Scientific Research in Computer

Science Engineering
Dr. V.BALAMURUGAN, M.Tech., Ph.D
Dean Curriculum Development
AMET University, Chennai

Outline

Introduction
Research methodologies
Research Writings

PhD?

Philosophiae Doctor (Doctor of Philosophy)

degree granted by a university to a learned individual

who had achieved the approval of his peers and who
had demonstrated a long and productive career in the
field of philosophy

Philosophy?

The critical analysis of fundamental assumptions

of beliefs.
A set of ideas or beliefs relating to a particular
field or activity; an underlying theory.
General laws or principles under which all the
subordinate phenomena or facts relating to that
subject are comprehended.

What Research is not

Research isnt information gathering:

Gathering information from resources such books

or magazines isnt research.
No contribution to new knowledge.

Research isnt the transportation of facts:

Merely transporting facts from one resource to

another doesnt constitute research.
No contribution to new knowledge although this
might make existing knowledge more accessible.
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What Research Is
the systematic process of collecting and
analyzing information (data) in order to
increase our understanding of the
phenomenon about which we are concerned
or interested.1

Keep In Mind That

Always studies have been moving towards

perfection. Thats why research exists.
It is not that easy to get the perfectly relevant
data; research is what you do with the data in
our hand
Measurement involves making choices

Research Characteristics

Scientific Method

Hypothesis
Sequence of experiments

Randomization
Repetition

Change one parameter/experiment

Prove/Disprove Hypothesis
Document for others to reproduce results

Basic steps of a research project

Find a topicWhat, When

Formulate questionsWhat, Why
Define populationWho, When
Select design & measurementHow
Gather evidenceHow
Interpret evidenceWhy
Tell about what you did and found out

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Incorrect Choice - Research Projects

The following kinds of projects usually dont

make for good research:

Comparing data sets.

Correlating data sets.
Problems with yes / no answers.
Outdated Problem.

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High-Quality Research

Good research requires:

The scope and limitations of the work to be

clearly defined.

The process to be clearly explained so that it can

be reproduced and verified by other researchers.

A thoroughly planned design that is as objective

as possible.
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The Visual Thinking Process

Act

High Quality
Research

Exercise

Change

Reflect

better represent
information to the
target audience

Graphic Organizer

better perceive the

world

A graphic organizer is a visual representation of concepts,

knowledge, or information that can incorporate both text and
pictures. Examples include calendars, maps, Venn diagrams, and
flow charts. Graphic organizers allow the mind 'to see'
undiscovered patterns and relationships.

Do a map of your research

Establish relationships

Use arrows

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High-Quality Research (cont.)

Good research requires:

Highly ethical standards be applied.

All limitations be documented.

Data be adequately analyzed and explained.

All findings be presented unambiguously and all

conclusions be justified by sufficient evidence.

Vocabulary - definition
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Sources of Research Problems

Observation.
Literature reviews.
Professional conferences.
Experts (Seminar/Workshop).
Previous experience

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PROBLEM DEFINITION

STATE THE PROBLEM

UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
SURVEY THE LITERATURE
DEVELOP IDEAS THROUGH DISCUSSION
REPHRASE THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

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Stating the Research Problem

Once youve identified a research problem:

State that problem clearly and completely.

Determine the feasibility of the research.

Identify subproblems:

Completely researchable units.

Small in number.
Add up to the total problem.
Must be clearly tied to the interpretation of the data.

A PROBLEM WELL DEFINED IS A PROBLEM HALF SOLVED

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Hypotheses

Hypotheses are tentative, intelligent guesses as to the

solution of the problem.

There is often a 1-1 correspondence between a

subproblem and a hypothesis.
Hypotheses can direct later research activities since they
can help determine the nature of the research and methods
applied.

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Delimitations

All research has limitations and thus certain work

that will not be performed.

The work that will not be undertaken is described as

the delimitations of the research.

Scope

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Assumptions

Assumptions are those things that the researcher is

taking for granted.

For example: a given test instrument accurately and

consistently measures the phenomenon in question.

As a general rule youre better off documenting an

assumption than ignoring it.

Overlooked assumptions provide a prime source of

debate about a research projects results.

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Importance of the Study

Many research problems have a kind of theoretical

feel about them. Such projects often need to be
justified:

What is the research projects practical value?

Without this justification, it will prove difficult to

convince others that the problem in question is worth
study.

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Literature Review

A literature review is a necessity.

Without this step, you wont know if your problem has

been solved or what related research is already
underway.

When performing the review:

Start searching professional journals.

Begin with the most recent articles you can find.
Keep track of relevant articles in a bibliography.
Dont be discouraged if work on the topic is already
underway.
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Literature Review Pitfalls

Be very careful to check your sources when doing your

literature review.

Many trade magazines are not peer reviewed.

Professional conferences and journals often have each article

reviewed by multiple people before it is even recommended for
publication.

The IEEE and ACM digital libraries are good places to start
looking for legitimate research.

ASSESS QUALITY Thompson Scientific Journal Citation

Reports, Scoupus, Publish Or Perish
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Literature Review Pitfalls (cont.)

The Internet can be a good source of information. It

is also full of pseudo-science and poor research.

Make sure you verify the claims of any

documentation that has not been peer reviewed by
other professionals in the computing industry.

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Research Process

Research is an extremely cyclic process.

Later stages might necessitate a review of earlier work.

This isnt a weakness of the process but is part of the

built-in error correction machinery.

Because of the cyclic nature of research, it can be

difficult to determine where to start and when to
stop.

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Step 1: A Question Is Raised

A question occurs to the researcher for which that

researcher has no answer.

This doesnt mean that someone else doesnt already have

an answer.

The question needs to be converted to an

appropriate problem statement like that
documented in a research proposal.

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Step 2: Suggest Hypotheses

The researcher generates intermediate hypotheses

to describe a solution to the problem.

This is at best a temporary solution since there is as yet no

evidence to support either the acceptance or rejection of
these hypotheses.

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Step 3: Literature Review

The available literature is reviewed to determine if

there is already a solution to the problem.

Existing solutions do not always explain new

observations.
The existing solution might require some revision or even
be discarded.

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The Literature Review is not

A study-by-study, or
article-by-article,
description of studies
previously done
A re-statement of the
studies previously
done
A brief overview of
articles

Step 4: Literature Evaluation

Its possible that the literature review has yielded a

solution to the proposed problem.

This means that you havent really done research.

On the other hand, if the literature review turns up

nothing, then additional research activities are
justified.

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Reviewing the Literature

Begin with a search of

the available literature
Critically analyze each
article (study) you select
Organize the review
with an outline
Write the review
Summarize the review
Using the literature,
present a rationale for
your study

Step 5: Acquire Data

The researcher now begins to gather data relating to

the research problem.

The means of data acquisition will often change based on

the type of the research problem.

This might entail only data gathering, but it could also

require the creation of new measurement instruments.

UCI Machine Learning Repository.

UCR Wireless data repository.

YRC Data Repository for Genomes

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Step 6: Data Analysis :Common Methodologies

Methodologies are high-level approaches to

conducting research.

The individual steps within the methodology might vary

based on the research being performed.

Two commonly used research methodologies:

Quantitative.
Qualitative.

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Methodology Comparison
Quantitative

Explanation, prediction
Test theories
Known variables
Large sample
Standardized instruments
Deductive

Qualitative

Explanation, description
Build theories
Unknown variables
Small sample
Observations, interviews
Inductive

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Data Analysis/Research Design

The data that were gathered in the previous step are

analyzed as a first step in ascertaining their meaning.

As before, the analysis of the data does not

constitute research.

DESIGN Exploratory, descriptive, testing, experimental,

mathematical modeling, simulation modeling.

Mathematical model describes a system by a set of variable

and set of equations that establish relationships between
variables.
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Step 7: Data Interpretation

The researcher interprets the newly analyzed data

and suggests a conclusion.

This can be difficult.

Keep in mind that data analysis that suggests a correlation
between two variables cant automatically be interpreted
as suggesting causality between those variables.

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Step 8: Hypothesis Support

The data will either support the hypotheses or they

wont.

This may lead the researcher to cycle back to an earlier

step in the process and begin again with a new hypothesis.
This is one of the self-correcting mechanisms associated
with the scientific method.

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Research Paper

The final step

Research is not finished until the results are
published!

Organization of a Research Paper

Title

Abstract

Body

Main sections
Introduction
Method
Participants
Apparatus
Procedure
Design
Results and Discussion
Conclusions

Formatted according to submission requirements of conference or journal

Example Publication

Title, Author(s), Affiliation(s)

Title
Every word tells

Abstract

Abstract
Write last
Not an introduction!
State what you did
and what you found!
Give the most salient
finding(s).

Keywords

Keywords
Used for database indexing and
searching.
Use ACM classification scheme (for
ACM publications)..

Introduction

Introduction
Give the context for the research, stating why it is interesting
and relevant.
Identify a UI problem or challenge as it currently exists.
Give an overview of the contents of the entire paper.
Identify, describe, cite related work.
Describe and justify your approach to the problem.
Follow the formatting requirements of conference or journal.
Its your story to tell!

Method

Method
Tell the reader what you did and
how you did it.
The research must be reproducible!
Use the following subsections

Method - Participants

Participants
State the number of participants and how they were
selected.
Give demographic information, such as age, gender,
relevant experience.
Note: The term Subjects is now obsolete.

Method - Apparatus

Apparatus
Describe the hardware and software.
Use screen snaps or photos, if helpful

Method - Procedure

Procedure
Specify exactly what happened with each
participant.
State the instructions given, and indicate if
demonstration or practice was used, etc.

Method - Design

Design
Give the independent variables (factors and levels)
and dependent variables (measures and units).
State the order of administering conditions, etc.
Be thorough and clear! Its important that your
research is reproducible.

Results and Discussion

Results and Discussion
Use subsections as appropriate
If there were outliers or problems in the data collection, state this up-front.
Organize results by the dependent measures, moving from overall means to finer
details across conditions.
Use statistical tests, charts, tables, as appropriate

Results and Discussion (2)

Dont overdo it! Giving too many charts or too much data means you cant
distinguish what is important from what is not important.
Discuss the results. State what is interesting
Explain the differences across conditions.
Compare with results from other studies.
Provide additional analysis, as appropriate, such as fine grain analyses on types
of errors or linear regression or correlation analyses for models of interaction
(such as Fitts law).

Conclusion
Conclusion
Summarize what you did.
Restate the important findings.
State (or restate) the contribution.
Identify topics for future work.
Do not develop any new ideas in the conclusion.

Acknowledgment

Acknowledgment
Optional
Thank people who helped with the
research
Thank funding agencies

References
References
Include a list of references, formatted as per
the submission requirements of the
conference or journal
Only include items cited in the body of the
paper..

So tired ???? Any more Questions?

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