COURSE PLAN

For
Research Methodology

Course Coordinator :

Course Instructors :

1. One from each department

Course Type : Core course

Semester and Year : I semester- Ph.D.

L-T-P : 3-0-2

Credits : 4 (3+1)
School : Common to all
Department : Ph.D

Course Level : Ph.D

Research Office
 COURSE CONTEXT

Common to all Ph.D

scholars N/A
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

DATE THIS COURSE

WILL BE EFFECTIVE
January, 2025
DEGREE Ph.D FROM

COURSE BRIEF

COURSE TITLE Research PRE-REQUISITES NA

Methodology

COURSE CODE TOTAL CREDITS 5

COURSE TYPE Blended mode L-T-P FORMAT 4-0-2

COURSE SUMMARY

The course covers all the conceptual and methodological issues that go into the successful conduct of
research. That includes philosophy of science, the methodological issues in measurement, proposing and
testing hypotheses, scientific communication and the ethical issues in the practice of science. This
particular course is designed in a way that the research scholars will understand all the intricacies of
research and persuade it with confidence.
COURSE-SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOMES (CO)
By the end of this program, students should have the following knowledge, skills and values:
CO1: Demonstrate understanding of the intricacies of research
CO2: Understand the concept of research, various terminologies involved in research
CO3: : Ability to define and apply appropriate parameters and research problems
CO4: Ability to develop skills to draft research paper
CO5: Ability to analyse and comprehend the ethical practices in conducting research and dissemination of
results in different forms
DETAILED SYLLABUS

Unit I: Objectives and types of research: Motivation and objectives, research methods vs methodology.
Types of research. Research formulation: Defining and formulating the research problem, selecting the
problem, the necessity of defining the problem, Literature review – Scientometrics and Systematic- PRISMA
protocol, searching through databases and registries, research gap identification and processing.

Unit II: Research design and methods: Research design basic principles, need of research design, features
of good design, important concepts relating to research design, observation, and facts. Execution of the
research, data collection and analysis: Data collection, sources, validation, sampling, tools and software for
data processing, important statistical concepts for data processing, AI applications in research.

Unit III: Ethics in scientific dissemination: Ethics in science and research, Intellectual honesty and
integrity, Scientific and publication misconduct: Falsification, fabrication, and plagiarism (FFP), Redundant
publication, salami slicing, duplication publication, selective reporting, and misrepresenting data.
Authorship misrepresentation, CRediT statement, Plagiarism checking tools. Publication ethics: Importance
and best practices (COPE, WAME), predatory publication, tools to identify (SPPU), unethical behaviour in
publication.

Unit IV: Access and metrics: Open access: Open access movement, Budapest agreement, and other
movements, SHERPA/ RoMEO/ DOAJ, Journal finders, and AI tools. Indexing databases and metrics:
Proquest, Ulrich, Scopus, Web of Science, Dimensions, Author metrics ( h-index, g-index, i10 index,
altmetrics), Citation analysis, Journal metrics ( JCR, Citescore, SNIP, SJR, other measures)

Unit V: Reporting and thesis writing: Structure and components of scientific reports, report types,
technical reports and thesis. Thesis writing, concept and process involved, bibliography, referencing and
footnotes. Oral presentation planning, software tools, creating and making effective presentations, use of
visual aids, importance of effective communication, Introduction to Intellectual property rights, Patent,
Industrial design, copyright- Process involved.

Unit VI: Domain-specific research training focusing on enhancing research skills to persuade research in
their respective domain.
 LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS:
1. Statistical evaluation of data using statistical packages
2. Introduction to research paper writing
3. Scientometric-based research trend analysis.
4. Research Metrics and interpretation of research metrics.
5. Ethical dilemma analysis
6. Review paper writing using AI-based tools in an ethical way
7. Plagiarism: Identification and abatement: Process and protocols

TEXTBOOKS/LEARNING RESOURCES:

1. The Craft of Research, Fourth Edition by Wayne C. Booth, Joseph Williams, and Gregory
G. Colomb
2. Writing for Social Science Research by Howard Becker
3. Introducing Research Methodology: A Beginner's Guide to Doing a Research Project by
Rupert Wong
4. Research Methods in Education by Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, and Keith Morrison

MOOC COURSES (Reference to the Course):

1. Understanding Research Methods | Coursera

2. Research Methodologies | Coursera
3. Introduction to Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | Coursera
4. Introduction to Statistics | Coursera
5. Introduction to Academic Writing | Coursera
6. NUS: Quantitative and Qualitative Research for Beginners | edX
7. EdinburghX: Introduction to Social Research Methods | edX

Lecture Wise Plan ( All lectures are of 60 – 80 min duration in online mode)

No. Content Planned

Introduction to RMPE- Motivation and Objectives for Research – Why should one pursue
1 research? Case studies on research and its importance to society

2 Case studies of important research works that pushed human evolution – Invention of wheel,
Telephone, communication, computers, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence

Types of research – Introduction to Exploratory Research, Experimental Research,

3
Fundamental Research, Applied Research, Causal Research, Cross-sectional research,
Longitudinal research, Conclusive research, survey-based research.
 Qualitative Research – Types- concepts- how to perform? Structured interviews and semi
4
structured interviews – Ethnography, Narrative, Phenomenology, Grounded theory, case
studies.

5 Quantitative Research - Causal-Comparative Research- Correlational Research-

Experimental Research- Survey Research
Research problems – Understanding the nuances – How to define a problem statement-
6 Theory and practice of problem definition

Problem definition and persuading the problem statement – Concepts of problem definition,
7
what is a good problem statement?
Literature Review – How to do it? Searching through registries, databases and using AI
8
search tools- Generative AI and its use in Scientific literature review
9 PRISMA protocol-based research review methods
10 SPAR4SLR based research review methods
Writing a review article with research tools : online and desktop-based tools- PurposeUsage-
11
Exposure
12 Buffer class
13 Research Design – Principles and components
14 Features of a good research design – Types and characteristics
15 Observation and facts – Importance of observation

16 Data collection and analysis – Coordinated with laboratory practice using statistics
17 Data manipulation techniques – Manual and software-based methods
18 Statistical concepts for research – Fundamental statistics- Importance and methods
19 Importance of statistical inference for researchers: Importance and methods
20 Mean, Median, Mode calculation – Problems
21 Variance and Standard deviation calculation - Problems
22 Histogram and statistical distribution – Software based approach for calculation
23 Population and sampling techniques in research – Software based approach for calculation
24 Statistical software for research- Theory to practice – Demonstration of Minitab
25 Buffer class
26 Ethics in research and science, Scientific misconduct – Case studies
27 COPE and other organization in controlling unethical practices
 WAME and its importance in avoiding unethical practices: Case study – Ethics in medical
28
research
29 Publication and other dissemination related ethical issues
30 Best practices in ethical dissemination of research – Case studies – COPE based case studies
31 Predatory publication – Identification of sources and how to avoid? - Demonstration
32 Authorship misrepresentation and role of CRediT author statement
Recent issues in publication industry and its impact on researchers: Trends, practices and
33
methods to avoid issues
34 Buffer class
35 Open access movement and its importance in research dissemination
36 Agreements and treaties in open access movement
Journal finders and AI tools – Elsevier, Springer, Tandf online, Emerald journal finders- Non
37
proprietary tools for journal finding.
38 Think, Check and submit concept, how it works and how to use it?
39 Indexing databases – Usage, process and conflicts, Paid and open access databases
Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, Agriculture database, Pubmed, Lens, Patseer – Concept
40
and demonstration
41 Article, author, journal level metrics- Usage and interpretation
42 Searching and understanding the metrics- A newbie researchers’ perspective
43 Buffer class
44 Scientific reports and white papers – Concept to finalisation
Thesis and report writing – Nuances – Sections in a good thesis – Demonstration of
45
Proquest, Sodhganga- OATD and EBSCO
Modern software tools for report writing – An introduction – Paperpal, Writefull, Zoho
46
writer- Ethical usage of Generative AI tools for report writing
What is a good thesis? Sample case study- Formation of content, sections, processing,
47
editing, proof reading and validating
48 Plagiarism and AI content identification and avoiding – Demonstration using Turnitin and
iThenticate – How to read and interpret a good plagiarism report- Shortcomings and pitfalls
49 Tools for creating effective presentations – Canva and Lucid chart based case studies
Intellectual property rights – Importance of IPR to researcher – Important IPR filings in
50
recent decade- Why a researcher should secure his innovation through IPR?
Important IPR cases that revolutionized research practices- Case study – IPR in Innovation
51
management
 Copyright – Process, importance and how to copyright a content – Copyrighting a content-
52
Intricacies
53 Indian patent and other IPR laws – An introduction
54 Industrial design – Process, importance and filing procedure in the Indian context
55 Patent filing process, opposition, hearing and granting process
56 Doubt-clearing session and discussion

Lab Wise Plan/ Hands on session

No. Content Planned

Statistical evaluation of data using statistical packages ( Minitab, R, SAS)
1
Statistical evaluation of data using SAS software
2
Introduction to research paper writing – Usage of Generative AI in ethical way
3
Review paper writing using SPAR4SLR protocol
4
Scientometric-based research trend analysis.
5
Bibliometrics tools including VoS viewer
6
Research Metrics and interpretation of research metrics.
7
Scopus and Web of Science: Search and representation
8
Graphing and imaging tool s: introduction and practice
9
Ethical dilemma analysis
10
Review paper writing using AI-based tools in an ethical way
11
AI based search engines for academic research
12
Ethical usage of generative AI: Practices and trends
13
Plagiarism: Identification and abatement: Process and protocols, Ethical process
14 including COPE documentation in research analysis
Evaluation Components

Theme of
S.No Components of Course Evaluation Weightage
evaluation
Understanding Assignments through the Learning management
1 of concepts system (Bi-weekly assignments that cover various 10%
topics in research methodology)
Additional Coursera/ EDX Course Certification – Atleast two
learning (the content should be relevant to the Research
2 20%
Methodology & Publication Ethics syllabus and of
minimum 12 hours duration)
Attentiveness Attendance, Class Participation and Discussions
3 10%
and interest (active participation in class discussions and debates)
Knowledge Mid & End Examinations (Series of online quizzes/
4 30%
checking discussions/ postings covering the entire syllabus)
Ethical issue Ethical Dilemma Analysis (Students are expected to
and lateral analyse the given real-world ethical dilemmas in
10%
thinking research and propose solutions)
5 analysis
Language English language certification through MOOC-
skills for Certification should be obtained from a course of a 10%
future research minimum duration of 20 hours duration
Research Research Proposal (Each student should develop a
skills including research proposal that includes research questions,
6 10%
integrity hypotheses, a literature review, research design, and
ethical considerations)
For the online examinations, LMS will be used unless otherwise specified, offline
examinations will be duly notified prior

▪ Software/Tools Used: Minitab, SAS, R,

▪ Advanced Research Topics: Important research works and its contribution to
the society, AI impregnation into research domain.

Attendance Policy
1. At least 75% attendance in the course is mandatory.
2. A maximum of 5% shall be allowed under medical grounds and 5% on representing the
University on official events outside like sports, hackathons, NCC, NSS etc.
3. Students with less than 65% of attendance shall be prevented from writing the final
assessment.
4. Scholars who are attending the class without video switched on will be marked as absent for
that particular session.
5. Poll submission is mandatory, any scholar who is not submitting the poll will be marked
absent for that session.

Academic Dishonesty & Plagiarism

Plagiarism is "to offer work or ideas from another source as one's own, with or without
authorization of the source author(s), directly by verbatim copying or by usage of any AI
software" (i.e., with or without permission from the original author). In certain cases,
authorization might be provided for the usage of other sources through written permission
may not be considered as plagiarism. It is a serious academic offence which should be
avoided, the following method will be adopted to evaluate plagiarism in submitted documents
including assignments, material, class test content and other similar academic documents.
Level 1: Similarities up to 20% - Student will be asked to revise the document and resubmit for
evaluation, once chance will be provided to revise.
Level 2: Similarities above 20% to 40%- Student will be warned and one chance will be provided to
revise the document and resubmit.
Level 3: Similarities above 40% and above: If the plagiarism level is more than 40% student will
get a Fail grade.

AI tools and Generative AI usage policy: We strongly discourage the usage of any AI tools,
including any LLM-based tools to develop content for assignments, examination or other evaluation
component. Any such content, if found will be evaluated with zero marks without any deliberation.
We strongly encourage authors to develop content in their own, discuss and deliberate for better
understanding.

Instructor Responsible for Lecture PPTs Preparation:

Instructor Responsible for Preparation of Lab Assignments: