introduction€to€research€methodology...

1

INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Aarne MämmeläVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

Oulu, Finland

VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND

Aarne Mämmelä 13.9.2005 2

III RESEARCH METHODS: FROM PROBLEM ANDHYPOTHESIS TO EXPERIMENTS

•Introduction•Research & development•Choosing a problem•Formation of concepts and theories•Order and creativity•Empiricalinductive method•Conclusions

2



Introduction



Journey of Exploration: Columbus

•Problem: a new way to India•Competing hypotheses: over the Atlantic(Spain), around Africa (Portugal)

3



What is Research All About: Problem and Hypothesis

•No general systematic methods exist to discoverhypotheses (creativity needed as in the arts [Nagel79])

Question(problem)

Answer(hypothesis)

Experience(analogies)

Criticism(testing)



Research and Development [Jain97]

•research: discover new knowledge (new regularities)• basic research (no specific application in mind)• applied research (ideas into operational form)

•development: systematic use of the existing knowledge•research and development are closely related•in research a prototype is often developed

4



Science, technology and engineering [Jain97]•science: organized or systematic body of knowledge[Nagel79]

•technology: the ways we provide ourselves with thematerial objects of our civilization, application ofscientific knowledge for practical ends inengineering, medicine, agriculture, etc.

•natural sciences and engineering sciences differ inthe object of study

•natural sciences (also called “science”, inc.physics, chemistry, and biology): objects in thenature

•engineering sciences: objects (products,services, methods) not found in the nature, usingresults of mathematics and natural sciences



Scientific Method

•“a method of research, in which a problem isidentified, relevant data are gathered, a hypothesisis formulated [discovery], and the hypothesis isempirically tested [verification]”[Random House99]

•data is collected through observation or experiment•testing is done for verification or falsification of thehypotheses

•inference based on many competing hypotheses iscalled strong inference [Wilson99]

•two tools of control: observations and experiments(guarantees correspondence with reality) andmathematical analysis (guarantees coherence)

Note. Verification, confirmation, and justification aresynonymous terms in philosophy of science. Theopposite is falsification or refutation.

5



Features of science [Wilson99]

•Generality (theories describe general regularities,causal relations, nature is not capricious)

•Reproducibility (repeatability, inductive predictions,correspondence between the theory and reality,consensus among researchers by independent tests)

•Coherence (unity or consistency, causal anddeductive relationships, no contradictions)

•Parsimony (economy, Ockham’s razor: simplesttheories are most elegant)

•Heuristics (good science results in additionalinventions)



Requirements for the Success as a Researcher

Requirements for success•analytical, curious, need for autonomy and change, flexible,

collaborative, tolerant of ambiguity, criticalness (avoidgroupthink) [Jain97]

•knowledge of literature, technical skills, communication skills(knowledge of languages, social and pedagogical skills), andcreativity (original thinking) [Loehle90]

How does a researcher work?•make always notes in a notebook•make summaries on what has been learned•make plans for the future all the time (outlines, roadmaps,

visions)•discuss, ask questions and argue (criticism)

6



Official Requirements for a Doctor

•major subject: deep familiarity with own researcharea and its societal significance, ability toindependently discover new scientific knowledge,and preparation of a doctoral thesis and itssuccessful public defence

•minor subject: good familiarity with other relatedresearch areas

•scientific general studies: good familiarity withhistorical development and basic problems, aswell as research and design methods of engineeringsciences

Source: University of Oulu, www.ttk.oulu.fi/opinnot



Special Studies•Equivalent to 70 credits (opintopiste, op) or 4045 credits

(opintoviikko, ov), excluding the doctoral thesis•Major subject must be related to some major subject of a

degree program in the faculty (4055 credits (op) or 2535credits (ov))

•Minor subject must be related to a professorship of theuniversity or some other native or foreign university (1025credits (op) or 917 credits (ov))

•Scientific general studies (510 credits (op) or 35 credits(ov))

•60 credits (op) correspond to 1600 hours (one academic year)Source: University of Oulu, www.ttk.oulu.fi/opinnot

http://www.ttk.oulu.fi/opinnot

http://www.ttk.oulu.fi/opinnot

7



Progress of Doctoral Studies



Research Methods: Discovery and verification[Honderich05]

Methods of discovery•empiricalinductive method [Kragh02]•iterative method [Bohm87]•reductive method [Wilson99]•systems engineering [Bohm87], [Checkland99]Methods of verification•hypotheticodeductive method

8



Choosing a Problem [Loehle90]

•right problem, right timing, right approach[Hamming93], difficulty of problem and its likelypayoff

•opportunities for you•other person is wrong (show what is right)•contradictory experiments•terminological confusion

•more experience needed to solve problems•discussions (most new ideas are generated bytalking with others[Jain97])

•experiments (start them early, useexperimentalinductive approach)

•literature (find out existing knowledge)



Formation of Concepts and TheoriesFormation of Concepts and Theories

• We learn by induction (bottom up, generalizationfrom examples to models) [Felder88]

• We present theories by deduction (top down, frommodels to results)

9



Concept Formation [Niiniluoto02]

•A definition names a wider class to which somethingbelongs and distinguishing properties [Honderich05]

•Elementary terms and concepts: no definitions given toavoid an endless loop of definitions [Rosenberg00]



Resources are Converted into Properties[Checkland99], [Honderich05]

•performance is the manner in which somethingreacts or fulfils its intended purpose

•complexity measures the efficiency in using thebasic resources, for example materials (size andweight), energy, time (delay) and capital (cost)

10



Observation and Theory [Wohlin00]

•In engineering a hypothesis (defined in systemspecifications) is usually an idea of the relationshipbetween the cause and effect (defined in systemrequirements)

•Theoretical model is always only an approximationof observation in real world (prototypes include tacitknowledge [Leppälä03], e.g., Stradivarius violin)



Prototype

11



Theoretical Model



Comparison of Theories[Honderich05], [Rosenberg00]

Primitiveterms

Definitions

Model andassumptions

Rules ofanalysis

Results

Rules ofverification

Primitivesymbols

Definitions

Axioms

Rules ofinference

Theorems

Rules offormation

Axiomatic system Modelbased theory

12



Theoretical Model and IMRAD Structure[Day98], [Rosenberg00]

Introduction

Materials andmethods

Results

Discussion

Primitiveterms

Definitions

Model andassumptions

Rules ofanalysis

Results

Rules ofverification



Analysis, simulations, and experiments (1)

AnalysisAnalysis

Simulation

Prototype

13



Analysis, simulations, and experiments (2)

1. Mathematical analysis (theoretical model)• creates best scientific papers• simple, mathematically tractable problem, must be often linear

(numerical results needed)2. Simulations (numerical analysis of the theoretical model)

• complicated systems can be developed rapidly, but slow to simulate• basic idea: lower level blocks are simplified and idealized (hierarchy)• key problem: realistic models for the environment (e.g. channel)

3. Prototyping (empirical research)• more convincing than “pure”simulations, not so flexible, slow and

expensive to develop complicated systems• environment (channel) simulators still needed (approximations!), field

tests expensive, repeatability?



Experiment (Set of Tests) [Wohlin00]

• Tests are either deterministic or statistical• One independent variable is changed and other

independent variables are set at a fixed level

14



Creativity: Edge of Order and Chaos

•You must have something on which to build (order,systematic work) and something to move (chaos,flexibility)

•Ways to improve creativity: analogies, symmetries,relations, extremes, opposites

•Working habits: well defined problem, quiet time(“lazyness”), new environment, mental barriersavoided [Loehle90]

Order Chaos

Creativity



Order: Sequential Process [Bohm92]

•Sequential process is characterized by a regularsequence of events [Bohm87, Honderich05]

•In project design this kind of process is calledwaterfall model where the project is divided intorather independent phases [Calvez93, Leppälä03]

15



Order: Iterative Process [Bohm92]

• Iterative or generative process is an overall processfrom which the manifest form of things emergescreatively, internal interrelations are included,especially iterations

• In project design this kind of process is called spiralmodel: the whole process is repeated and each timethe result improves [Calvez93], [Leppälä03]



EmpiricalEmpiricalInductive Method of DiscoveryInductive Method of Discovery

• Problem is divided into subproblems (this iscalled reduction)

• Model is derived by using experience (oftenanalogies used).

16



Iterative research method

• You must work iteratively since the problem and hypothesesare initially not very clear (a chicken and egg problem)

• In the beginning it is difficult to understand the literature• Experience is gained by own experiments and discussions• Reporting and publishing will improve the quality of research



Reductive approach

• Break the problem down and then generalize the results(“break down and reassemble”)

• “Practical people often balk at this approach [reduction,idealizations] since the idealized situations may be so farremoved from those of use as to appear highly academic.”[Wilson90]

• We present the results explicitly by deduction (top down),but we learn through induction (bottom up)

17



HypotheticoDeductive Method of Verification

• The scientific verification method is called hypotheticodeductive method [Honderich05]: the theoretical modelacts as a hypothesis, which is verified indirectly bycomparing the results given by the theoretical model withthe corresponding experimental results given by the reality.



Reductionism and Holism[Checkland99], [Honderich05]

•reductionism: theory that every complexphenomenon can be explained by analyzing thesimplest, most basic physical mechanisms that arein operation during the phenomenon (scientificapproach)

•holism: theory that whole entities have anexistence other than as the mere sum of their parts(systems approach)

•emergence: occurrence of properties at higherlevels of organization which are not predictablefrom properties found at lower levels [Nagel79],for example transparency of water, temperatureof a gas

18



Different Hierarchies

Description Levels

Nested Hierarchy

Layered Pattern(Successive Layers)



Causality

•Backwards and downwards causality are in suspect innatural science.

•Scientific theories are deterministic and deductive(relativity theory) or probabilistic (quantum theory)[Nagel79].

•Scientific theories describe (question how?) but do notstrictly speaking explain (question why?).

19



Some Fundamental Engineering Problems

Factory Products/Services

Waste

NatureMaterials

Waste

People

InformationEnergy Energy

Information

People

SunEnergy

•Problems: Distribution of information, energy,materials, products, and services, transportation ofpeople, waste management, etc.



Some open Problems in Engineering

•General theory of systems (philosophy oftechnology, hierarchy theory) [Checkland99]

•Semantic information theory (Shannon’s statisticalinformation theory does not cover the meaning ofthe information, only the amount of information)[Checkland99]

•Network information theory (statistical informationtheory covers only isolated links) [Cover91]

•Frame problem (how a machine could decide theframe of reference or context) [Honderich05]

20



Fundamental Problems in Information Engineering

Save/Display Distribution

Storage

Information

Processing

Energy

•Problems: Transfering, storing, processing anddisplaying of information, storing of energy, etc.



Example: History of Telecommunications[Haykin01], [Proakis01]

1940 1960 1980 2000

1860 1880 1900 1920 1940

Telegraph Telephone Wireless telegraph

Wireless voice

Broadcast

Computer networks

Mobile cellular

Internet

Fixed links

Radar

Satellite comms Satellite navigation

WLAN

Mobile radio

Police radio

Computers

Optical comms

Voiceband modems

21



Brief History of Electronics [Dummer97]

• 1729 Wire conductor and insulator, Gray• 1745 Capacitor, von Kleist and von Muschenbrock• 1785 Coulomb’s law (inverse square law), Coulomb• 1800 Battery, Volta• 1820 Electromagnetism, Oersted• 1820 Ampère’s laws, Ampère• 1826 Ohm’s law, Ohm• 1828 Fourier analysis, Fourier• 1831 Electromagnetic induction, Faraday• 1837 Telegraphy, Morse• 1843 Fax machine, Bain (commercial 1946)• 1845 Kirchhoff’s laws, Kirchhoff• 1848 Boolean algebra, Boole• 1865 Maxwell’s equations, Maxwell• 1876 Telephone, Bell• 1887 Aerial, Hertz• 1896 Wireless telegraphy, Marconi




• 1897 Electron, Thomson• 1897 Oscilloscope, Braun• 1897 Automatic swich, Strowger• 1904 Vacuum tube, Fleming (diode), de Forest (triode, 1906)• 1906 Radio broadcasting, Fessenden (commercial 1919)• 1918 Superheterodyne radio receiver, Armstrong• 1919 Television (electronic), Zworygin (commercial broadcasting 1939)• 1921 Police car radio, USA• 1924 Radar, Appleton et al.• 1925 Thermal noise, Thomson• 1927 Negative feedback amplifier, Black• 1927 Cable television, Bell Telephone Co (real growth in 1960’s)• 1928 Sampling theory, Nyquist• 1929 Color television, Bell Laboratories• 1929 Microwave communications, Clavier• 1929 Coaxial cable, Affel and Espensched• 1933 Frequency modulation (FM), Armstrong

22




• 1934 Liquid crystal display (LCD), Dreyer• 1936 Waveguide, Carson et al.• 1937 Pulsecode modulation (PCM), Reeves• 1937 Xerox photocopy method, Carlson (success in 1960s)• 1943 Computer (ENIAC, Electronic Numerator, Integrator and

Computer), University of Pennsylvania• 1945 Computer theory, von Neumann• 1946 Stored program, Turing• 1946 Public mobile telephone service, USA• 1947 Chirp radar, Bell Labs• 1948 Transistor (bipolar), Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley• 1948 Information theory, Shannon• 1948 Holoraphy, Gabor• 1950 Phaselocked loop• 1950 Floppy disc, Nakamats• 1950s Voiceband modem (modulator and demodulator), MIT and Bell

Labs



Brief History of Electronics [Dummer97]• 1950s Computer networks• 1957 Fortran (Formula Translator) computer language• 1958 Laser, Schalow and Townes• 1958 Stored program swich, Bell Labs (commercial 1960)• 1959 Integrated circuit, Kilby• 1960 Light emitting diode (LED), Allen and Gibbons• 1961 Tape cassette, Philips• 1961 Transistortransistor logic (TTL)• 1962 Satellite communication, Telstar I, USA• 1963 Electronic calculator, Bell Punch Co• 1964 Packet switching, Baran• 1964 Wordprocessor, IBM• 1965 Electronic typewriter, IBM• 1965 Mouse, Englebart• 1965 Virtual reality, military, USA• 1966 Optical fibres, Kao and Hockham• 1968 CMOS (complementary metaloxidesemiconductor) logic, USA

23



Brief History of Electronics [Dummer97]• 1969 Internet, Arpanet (Advanced Research Project Agency Network,

renamed Internet in 1985)• 1970 Unix operating system, Bell Labs and University of California at

Berkeley• 1970 Large scale integration• 1971 Microprocessor, Hoff• 1972 Microcomputer, Intel• 1973 Hard disc• 1974 Barcode, USA• 1975 Video Home System (VHS) recorder, JVC• 1977 Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model,

International Standards Organization (ISO)• 1979 Compact disc (CD), Philips• 1979 Digital signal processor (DSP)• 1980 Very large scale integration (VLSI)• 1981 Mobile cellular system (Nordic Mobile Telephone, NMT), Europe• 1981 Microsoft Disc Operating System (MSDOS), Gates



Brief History of Electronics [Dummer97]• 1981 Personal computer (PC), IBM• 1985 Hard disc card, Plus Development Corp.• 1985 Compact disc read only memory (CDROM), Philips• 1985 Windows, Microsoft• 1987 Digital audio broadcasting (DAB), international• 1989 Applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC)• 1989 C language (C++ 1996)• 1990 World Wide Web (WWW), BernersLee (commercial 1994)• 1993 Code division multiple access (CDMA) for mobile phones, Qualcomm• 1992 Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), international• 1993 Global Positioning System (GPS), Getting (1950’s)• 1995 Digital versatile disc (DVD), international• 1996 Digital video broadcasting (DVB), international• 1996 Java language• 1990s Wireless local area networks (WLAN)• 2000s Third generation mobile cellular systems

24



Brief History of Scientific Method [Losee01]• Aristotle (300s BC), first philosopher of science and systematic

classifier, developer of inductivedeductive method, Aristotelian worldview, four aspects of causation including material cause (what?),formal (structural) cause, efficient cause (how?) and final (teleological)cause (why?)

• F. Bacon (1620), founder of modern philosophy of science, inductiveexperimental method, accepted only material and efficient causes,divorce between science and theology

• R. Descartes (1637), founder of modern philosophy, rationalism,ontological reductionism (atomism), deductive hierarchy ofpropositions, hypotheses based on analogies

• G. Galilei (1638), start of empirism, idealizations in analysis,demonstration of inadequacy of Aristotle’s physics, breakthrough ofCopernician world view

• I. Newton (1687), method of analysis and synthesis (hypotheticodeductive method), reduction of laws of terrestrial (by Galileo) andplanetary (by Kepler) motion to Newtonian mechanics, distinctionbetween axiomatic system (abstract) and its empirical application(concrete)



Recent Progress

• discussion on theories of scientific progresscontinued [Losee01]• from prescriptive to descriptive philosophy of

science• evolutionary analogy in the progress of

science (naturalism)• realistantirealist controversy

• breakthrough of numerical methods• failure of analytical method for example in

system theory• interest in computability theory

25



Conclusions (1)

Literature review

Problem andhypotheses

Experiments/analysis

Theory/paper(new knowledge)

System(prototype)

Idea



Conclusions (2)

Question(problem)

Answer(hypothesis)

Experience(analogies)

Criticism(testing)

26



Conclusions (3)

•use bottomup (inductive) approach in research,which is essentially a learning process

•use topdown (deductive) approach in technicaldocuments (reviews, monographs), this will makethe presentation compact and easy to follow forexperts (use IMRAD structure)

•use bottomup approach in teaching (tutorials,textbooks), and integrate results by using the topdown approach

•remember that a doctoral thesis is not a textbook(writing a textbook is a large challenge), write thethesis for experts in the field



Conclusions (4): Iterative research method

27



Conclusions (5): Theory and practice

• A good research project emphasizes theoreticalresults (usually system models) and usesprototypes for verification and validation of thenew results



Final conclusions

General hints

• use bibliographies to improve your efficiencyin literature reviews (start from books andreviews, see the introduction of original papers)

• learn the terminology, write a classification(taxonomy) for the state of the art, and seehistorical trends

• define a problem and hypotheses (use bottomup empiricalinductive approach, makeexperiments early in your project)

• start to outline the paper right from thebeginning (there will never be “more time”),emphasize good organization, use topdowndeductive approach in documents

• reserve time for all phases in your project plan

Literature review

Problem andhypotheses

Experiments/analysis

Theory/paper(new knowledge)

System(prototype)

Idea

28



Final Word: Focus

“General Groves asksOppenheimer [the leader ofthe Manhattan project thatdeveloped the atomicbomb] what it will taketo get the Gadget [atomicbomb] built. “Focus,”Oppie answers, naming acritical element at everyGreat Group.”[Bennis98]

Source of the figure: Associated Press(http://www.infoplease.com/spot/mmbeamon.html)



References (1)• W. Bennis and P. W. Biederman, Organizing Genius: The Secrets of

Creative Collaboration. Addison Wesley, 1998.• P. Bock, Getting It Right: R&D Methods for Science and Engineering.

Academic Press, 2001.• D. Bohm and F. D. Beat, Science, Order and Creativity. Bantam

Books, 1987.• C. B. Boyer, A History of Mathematics. Wiley, 2nd revision edition,

1991.• J. Clute and P. Nicholls (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction,

reprint ed. St. Martin’s Press, 1995.• M. Davis, Scientific Papers and Presentations. Academic Press,

1997.• R. A. Day, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 5th ed. Oxyx

Press, 1998.• J. P. Calvez, Embedded RealTime Systems: A Specification and

Design Methodology. John Wiley & Sons, 1993.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/m

29



References (2)• P. Checkland, Systems Thinking, Systems Practice: A 30Year

Retrospective. Wiley, 1999.• T. M. Cover and J. A. Thomas, Elements of Information Theory.

Wiley, 1991.• D. Deutsch, Fabric of Reality. Penguin, 1998.• R. M. Felder and L. K. Silverman, “Learning and teaching styles in

engineering education,”Engineering Education, pp. 674681, April1988.

• R. P. Feynman, The Meaning of It All. Perseus Publishing, 1998.• R. P. Feynman, The Pleasure of Finding Thíngs Out. Perseus

Publishing, 1999.• D. D. Gajski, Silicon Compilation. AddisonWesley, 1988.• R. W. Hamming, “You and your research,”IEEE Potentials, pp. 37

40, October 1993.• S. Haykin, Communication Systems. 4th ed. Wiley, 2001.



References (3)

•D. Hicks, “Six reasons to do longterm research,”Researchand Technology Management, pp. 811, JulyAugust 1999.

•Honderich (Ed.), The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, 2nd ed.Oxford Univ Press, 2005.

•J. Hudson, The History of Chemistry. Chapman and Hall,1992.

•R. K. Jain and H. C. Triandis, Management of Research andDevelopment Organizations: Managing the Unmanageable.John Wiley & Sons, 1997.

•R. N. Kostoff, “Science and Technology Roadmaps,”IEEETransactions on Engineering Management, vol. 48, pp. 132143, May 2001.

•H. Kragh, Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in theTwentieth Century, reprint ed. Princeton University Press,2002.

•K. Leppälä et al., Professional Virtual Design of SmartProducts. IT Press, 2003.

30



References (4)•C. Loehle, “A guide to increased creativity in research

inspiration or perspiration?”BioScience, vol. 40, pp. 123129,February 1990,limnology.wisc.edu/courses/zoo955/publications/Wk04_Research/Loehle_1990_Guide_to_Creativity.pdf.

•J. Losee, A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science,4th ed. Oxford Univ Press, 2001.

•Lars Lundheim, “On Shannon and ‘Shannon's Formula’,”Telektronikk, vol. 98, no. 12002, pp. 2029, www.tuilmenau.de/site/mt/uploads/media/shannonLarsTelektronikk02.pdf.

•Z. Michalewicz and D. B. Fogel, How to Solve It: ModernHeuristics, 2nd ed. Springer, 2004.

•E. Nagel, Structure of Science: Problems in the Logic of ScientificExplanation. Hackett Pub Co, 1979.



References (5)

•I. Niiniluoto, Johdatus tieteenteoriaan: Käsitteen jateorianmuodostus, 3rd ed. Otava, 2002.

•I. Niiniluoto, Tieteellinen päättely ja selittäminen. Otava, 1983.•M. Polanyi, “The republic of science: Its political and economic

theory,”Minerva, vol. 1, pp. 5474, 1962,www.compilerpress.atfreeweb.com/Anno%20Polanyi%20Republic20%of%20Science%201962.htm.

•J. G. Proakis, Digital Communications. 4th ed. McGrawHill,2001.

•A. Rosenberg, Philosophy of Science: A ContemporaryIntroduction. Routlegde, 2000.

•Random House Webster’s Concise College Dictionary. NewYork: Random House, 1999.

•D. Schwanitz, Bildung: Alles was man wissen muss.Frankfurt, Germany: Eichborn, 1999.

http://www.compilerpress.atfreeweb.com/Anno%20Polanyi%20Repu

31



References (6)

•P. Strathern, Mendeleyev‘s Dream: The Quest for the Elements.Thomas Dunne Books, 2001.

•A. S. Tanenbaum, Computer Networks, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall,1996.

•Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the EnglishLanguage, Unabridged (a MerriamWebster). Cologne,Germany: Könemann, 1993.

•E. B. Wilson, An Introduction to Scientific Research, rev. ed.Dover Publications, 1990.

•E. O. Wilson, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge. RandomHouse, 1999.

•C. Wohlin et al., Experimentation in Software Engineering: AnIntroduction, Springer, 1999.



Recommended Reading (1)

Writing instructions• R. A. Day and B. Gastel, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 6th ed.

Oryx Press, 2006, 320 pp. (Explains the IMRAD structure of a paper.)• T. N. Huckin and L. A. Olsen, Technical Writing and Professional Communication

for Nonnative Speakers, 2nd ed. McGrawHill, 1991 (1983), xxii + 746 pp. (Inaddition to writing instructions, this book covers the grammar of the Englishlanguage.)

• N. J. Higham, Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences, 2nd ed.Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 1998 (1993), xvi + 302 pp. (Thisbook is recommended for mathematical writing.)

Dictionaries• MerriamWebster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed. MerriamWebster, 2003

(1898), 1664 pp. (ISBN 0877798095). (Recommended by most publishers.Available also at www.mw.com where you can also listen to the pronunciation.The dictionary first presents etymology and uses historical order of definitions.)

• Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 2nd ed. Random House, 2001(1947, 1991), 1600 pp. (The definitions start from the most common or currentmeanings first.)

http://www.m-w.comwhere

32




Research methods and philosophy of science• P. Bock, Getting It Right: R&D Methods for Science and Engineering. Academic

Press, 2001, xvii + 406 pp. (The author is a professor in engineering and he hasgiven a similar course on research methodology for several years.)

• A. Rosenberg, The Philosophy of Science: A Contemporary Introduction, 2nd ed.Routledge, 2005 (2000), 204 pp. (This is a general textbook about philosophy ofscience in English, although quite brief and written for undergraduate students.)

Systems engineering• L. Skyttner, General Systems Theory: Perspectives, Problems, Practice, 2nd ed.

World Scientific Publishing Company, 2006 (2001), 536 pp. (This book coversmany general system theories as information theory, which makes the book verysuitable for students working for example in signal processing.)

• P. Checkland, Systems Thinking, Systems Practice: Includes a 30yearRetrospective, new ed. Wiley, 1998 (1981), 66 + xiv + 330 pp. (This bookincludes an extensive history of systemsbased methodology starting from theancient Greek science.)




History of science and technology• J. E. McClellan III and H. Dorn, Science and Technology in World History: An

Introduction, 2nd ed. John Hopkins Univ Press, 2006 (1999), 496 pp. (The bookcovers the history of the last 12,000 years since the beginning of agriculture.)

• W. A. Atherton, From Compass to Computer: A History of Electrical andElectronics Engineering. San Francisco Press, 1984, 337 pp.

• J. Gribbin, The Scientists: A History of Science Told through the Lives of ItsGreatest Inventors. Random House, 2003, 672 pp. (This is a book about generalhistory of science, but covers only the times since Copernicus from 1543 when hepublished his work.)

• D. C. Lindberg, The Beginnings of Western Science: The European ScientificTradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, 600 B.C. to A.D.1450. University of Chicago Press, 1992, 474 pp. (The early history of science iscovered.)

introduction€to€research€methodology...

Documents