UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

(All rights reserved)

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

SCHOOL OF PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

FIRST SEMESTER 2019/2020

ACADEMIC YEAR
Master of Science /Philosophy in Computer Science

COURSE SYLLABUS
Course Code and Title: CSCD 601/ Research Methods

Credits: Three (3) Credits

Lecture Period(s) and Venue: Postgraduate Room

Prerequisites: None
Course Instructor
 Name: Dr Isaac Wiafe
 Office Location: Department of Computer Science
 Office Hours: Wednesday 13:00 -15:00
 E-mail: iwiafe@ug.edu.gh
 Telephone:

Teaching Assistant
[To be provided]

Course Overview
This course examines different methods of acquiring knowledge, role of economic research, identification
of a research problem and stating of research questions and hypotheses.
Also review of literature, meaning, purpose and principles of research designs and the measurement design
will be examined. The course further acquaints students with the method of data collection and analysis;
design research, descriptive and inferential statistics; interpretation of data, technical writing and technical
presentation; and experiment design and statistical analysis of results

Course Objective/Goals:
The course seeks to equip students with the scientific research knowledge and skills required for
identifying and addressing Information technology/Computer Science challenges and opportunities in
organizations and society. It seeks to prepare students to conduct independent research within the specified
field. It also seeks to teach students on how to align theoretical frameworks with units of analysis in their
research.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, students should be able to:

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  Identify relevant IT-related challenges and opportunities for research, and apply scientific rigour to
address them
 Apply knowledge in technical, behavioural and economic research paradigms to solve real-life
problems of IT design, management and use
 Design information technology research and carry it out to emerge with valid findings
 Apply theory to frame a research and analyse its findings
 Justify a chosen theory according to the problems and objectives of a piece of research
 Communicate information systems research findings effectively in oral or written form

Course Delivery:
This course shall be delivered through lectures, group discussion, field studies and lab sessions

Plagiarism policy
Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable and shall be treated as a serious offence. Appropriate sanctions, as
stipulated in the Plagiarism Policy, will be applied when students are found to have violated the Plagiarism
policy. The policy is available at http://www.ug.edu.gh/aqau/policies-guidelines. ALL students are
expected to familiarize themselves with the contents of the Policy.

Assessment and Grading

Research/Project/Assignment/lab 50%
Final Exam 50 %

Grading Scale:
Please refer to Undergraduate Handbook

Reading List /Required Text

 Hevner, A., & Chatterjee, S. (2010). Design Research in Information Systems, 22, 9–23.
DOI:10.1007/978-1-4419-5653-8
 Gravetter, F. J. and Forzano, L. B. Research Methods for Behavioural Sciences (2009) Cengage,
Belmont, CA
 Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. C., & Williams, J. M. (2008). The craft of research (3rd ed.). Chicago:
University of Chicago Press. ISBN-10: 0226065669
 Christensen, L. B., Johnson, R.B. & Turner, L. A. (2010). Research methods, design and analysis
(11th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon, ISBN-10: 0205701655
 Creswell, J. W. (2008). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods (3rd ed.).
Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. ISBN-10: 1412965578
 Graziano, A. M., & Raulin, M. L. (2009). Research methods: A process of inquiry (7th ed.). Boston:
Allyn and Bacon, ISBN-10: 0205634028.
 Walliman, N. (2010). Research Methods: The Basics. London: Routledge. ISBN-10: 0415489946

Other Information
 Late Policy
No late submission. Otherwise, it will be penalized or may not be graded.
 Collaboration Policy
Students are encouraged to collaborate, particularly on the course project.
 Cheating Policy
We will strictly follow the university policy on cheating and plagiarism which is available here.

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 Table 1 Weekly Schedule

Wk Theme Topics Comments/Lab

1 Intro to Computer  Methods of Acquiring Knowledge Using Mendeley effectively
Science Research  Definition & overview of key concepts [Objective: Student must setup a Mendeley
in research account and share document with colleagues]
 Basic Beliefs & Paradigms
 Types of Research
2 Academic writing  Structuring your work (proportions) Ms Word for Academic Writing
Skills (Lab  Academic English [Objective: Student must develop a MPhil thesis
Session)  Dos and Don’ts template using Ms Word]
 Arguments, prepositions and ideas
 Inferences and conclusions
 Tables and graphs
 Paragraphing and bullets
 The MPhil/ PhD Report format
3 Conducting  How to find literature Academic writing practice
Literature Review  Electronic libraries and Internet [Objective: Student must write a 1000 words
 How to read and cite academic work (excluding citation) literature review on an any
 Using referencing software topic of his or her interest] - at least 7 citations
4 Systematic Review  How to conduct a systematic review in Expand articles in selected (at least 50 articles)
a selected research area
5 Design Science  Design Science (Artificial) Start a systematic review in the selected research
Research  Steps in Design Science area
[Objective: Student must write a 2000 words
 How to find a relevant topic
(excluding citation) an initial systematic review
 Validating your ideas
of the area of interest] - at least 20 citations
6 Evaluating Design  Experimentation Continue systematic review [work with interim
Research (1)  Surveys supervisor]
 Case Studies
7  Mid Semester Assessment
8 Evaluating Design  Prototype Construction and Testing
Research (2)  Simulations
 Usability Analysis
9 Conducting  Steps in Natural Science
natural Science  How to find a relevant topic
Research (1)  Formulating hypothesis
10 Conducting  Sampling Techniques
Natural Science  Questionnaire development
Research (2)  Data Analysis
11 Research Ethics/  Introduction to ethics Submit a completed systematic review
Academic  History of research ethics [Objective: Student must write a 6000-words
Presentations  The laws and ethics of research (excluding citation) systematic review of the
 PowerPoint Slides area of interest]
 Language, message, timing, etc.
 Attacker vs defender
12 Presentation (1) Student will do an oral presentation on a systematic review of his or her area of interest. The
13 Presentation (2) presentation should identify knowledge gaps, challenges, opportunities for further studies in
the chosen area.