How to write a research paper: Identifying Your Research Problem

(Idea)Anwar F.A. Dafa-Alla, Ph.D.

CS & IT Dept. Alzaiem Alazhari Universityanwarking@gmail.com , 3-1-2012, Friendship Hall

Please read the note below these slidesthey include references/notes/URLs, etc…Workshop URL: http://kmca2012.net

Why I’m here• Learning from you • Sharing with you:

– 2003 ~ 2010 Researching CS, Database & BioInformatics Lab, Chungbuk Nat’l University, Korea.

– Best research paper Award, FITAT/DBMI 2009.– Taught “Innovation” to graduate students @ SUST.– Keen about fostering R & D in Sudan and Africa (SudaDev, Sudanese

Researchers Initiative, TEDx, etc…) Aiming to develop an intellectual IN ACTION community

– My DNA sequence is : LEARNSHARELEARNETWORKNOWORK

Search Vs. Research• School homework

• Ordered and Shapely

• College research

• Random and hopeful

The qualities of good research skills Professor Guy Claxton:2. Curiosity الفضول3. Attentiveness اإلنتباه 4. Patience الصبر5. Hands-on construction البناء على � عمليا التدرب6. Skepticism الشك

1. Freedom الحرية

Agenda• Creativity. Innovation. Creative Thinking• Good Ideas Vs. Bad Ideas• The intelligence trap• Academic ability Vs. Creativity

We are usually born with two types of thinking.. The analytical side and the creative side…

Analytical

Creative

CreativityCreativityBringing into existence an idea that is new to you

InnovationThe practical application of creative ideas

Creative Creative

ThinkingThinking

An innate talent that you were born with and a set of

skills that can be learned, developed, and utilized in

daily problem solving

Three Components of CreativityThree Components of Creativity

Expertise

Motivation

Creative Thinking

Skills

CreativityCreativity

• Create thinking space in a company :Climb the ladder:Top Rung How do I make the organization more innovative

One rung down How do I Make my division more innovative

Third rung How do I make my team more innovative

Fourth rung How can I be more innovative

Fifth rung How can I implement one new idea?

The idea process

Drivers for innovation– Financial pressures to reduce costs, increase efficiency, do more with

less, etc– Increased competition– Shorter product life cycles– Value migration– Stricter regulation– Industry and community needs for sustainable development– Increased demend for accountability– Demographic, social and maket changes– Rising customer expectations regarding service and quality– Changing economy– Greater availability of potentially useful technologies coupled with a

need to exceed the competition in these technologies

Not just a good Idea!Not just a good Idea!

Creative solutions are more than ideas - they must work in the real world. A

creative solution has three attributes:

• It is new (otherwise it would not be creative).

• It is useful, in that it solves the problem (otherwise it would not be a

solution).

• It is feasible, given the messy real world constraints like money and

time.

Stages of innovation adoption •Awareness - the individual is exposed to the innovation but lacks complete information about it •Interest - the individual becomes interested in the new idea and seeks additional information about it •Evaluation - individual mentally applies the innovation to his present and anticipated future situation, and then decides whether or not to try it •Trial - the individual makes full use of the innovation•Adoption - the individual decides to continue the full use of the innovation.

Bad ideas• deliberately silly/bad ideas

– e.g. Zeer hammer

• Analyse it– what’s good, what’s bad

• Assume it is a good idea– pretend it is optimal

  عمر: مظفر تصوير

Why bad ideas?• Reduce personal commitment• Fun group exercise

• to train critical thought• to inspire good ideas!

Importance of thinking• " Allows you to go from what you know, to

what you don't know."- Edward de Bono

• “Thinking is a Skill and should be taught.”- Edward de Bono

Tools for Defining ProblemsTools for Defining Problems

Kipling Method Kipling Method Rudyard Kipling used a set of questions (5W + 1H) What? Where? When? Why? Who? When? How ?

Problem Statement Problem Statement define the problem you are trying to solve

Challenge Method Challenge Method force yourself or other people out of a thinking

Tools for Tools for

Defining Defining

ProblemsProblems

Where good Ideas come from?Steve Johnson TED talks:1- How the GPS is invented?2- How did the epidemiology

started?

Tools for Creating New Ideas

Attribute Listing Attribute Listing when you have a situation that can be decomposed into attributes

Brainstorming Brainstorming probably the best-known creative tool.

Visioning Visioning motivating view of the future

Thinking out of the box• Take from here and there…put them there

and here!• Financial Banking & Physics!• Feeling, Weather & Blogging!• "3M“ Minnesota, Mining,

and Manufacturing

Daniel Bernoulli• The expected

value of any of our actions is the product of two simple things: the odds that this action will allow us to gain something, and the value of that gain to us.

Academic ability Vs. Creativity• Do schools kill creativity? Sir Ken Robinson, TED 2006

All of them dropped out of school

What am I still doing here?! 

Fostering R &D in Sudan & AfricaIf you want to go fast, go alone.

If you want to go Far, Go together!

African Proverb

Go together!

References/Readings/Fun • Books:

– Diffusion of Innovation, Everett M. Rogers – The myth of Innovation, Scott Berkun

• PPTs:- cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/complex/diffusion.ppt

www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/~dixa/talks/.../ppt/teaching-innovation.ppt Innovation & Knowledge Management - vpmthane.comInnovation and CreativityStudyMarketing.org

• Funny stuff:– Ph.D. Comics http://www.phdcomics.com/

About me• Anwar F.A. Dafa-Alla, Ph.D.Assistant Professor, School of Computer Science and Information TechnologyAl Zaiem Al Azhari University, P.O.Box 1432 Khartoum North 13311, Khartoum, Sudan• TEDxKhartoum Licensee/Organizer

TED Open Translation Project, Most Active Volunteer Translator• President, SudanTED organization• Find me on:

LinkedIn . Facebook . Twitter. WikiPedia. TED . . TEDxYonsei.TEDxSeoul . DBLP. Academia . Sudanese Researchers Initiative. TED For Arab. Youtube . Blogger . DB/Bio LAB.