Scientific Research Methodologies

The teaching methodology will be expository in the presentation and justification of the main concepts and contents, alternating with a methodology focused on problem solving and moments of developing research in bibliographic databases. Debate and discussion of practical cases and scientific articles will be promoted.

Additionally, several seminars and open classes are integrated that seek to bring current topics in the field of Information Systems and Technologies and encourage students’ creativity in searching for topics for their research work.

Main objectives:

O1 – Train students to prepare scientific work proposals;

O2 – Search, appreciate and discuss scientific articles and case studies in the field of Management Information Systems;

O3 – Analyze various methodologies for preparing a scientific research work and writing techniques.

In terms of skills to be acquired, the student must:

C1 – Know the techniques for developing a scientific research work proposal;

C2 – Be able to research scientific and technical articles within the IS, analyze and discuss them;

C3 – Write a scientific research proposal.

1. Fundamentals of Scientific Research

– Characteristics of scientific research

– Scientific methods

– Research paradigms

– Ethics in scientific research.

2. Literature Review

– Structured bibliographic search

– Bibliographic search methods in scientific databases (b-On, Scopus, Web Of Science

 (WoS), IEEE, Google Scholar).

– Use of reference managers (Mendeley, Zotero, etc.).

3. Scientific Research Methods

– Qualitative and quantitative methods.

– Investigation using various methods

– Advantages, limitations and suitability of each method to the research problem.

4. Scientific Writing

– Structure research proposals: introduction, methodology, results and discussion.

– Techniques for writing and synthesizing scientific texts.

– Standards for References (APA, IEEE).

Continuous Assessment

The assessment includes the following components:

A. 1 Individual Practical Work: Create and formulate a research problem, carry out the respective literature review and indicate a research methodology. Write a research proposal consistent with the purpose of the non-teaching component of the Master's Degree.

A. 2 Group Projects: Debate of articles and practical cases in the IS domain.

A. 3 Active Participation: active attendance to classes and intervention in proposed challenges are counted (i.e., asking questions in open classes and seminars, communicating ideas, answering questions, etc.)

The final classification will be defined by the following formula:

Final classification = 60% Classification A. 1 + 25% Classification A. 2 + 15% Classification A. 3

Assessment by Exam

The evaluation comprises the formulation of a research problem, the execution of the respective literature review and the definition of a research methodology appropriate to the proposed topic. You must also understand the development and writing of all the steps outlined to prepare a research proposal suitable for the non-teaching component of the Master's Degree.

The work must be sent to the responsible teacher at least 48 hours in advance and will be presented and discussed on the day of the exam.