02-10-2012, 03:34 PM
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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RESEARCH:
Research is defined as human activity based on the intellectual application in the investigation of matter. The primary purpose for applied research is discovering, interpreting, and the development of the methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe. Research can use the scientific method, but need not do so.
SCOPE OF RESEARCH:
Research needs valuable resources such as money, time, materials, manpower and machines to get the work done effectively to minimize input value for a unit value of output and the return-on-investment.
Aim of the research:
The assigned task was to conduct a survey for a well reputed company. Research is concerned with the systematic and objective collection, analysis and evaluation of information about specific aspects in order to help management make effective decisions.
Once the aspect is identified and defined it is the responsibility of the researcher to chalk out a comprehensive plan explaining each step required to conduct the research in a successful manner.
Introduction
Lumped Parameter Model of Ice Growth
In this section, governing equations are developed to model ice growth on the heat exchanger plates. The model is intended to characterize the dynamics of the ice growth without the [added problem] of the detailed ice profiles. The presentation begins with mass and energy balances and concludes with the development of a model for the heat transfer between the water and the coolant.
Energy and Mass Balances
An analytical model of a storage tank and heat exchanger was constructed to predict the amount of ice that could be produced on the heat exchanger. The model predicts the energy flows into and out of the storage tank by considering energy and mass balances for a suitable control volume. The rates of energy removal from the tank are related to parameters that depend on the properties of the storage medium, the physical characteristics of the system, and the environmental conditions. After this model was verified by experiments, it was used to predict the effects of these parameters on the system performance.
The heat exchanger, illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, consists of two plates with attached tubes placed in parallel between supply and return headers. This type of heat exchanger was chosen because of its thermal characteristics, large surface area, ready availability, and because the ice remains attached to the heat exchanger. To simplify the model, no stratification of the water is allowed in the storage tank. A submerged pump is placed in the tank to keep the water well mixed.
Social research refers to research conducted by social scientists (primarily within sociology and social psychology), but also within other disciplines such as social policy, human geography, political science, social anthropology and education. Sociologists and other social scientists study diverse things: from census data on hundreds of thousands of human beings, through the in-depth analysis of the life of a single important person to monitoring what is happening on a street today - or what was happening a few hundred years ago.
Social scientists use many different methods in order to describe, explore and understand social life. Social methods can generally be subdivided into two broad categories. Quantitative methods are concerned with attempts to quantify social phenomena and collect and analyse numerical data, and focus on the links among a smaller number of attributes across many cases. Qualitative methods, on the other hand, emphasise personal experiences and interpretation over quantification, are more concerned with understanding the meaning of social phenomena and focus on links among a larger number of attributes across relatively few cases. While very different in many aspects, both qualitative and quantitative approaches involve a systematic interaction between theories and data.
Common tools of quantitative researchers include surveys, questionnaires, and secondary analysis of statistical data that has been gathered for other purposes (for example, censuses or the results of social attitudes surveys). Commonly used qualitative methods include focus groups, participant observation, and other techniques.
Scientific method refers to techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.
Although procedures vary from one field of inquiry to another, identifiable features distinguish scientific inquiry from other methodologies of knowledge. Scientific researchers propose hypotheses as explanations of phenomena, and design experimentalstudies to test these hypotheses. These steps must be repeatable in order to dependably predict any future results. Theories that encompass wider domains of inquiry may bind many hypotheses together in a coherent structure. This in turn may help form new hypotheses or place groups of hypotheses into context.Among other facets shared by the various fields of inquiry is the conviction that the process be objective to reduce a biased interpretation of the results. Another basic expectation is to document, archive and share all data and methodology so they are available for careful scrutiny by other scientists, thereby allowing other researchers the opportunity to verify results by attempting to reproduce them. This practice, called full disclosure, also allows statistical measures of the reliability of these data to be established.
CAPITAL BUDGETING
Capital budgeting is the process by which the financial manager decides whether to invest in specific capital projects or assets. In some situations, the process may entail in acquiring assets that are completely new to the firm. In other situations, it may mean replacing an existing obsolete asset to maintain efficiency.
During the capital budgeting process answers to the following questions are sought:
• What projects are good investment opportunities to the firm?
• From this group which assets are the most desirable to acquire?
• How much should the firm invest in each of these assets
WHAT IS CAPITAL BUDGETING?
Capital budgeting is a required managerial tool. One duty of a financial manager is to choose investments with satisfactory cash flows and rates of return. Therefore, a financial manager must be able to decide whether an investment is worth undertaking and be able to choose intelligently between two or more alternatives. To do this, a sound procedure to evaluate, compare, and select projects is needed. This procedure is called capital budgeting.
Capital budgeting is investment decision-making as to whether a project is worth undertaking. Capital budgeting is basically concerned with the justification of capital expenditures.
Current expenditures are short-term and are completely written off in the same year that expenses occur. Capital expenditures are long-term and are amortized over a period of years are required by the IRS.
CAPITAL IS A LIMITED RESOURCE
In the form of either debt or equity, capital is a very limited resource. There is a limit to the volume of credit that the banking system can create in the economy. Commercial banks and other lending institutions have limited deposits from which they can lend money to individuals, corporations, and governments. In addition, the Federal Reserve System requires each bank to maintain part of its deposits as reserves. Having limited resources to lend, lending institutions are selective in extending loans to their customers. But even if a bank were to extend unlimited loans to a company, the management of that company would need to consider the impact that increasing loans would have on the overall cost of financing.