Research onion diagram

This onion diagram example was designed on the base of figure "Research onion" in the article "The research methodology for the development of a kaizen costing framework suitable for indigenous construction firms in Lagos, Nigeria." by T. Omotayo and U. Kulatunga from the Association of Researchers in Construction Management (ARCOM) website.
"The need for a cost management paradigm shift in the construction industry is imperative because of the prevailing challenges of managing construction cost during construction. Small and medium scale construction firms in Nigeria are faced with the challenges of competition from foreign firm, cost overrun, project delays and unsatisfied clients. This challenge may be handled with kaizen principles and kaizen costing. This paper utilized literatures related to research methodology in the built environment to create a research framework for the study. This focused on the research philosophical stands, approaches and strategy related to the built environment. The research onion model was adopted for the framework development and the sample size of two hundred and fifty (250) respondents was selected based on theoretical sampling for quantitative data collection using questionnaires." [arcom.ac.uk/ -docs/ workshops/ 2015-04_ Dublin-Proceedings.pdf]
The onion diagram example "Research onion diagram" was drawn using the ConceptDraw PRO software extended with the Stakeholder Onion Diagrams solution from the Management area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.

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

"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.