Office:  19/326 

Phone:  860 3212

E-mail: soliman@kfupm.edu.sa

Office Hours:

Textbook:         Fellows and Liu, Research Methods for Construction Blackwell, 1997

Objectives:        The objective of this seminar is to expose you to the principles of scientific research and to gain adequate knowledge to aid you in developing a research proposal executable into an acceptable thesis.

Description:      For seminar description see the attached syllabus.

Performance Evaluation:   Student’s performance in this seminar is evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis. To pass, you need to:

Student’s performance in this seminar is evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis. To pass, you need to:

1

Actively participate in the seminar discussions.

2

Submit at the end of the semester (last seminar meeting) a research proposal that demonstrates a clear understanding of the basic principles of scientific research.

3

In lieu of the proposal, students take a final exam and pass it with a grade of 50% or better.

As a final note, I sincerely sympathize with those of you who feel the above requirements are disproportionate to the number of credit hours allotted to this seminar. My only conciliation is that the extra effort you put in this seminar will produce a high “return on investment” when you complete your thesis or report.

CEM 599 (Dr. Almohawis)

 SYLLABUS

Meeting #

Topic

Reading

1

 Introduction to the Seminar   

---

2

Scientific Inquiry & Theories 

Chapters 1, 3

3

The research Question (Thesis Topics)

Chapter 2

4

Concepts, Constructs, and Variables

---

5

Hypothesis  

Chapter 5

6,7

Research Design

Chapter 4

8

Validity: Internal and External

---

9

Measurements, Reliability, and Validity

---

10, 11

Date Collection Techniques

Chapter 6

12

Scaling

Handout

13

The Research Proposal

Handout

14

The Research Report

Chapters 8,9

15

Exam