Research Methods For Engineers

Learn how to plan for success with this hands-on guide to conducting high-quality engineering research. Plan and implement your next project for maximum impact: step-by-step instructions cover every stage in engineering research, from the identification of an appropriate research topic through to the successful presentation of results. Improve your research outcomes: discover essential tools and methods for producing high-quality, rigorous research, including statistical analysis, survey design, and optimisation techniques. Research with purpose and direction: clear explanations, real-world examples, and over 50 customisable end-of-chapter exercises, all written with the practical and ethical considerations of engineering in mind. A unique engineering perspective: written especially for engineers, and relevant across all engineering disciplines, this is the ideal book for graduate students, undergraduates, and new academics looking to launch their research careers.

The book covers all the important aspects of research methodology, and addresses the specific requirements of engineering students, such as methods and tools, in detail. It also discusses effective research in engineering today, which requires the ability to undertake literature reviews utilizing different online databases, to attribute credit for any prior work mentioned, to respect intellectual property rights while simultaneously maintaining ethics in research, and much more. Further, the book also considers soft skills like research management and planning, dealing with criticism in research and presentation skills, which are all equally important and need to include in research methodology education. Lastly, it provides the technical knowhow needed to file patents in academia, an important area that is often ignored in research methodology books. The book is a particularly valuable resource for PhD students in India and South East Asia, as research methodology is a part of their coursework.

Master the fundamentals of planning, preparing, conducting, and presenting engineering research with this one-stop resource Engineering Research: Design, Methods, and Publication delivers a concise but comprehensive guide on how to properly conceive and execute research projects within an engineering field. Accomplished professional and author Herman Tang covers the foundational and advanced topics necessary to understand engineering research, from conceiving an idea to disseminating the results of the project. Organized in the same order as the most common sequence of activities for an engineering research project, the book is split into three parts and nine chapters. The book begins with a section focused on proposal development and literature review, followed by a description of data and methods that explores quantitative and qualitative experiments and analysis, and ends with a section on project presentation and preparation of scholarly publication. Engineering Research offers readers the opportunity to understand the methodology of the entire process of engineering research in the real word. The author focuses on executable process and principle-guided exercise as opposed to abstract theory. Readers will learn about: An overview of scientific research in engineering, including foundational and fundamental concepts like types of research and considerations of research validity How to develop research proposals and how to search and review the scientific literature How to collect data and select a research method for their quantitative or qualitative experiment and analysis How to prepare, present, and submit their research to audiences and scholarly papers and publications Perfect for advanced undergraduate and engineering students taking research methods courses, Engineering Research also belongs on the bookshelves of engineering and technical professionals who wish to brush up on their knowledge about planning, preparing, conducting, and presenting their own scientific research.

This book deals with methodological issues in the field of management and industrial engineering. It aims to answer the following questions that researchers face every time they look to develop their research: How can we design a research project? What kind of paradigm should we follow? Should we develop a qualitative / phenomenological research or a quantitative / positivistic one? What technics for data collections can we use? Should we use the entire population or a sample? What kind of sampling techniques can we have? This book provides discussion and the exchange of information on principles, strategies, models, techniques, applications and methodological options possible to develop in research in management and industrial engineering. It communicates the latest developments and thinking on the research methodologies subject in the different areas, worldwide. It seeks cultural and geographic diversity in studies highlighting research methodologies that can be used in these different study areas. This book has a special interest in research on important issues that transcend the boundaries of single academic subjects. It presents contributions that challenge the paradigms and assumptions of individual disciplines or functions, with chapters grounded in conceptual and / or empirical literature. The main aim of this book is to provide a channel of communication to disseminate knowledge between academics and researchers, with a special focus on the management and industrial engineering fields. This book can serve as a useful reference for academics, researchers, managers, engineers, and other professionals in related matters with research methodologies. Contributors have identified the theoretical and practical implications of their methodological options to the development and improvement of their different study and research areas.

Research Methods for Construction will help you instil rigour into your problem-solving, and into your reports and publications. It will be of value to construction, surveying, architecture and civil engineering students undertaking research, whether for bachelors and masters degree dissertations, or for masters and doctoral research degree theses. Now in its Fourth Edition, this remains one of the few books to provide guidance on research formulation, methodologies, and methods specifically for construction students. Three main sections – Producing a Proposal, Executing the Research and Reporting the Results discuss the key issues in research and examine the primary approaches, both qualitative and quantitative. The methods adopted for scientific and engineering experiments, model building and simulations are discussed, as well as those employed for research into management, social and economic issues. The authors examine the requirements for data and analysis, including the important statistical considerations and a range of qualitative techniques that enable construction researchers to appreciate what needs to be evaluated in devising how research may be carried out effectively and efficiently. This new edition has been updated to reflect current debates and concerns, including ethical issues, legislation and codes of practice concerning the collection, processing, storage, use and disposal of data. Pressures of time and funding to carry out the empirical work all too often lead to a lack of attention to how the study should be done and why. The authors address the importance of explaining the philosophical approach adopted (ontology, epistemology) and the consequent methodology. They advocate close scrutiny of the methods available for appropriateness, both academically and practically. The fundamental theme of the book remains to facilitate a researcher’s informed and justified selection of a philosophical paradigm and of appropriate methods to execute the research.

Philosophical paradigms, theoretical frameworks, and methodologies make up the answering and problem solving systems that define current research approaches. While there are multiple research method books, the subject lacks an update and integrated source of reference for graduate courses. Research Methodologies, Innovations and Philosophies in Software Systems Engineering and Information Systems aims to advance scientific knowledge on research approaches used in systems engineering, software engineering, and information systems and to update and integrate disperse and valuable knowledge on research approaches. This aims to be a collection of knowledge for PhD students, research-oriented faculty, and instructors of graduate courses.

Intended for the professional engineer, scientist and student, this text covers the analysis of project problems, requirements, & objectives, the use of standard & consistent terminology & procedures, & the design of rigorous & reproducible experiments.

A unique introduction to the design, analysis, and presentation of scientific projects, this is an essential textbook for undergraduate majors in science and mathematics. The textbook gives an overview of the main methods used in scientific research, including hypothesis testing, the measurement of functional relationships, and observational research. It describes important features of experimental design, such as the control of errors, instrument calibration, data analysis, laboratory safety, and the treatment of human subjects. Important concepts in statistics are discussed, focusing on standard error, the meaning of p values, and use of elementary statistical tests. The textbook introduces some of the main ideas in mathematical modeling, including order-of-magnitude analysis, function fitting, Fourier transforms, recursion relations, and difference approximations to differential equations. It also provides guidelines on accessing scientific literature, and preparing scientific papers and presentations. An extensive instructor's manual containing sample lessons and student papers is available at www.cambridge.org/Marder.