Scientific research lecture 3 how to do a research

HOW TO DO A RESEARCH CONT.. We have stepped thru… Define your research topic/target -needed!. Planning the research • List all the activities needed to be completed • Organize the activ

HOW TO DO A RESEARCH

(CONT.)

Pham The Hai

We have stepped thru…

Define your research topic/target

-needed!

(for the world/Vietnam/YOU)

Collect information

From reliable sources!

?

How to do? What to do?

In what sequence?

Methods

So what to do next?

Sit down & analyze

the info you have

Discuss

with experts/your instructors

Brainstorm

Planning the research

• List all the activities needed to be completed

• Organize the activities

• How to complete them? approaches/methods

• What data need to be collected?

How to collect data?

• Figure out a time frame/time sequence

-> make a flexible plan;

prepare contingency plans

Choosing research approaches/methods

• Crucial!  this decides the

quality/reliability of your results 

Be reasonable!

• Consider what you can do:

- Time

- Money

- Availability of materials

- Availability of equipment

- Instructor

• Example:

Activity: Identifying a microorganism

Approach A:

morphology-based:

method 1: light microscopy method 2: electron microscopy!

+ biochemical tests based:

method 1: cell wall analysis method 2: enzyme analysis Approach B:

morphology-based:…

+ molecular biology based:

method 1: rDNA analysis method 2: specific gene analysis

Choosing research approaches/methods

• How to collect data?

- You should yourself develop a good way

of record-tracking/note-taking

- During that process, ask yourself:

Am I recording all relevant data?

Can I read and understand my notes?

Am I keeping track of what I did at each

step?

Am I being objective in my data collection?

Choosing research approaches/methods