Research cycle - Circle diagram

This circle diagram sample was redesigned from the Wikimedia Commons file: Research cycle.png. "Some of the basic elements of the scientific method, arranged in a cycle to emphasize that it is an iterative process." [commons.wikimedia.org/ wiki/ File:Research_ cycle.png]
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. [creativecommons.org/ licenses/ by/ 2.0/ deed.en]
"The scientific method is a body of 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 empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. ...
Four essential elements of the scientific method are iterations, recursions, interleavings, or orderings of the following:
(1) Characterizations (observations, definitions, and measurements of the subject of inquiry).
(2) Hypotheses (theoretical, hypothetical explanations of observations and measurements of the subject).
(3) Predictions (reasoning including logical deduction from the hypothesis or theory).
(4) Experiments (tests of all of the above)...
A linearized, pragmatic scheme of the four points above is sometimes offered as a guideline for proceeding:
(1) Define a question.
(2) Gather information and resources (observe).
(3) Form an explanatory hypothesis.
(4) Test the hypothesis by performing an experiment and collecting data in a reproducible manner.
(5) Analyze the data.
(6) Interpret the data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis.
(7) Publish results.
(8) Retest (frequently done by other scientists).
The iterative cycle inherent in this step-by-step method goes from point 3 to 6 back to 3 again." [Scientific method. Wikipedia]
The circle diagram example "Research cycle" was created using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Target and Circular Diagrams solution from the Marketing area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.
www.conceptdraw.com/ solution-park/ marketing-target-and-circular-diagrams

This arrow loop cycle diagram sample was created on the base of the figure illustrating the webpage "Exploratory Advanced Research Program Hand-Off Workshops" from the US Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) website. "The FHWA’s research and technology innovation life cycle illustrates that research and technology development are not insular activities, but integrated processes that together constitute a system.
Following general workshop discussion, a number of common issues emerged among the groups. These centered around the research life cycle, communicating the value of exploratory advanced research, and continued project funding. It was felt that there is a general need to better describe the research and deployment cycle specific to highway transportation and possibly to highway research fields, such as materials or system planning. Research life cycle diagrams show a very linear, chronological process but it is not necessarily that way in reality." [fhwa.dot.gov/ advancedresearch/ pubs/ 11034/ ]
The arrow loop diagram example "Innovation life cycle" was created using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Target and Circular Diagrams solution from the Marketing area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.
www.conceptdraw.com/ solution-park/ marketing-target-and-circular-diagrams

"A real estate transaction is the process whereby rights in a unit of property (or designated real estate) is transferred between two or more parties, e.g. in case of conveyance one party being the seller(s) and the other being the buyer(s). It can often be quite complicated due to the complexity of the property rights being transferred, the amount of money being exchanged, and government regulations. Conventions and requirements also vary considerably among different countries of the world and among smaller legal entities (jurisdictions).
In more abstract terms, a real estate transaction, like other financial transactions, causes transaction costs. To identify and possibly reduce these transaction costs, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) addressed the issue through a study commissioned by the European Commission, and through a research action.
The mentioned research action ‘Modelling Real Property Transactions’ investigated methods to describe selected transactions in a formal way, to allow for comparisons across countries / jurisdictions. Descriptions were performed both using a more simple format, a Basic Use Case template, and more advanced applications of the Unified Modelling Language. Process models were compared through an ontology-based methodology, and national property transaction costs were estimated for Finland and Denmark, based on the directions of the United Nations System of National Accounts." [Real estate transaction. Wikipedia]
The UML deployment diagram example "Real estate transactions" was created using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Rapid UML solution from the Software Development area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.

This work flow chart sample was redesigned from the picture "Weather Forecast" from the article "Simulation Workflows".
[iaas.uni-stuttgart.de/ forschung/ projects/ simtech/ sim-workflows.php]
"(1) The weather is predicted for a particular geological area. Hence, the workflow is fed with a model of the geophysical environment of ground, air and water for a requested area.
(2) Over a specified period of time (e.g. 6 hours) several different variables are measured and observed. Ground stations, ships, airplanes, weather balloons, satellites and buoys measure the air pressure, air/ water temperature, wind velocity, air humidity, vertical temperature profiles, cloud velocity, rain fall, and more.
(3) This data needs to be collected from the different sources and stored for later access.
(4) The collected data is analyzed and transformed into a common format (e.g. Fahrenheit to Celsius scale). The normalized values are used to create the current state of the atmosphere.
(5) Then, a numerical weather forecast is made based on mathematical-physical models (e.g. GFS - Global Forecast System, UKMO - United Kingdom MOdel, GME - global model of Deutscher Wetterdienst). The environmental area needs to be discretized beforehand using grid cells. The physical parameters measured in Step 2 are exposed in 3D space as timely function. This leads to a system of partial differential equations reflecting the physical relations that is solved numerically.
(6) The results of the numerical models are complemented with a statistical interpretation (e.g. with MOS - Model-Output-Statistics). That means the forecast result of the numerical models is compared to statistical weather data. Known forecast failures are corrected.
(7) The numerical post-processing is done with DMO (Direct Model Output): the numerical results are interpolated for specific geological locations.
(8) Additionally, a statistical post-processing step removes failures of measuring devices (e.g. using KALMAN filters).
(9) The statistical interpretation and the numerical results are then observed and interpreted by meteorologists based on their subjective experiences.
(10) Finally, the weather forecast is visualized and presented to interested people." [iaas.uni-stuttgart.de/ forschung/ projects/ simtech/ sim-workflows.php]
The example "Workflow diagram - Weather forecast" was drawn using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Workflow Diagrams solution from the Business Processes area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.

"Workflow components.
A workflow can usually be described using formal or informal flow diagramming techniques, showing directed flows between processing steps. Single processing steps or components of a workflow can basically be defined by three parameters:
(1) input description: the information, material and energy required to complete the step,
(2) transformation rules, algorithms, which may be carried out by associated human roles or machines, or a combination,
(3) output description: the information, material and energy produced by the step and provided as input to downstream steps.
Components can only be plugged together if the output of one previous (set of) component(s) is equal to the mandatory input requirements of the following component. Thus, the essential description of a component actually comprises only in- and output that are described fully in terms of data types and their meaning (semantics). The algorithms' or rules' description need only be included when there are several alternative ways to transform one type of input into one type of output – possibly with different accuracy, speed, etc.
When the components are non-local services that are invoked remotely via a computer network, such as Web services, additional descriptors (such as QoS and availability) also must be considered." [Workflow. Wikipedia]
The workflow diagram template for the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software is included in the Workflow Diagrams solution from the Business Processes area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.