Research Methods

Nanda Ganesan, Ph.D.Professor of Information

SystemsCalifornia State University,

Los Angeles

Purpose

• Outline the steps that may be followed to select and conduct a final year applied or research project

• Provide suggestions on an approach to write the project report

Objective

• Overview of the research process• Selecting a research topic• Conducting literature survey• Writing the research

Research Process

Before Starting

• Write down all the ideas • Obtain and retain copies of all

related material obtained • Store all the information

– Carry a flash drive for the purpose

• Focus on selecting a good research topic

Overview of Research Process

• Obtain a general idea of the research topic• Read scholarly papers to refine and define the

topic• Identify the research community currently

involved in research under the same topic• Discuss ideas with colleagues • Expand the research theme and write an initial

outline paper• Revise the paper and define clearly the

research theme• Implement the chosen research theme• Reference

Writing the Report

• Review of sample reports• Modularizing the topics• Initial writing of report• Writing techniques• Refining the report

Some Resources for Getting Started

• If one is new, do a Google search for articles on how to start the research

• Some examples:– How to start the research– Instruction to select a research topic– Research guide– Web guide to start searching for rese

arch topic

Exploring a Research Topic

Research Topic Orientation

• Pure research• Applied research

– Must be differentiated from development of applications

• Extensive survey of literature on a topic and its application to a local scenario

Notes on Research Topics

• Note that all research need not be pure research

• Applied research with new ideas are also widely accepted

• Research with extensive literature survey on a topic and its expansion to provide incremental addition to knowledgebase may also be considered

Undergraduate Projects

• Applied research• Extensive literature survey based

projects

Using the Areas of Strength to Select a Topic

• The actual selection must now be determined by the areas of strength of the candidate along with the area of interest – Database design– Network applications

• Strengths– Analytical– Applied– Literature comprehension

• Following the in-house research pattern may not be the best choice– Eg: MySQL and php based application development– Venture into other areas as well

Importance of Literature Survey in Finalizing the

Research Topic

• An extensive literature survey is important to fine tune the research topic

Literature Survey

Initial Identification of Emerging Areas

• Internet search• Magazine search

– Will provide an indication about emerging areas• Visit the nearest computer book store

– or search http://www.amazon.com • Review of trade magazines and trade

articles• Review industry websites

– http://www.Microsoft.com– Trade publications

• Review of academic publications

Abstraction

• Read Abstracts• Goolge Search is a good starting

point– Google scholar search– Key words are everything

• Make copies of all the important documents with an abstract stored separately

• Shortlist the possible topics

More Specific Literature Survey

• Scholarly journals• Access associations in the field for

more information • Library databases• Thesis topic search• Literature survey articles• Basic reference listings

– Eg: Agre’s summary of basic

Scholarly Journals

• Identify journals in the field– List of journals

• Narrow down to target journals– Target journals

• Store journal information– Journal of Technology Education

Associations in the Field

• Distance Education Association– Obtain information about the journals

published by the association

Identifying Journals in the Field: Library Searches

• Library database searches– Eric search– Other search– Example

• Expanding on the journal search– Obtain information on additional journals– Example

• Loop back to Google search with the new information – Example

Expanding the Literature Survey

• It is that one article that can expand the literature base

• Obtain additional names of journals and topics from the references of the most relevant articles

• Many a times, it would be one group of authors who will be talking about a particular topic– Do more search based on the author’s name

Current Work-in Progress

• Keep information on current work in progress that may contain bits of pieces of different papers or chapters– Example

• Keep copies of all the references– Example

Other Searches

• Thesis topic search• Literature survey articles• Basic reference listings

– Eg: Agre’s summary of basic

The Search Process

Search Engines

• Google– Basic and advanced search

• Other search engines

Google Search

• General search• Advanced search

– Advance search operators

• Google Scholar search

Other Search

• Iterate between Google search and the search of other material such as journal searches etc.

• Library databases, if available, can be exceptionally useful in finding related research work

Demonstrations

• Google search• Library database search

Writing the Thesis

Writing the Thesis

• Modularize the topic• Start writing under each of the modules

– Good starting points are introduction, literature survey, description of the process divided possibly into multiple chapter, presentation of results, discussion, reference to future work and conclusion

• Feel free to move from one module to another– At the early stages, the flow of information

must be the prime objective– Effort to maintain continuity should not

hinder the flow of thoughts while initially writing the thesis

Getting Started

• Start writing the introduction and the literature survey in skeleton form

• Have an outline of the thesis – It must be in modular form

General Modular Format

1. Introduction2. Literature survey3. Hypotheses and/or experimental background4. Experimental or Procedural design5. Module 1: Details of experiment and

presentations of findings6. Module 2: Details of experiment and

presentation of findings etc.7. Discussion of findings 8. Conclusion and reference to future work9. List of References10. Appendix

Starting to Write

• Modularize the chapters into sub-topics• Start writing under each module as the

thoughts flow• Do not focus on continuity or grammar

at this time• Include additional sections and/or

remove current sections as appropriate

Some Writing Techniques

• Leave writing when writing block occurs

• Before ending a writing session make short notes on the next session to start

• Think about the topic the night before the day of writing

• Mornings are the best time to write

Refining the Thesis

• Establish continuity• Do additional literature survey • Continue to improve continuity• Give the thesis to be read by a technical

and a non-technical person and make changes accordingly

• Leave a gap of time before the final reading and editing of the thesis

• Perform final editing and submit the thesis

Important Consideration

• Always be nice to the supervisor• Thesis research teaches you more

than scientific research– It extols the virtue of human

relationship, patience etc.

A Sample Format

• Research Paper

Examples of Local Papers

• Some examples will be provided that follows the suggested outline, in general

• Career advise expert system

A Final Suggestion

• Select a topic that would help in applying the theory learned in the course

• Select a topic that has some practical value

• Select a topic that would be of interest to others as well

The End