Методология научного творчества = Methodogy of scientific research. Учебно-методическое пособие

Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «РОССИЙСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ ДРУЖБЫ НАРОДОВ»

Д.О. Капралова

МЕТОДОЛОГИЯ НАУЧНОГО ТВОРЧЕСТВА

METHODOGY

OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Учебно-методическое пособие

Москва Российский университет дружбы народов

2018

Капралова, Д. О.

К20 Методология научного творчества = Methodogy of scientific research : учебно-методическое пособие / Д. О. Капралова. – Москва : РУДН, 2018. – 60 с.

The manual is intended for the discipline «Methodogy of scientific research». The manual describes all the research process stages, suggests practical advises and steps for realizing either article or graduate thesis. It can be useful for foreign students for the better understanding the Russian scientific school and rules, ad hoccery in Russian people’s friendship university.

PRINCIPLES OF SELECTING THE TOPIC FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Scientific research is the process of studying and understanding reality, the connections between individual phenomena of the environment and their regularities.[1] The main stages of scientific research are: [2]:

1)- an emergence of ideas, the topic formulation;

2)- setting a goal of the study;

3)- hypothesizing, theoretical research;

4)- conducting an experiment, summarizing scientific facts and results;

5)- analysis and design of scientific research;

6)- introduction and definition of the effectiveness of scientific research;

Among all the stages of scientific research, the most responsible, according to many well-known scientists, is the definition of the scientific research topic, sinceitsformulation will determine the success of the research. According to many scientists, choosing a topic is often more difficult than conducting a study itself.

A topic is a scientific task that requires a solution, which covers a certain area of scientific research. Topics can be theoretical, practical and mixed. [3]

When deciding on a topic, there are a few things that you may need to do

brainstorm ideas

choose a topic that will enable you to read and understand the literature

ensurethatthetopicismanageableandthatmaterialisavailable

make a list of keywords

be flexible

define your topic as a focused research question

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research and read more about your topic formulate a thesis statement

It is necessary to be aware of the depth of coverage needed and the due date. These important factors may help to decide how much and when to modify the topic. The scientific supervisors of students usually provide specific requirements, if not, there are some typical recommendations:

Table 1

Guidelines for approximate number and types of sources needed [4]

There areanumber of common approachestothe choice of the topic:

1.Based on a good overview of the achievements in any branch of science, from the recommended lists of topics proposed for development by scientific institutions. If there is no topic in mind, it may be good to think of a general topic and then to narrow it. It is necessary for thetopic to be not too general and toonarrow.

2.Basedonthestudyofdefendeddissertations-astheyare usually covered in the problems that the author has not solved, which can serve as a starting point for new research.

3.The repetition of previously studied subjects, but at a deeper level.

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4.By the principle of analogies, when the approaches, methods,andtestsusedinanotherareaofknowledgeareborrowed to solve the problem of interest. [3]

5.An intuitive finding of existing contradictions as a starting point for research.

6.The choice of a topic using special methods is the determination of the cause underlying the observed phenomena.

Two resources can be used to select a topic:

-CQ researcher (list of hot topics)

-Credo Reference

As "special" methods, methods used in any other areas (for example, in the management of production quality) can be used to narrow the problem or even to find the main reason of some phenomena. There are a lot of such methods. Among the most interesting are:

1.Diagram of Ishikawa

2.Method 5 why

3.The matrix method

Diagram of Ishikawa

Kaoru Ishikawa was the University of Tokyo professor and the largest specialist in quality management. This diagram is also known under the names "Root Cause Analysis Chart", "CauseEffect Diagram" and "Fish Bone Diagram"

The Ishikawa diagram is used to measure, evaluate, monitor and improve the quality of production processes and, together with the scatter diagram, stratification, checklist, histogram, Pareto chart and control chart, is included in the list of "seven quality control tools"[5].

Itis used tothe graphicalarrangement of allthe factorsthat affect the object of interest. In addition, not only the factors but also the cause-effect relationships of these factors are graphically outlined.

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The construction of the diagram is based on the definition (statement) of the problem, which must be solved [6].

The overall appearance of the diagram resembles a fish skeleton. On the right is the "head", that is, the object under study, the problem. On the left, along with the "ridge", all influencing factors. The most significant parameters and factors are closest to the "head". The main causes of the problemare "large bones of the fish skeleton". They need to be enclosed in frames and connected with the "ridge" with oblique arrows. Then there are secondary causes that have an effect on the main causes that are their consequence. These are the "middle bones" that adjoin the "big bones", at the end "small bones" are drawn, adjacent to the "middle" - these are the third-order reasons.

The basic rule of constructing the Ishikawa diagram is that when analyzing the diagram, absolutely everything, even seemingly insignificant, causes and factors should be taken into account.[6]. If at the initial stage, even before the chart wasdrawn, somefactorfromyourfieldofvisiondroppedout,itwillnotappear at a later stage.[7].

Another rule for constructing a diagram:

We can assume that the wording of the factors and causes should be as accurate as possible - if the wording is vague or too general, then the diagram will be correct, but the benefit from it will not be perfect.

Despite its relative simplicity, the construction of the Ishikawa diagram requires its performers to have a good knowledge of the object of analysis and understanding and the mutual influence of factors.

Method 5 "Why?"

It was developed as the basis of the scientific approach of the Toyota company by the author Sakiti Toyoda in the 30s of the XX century.

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The method requires very little time and is to ask the question "Why?" (Why), which is designated as 5W.

If five times to get answers to the question "Why?", The cause of the problem and the method of solving it will become obvious. The solution (or "How?" - how-to) is designated as 1H. Thus, the five "Why?" Are equal to one "How?" (5W = 1H)[6].

Steps of this method [8]

1)Start by identifying a problem that you’re having.

2)Ask “why” that problem is occurring. Make sure that your answer is grounded in fact. You should be able to state the proof or evidence that you’re relying on for your assertion of the reason why the problem is occurring.

3)Once you have an answer, ask “why” again.

4)Continue the process until you reach the root cause of the problem. Usually, you’ll be able to identify the root cause of a problem after asking “why” five times.

5)Once you’ve identified the root cause of the problem, comeupwithacounter-measurethatpreventsitfromrecurring.

Matrix Diagram Method

A matrix diagram is used to organize and present a large amount of data (elements) to graphically illustrate the logical relationships between different elements while simultaneously displaying the importance (strength) of these links.

The purpose of the matrix diagram is a tabular representation of the logical relationships and the relative importance of the links between a large number of parameters.

Links can be presented both on a qualitative (strongly, medium, weak), and on a quantitative (9-3-1) level [7].

Thereareseveralvariantsofthegraphicalrepresentationof the matrix: L, T, X, C, Y, and matrices of the "roof" type.

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Table 2

The parameters to be investigated - for example, the main reasons for the onset of an event and possible actions to eliminate them, are located horizontally and vertically, respectively. Next, we consider the binding force or the force of influence of each parameterhorizontallywitheachparameteralongthevertical.And the total amount is calculated horizontally and vertically. The reason (factor, action, etc.), which gets the maximum number of points, turns out to be the main one. Thus, when choosing a topic for research, it makes sense to choose the most "influential" parameter.

The main steps [9]

Decision matrices can help not only in selecting the best option but also in prioritizing tasks, problem-solving or even crafting arguments to defend a decision you've already made.

List the decision alternatives as rows, and the relevant factors affecting the decisions, such as cost, ease. and effectiveness, as the columns.

Thenaratingscaleisestablishedtoassessthevalueofeach alternative/factor combination and the total ranking of each column and line to find the most significant reason or problem is calculated.

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STEP 2. SEARCHING INFORMATION FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Acharacteristicfeatureofthemodernsciencedevelopment is the rapid flow of new scientific data obtained as a result of research.

Annually in the world, there are more than 500 thousand booksonvariousissues.Moremagazinesarebeingpublished.But, despite this, a huge amount of scientific and technical information remains unpublished [10].

Information has the property of "aging". This is due to the appearance of new printed and unpublished information or a decrease in the need for this information.

Accordingtosomedata,theintensityofthefallinthevalue of information ("aging") is roughly 10% per day for newspapers, 10% per month for magazines and 10% per year for books[10].

Insufficient use of world information leads to duplication ofresearch.Thenumberofretrieveddatareaches60andeven80% in various areas of scientific and technical creativity. And this is a loss, which in the US, for example, is estimated by many billions of dollars annually.

Nowadays, information is a rather expensive resource, moreover, the resource is not affordable for everyone. This is due not only to the fact that it needs to be bought, but also because the information lying in free access should be found and separated from unnecessary.

Information, as a resource, has a set of qualitative and quantitative properties:

The quality of information is the nature of its correspondence to the needs of the user. Qualitative properties are:

1.Adequacy - the degree of perception by the consumer of the meaning, laid down by the author.

2.Reliability-thecorrespondenceofobjectivereality(both present and past). Sometimes unreliable data can provide reliable information[8],forexample,whenthedegreeoftheirunreliability

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is known in advance. There are methods for processing inaccurate data in order to obtain more reliable information. Such as filtering (screening) and statistical analysis.

3.Objectivity - independence of opinion

4.Relevance - the importance at the moment.

5.Value - utility for a particular consumer. There is a special concept - Value of information (VOI or VoIP) is the amount a decision maker would be willing to pay for information prior to making a decision.

6.Availability - the degree to which information can be

obtained

Quantitative properties:

1)Completeness - sufficiency for decision-making (similar to mathematical "necessary and sufficient attribute")

2)Redundancy is the presence of a quantity of information greater than necessary for perception (the text in Russian has a redundancy of about 20-25%. If you discard every fifth letter, the text will remain readable, although it will be very tiring to read it. The range of methods by which it is possible to extract adequate information is wider: the Sumerian cuneiform cannot be deciphered, as long as archeological excavations have not accumulated enough volume (more than 5000) of clay tablets [8])

To simplify the search for necessary information, there are special techniques that are used in libraries. But as more and more currentinformationcanbeeasilyandquicklyfoundontheInternet, it is increasingly important to acquire search technologies on the network.

Search algorithm for scientific information on the topics of scientific research work

1. Break down the topic should into sections and subsections.

2. A list of encyclopedias, dictionaries, and reference literature should be identified to be used for the interpretation of incomprehensible words and concepts.

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