CHAPTER III

Methods of Research and System Analysis

This chapter discusses the applied data gathering procedures in detail and
the general methods used throughout the proponent research and program
development.
Methods of Research
The methods that the proponent used in proposed project are
applied research, quantitative and qualitative research method. These methods
of research help the proponent to gather information for the proposed monitoring
system of home appliances. Applied research is designed to solve practical
problem of the modern world, rather than to acquire knowledge for knowledges
sake. The goal of applied research is to improve the human condition. It focuses
on analysis and solving social and real life problems. This research is generally
conducted on large scale basis, it is expensive. According to hunt, applied
research is an investigation for ways of using scientific knowledge to solve
practical problems. In this study the proponent

used this method remotely

control and monitor the appliances and it provides a better use of electricity and
also provides our home safe. The efficient use of electricity makes the home
automation. Quantitative research aims to measure the quantity or amount and
compares it with past records and tries to project for future period. In social
sciences, quantitative research refers to the systematic empirical investigation of
quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships. The objective of

quantitative research is to develop and employ mathematical models, theories or

hypothesis pertaining to phenomena. In the proposed project the proponent used
quantitative method through investigating and made some research to developed
monitoring home appliance with the use of android phones. The process of
measurement is central to quantitative research because it provides fundamental
connection between empirical observation and mathematical expression of
quantitative relationships. Statistics is the most widely used branch of
mathematics in quantitative research. Statistical methods are used extensively
with in fields such as economics and commerce. The proponent used this
method through some research, survey to the some residences about the
proposed design project. The proponent made questions regarding the proposed
project. Qualitative research presents non-quantitative type of analysis.
Qualitative research is collecting, analyzing and interpreting data by observing
what people do and say. Qualitative research refers to the meanings, definitions,
characteristics, symbols, metaphors, and description of things. Qualitative
research is much more subjective and uses very different methods of collecting
information, mainly individual, in-depth interviews and focus groups. The nature
of this type of research is exploratory and open ended. Small number of people is
interviewed in depth and or a relatively small number of focus groups are
conducted. The proponent used this method through some interviews to the
some residences about the proposed design project.

Data Gathering Procedure

The proponents used surveys, interviews and research to have accurate
and credible information in gathering all the necessary data of needed for the
proposed study. First, the proponents determine home appliances problems that
the residences encountered, and then the proponent made a survey and
interview to the residence in order to know the current problem on their home
appliance. This served as a guide or basis for the future used in developing and
enhancing the monitoring home appliances. The proponent used thesis
dissertation, books, internet, articles and other source of information served as
the reference guides in gathering data of the proposed project.
Figure 3.1 shows the flow of how the proponents gathered information up
to the development of the system. First the proponents determine the problem
that the residences encountered to their home appliances. Afterwards the
proponents will present their topic and defend it. Once the topic has been
approved, the proponent proceeds to surveys and interviews to the residences
and conduct research for the development of the home appliance monitoring
system. The proponent constructs the possible solution through the different
information and data gathered. Then, if the information already clears to the
proponent they will evaluate the information and proceed to the creation of
design and databases for the monitoring of home appliance via android phones.

Start
Determine Home Appliances
Problem Analysis

Approval

NO

Residences Interview

Conducted Research /
Survey

Construct
Evaluate
The information

NO

Design and Module of Database

System Development

End

Figure 3.1 Data Gathering Procedure of Monitoring

Data Gathering Instrument

The proponents used different instruments in order to gather data for the
development of the proposed project; the instruments used are techniques which
consist of observation, research and instruments which consist of interview and
evaluation.

Techniques. The proponents used different techniques to gather important

information that will be needed in the development of software.

Observation. This device was used by proponents to identify the

problems, difficulty encountered by the user by observing how the present
manual faculty loading and class scheduling works.

Library Techniques. This involves identifying and locating sources that

provide factual information or personal/ expert opinion on a research
question; necessary component of every other research method at some
point

Instruments. The instruments used by the proponents are questionnaire and

evaluation. The instrument will help the proponents identify problems and how to
improve the existing system

Interview. This device was used by the proponents to identify the

problems, difficulty encountered by the user by observing how the present
manual faculty loading and class scheduling works.

Survey.

Poses a series of questions to a group of people (usually a

sample) with specific responses for individuals to choose from; usually

captures demographic and socioeconomic information as well, to correlate
with the responses; written questionnaires. The proponent considered the
criteria were accuracy, efficiency, reliability, and conciseness and userfriendliness.

Population and Sample

The proponents requested the 100 residence to be the respondents of the
proposed study and also used to be a basis of the proponent to determine the
problem encounter of home appliances. The percentage is the formula that the
proponent used. To calculate a percentage of a percentage, convert both
percentages to fractions of 100, or to decimals, and multiply them. The
percentage formula;
Percentage = Value / Total value * 100
Software Product Analysis
The proponents made a research to compare the software, hardware and
the database they use in order to evaluate the best components to be used in
making the proposed system.
MySQL "My Sequel") the world's second most widely used relational database
management system (RDBMS)[9] and most widely used open-source RDBMS. [10]
It is named after co-founder Michael Widenius's daughter, My SQL acronym
stands for Structured Query Language.The MySQL development project has
made its source code available under the terms of the GNU General Public
License, as well as under a variety of proprietary agreements. MySQL was
owned and sponsored by a single for-profit firm, the Swedish company MySQL
AB, now owned by Oracle Corporation. MySQL is a popular choice of database
for use in web applications, and is a central component of the widely used LAMP
open source web application software stack (and other 'AMP' stacks). LAMP is

an acronym for "Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/PHP/Python." Free-software-open

source projects that require a full-featured database management system often
use MySQL. MySQL works on many system platforms, including AIX, BSDi,
FreeBSD, HP-UX, eComStation, i5/OS, IRIX, Linux, OS X, Microsoft Windows,
NetBSD, Novell NetWare, OpenBSD, OpenSolaris, OS/2 Warp, QNX, Oracle
Solaris, Symbian, SunOS, SCO OpenServer, SCO UnixWare, Sanos and Tru64.
A port of MySQL to OpenVMS also exists.MySQL is written in C and C++. Its
SQL parser is written in yacc, but it uses a home-brewed lexical analyzer.Many
programming languages with language-specific APIs include libraries for
accessing MySQL databases. These include MySQL Connector/Net for
integration with Microsoft's Visual Studio (languages such as C# and VB are
most commonly used) and the JDBC driver for Java. In addition, an ODBC
interface called MyODBC allows additional programming languages that support
the ODBC interface to communicate with a MySQL database, such as ASP or
ColdFusion. The HTSQL URL-based query method also ships with a MySQL
adapter, allowing direct interaction between a MySQL database and any web
client via structured URLs. On the other hand, In SQLite, the datatype of a value
is associated with the value itself, not with its container. The dynamic type
system of SQLite is backwards compatible with the more common static type
systems of other database engines in the sense that SQL statements that work
on statically typed databases should work the same way in SQLite. However, the
dynamic typing in SQLite allows it to do things which are not possible in
traditional rigidly typed databases.

The proponents use SQLite instead of MySQL can be a great alternative

on certain architectures. Especially if you can partition the data into several
SQLite databases (e.g. one database per user) and limit parallel transactions on
one database. Replication, backup and restore can be done easily over the file
system.
Analytical Tools
The proponent used percentage formula to get the result of the evaluation.
The weighted average formula is used to calculate the average value of a
particular set of numbers with different levels of relevance. The relevance of each
number is called its weight. The weights should be represented as a percentage
of the total relevancy. Therefore, all weights should be equal to 100%, or 1.The
most common formula used to determine an average is the arithmetic mean
formula. This formula adds all of the numbers and divides by the amount of
numbers. However, the weighted average formula looks at how relevant each
number .The weighted average formula is a general mathematical formula, but
the following information will focus on how it applies. Using a weighted average
can be much quicker and easier for the proponent to evaluate the respond of the
respondent.
Feasibility of the Study
A feasibility study is designed to provide an overview of the primary issues
. The purpose in this study to identify any current issues that would help the
residence has convenient monitoring of their appliances. The feasibility study is

organized into three major sections market analysis, organizational/technical

analysis, and financial analysis.
Technical Feasibility
Table 3.1 and 3.2 show the minimum hardware and software requirements
that will be used for the proposed system. The minimum hardware and software
requirements will be the use by appliance controlling and monitoring system via
android application for the implementation and maintenance of the proposed
system. The proposed systems purpose is enabling the user to control the
electrical appliance using android phone that will control the power system.
The proposed project used SQLite version 3. SQL database engines
(every SQL database engine other than SQLite, as far as we know) uses static,
rigid typing. With static typing, the data type of a value is determined by its
container - the particular column in which the value is stored. The proposed
project also used Basic4Android version1.x or higher Basic4android supports all
the main features of Android using a large and extensible set of libraries.
Basic4android includes unique features like visual designer, connecting to real
devices with USB cable or over the local network, custom IDE 100% focused on
Android programming and more.
This features makes the propose project different to others because it is
friendly user, easy to use and can conveniently monitor and controlled
appliances.

Hardware Requirements
Table 3.1

Microcontroller version
Relay
Contactor

Gizduino ATmega328/328P
5v coil voltage
240 volts 15 Ampere or higher
Software Requirements
Table 3.2

Development application
Database

Basic4Android version1.x or higher

SQLite version 3

Operational
The aim project is to design an appliance controlling and monitoring
system via android application. This project will enable the user to control the
electrical appliance using android phone that will control the power system.
This is a system that can turn on home appliances with the use of an
android phone and it can also check if an appliance is ON/running. If the house
owner forgot to turn off the air-conditioner, all he/she need to do is to turn in off
with the use of Android phone.
The system use SMS for the communication between the appliances and
android phone. A micro-controller will be use to handle and manipulate all desired
appliances.
The proposed system considered to be friendly user for the user easily
use and manipulate the system.
Economical
The proposed project benefits them by having centralized access and
management of the household appliances. The system will automate routines

and repetitive tasks which otherwise require manual programming. The society
will benefit to this, when the researchers finishes the system and ready to be sold
to the market, it would lead to contribution in the economy. Lastly, everyone
would be provided the idea of convenient lifestyle with this system.