Introduc)on

 to  Research  
Methods  in  Compu)ng  
By:  Harith  Shaari  
 What  is  Research?  
•  Is   a   human   ac)vity   based   on   intellectual  
inves)ga)on   &   aimed   at   discovering,  
interpre-ng,   and   revising   human   knowledge  
on  different  aspects  of  the  world.  
•  Can  use  scien)fic  methods  but  need  not  do  so.  
•  Keywords  are:  inves)gate  to  discover,  
interpret  or  revise.  
 What  is  Compu)ng  Research?  
•  A   human   ac)vity   based   on   the   intellectual  
inves)ga)on  of  aspects  of  the  world  related  to  
the   discipline   of   Computer   Science   for   the  
purpose   of   discovering   new   knowledge,  
interpre)ng   exis)ng   knowledge   or   revising  
erroneous  or  incomplete  knowledge.  
 What  is  Computer  Science?  
•  Based  on  Na)onal  Coordina)on  Office  for  Networking  and  
Informa)on   technology   Research   and   Development  
(NITRD),  A  body  under  the  US  government:  
•  The   systema)c   study   of   compu)ng   systems   and  
computa)on.   The   body   of   knowledge   resul)ng   from   this  
discipline  contains  theories  for  understanding:  
–  compu)ng  systems  and  methods;  
–  design  methodology,  
–  algorithms,  and  tools;  
–  methods  for  the  tes)ng  of  concepts;  
–  methods  of  analysis  and  verifica)on;  and  
–  knowledge  representa)on  and  implementa)on.  
Process  of  Research  
Start  with  a  
Ques-on  

Collect  &  
Interpret   State  a  Goal  
Data  

Make  &  
State  
Form  a  Plan  
Important  
Assump-ons  

Formulate  
experiments  
&  hypothesis  
 Start  with  a  Ques)on  
•  What   is   the   problem   you   are   aVemp)ng   to  
address?   What   is   the   unsolved   problem   that  
your  research  will  aVempt  to  resolve?  
•  Example:    
 “How  can  we  encrypt  a  piece  of  informa1on  so  
that  it  can  be  easily  decrypted  by  its  intended  
recipient   but   cannot   be   decrypted   by  
unauthorized  recipients?”  
 State  a  Goal  
•  It   essen)ally   answers   or   describes   the  
“nature”   of   the   answer   to   your   research  
ques)on   but   does   not   actually   answer   the  
ques)on.  
•  Example:  
“The   algorithm   we   devise   will   encode   a   message.  
The   cipher   will   be   impossible   to   decode   for  
unintended   recipients   and   easily   decoded   by  
intended  recipients.”  
 Form  a  Plan  
•  The  plan  normally  contains:  
–  Analysis   of   the   ques)on   and   how   others   have  
addressed  it.  This  is  some)mes  called  a  literature  
review.  
–  Reasoning  as  to  why  the  ques)on  is  significant.  
–  The  Methods  you  intend  to  apply  to  the  problem.  
–  The  Resources  you  will  need.  
–  The  Timetable  you  intend  to  follow.  
–  The  Milestones  you  will  reach.  
 Formulate  Experiments  &  Hypothesis  
•  An   experiment   is   a   set   of   ac)ons   and   observa)ons,  
performed  to  verify  a  hypothesis.  
•  A  hypothesis  is  really  a  guess  at  explaining  the  cause  of  
an  effect.  
•  Example:  
  Ques)on   –   “Why   does   my   screen   saver   not   go   away  
when  I  press  one  of  the  computer  keys?”  
 Hypothesis  
a)  The  keyboard  does  not  work.  
b)  The   opera)ng   system   is   not   sending   the   appropriate  
interrupt.  
c)  I  am  looking  at  a  fish  tank.  
 Make  &  State  Important  Assump)ons  
•  The  assump)ons  provide  you  with  certainty  so  
that   your   experiments   can   deal   with   the  
uncertainty.  
•  The   assump)ons   also   provide   a   detailed   list   of  
items   that   must   be   followed   to   test   any  
hypothesis   that   you   may   prove   true   and   can  
now   be   verified   by   others   given   that   they  
follow  your  assump)ons.  
 Collect  &  Interpret  Data  
•  Data   is   collected   so   that   interpreta)on   can  
occur  with  respect  to  the  hypotheses  you  have  
established   –   this   could   be   in   the   form   of  
reports.  
•  Data   that   remains   un-­‐interpreted   is   not  
research   but   simply   a   recording   of   selected  
events.  
 Research  Doesn’t  Happen  in  Straight  
Line  
•  Itera)on   or   repe))on   through   a   series   of  
experiments   and   the   modifica)on   of   plans   is  
the  norm  and  should  be  expected.  
End