Where does data analysis begin?

Where does data analysis begin?

The collection of data is not the onset of data analysis projects. A data analysis project begins with a purpose, problem, and research questions.

Find one scholarly research paper with an excellent example of:

• Problem statement
• Research questions

The example shall relate to a practical, real-world work environment in the information technology field. After finding the research, discuss the following:

• What makes this example excellent in the topics that initiate a data analysis project?
• What relates this example to a practical, real-world work environment in the information technology field?
• Do the research questions meet the criteria defined in the lecture in week one?
• What is the generalizability of this research?

Do not restate what the authors of the research have already stated. Your post shall be in your own words. Reference the research example using APA 7, as well as any other references used in your post. The hanging indent required in research papers is not appropriate on the discussion board.

When replying to your peers, do you agree with their answers to the topics? The peer response posts should identify whether you agree and why or why not. Reference your peer’s research example in your peer response.

Keep in mind, a citation must be made for every reference. When citing, ensure that the statement requires a citation.

Considerations for every forum:

Remember your initial post on the main topic should be posted by Wednesday 11:59 PM (EST). Your 2 following posts should be commenting on your classmates’ post by Sunday 11:59 PM (EST). You should end the week with 3 total discussion posts.

Your initial post should include your references, thoroughly present your ideas, and provide evidence to support those ideas. A quality peer response post is more than stating, “I agree with you.” State why you agree with your classmate’s post. The purpose of the forum is generate discussion. You could post some examples or find a related topic on the Internet or University’s library and comment on it in the discussion post.

No credit will be earned for posts that are disrespectful or not on the topic of the forum.

Example post:

Why is this article an excellent example of the topic, problem, and research questions (the onset of data analysis)?

The research conducted by Leal and Kumar (2019) provides a clear introduction, purpose, and objective in their research. Like many scholarly research papers, the problem and research questions are absorbed into the introduction. The three elements necessary for a sound problem statement are provided.

Leal and Kumar’s article met the three objectives of a sound problem statement. The criteria and abbreviated context from their work:

• • Ideal: Internet devices include security features.
  • Actual: A router’s security has to be configured and users may not be aware of how to set the parameters.
  • Impact: Security settings may impact network performance.

The researchers impose questions that they seek to answer, as well. With the inclusion of the specific information about the router and their experiment, the research questions cover the five criteria for a sound research question. One of the elements of this article that stuck out to me is that the title of the article gave the reader the purpose of the research. There was no need to read through large sections of text, to uncover where the researchers were going with there research. It isn’t perfect, but it is easy to follow.

Practicality to IT:

This research is practical to the world of IT. Networking and security fall in the information technology umbrella. The practicality of this research is derived from the use of a router and that this is applied research.

Research question criteria:

The research question meets the criteria from the first lecture. The authors ask two primary questions “‘What kind of changes can we make to the network using the router?’ and ‘How will the changes made using the router affect the performance of the network?'” (Leal & Kumar, 2019, p. 302). The authors also state that the research is on one router model. The first question is truly a piece of the second question. The second question is the research question.

• Is it clear?The question are clear. However, it may have been ideal to infer that security was the concern in either question. The surrounding text infers that security is the purpose of the research, but the questions don’t specifically identify that.
• A defined scope?Without the context of the router, the scope would be a problem. With a specific router, the time frame does not require definition, and what routers this research applies to is also defined.
• Dependent and independent variables?With this element of a sound research question, the two questions must be assessed together. The dependent variables are the changes; the outcome or independent variable is the performance of the router.
• Is it testable?The measurement provided in the research question is “affect” (Leal & Kumar, 2019, p. 302). The researchers are going to use some method of quantitative analysis capable of identifying a cause to the changes in performance.
• Is it overly simplistic?The research question is not a yes or no question. Additionally, the question will require some method of investigation to answer. Simplicity is not an issue here.

Generalizability:

The researchers conducted applied research, which reduces the generalizability. The use of experimentation generally reduces the overall generalizability to the requirements set for selecting participants, in this case, one specific model of a Juniper router.

When the author’s relayed their findings the statements specifically included “…on a Juniper J4350 Router…” (Leal & Kumar, 2019, p. 308) identifying that the authors correctly generalized their findings.

Leal, D., & Kumar, S. (2019). Can routers provide sufficient protection against cyber security attacks? Journal of Information Security, 10, 302-308. https://www.doi.org/10.4236/jis.2019.104017