DECO3008 Design Computing Preparatory Honours Research KCDCC Mike Rosenman Rm 279

Aim of Unit ● present overview of design computing research ● explain what is research ● explain how to write a research proposal KCDCC

Research ● what is research ● components of research ● types of research KCDCC Fekete A. (2008). INFO4990: Information Technology Research Methods, Overview of Research: Definition and Process

What is Research KCDCC an ORGANIZED and SYSTEMATIC way of FINDING ANSWERS to QUESTIONS ● systematic ● because there is a definite set of procedures and steps which you will follow ● organized ● there is a structure or method in going about doing research ● finding answers ● is the end of all research ● questions ● are central to research. If there is no question, then the answer is of no use

What is Research KCDCC A formal, systematic application of the scientific approach to the study of a problem to discover new information or expand and verify existing knowledge

What is Research KCDCC “Research is a human activity based on intellectual investigation and aimed at discovering, interpreting, and revising human knowledge on different aspects of the world. Research can use the scientific method, but need not do so.”

Academic Research KCDCC ● question must be new / interesting ● community of researchers ● must advance collective knowledge of this community ● existing literature ● critical understanding ● evaluation by peers

Scope of Research KCDCC ● Honours / M.Phil / PhD ● attempting too much ● not Nobel Prize ● limit scope ● according to degree ● what is achievable

Research Questions KCDCC ● all research must address questions ● relevant to a particular area ● each area has own questions ● what happens? ● why does it happen? ● how can this be done? ● how can it be done better?

Claims KCDCC ● all research makes claims ● re contribution / significance ● depends on area

Claims and Argument KCDCC ● this system/approach leads to better performance ● this behaviour is explained by this theory ● this is what happens

Common Mistakes KCDCC ● collecting data ● this is not research ● no questions ● no evaluation ● development is not research ● the BIG questions

Common Mistakes KCDCC ● generalising from simple examples ● generalising from too few examples ● using one’s own perceptions as facts ● not providing evidence / references ●the method is NOT the research

Negative Results KCDCC ● happens ● doesn’t do what claimed ● doesn’t reveal anything ● may still be able to claim something ● disprove hypothesis ● difficult to publish ● may have little impact

Components of Research KCDCC ● Aim ● objectives ● research questions ● Motivation ● why doing this ● significance ● Background ● what the field is ● scope ● state-of-the-art/ literature review ● Method / Approach ● which method / technology ● why / what gives you ● Implementation / Results ● case studies ● Conclusions / Future Work ● how claims validated ● extensibility ● where to now ● References

Components of Research KCDCC ● Acknowledgements ● Summary ● Introduction ● Aim ● Motivation / Significance ● Scope ● Background ● Method / Approach ● Implementation ● Results ● Conclusions / Future work ● References ● (Appendices)

Types of Research KCDCC ● Qualitative ● to gain insight into areas of interest ● explore perceptions and attitudes ● gain an understanding ● may determine what will be measured in subsequent quantitative research ● Quantitative ● numerical data ● explain or predict ● doesn’t yield reasons behind behaviour ● statistical

Types of Research KCDCC ● Descriptive ● describes what exists ● interpretation ● e.g. public opinion polls ● Relational ● looks at the relation between things ● e.g. relation between male & female behaviour ● Causal ● whether something affects something

Types of Research KCDCC ● Basic / Fundamental / Pure ● theory generation ● implies that provides foundation for further research ● long-term ● no practical ends in mind ● Applied ● problems in real contexts ● often builds on basic research ● just as rigorous

Research Process KCDCC ● Select an area of interest ● Read the literature ● state-of-the-art ● Identify a question ● gap in current knowledge ● hypothesis / claims ● Envisage the outcome ● create a scenario –case study ● Choose appropriate methods ● approach ● algorithms / systems ● evaluation ● Write up the report ● argument ● conclusions

Research Questions KCDCC ● Selecting ● curiosity ● new technology affords new possibilities ● Suitability ● can the question be answered? ● suitable scope ● in time ● Refinement ● may start broad then narrow

Robust Planning KCDCC ● Risk-driven planning ● don’t make plan where if something goes wrong you end up with failure ● e.g. can’t get software / doesn’t work ● check early ● Safe goals ● start simple – then expand ● Plan to finish early