evaluation

• Generalization

• Generalization is one of the most important key characteristics of research design.

•

The results obtained from the research should be applicable to a population and not just to a limited sample.

END

Research Proposal

Dr. Yasser Mahgoub

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

• A research proposal is a document of usually three to seven pages that informs others of a proposed piece of research.

• This proposed research is usually a Masters or Doctorate by thesis, but it can also be work for a corporate purpose. University students usually write research proposals for academics who may eventually supervise the work based on the proposal.

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

• A research proposal can be rejected as unsuitable or poorly designed and on the basis of this, a piece of research can be rejected. The proposal is, therefore, an important document; one that is worth spending some time on to get right.

• Another reason to get the proposal right is that this can save you time in the long run.

• If the proposal is well-designed, it can form an outline of the thesis to follow, and ideally, can be mapped onto various parts of the final thesis.

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

The following elements must be included in any proposal:

1. Introduction or background to the research problem or issue, including an identification of the gap in the current research

2. Research question and, if possible, a thesis statement answering the question - Justification for the proposal research, i.e., why the research is needed

3. Preliminary literature review covering what others have already done in the area

4. Theoretical framework to be used in the proposed research - Contribution of the research to the general area

5. Proposed research methodology and Tools

6. Research plan and Timetable

7. List of references used in preparing the proposal

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

1. Limitations of the research (what the research is not intended to do i.e. the scope of the research)

2. Resources to be used in the research e.g. equipment

3. Statement of the means by which the research will be evaluated or tested

4. Statement of where and how results of the research will be disseminated

5. Background of the researcher and their suitability for the task

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

1. Introduction

2. The research question

3. Preliminary literature review

4. Theoretical framework and Contribution of the research

5. Proposed research Methodology and Tools

6. Research plan and timetable

7. List of references

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

• 1. Introduction

• The introduction should be as brief as possible (a paragraph or two).

• You need to make this part of the proposal clear and crisp.

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

2. The research question

• Note that the research question may not be a question as such, but rather a statement of a problem to be investigated.

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

• 3. Preliminary literature review

• This is where you provide more detail about what others have done in the area, and what you propose to do. You need to write around two pages in which you cover the following:

–

The major issues or schools of thought

–

Gaps in the literature (in more detail than is provided in the introduction)

–

Research questions and/or hypotheses which are connected carefully to the literature being reviewed

–

Definitions of key terms, provided either when you introduce each idea, or in a definition sub-section

–

Questions arising from the gaps that can be the focus of data collection or analysis

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

• 4. Theoretical framework

• The theoretical framework usually forms the final part of the literature review section.

Students Time

Lighting

Color

Shape

Satisfaction

Achievement

• It describes the model that you are using in the thesis to demonstrate your point. Classroom

Comfort

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

• Contribution of the research

• In this section, you outline how your research will make a change to an area of study. The contribution section explains how what you will do will lead to certain outcomes.

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

5. Proposed research methodology tools

• This section should be about 1-2 pages. You do not have to describe the methodology to be used in great detail, but you should justify its use over other methodologies.

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

6. Research plan & timetable

• The research plan or outline can be discussed in conjunction with a research timetable.

• The timetable should indicate the weighting of each part of the proposed thesis in percentage terms, the topics covered, approximate word limit and, importantly, the approximate length of time it will take to complete them

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

How To Prepare A Research Proposal

• 7. List of references

• This must be provided in the usual scholarly fashion. It helps to convince your reader that your proposal is worth pursuing if you can identify literature in the field and demonstrate that you understand it. It makes a very strong impact if you can identify where there is a research gap in the literature that your proposal hopes to fill. This is your contribution to the scholarly conversation.

4.

5.

6.

7.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7. Appendices

End