Http:// Dr. Tim Brailsford School of Computer Science Conducting Research in Nottingham

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/computer-science/

Dr. Tim BrailsfordSchool of Computer Science

Conducting Research in Nottingham


What is Research?

• Human knowledge is incomplete

– There are many unsolved problems, and unanswered questions

• Researchers ask relevant questions, and seek answers to those questions

• Research is an attempt to obtain answers by objectively studying evidence

IMPORTANT

If you can look up an answer to your problem in a book or online, then it isn’t research!


Problems with the Definition

• The word “research” is loosely used to mean several different things:

– Finding an item of information

– Making notes for the writing of an article or talk

– Informing oneself about what one does not know

• These activities are not academic research - they are certainly not scientific research


Types of Research

• Basic Research:

– Aims to advance knowledge for it’s own sake

• No application to existing problems in view

– Common in pure sciences (e.g. physics and chemistry)

– Rare, but not unknown, in Computer Science and IT

• Applied Research:

– Designed to help solve existing problems

– Most Computer Science and IT research is applied

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/computer-science/5

Step 1: Find a Problem

• Find a problem in the real world (not necessarily an IT problem)

• Focus upon the question(s) to which you are trying to find an answer

• Suggest an IT solution to that problem

• Test your solution

• Where do problems come from?

– The course (subjects that interest you)

– Your reading

– Prior experience

– Outside interests (hobbies etc)


Consider the Need for Research

• There must be some need for your research

– This may be an application, but doesn’t have to be

– The need to understand the nature of some phenomenon for intellectual curiosity could suffice

• The topic must not be trivial

• You must be able to make a convincing case that the research is worthwhile


Define your Research Problem

• You must understand your problem thoroughly and clearly

• You must be able to communicate your problem effectively

– including to non-specialists


Define the Context of the Research Problem

• You need to know what other people have done in the area

– It is very unlikely that no one has ever done any similar work

– Build on previous work - don’t reinvent wheels “shoulders of giants”

• Don’t rely on one resources

– Consult many before starting your work

• You may want to replicate work done previously, but look for some novel twist


Aims and Objectives

• These are vital - they are related, but quite distinct

• Aims are broad aspirations

• Objectives are the things that you have to do to achieve those aspirations


Contribution to Knowledge

• Knowledge can be increased by:

– New or improved evidence

– New or improved methods

– New or improved data analysis

– New or improved concepts or theories


Documentation of Research

• Research is never complete until you effectively communicate your ideas and discoveries

– Dissertation

– Presentations / Research Talks

– Publication

• Document your daily activities

– Keep good notes

– Never waste time looking for a lost resource


Types of IT Research

• Software Development– Should be innovative– Should be non-trivial– Writing some software tool to address a problem in

novel way• Investigation

– Must design and implement a programme of original research.

– Collecting and analysing data, and drawing conclusions.

– Consider the practicalities at the outset.• Review

– Must have original and innovative ideas– You should not only describe the work of others


The General Flow of a Research Project

Flow of research

General Specific General


The Dissertation

• Your dissertation should be no longer than 20,000 words - be concise - avoid waffle!

• Provide enough words to do intellectual justice to your work (the dissertation should look like 3 months work)

• Tim’s rule of thumb!

So long as you do justice to your work, the shorter the better. Most should be substantially less than 20,000 words.

• Write for the casual IT literate reader

• A distinction level dissertation should come close to being able to be written up as a publishable paper. Software development should be of a professional standard.


Problems with Dissertations

• Time Management

• Lack of Planning / Poor Idea

• Bad Science

• Amount of Work

• Unforeseen Circumstances

• Plagiarism


Time Management

• Plan all of your tasks• Background reading

• Practical work

• Writing

• Set yourself milestones• Dates

• Be flexible - everything will take longer than you expect!

• Allow plenty of time for writing• Aim to finish practical work 2-4 weeks before the

final deadline

• Do not rush the dissertation• It must stand alone


Planning your dissertation

• First think of a problem

– may or may not be IT related

• Suggest an IT-based solution to the problem

• Test your solution

• Evaluate your test

• Be Scientific


Science

• How do we know the way that things are?

– Argument

– Observation

– Argument is an inherently unreliable method

– Observation should be repeatable by a skeptic

• Opinions, and subjective views have no place in science

• Science is all about objective observations


Scientific Method - the process

1. Observe something (a fact)

2. Invent a tentative rationale for what you have observed (a hypothesis)

3. Use your hypothesis to make predictions

4. Test the predictions with further observations - modify your hypothesis if necessary

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there are no more discrepancies - the hypothesis is then a theory


Scientific Method

• Science is unprejudiced

– It should always be objective not subjective

• Scientific results should be repeatable

– If someone else repeats your work they should get exactly the same results

• A scientific theory must be falsifiable

– You must - potentially - be able to prove that it isn’t true

– Science is about attempting to disprove theories - not about proving them.


Okham’s Razor

• How do you choose between competing theories?

• William of Okhamluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitateEntities should not be multiplied unnecessarily

• Whenever you are faced by two possible explanations the simplest is the best to use

• This doesn’t guarantee that the simplest is right, it establishes a priority

• Keep it simple!


How to use Scientific Method

• Always be objective

• Formulate your ideas as falsifiable hypotheses

• When describing our work use evidence (facts) to support your arguments

• If you are designing experiments, make sure that you design them according to scientific principles


Amount of Work

• This must be a substantial piece of work

• 60 Credit Module

– 1 credit - notional 7.5 hours work

– roughly - 450 hours

– very roughly 37.5 hours per week

• In most cases this is a substantial underestimate

• It must look like a substantial piece of work

• The problem must be non-trivial


Unforeseen Circumstances

• Extenuating circumstances

• Circumstances that impede your work that were not known when you first came to Nottingham

• Usually this means illness

• Must be documented (e.g. dated medical certificates)

• Tell your supervisor ASAP


Plagiarism

• This is a MAJOR university offence– Make sure you know what it is!

• Plagiarism is taking credit for someone else’s work– Program code– Written words– Graphics– Experimental results

• NEVER cut & paste from the Internet (or anywhere else) without providing a full citation

• Make quotes very clear– Italicise the text, and provide the full reference at the end of

the quote - this includes graphics in figures

• Excessive quotes are bad style, and may well be penalised, but they are not plagiarism.


Structuring the Dissertation

• Title page

• Abstract (1 page summary)

• Acknowledgements

• Table of contents

• Introduction

– ... other chapters

• Discussion

– Conclusions

• References

• Appendices


Structuring the Dissertation (cont.)

• Consider the components of a traditional scientific paper

– Do not use these titles though!

• Introduction

• Materials and Methods

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusions

• References


Structuring the Dissertation (cont.)• Introduction

– What are you trying to do and why?

– What have other people done in this area?

– What is original about your work

– What are your aims and objectives

• Technical chapter(s)– What tools and techniques have you used?

• Results chapters– What have you done?

– Go into detail, but stick to facts - don’t discuss them!

• Discussion– What does it all mean?

– Why did you do things the way you did, and how does this fit in with the state of the art?

– Evaluate your aims and objectives

– Conclusions - what have you achieved, and where is the work going

Documents

Http:// Dr. Tim Brailsford School of Computer Science Conducting Research in Nottingham