Author Description

These proceedings represent the work of contributors to the 20th European Conference on Research Methodology (ECRM 2021), hosted by University of Aveiro, Portugal on 17-18 June 2021. The Conference Co-chairs are Dr. Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira and Professor Carlos Costa, both from University of Aveiro, Portugal. ECRM is now a well-established event on the academic research calendar and now in its 20th year the key aim remains the opportunity for participants to share ideas and meet. The conference was due to be held at University of Aveiro, Portugal, but due to the global Covid-19 pandemic it was moved online to be held as a virtual event. The scope of papers will ensure an interesting conference. The subjects covered illustrate the wide range of topics that fall into this important and ever-growing area of research. The opening keynote presentation is given by Dr. Maria José Sousa, from ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, on the topic of Unlocking the Algorithm of Research Methods. The second day of the conference will open with an address by Dr. Ana Maria da Palma Moreira, ISPA-Instituto Universitário in Lisbon and at ISMAT, in Portimão, on the subject The future of data analysis. With an initial submission of 89 abstracts, after the double blind, peer review process there are 34 Academic research papers, 5 PhD research papers, 1 Masters Research paper and 1 work-in-progress paper published in these Conference Proceedings. These papers represent research from Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, UAE and the United Kingdom.