Search Strategy and Applied

Research
What is Research?
In the broadest terms, we do research whenever we gather
information to answer a question that solves a problem.
(Crafts of Research)

Research can be defined as:

• The search for knowledge or
• As any systematic investigation with an open mind, to:
• Establish novel facts
• Solve new or existing problems
• Prove new ideas
• Develop new theories

(Wikipedia – edited version)

 What is Research? - Examples
What was the environment at the time of inception
of life?

Heart and not the Brain controls human emotions.

How to sense motion of a metallic strip over a

metallic ring?

Motion is relative.

Special theory of relativity

Basic Vs. Applied Research

Basic Research is research carried out

to increase understanding of
fundamental principles. It is not
intended to yield immediate
commercial benefits.
 Applied Research solves practical
problems, rather than acquire
knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
Applied Research Methodology
 Literature Review Observations Known Problem

Preliminary Experimentation

Literature Review

Modify Assumptions Analytical Modeling

Model Verification

System Design

Design Verification

System Testing Commercialization

Getting Started With Research
 What do I work on?
• Typical issues???
– What exactly is a research worthy problem/topic?
– How do I find it?
OR
– There are so many areas and topics, which one
I should work on?
 How Do I Get Started?
• Study Literature (This will be covered later)
• Talk to people (Researchers around you)
• Try to list three or four areas that interest you the most
• Brainstorm a little on each area if it helps
• If you don’t know what interests you:
– Look at the research pages and other university websites
– Read some accessible articles / project summaries from:
• http://spectrum.ieee.org/
• http://cacm.acm.org/
• http://cs.stanford.edu/research/projects
• http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/computers_math/computer_science/
• If an article interests you, try to find an academic paper behind
the story (often there is one) and read some more
 Getting Started
• Read more…
• For each area, list some of the potential ideas you have – don’t worry if these are really
rough or a little vague
• Try answering following questions:
– Are others working on or around the ideas that you have?
– If yes, when was the last research paper published on or around your idea?
– If no paper has been published recently, why not?
• Using your list, identify people that are working in those areas
• Arrange a meeting with a few potential supervisors to discuss ideas
• Be patient with potential supervisors – it can take time for us to understand what
interests you
• Matching faculty research interests with student ideas is not always easy
– Faculty members may talk about ideas of their own
– Also consider these ideas if they appeal you
• This may require several iterations – this is good even if it may not feel like it at the
time!!
 Project Area Identified
So you have found a project area and a supervisor. what now….?

• Next comes a lot of reading to identify a precise research topic

• We need to gather evidence that will help us to develop our
Thesis argument
• Answer questions such as:
– What have others done in this area?
– How far did they get?
– What problem areas remain?
– How could I address the problems that I have identified?
– Is the scope realistic for me to complete my research on time?
• Its not rocket science, its not FYP
– Do I have all the resources that I will need and is my supervisor happy with
the topic?
 Where to Look for Literature

• Thankfully you are not alone there are many good resources that
you can use including:
– Citeseer
– Google scholar
– DBLP
– ISI Web of Knowledge
– IEEE Xplore
– ACM Library
– Springerlink
– Zetoc
• We will consider each of these in greater detail later on but before that
we need to develop a search strategy
– How to look for Literature
 Search Strategy

• Before starting to search for relevant material you need to have

a clear picture of what you are going to look for
• This may not always be as obvious as we think
• There are many synonymous or overlapping terms for example:
– Workflow
– Pipeline
– Analysis
• This means we need to be careful not to miss important papers
• Equally we don’t want to waste time on unrelated work
• So before we start searching it is good to list down the
terms that are relevant to what we are looking for
 Domain Specific Terms
• Many areas of Science/Engineering have their own specialised terminology

• Example: The term Map

– A file showing the structure of a program after it has been compiled.
– To make logical connections between two entities.
– To copy a set of objects from one place to another while preserving the objects'
organization.
– In computer animation map is a technique or tool used by the programmer to add
texture (material) and realism to 3D models.)
• We need to identify key terms and use these carefully in our work
• Be careful the usage of the same term can vary greatly from area to area
• This can mean that some search results are not related to your work at all
• If you miss on key terms from your domain, that also means you might be
missing on a huge body of related work
 Bad Search Strategy
• Type our intended Thesis area into Google
• Look at the first fifty results in detail
– Generally they are most accessed but not latest
– Use time sorting in google.
• Convince ourselves that job is done!!
• If we don’t find any new directions to follow then it means that the area doesn’t
have any open research problems and everything has been solved
• We have now looked at all relevant work
• If some of it seems unrelated to our topic we clearly have made a mistake as
Google is infallible
• Google understands our research theme in detail and always gives us the most
accurate results
• The material that we find is obviously trustworthy because it is on the Internet
and has been thoroughly reviewed by the leading experts in the field
 Good Search Strategy

• Before we begin we remind ourselves that a search engine is

just a tool
• How we use it determines the success of the resulting output
• The Internet is not peer reviewed
• Anyone with a web connection can put up misleading or
factually incorrect information up whenever they like
• We must therefore be discerning regarding the sources we
listen to and the resulting weight that we give them
• Apply common sense to see if what a resource is telling you is
logical
 Build a Map for your Domain

• Build up a “map” of your research area which identifies:

– Influential authors
– Key reference papers
– Books
– Workshops / Conferences
– Specific terminology
– Research groups
– Journals
– Timelines: how the field has developed over the years, which papers have
had a large impact and where is current research activity focused?
• This map will need to be continually refined as you do your research
• But how do you build it in the first place?
Citeseer
Google Scholar
DBLP
ISI Web of Knowledge
IEEE Xplore
ACM Digital Library
Springerlink
Zetoc
E-Books
 How to Read A Book

• I know what you are thinking…….

• Start at the beginning and read until you finish the book?
• This might be the approach for Harry Potter or some novel,
but as researchers we need to be more selective
• It is likely that only certain parts of certain chapters will
be relevant to our work
• We need to carefully choose what we read in detail
• Looking at the table of contents and looking keywords
in the book’s index can help us to avoid wasting time