MOREHEAD STATE UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY
SYLLABUS
IET 698 - Research Methods in Technology
Spring 2007 Section 301 and 300
Instructor: Ahmad Zargari
COURSE DESCRIPTION
IET 698 (3-0-3); II. Research Methods in Technology. Prerequisites: Consent of instructor. IET 603 - Quality Assurance in Science and Technology and IET 619 – Total Quality Control recommended. A study of the research concepts and procedures, formulating and defining the problem, critically reviewing the literature, writing a research proposal, developing data collection instruments, collecting and analyzing the data, and writing a research report.
COURSE CONTENT
Purpose of the course.
This course is offered to help students achieve increased levels of competence required or conducting research in industrial technology discipline, interpretation and utilization f research data, and preparation of research report. Special emphasis will be placed in pplying previously learned knowledge, skills or attitudes about technology to find and valuate plausible solutions to problems in business or industry.
Performance objectives of the course
Upon completion of the course, the students will be able to:
1. Understand the concept and characteristics of research relating to the selection
of a technical research topic, and how to complete a project or investigation.
2. Select, define, and formulate the research problem and execute the
investigation.
3. Critically review the related literature to understand the context into which the problem fits and to learn how other researchers have addressed similar problems.
4. Understand the application of computer-aided statistical data analysis in conducting applied technical research.
5. Design empirical projects, collect and evaluate data in order to make production processes more efficient.
6. Analyze the experimentation results in order to make educated and informed decisions on the research hypothesis and/or objective.
7. Utilize research results to address technological problems encountered in industry.
8. Prepare to publish the results of the investigation and the methods used to research the suggested conclusions.
Outline of course content including textbook and recommended readings:
1. Introduction: What is research?
2. Addressing problems with scientific thinking
3. The research process
4. The research proposal: design strategies
5. Tools of research
6. The problem: The heart of the research process
7. The review of related literature
8. Planning your research design
9. Writing the research proposal
10. Types of research, qualitative research, historical research
11. Quantitative research: descriptive research, experimental and casual-comparative designs
12. Data collection instruments
13. Statistical techniques for analyzing quantitative data
14. Technical details: Style, format, and organization of the research report
15. The thesis or dissertation
16. Preparing a research article or a grant proposal
Textbook and Reference Sources
Required Texts for the course.
Cooper, D.R., and Schinder, P. S. (2006). Business research methods (9th
Edition). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Recommended Texts
Beach, D.P., and Alvager, T. K. E. (1992). Handbook for scientific and
technical research. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Leedy, P. D., and Ormrod, J. E. (2005). Practical research: Planning and design (8th Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Salkind, N. L. (2009). Exploring Research (7th Edition). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Schloss, P. J., and Smith, M. A. (1999). Conducting research. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Examinations:
To identify the student's understanding of the topics covered, each exam will use multiple choice, true/false, matching, and essay questions. Each student's course grade will be determined by evaluation of class assignments, projects, and final comprehensive examination, final evaluation of the sample thesis or major-project document; and class participation or progress.
EVALUATION/GRADING:
A. Grading Values: Points
Quizzes ……………………………………………………………………………………….15%
Group projects…………………………………………………………………….…………..15%
Individual projects, review, interview, and report (Discussion Board)....................................15%
Portfolios……………………………………………………………………………………… 5%
Final exam………………………………………. …………………………………………..15%
Research project……………………………………………………………………………. 35%
Maximum points………………………………………………………………………….. 100%
In order to earn the total points for class participation, the student must be present in all
sessions and be actively involved in discussions.
B. Grading Scale:
90-100% = A 80-89% = B 70-79% = C 60-69% = D Below 60% = E