How to do research

Dan Simon

Cleveland State University

October 2003

The key is balance

• You can study too much, or not enough

• Gain / bandwidth can be too high, or too low

Solve the right problem

• Find a problem that is interesting and challenging

• Find a problem that is solvable

• Balance challenge with solvability

• Experience helps with balance

Solve the right problem in the right way

• Look for problem-driven solutions, not solution-driven problems

Achievability and Payoff

• Attack a problem that you can solve

• Attack a problem that has a payoff

Lik

ely

Pay

off

Difficulty

• Use the best tool to solve the problem

• Use available resources– Seminars– Books / Journals– Colleagues– Internet– Library

Collect a repertoire of tools

Generalize and specialize

• Balance breadth and depth

• A generalist knows nothing about everything

• A specialist knows everything about nothing

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995)Nobel Prize, 1983A new topic every seven years

Have a plan of attack

• Follow your blueprint

• Be flexible enough to deviate from your blueprint

Simplify / complicate your work

• Simplify your work– Solve your problem one step at a time– Apply the theory to a simple problem

• Generalize the theory– F = ma– Eastern mysiticism and

Zadeh’s fuzzy set theory

Isaac Newton1642 - 1727

Example211

22

1cossin1ln

0

22

n

n

xxe

0

22 2cossinlnn

nxxe

ezyy

zz

)/11(lim

1tanh1cosh 2

n

n

zz

yy

xxz

2tanh1cosh

cossin)/11(limln

0

2

22

However,

Therefore,

Furthermore,

Finally,

Work!

• A necessary and sufficient condition

• Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration

Thomas Edison1847-1931

Persist

• Sometimes months of workpays off in a single day

• Know when to change your approach

= 3.14159265358979323846264338327…

Don’t be afraid to fail

• “I have not failed. I have merely found 10,000 ways that did not work.”

• Admit your mistakes (so you can learn from them)

• Petroski, To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design

Faith and doubt

• Believe that your ideas will eventually work

• Healthy skepticism – don’t take someone else’s word for it, convince yourself

Communicate

• Read and write

• Speak

• Write and speak with authority

Progress is cumulative

• Build on others’ work

• Allow others to build on your work

Isaac Newton

1642 – 1727

John Donne

1572-1631

Independence / cooperation

• Researchers need to be able to work independently

• Researchers need to be able to work as part of a team

Find balance in your life

• Relationships, spirituality, hobbies, rest

• Sabbath

James Watson

1928 -

Conclusion

• It all boils down to balance

References• http://academic.csuohio.edu/simond/courses

• C. Loehle, A guide to increased creativity in research – inspiration or perspiration? BioScience 40(2), pp.123-129, February 1990

• D. Bernstein, A student’s guide to research, IEEE Control Systems, pp. 102-108, February 1999

• R. Hamming, You and your research, IEEE Potentials, pp.37-40, October 1993

• V. Li, Hints on writing technical papers and making presentations, IEEE Transactions on Education 42(2), pp.134-137, May 1999