Research Lec1

7/28/2019 Research Lec1

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Research: an Overview

Ms. Aida I. Aksah


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from: Khursid Amad, available

http://www.computing.surrey.ac.uk/c

ourses/cs383/

Research: A Definition

The act of searching (closely or carefully)for or after a specified thing or person A search or investigation directed to thediscovery of some fact by carefulconsideration or study of a subject; a

course of critical or scientific inquiry.


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Method?

Procedure for attaining an object. A special form of procedure adopted inany branch of mental activity, whether forthe purpose of teaching and exposition, orfor that of investigation and inquiry.


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Method is also:

The methods of procedure in anydepartment, considered as the object of abranch of study; esp. with reference toteaching.

Orderly arrangement of ideas and topics inthinking or writing; orderliness and sequenceof thought or expression.


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Why do we research?

To get information To gain understanding To answer a question To assist in evaluating options

To predict outcomes


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Research and I.T.

O urs is decidedly a new kind of disciplineone in which, for example, theory is notconcerned with explaining extant physicalphenomena, and experimentation is notnecessarily concerned with testingwhether theory predicts reality. ..

International Review of Research in Computer Science inthe UK (2001)


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Research and IT

(continued)

Viewing computer science through thelens of traditional academic disciplines canlead to misconceptions of what isimportant and of how research incomputer science is done, even thoughaspects of computer science can betraced to the natural sciences,mathematics, or engineering.


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Research in Relation to

IT

theoretical and empirical research toanswer a broad array of questions related

to the use, impact, and management ofinformation technology in organizations


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(From The Monash Universitywebsite)

Areas of Computing

Research

Pervasive Computing Intelligent Computing Multimedia computing Social Computing


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Pervasive Computing

The research goal is ubiquitous, networked computationand information access.

aims to enable individuals to accomplish personal andprofessional transactions with intelligent and portable devices.

Includes distributed systems, mobile computing, networkcomputing, distributed information systems, embedded systems,and software engineering.

Research ranges from theoretical foundations topractical tools and techniques for the development and

management of large-scale networked systems inbusiness, technology and the public sector.


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Intelligent Computing

aims to bring intelligence, reasoning,perception, information gathering and

analysis to computer systems. Artificial intelligence, data mining,

optimization, constraint solving, knowledgemanagement and decision supportsystems are the major investigation areas.


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Multimedia Computing

Combining different media - images, film,sound, words and animation - into an

interactive package web sites, information booths, educational

software, games and advertising services,

amongst others


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Social Computing

Focuses on the information and knowledge needs ofpeople, and how these can be met across time and placewith the aid of appropriate information technologies. It

seeks to: Improve enterprise and interpersonal information flow andrecorded memory (e-business, e-government and virtualcommunities)

Improve how people create, manage, categorise, seek, obtain,evaluate, and use information

Break down barriers to satisfying the information andknowledge needs of people and to extend their use ofinformation and information technologies.


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The Research Process

1. Identification of the research problem2. Review of the literature3. Defining the methodology4. Pilot Study5. Data collection

6. Data analysis (Results)7. Drawing conclusions (includes identification oflimitations and recommendations for practiceand/or further research).


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Defining a Research

Problem

Indicate a gap Raise a question Continue a previously developed line ofinquiry Counter-claim

The research idea or research problem asit is often described, can be stated as anaim, a questionor as a hypothesis.


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REMEMBER!

An aim must be achievable. A question must be answerable. A hypothesis must be testable.


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The Literature Review

Outlines the relevant research andliterature in a particular area

Critically analyses this work and evaluatesit in terms of its contribution to theresearch in that area and in the context of

your own research


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The Importance of doing a

Literature Review

to establish your understanding of currentthinking and research in the field to influence your thinking and lead you toyour research focus to show you where others have gone

before.


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The Literature Review

Must:

Describe, analyse and evaluate the workdone so far in the area

Show the current state of research Explain the arguments surrounding the

area

Identify trends and themes in previouswork and Provide reasons for the approach taken in

the new research


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Questions

What is currently known about the topic? What aspects of the topic lack sufficient information?

(the gaps in the literature)

Openings for research, how you intend to bridge the gap What research has previously been done? What recommendations for further research have been

previously made but not acted upon?

What methods have previous researchers used toinvestigate the topic and were some methods bettersuited to the topic than others?


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Skills for writing a

literature review

Selection of relevant material Critical analysis of the material

Strengths and weaknesses Relevance to themes or arguments Evaluate:

Contribution Validity Any bias that might be present


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Identify Resources

Books Reference materials

Dictionaries,encyclopedias,yearbooks etc. Journals

Often include current research, reviews of literature,scholarly articles and debates

Conference Papers

Government Publications Dissertations The Net


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Resources on the Net

Webpages Online Databases

Publisher suites (eg Emerald or Blackwell Science) Full-Text Database

Online Journals Eg Journal of Information Systems Education

(http://www.gise.org/JISE/) Discussion boards


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Overview of

Methodology

what am I trying to find out? what sort of information do I need?

what is the best way to collect theinformation? where can I get the information from?

how many people will I need to ask? how will I analyse and make sense of the

information I collect?


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Importance

Open to validity & reliability assessment Method can affect the results

Different approaches are available, whythe choice Demonstrate Synergy with objectives as

well as consistency with accepted practicein the field Others can adopt or replicate study


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Issues in Methodology

the type of information required the research design the method of collecting data the source of information (sample)


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Reading a Journal

Article

Put things in context "Where does this fit in?" "How does this contribute -- what is useful about

this?" Relate what you are reading to what you have

read Attempt to improve on what is said

Attempt to apply what is said, to a differentarea A large part of understanding the meaning of a

paper is understanding why something is beingsaid


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How to Critique a Paper


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Some tips in Critiquing a

Paper Part 1: a summary in your own words of the

technical, scientific contribution of the paper (5 to10 sentences) Big picture: What is the ultimate goal of this research?

Motivate the topic. (3 minutes) Problem Description: What exactly are the authors

solving? How does it fit in the big picture? (4 minutes) Technical Content and Results: You need to prove

that you understand the main points in the paper. (10minutes)

Conclusions and Related Work: Relate the results tothe big picture, and compare to other approaches (3minutes)


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Part 2: your view of the positive andnegative aspects of the work

is there an error in the paper? did the author(s) not consider technically

relevant items? is the argument incorrect or incomplete? what would be interesting future research

that could be done to continue this paper?).


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Other tips(http://blue.utb.edu/sfisherhoch/Projects/literaturerevi

ew.htm)

1. Who wrote the paper, from which institution? Who arethey?

2. Does the introduction contain all the information youneed to understand the study area?

3. What are their scientific questions? Why? If you can'tfigure out from their paper what their questions are thisis not a good paper. What was it they wanted to know?(If they cannot tell you what they wanted to know, theyare unlikely to be able to find anything out.)

4. Is the literature review complete and well referenced?5. Give an exact summary of their methodology. What did

they do? Where? How? What was their studypopulation? Etc.


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6. Do the results answer the question they asked andreflect the methodology? Do they give results forall the methods

7. Are their numbers and their statistics adequateand correct? Does everything add up as it should?8. Do their tables and figures add useful information

to the text, and are they clear and easy tounderstand?

9. Does their discussion summarize their mostimportant findings accurately?


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10. Do the authors interpret their findingscorrectly?

11. Do the authors discuss the problems theyencountered and problems in interpreting theirdata?

12. Have the authors made a major contributionwith their paper?

13. Finally. What is your interpretation of theirstudy? Do you agree with them? If not, what doyou think?


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Format

Available:http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/dahlin/

Classes/c0pe/project/critique.html


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Grading System

Midterm Grade(MG): Midterm paper (60%) Critiques (30%) Class Participation (10%)

Finals Grade(FG): Final Paper (60%) Report (30%) Compilation (10%)

Final Grade: (mg + fg)/2

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Research Lec1