1. Iolanthe II leaves the Hauraki Gulf under full sail – Auckland-Tauranga Race, 2007 Research Methods and Techniques John Morris Faculty of Engineering, Mahasarakham University Computer Science/ Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Auckland Iolanthe III racing off Jomtien, with full gennaker set

2. PRESENTATIONS

3. Presentations Grammar-free!!  Keywords only  Omit articles (‘a’, ‘the’) often Concise –No long sentences!! Rarely need sentences at all! –Use bullet points extensively –Pictures help! “A picture is worth a thousand words”

4. Presentations If necessary, use Google to translate phrases and keywords (not sentences) from Thai –Translation tools are usually good dictionaries! Check the translation though! –If it doesn’t look right in English, make small changes to the original Thai Try different words that mean the same thing You can use symbols eg  means ‘implies’ or ‘leads to’  = therefore –These are actually better than words in a presentation! Meaning is universal – no language needed!

5. Presentations Grammar-free!!  Keywords only  Omit articles (‘a’, ‘the’) often Concise –No long sentences!! Rarely need sentences at all! –Use bullet points extensively –Pictures help! “A picture is worth a thousand words” Don’t put too much on one slide! –Font – usually 20 pt or larger Check by going to the back of the room: can you read it from 20m away? –But don’t ‘shout’ with 40+ pt text! It’s not a sales presentation!

6. Presentations Colour schemes –Avoid ‘fancy’ backgrounds! Distracting Waste space on each slide –Focus on information content –Presentations are not works of art! –Use simple colour combinations Black on white background or –Dark coloured text on a light background White on black background or –Light coloured text on a dark background

7. Presentations Colour schemes –Avoid ‘fancy’ backgrounds! Distracting Waste space on each slide –Focus on information content –Presentations are not works of art! –Use simple colour combinations Black on white background or –Dark coloured text on a light background White on black background or –Light coloured text on a dark background Distracting background Poor contrast between white text and grey background Times font (serifs) – use sans- serif Shadow on title – cute but distracting!

8. Presentations Colour schemes –Avoid ‘fancy’ backgrounds! Distracting Waste space on each slide –Focus on information content –Presentations are not works of art! –Use simple colour combinations Black on white background or –Dark coloured text on a light background White on black background or –Light coloured text on a dark background

9. Presentations Colour schemes –Avoid ‘fancy’ backgrounds! Distracting Waste space on each slide –Focus on information content –Presentations are not works of art! –Use simple colour combinations Black on white background or –Dark coloured text on a light background White on black background or –Light coloured text on a dark background

10. Presentations Simple consistent colour scheme for example –Normal text: black –Red to highlight key words or expressions –Blue for some special terms or key topics –Generally: no more than 3 or 4 colours No Rainbow colour scheme Fonts –sans-serif: Arial, Helvetica, … –More easily read from a distance

11. PRESENTATION FORMAT

12. General Outline Similar pattern to reports, theses and papers Typically 1.Introduction 2.Hypotheses and methods 3.Results 4.Analysis 5.Conclusion 6.Future work 7.Acknowledgments 8.References | Bibliography

13. Additional sections Abstract –Rarely –Consider presenting quick summary of whole presentation at beginning but –Usually keep this for conclusion Outline (replaces Table of contents) –Many people present outline of talk in 2 nd or 3 rd slide After introducing topic –I usually don’t … just wastes time More important to just present in logical order Glossaries of terms, symbols and acronyms –May be useful if you have lots of acronyms or special terms

14. This is your first hypothesis! General Outline Introduction –General aim of the research Introduce topic very briefly, eg – We will study road accident prevention –Background – why is this problem important? – Road accidents cost the community a large amount – Cost is estimated to be $x billion per year –Previous research What have other researchers said about this problem – Survey of safety mechanisms used or proposed by others –Detailed aim of this research – We think we can use cameras in the car to reduce collisions

15. Background Summary of existing work Critical review of existing work –Did previous authors Miss anything? Make weak assumptions? Make mistakes? Forget to study important cases? Study only trivial cases – ignoring important real cases? –What did you do to Extend previous work Correct errors Fill in gaps Study additional scenarios, cases, …

16. LITERATURE REVIEW ASSIGNMENT 10%

17. Lit review assignment Find TWO (or more) papers relevant to your research –In English (or other language but NOT Thai) from international journals International conferences PhD theses from large research universities Write a short report –Same format as background section of your thesis or a paper –What results are presented in this paper? –What methods were used to measure them? –Why is this paper important? –What results or conclusions from this paper are relevant to you? –What can you do to improve on those results? –How will your work add more results? –Is there anything missing or wrong with the published work? Do not forget formal references at the end of your report! Due February 1

18. FINAL (MAJOR) ASSIGNMENT 50%

19. Research Proposal Introduction to your thesis 1.General topic or area 2.Aim(s) 3.Background Why is it important? What has been studied before Results from previous papers 4.Specific aim of your research How you will extend previous work Why your results will be useful 5.Methods Detailed experimental hypotheses Proposed experiments Instruments to be used –How accurate, precise are they?

20. Today Make a presentation for your research proposal Following slides represent a template –Fill in each one with details for your project Not assessed today I will check and guide you as you go At end of today’s workshop, you should have –Outline for your research proposal –Some detail already filled in You will be able to expand this to make –Final submission for this course –Your thesis

21. Today Make a page (or more) for each of the following slides with details of your project! No English grammar needed! –If necessary, use Google to translate phrases and keywords (not sentences) from Thai Translation tools are usually good dictionaries! Check the translation though! If it doesn’t look right in English, make small changes to the original Thai –Try different words that mean the same thing You can use symbols eg  means ‘implies’ or ‘leads to’ –These are actually better than words in a presentation! Meaning is universal – no language needed!

22. Project title Name Address

23. General area What is your presentation about? –Broad area, eg Environment, Control systems, Safety systems, … General aim of your research, eg –Improve performance of … –Improve economics of … –Make ….. safer –Make …. easier or faster to use –….

24. Background Previous work –Summarize important previous research or –List a few important studies Questions to answer here –What are the important previous studies? –Who did them? –When? –What experiments were done? –What results were obtained?

25. Your contribution What are you going to do to –Extend –Correct –Improve –Fill gaps in previous work?

26. Methods Hypotheses –Detailed Basis for your experiments –Expected results One per slide!! –Make multiple slides if necessary Experimental detail –How will you show that your hypothesis is a good one? –Preparation of samples –Setting up scenarios –Equipment setup –Processing samples –Measurements –Accuracy

27. EXAMPLE

28. Fair Traffic Light Control John Morris MSU

29. General area Road traffic control affects everyone Aim of this study –Develop a fair system for switching traffic lights –Improve safety Fair system  fewer impatient drivers –Reduced delays  reduced pollution

30. Background Previous work –Current systems use inductive sensors in road Not able to count vehicles in long queues –Camera based systems send images to central control point Manual switching –Systems to improve flow through synchronized switching Try to give many drivers ‘green’ all the way –Central control is expensive Communication costs over long distance to control room Questions to answer here –What are the important previous studies? –Who did them? –When? –What experiments were done? –What results were obtained?

31. Your contribution This study will develop –autonomous camera-based system –economic system based on ‘off-the-shelf’ components to switch single set of traffic lights Accurate counting of queue lengths  Fairer system  Better flow  Lower delays  Less driver frustration  Fewer accidents What are you going to do to –Extend –Correct –Improve –Fill gaps in previous work?

32. Methods Hypothesis 1: Wireless IP-cameras mounted on traffic lights can send images to control computer  Accurate counts of queue lengths in multiple lines Experiment –Mount camera on traffic light –Collect images with road-side computer –Identify and count vehicles by processing images –Check system counts against manual counts from recorded videos –Detailed Basis for your experiments –Expected results One per slide!! –Make multiple slides if necessary Experimental detail –How will you show that your hypothesis is a good one? –Preparation of samples –Setting up scenarios –Equipment setup –Processing samples –Measurements –Accuracy

33. Methods Hypothesis 2: Smart control algorithm will reduce driver annoyance and improve safety Experiment –Collect statistics on number and type of accidents at traffic light –Road-side survey to assess driver annoyance –Install camera and computer to control traffic lights –Collect statistics with intelligent control –2 nd road-side survey of drivers –Detailed Basis for your experiments –Expected results One per slide!! –Make multiple slides if necessary Experimental detail –How will you show that your hypothesis is a good one? –Preparation of samples –Setting up scenarios –Equipment setup –Processing samples –Measurements –Accuracy

34. Methods Hypotheses –Detailed Basis for your experiments –Expected results One per slide!! –Make multiple slides if necessary Experimental detail –How will you show that your hypothesis is a good one? –Preparation of samples –Setting up scenarios –Equipment setup –Processing samples –Measurements –Accuracy

35. Next Assignment – due Sep 14 Complete your research proposal –You can re-submit corrected and improved sections of previous assignments Hypotheses  Methods section Paper review  Introduction Instrument accuracy -> Methods section Follow the outline for a paper or thesis or report –Variations OK –All sections should be present Submit by email to j.morris@auckland.ac.nz with subject “Research Methods”j.morris@auckland.ac.nz Don’t forget to put your name on your report! It should have a title (but no abstract) just like a regular paper About 5 pages – maximum 10 pages.. + references