Admas University

Research Methods in Computer Science

Henock Mulugeta (Ph.D)

(AAU,AAiT)

1
 Course Objective
 To introduce students to the broad concepts of
Research Methods in computing.
 To introduce students to a variety of issues, concepts,
methods, and techniques associated with computer
science research.
 To introduce students to technical research paper
reading and writing methods
 To introduce students how to review scientific literature

 To introduce students presentation skills both in written

and oral form
 To prepare students to be knowledgeable of selected
research topics and works in computer science
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 Topics covered in this course
 Lecture – 1 Introduction
 Lecture – 2 Research process
 Lecture – 3 Research Design
 Lecture – 4 Literature review
 Lecture – 5 Proposals and Thesis writing
 Lecture – 6 How to write research paper for
publication
 Lecture – 7 Research issues and topics in
Computer Science

3
 Evaluation
 Conference proceeding or Journal paper
review and presentation
 Proposal writing on a selected topic
 Preparation of Survey paper on a selected
topics
 Exam
 Project

4
Lecture – 1

Introduction

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 Introduction: Outline
 What is research?
 Who does research?
 Outcome of research
 Motivation and characteristics of research
 Scientific research method
 What is high quality research?
 Significant of research
 Requirements of research
 Types of researches
 Research questions

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 What Is Research?
 Merriam-Webster’s definition:
1 : careful or diligent search for new knowledge
2 : scholarly investigation or examination;
especially : investigation or experimentation
aimed:
 at the discovery and interpretation of facts,
 revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of
new facts, or
 practical application of such new or revised theories
or laws
3 : the collecting and analyzing of information
about a particular subject
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 What Is Research? (2)
 “A combination of investigation of past work
and effort in the present that will help others
in the future”
 A set of opposites
 Fun and frustration
 Small steps and large insights
 Building on others’ work and contributing your
own work

 Finding or developing something new that

changes the world….
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 What Is Research? (3)

 The systematic investigation into and study of

materials and sources in order to establish
facts and reach new conclusions.
(Oxford English Dictionary)

 Scientific investigation that is performed in

order to:
 discover new knowledge/information or
 to develop or improve products and technology
(Academic Press Dictionary of Science Technology)

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 What Is Research? (4)
 Research is an organized and systematic way of
finding answers to questions/problems
 Systematic: because there is a definite set of
procedures and steps which you will follow.
 Organized: because there is a structure or
method that should be followed to perform
research
 It is a planned procedure, not a spontaneous
one.
 It is focused and limited to a specific scope.

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 What Research is not
 Research isn’t information gathering:
 Gathering information from resources such as books
or magazines isn’t research. Why?
 No contribution to new knowledge.

 Research isn’t the transportation of facts:

 Merely transporting facts from one resource to
another doesn’t constitute research. Why?
 No contribution to new knowledge although this might
make existing knowledge more accessible.
 Missed the essence of research: the interpretation of
data.

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 What Research is not…

 Playing with technology Developing Android,

Apple applications
 Programming project

 Doing what others have already done

 However, each of these can be done as part

of research
 E.g,. Search for community problem, conduct
research, then solve their problem using mobile
phone (develop mobile apps)
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 Who Does Research?
 Graduate Students
 Masters Degree (develop basic research skills,mostly
supervisor guided)
 Ph.D. Degree (develop independent, original and
more eleborate research skills)
 Researchers at universities
 Post-Doctoral students
 Faculty members

 Researchers in industry
 Research scientists (Google, Apple, Nokia, IBM, …)
 Many other technical workers

 Undergraduate students (lower standard)

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 Who Does Research? (2)
 Individuals
 Teams
 Single-author scientific journal articles are no
longer valuable.
 Team work (of different disciplines) is favored.

 Teams almost always make the process

easier
 Division of labor (Engineers, Mathematician)
 Feedback from team members
 Each member can work to own strengths

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 Outcome of research

 Research problems can be in terms of "to

produce", "to design", or "to develop" something,
and

 Research outcomes can be in terms of having

"produced", "designed" or "developed"
something.

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 Outcomes of research…
 A new or improved product

 A new theory or a reinterpretation of an existing theory.

Developing new theories like relativity theory of Einstein may be difficult
(at graduate level: mostly reinterpretation of existing theories)

 A new or improved research tool or technique

(e.g., a new network simulator to conduct research on networking,
a new software to undertake certain tasks)

 A new or improved model or perspective

(e.g.. time as a fourth dimension, AI, ML, Deep Learning models)

 An in-depth study.
(to study something that has never been studied before)

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 What It Takes?

 Creativity
 Open mind
 Curiosity
 Patience
 Determination
 Positive Attitude
 Discipline and focus

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 Research Characteristics
 Originates with a question or problem.
 Requires clear expression of a goal.
 Follows a specific plan or procedure.
 Often divides main problem into sub problems.
 Tentatively guided by a research problem, question,
or hypothesis.
 Accepts certain critical assumptions.
 By its nature it is more circular and iterative.
 Requires collection and interpretation of data.
 Requires design, testing, and verification of
systems/models/algorithms…
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 Motivation in Research
 What makes people undertake research?
 Desire to get a research degree along with its
consequential benefits.
 Desire to solve a challenging problems.
 Desire to design appropriate policies
 Desire to contribute to the existing stock of knowledge.
 Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative
work
 Desire to give service to society
 Orders from government, organizations (as an
employee)
 Curiosity about new things, etc....

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 Research as Career
 Rewarding and satisfying career
 Opportunities for life-long growth
 ICT - exciting fields for innovation
 Global career opportunities

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 Significance of research
– A means of income
– The outlet for new ideas and insights;
– The development of new styles and
creative work;
– The generalizations of new theories;
– Fountain of knowledge;
– Important source of guidelines for solving
different problems; etc.

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 Motivation and Significance of
Research …
 To MSc or PhD students, research may mean a
careerism or a way to attain a high position in the
social structure
 To professionals research may mean a source of
income
 To philosophers and thinkers, research may mean
the outlet for new ideas and insights
 To literary men and women, research may mean the
development of new styles and creative work
 To analysts and intellectuals, research may mean
the generalizations of new theories

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How does a researcher work ?
 make always notes in a “notebook”
 make summaries on what has been learned.
 make plans for the future all the time
(outlines, roadmaps)
 discuss, ask questions and argue (criticism)

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 Scientific Research
 Employs systematic observation and rational
processes to create new knowledge.
 Based on logical relationships not just beliefs.

 Involves an explanation and scientific

justification of the methods used to collect and
analyze data;
• explanation to “why the results are meaningful?”

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 Scientific Research Method
 Problem definition
 Hypothesis
 Sequence of experiments
 Randomization (random experiments by taking
sample data)
 Repetition (perform many times to converge)

 Change one parameter/experiment

 Prove/Disprove Hypothesis
 Document for others to reproduce results

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 Scientific Research Method…
1. Choose a question to investigate
2. Identify a hypothesis related to the question
3. Make testable predictions in the hypothesis
4. Design an experiment to answer hypothesis
question
5. Collect data in experiment
6. Determine results and assess their validity
7. Determine if results support or refute your
hypothesis

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Scientific Research Method…

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 Scientific Research Method…
 Many activities carried out by computer
Engineers/Scientists follow the scientific method:
 e.g., designing and implementing a large database system
requires
 hypothesizing about its behavior under various
conditioning,
 experimenting to test those hypotheses,
 analyzing the results, and
 possibly redesigning.
 e.g., debugging a complex program requires:
 forming hypotheses about where an error might be occurring,
 experimenting to test those hypotheses,
 analyzing the results, and
 fixing the bugs.
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 Scientific Research Method…
 Research begins with a problem.
 This problem need not be Earth-shaking.

 Identifying this problem can actually be the

hardest part of research.

 In general, good research projects should:

 Address an important question.
• original and significant
 Advance knowledge.

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Incorrect Choice - Research

 The following kinds of projects usually don’t

make for good research:

 Comparing data sets.

 Correlating data sets.
 Problems with yes / no answers.

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 High-Quality Research
 Good research requires:
 The scope and limitations of the work to be clearly
defined.
 The process should be clearly explained so that it
can be reproduced and verified by other
researchers.
 A systematically planned design that is as
objective as possible.

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 High Quality Research (cont.)
 Exercise
 Use Graphic Organizer
• A graphic organizer is a visual representation of
concepts, knowledge, or information that can incorporate
both text and pictures.
• Examples include calendars, maps, Venn diagrams, pert
diagram and flow charts.
• Graphic organizers allow the mind 'to see' undiscovered
patterns and relationships.
 Do a map of your research
 Establish relationships
• Use arrows

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 PERT Chart
(Program Evaluation and Review Technique)
March 3, 2014

Build Scanner

Jan 1, 2014 Jan 3, 2014 March 7, 2015 Nov 14, 2016

Integration
Start Design Build Parser
and Test

March 7, 2016

Build Code Dec 17, 2016

Generator
Finish

July 7, 2016

Write Manual

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3-34
Example: Data mining model

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The KDD process

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 High-Quality Research (cont.)
 Good research requires:
 Highly ethical standards be applied.
 All limitations be documented.
 Data be adequately analyzed and explained.
 All findings be presented unambiguously and
 All conclusions be justified by sufficient
evidence.

37
 Research Requirements
Research requires resources, such as the following:

• Money (fund);
• People (group of researchers);
• Time and space (laboratory, real test bed);
• Experimental Subjects…
• Data

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 Research is both enjoyable and frustrating

 Enjoyment comes from considering a specific problem or

subject field u are interested in to solve.

 Frustration comes from discovering that it is not possible

to do the intended research at the start/middle/end of the
investigation due to the following reasons:
• The Research topic may be challenging.
• The research must be completed within a given time
• Funds for experiments, travel, and so on may be limited
or even non-existent
• Finding academic supervisor related to the research area
with full engagement and interest.
• Unexpected results, at the end of the day
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 Types of Research

 The basic types of research are:

 Pure research/fundamental
 Exploratory (Investigative/pilot study)
 Descriptive (Surveying)
 Empirical/experimental (HW, simulation ,
laboratory)
 Applied
 Synthetic research
 Historical
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 Types of Research…
Pure research (Academic research)
 Is mainly concerned with formulation of theories.
(related to pure mathematics, driving formula)

 Purpose:
 expanding the knowledge base and, thus, its future
potential in a given area
 Involves developing and testing theories and
hypothesis
 No immediate impact on daily life.

 Usually in universities & funded by governments

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 Types of Research …
 Exploratory Research (feasibility study)
 The result of an exploratory study may indicate that further
research can be reduced and/or certain aspects of the
larger study can be eliminated
 Exploratory study is conducted in the following
situation:
 To design a problem for investigation and to formulate
hypotheses
 To determine priorities for further research
 To gather data about the main problems of the research on
particular hypothetical statements
 To increase the researcher’s interest in the problem
 To explain basic concepts 42
 Types of Research …
 Descriptive Research (A kind of surveying)
 Includes surveys and fact finding enquiries of different
kinds.
 Major purpose:
 To put together researcher’s idea and research results
in a specific subject area.

 Main characteristic
 Researcher has no control over the variables
 The researcher can only report what has happened and
what is happening.

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 Types of Research …
 Descriptive Research …
 Examples:
 Survey to improve battery life of Mobile devises.
 A review of current Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor
Networks
 A survey on Security Issues in wired and wireless
networks.
 Is conducted in the following situations:
 To analyze characteristics of certain systems
 (E.g, QoS, security, energy management,…)

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 Types of Research …
• Empirical/Experimental Research
– is commonly used in sciences such as computer science
and engineering, physics, chemistry, biology…

– It is a collection of research designs which uses

manipulation and controlled testing to understand
fundamental processes.

– Generally one or more variables are manipulated to

determine their effect on a dependent variable.

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 Types of Research …
 Applied research
 Aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem
facing a society/organization.
 Research for development of a new product or a
next-generation product.
 Mainly done in private research institutions/industries
 Universities are also deeply involved in applied
research.

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 Types of Research …
 Synthetic Research
 In this type of research, the set of inputs and a specified
set of outputs are known
 The problem then is to determine/model the system
 I.e., we synthesize or design the system that satisfies the
input output relations
 There may be many alternative (non-unique) systems that
can satisfy the problem
 Or no system can satisfy known sets of inputs and outputs
 Design the best system, based on criteria such as:
 Cost effectiveness
 Reliability
 Accuracy
 Efficiency
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 …
 Types of Research …

 Historical Research

 Historical research is that which utilizes historical

sources like documents, remains, etc., to study events
or ideas of the past
 In social studies, the research may additionally require
the philosophy of persons and groups at any remote
point of time
 In general, in this method past phenomenon are
studied in an orderly manner

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 Types of Research …
 Historical Research …

 Examples
1. The rain fall magnitude and water level of the Gibe
I,II,III hydro power stations for the past 30 years
2. Past & current studies as well as future estimation of
the demography (including economic and cultural
values) of people in a given city in order to:
• estimate the appropriate size
• economic scale of the country

3. Power load distribution of Addis Ababa before ten

years to forecast for the next 10 years
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 Types of Research …

 Quantitative researches  Qualitative researches

 based on the  Concerned with
measurements of qualitative phenomena
quantity or amount (related to quality or
kind)
 E.g, some of quantitative  E.g, qualitative metrics to
metrics to study study Networking: QoS,
Networking: End-to-end security, scalability,
delay, jitter, throughput, route/netwrok stability,…
PDR,…

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 Types of Research …
 From the point of view of time, we may have
 One-time research: where the research is confined
to a single delivery time
 Longitudinal research: where the research is carried
on over several time periods.

 From the point of view of environment, we have

 Real time test bed research
 Laboratory research (e.g. Experiment, simulation,
emulation)
 Theoretical/analytical research

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 Types of researches…
 All other types of research are variations of
one or more of the above stated approaches,
based on:
 the purpose of the research
 the time required to accomplish the research
 the environment in which the research is
conducted.

52
 Research Questions
 A research question

 is problem or statement in-need of a solution or

answer.
 helps you to identify the things you need to find
out.
 helps you to know what you want to pay attention
to
 What a research aims to answer

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 Research Questions…
• General research questions
– Guide our thinking
– Are of great value in organizing the research project
– Are not specific enough to be answered
• Specific questions
– Direct empirical procedures
– Are the questions actually answered in the research
– Guide the type of data we need to collect

• It is useful to identify and separate the general

and the specific questions.

3
54
 Research Questions…
 A research area is different from a topic
 Research area is the broader subject of your topic

 A topic is different from a question

 Topic is the broad subject of your questions
 A question is what you want to know about a given
topic
 Example of Research area
 Wireless and Mobile Networking
 Telecommunication
 Education
 Example of Topic
 Performance of Wi-Fi and Wi-Max in wireless networks
 Telecom fraud and Security
 Educational Technology
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 Research Questions…
The following are all questions
Ex:
• What are the data rates of Wi-Fi and Wi-Max?
• What is the level of Fraud detection in mobile
telephones?
• How can we get SMS in local languages on the
Mobile infrastructure?
• How can we determine the students’ learning style
in eLearning systems?
• How can we evaluate student satisfaction in use of
ICT in education?

5
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 What type of question are you asking?
 Existence:  Descriptive-Process
 Does X exist?  How does X normally work?
 Description & Classification  By what process does X
 What is X like? happen?
 What are its properties?  What are the steps as X
evolves?
 How can it be categorized?
 How can we measure it?
 What are its components?  Relationship
 Are X and Y related?
 Descriptive-Comparative
 Do occurrences of X
 How does X differ from Y? correlate with occurrences
 Frequency and Distribution of Y?
 How often does X occur?
 What is an average amount
of X? 57
 What type of question are you asking?
 Causality  Design and optimize
 Does X cause Y?  What is an effective way to
 Does X prevent Y? achieve X?
 What causes X?  How can we improve X?
 What effect does X have on  How can we optimize X?
Y?
 Causality-Comparative
 Does X cause more Y than
does Z?
 Is X better at preventing Y
than is Z?
 Does X cause more Y than
does Z?
 under one condition but not
others? 58
 Research Questions…
• Critical Issue:
– Questions must be in principle answerable;
• Specific;
• Refer to something you can look at or find an
answer for;
• Hierarchy of the concepts
– Research Area
• Research topic
– research questions

7
59
 Research Questions…
 The Role of Research Questions

 Organize the research project and give it direction

and coherence
 Delimit the research project - show the boundaries
 Keep the researcher focused
 Indicate the data, methods, tools that will be needed
 Provide a framework for writing up the project

60
 Research Questions…

 Good research questions are:

 Clear
 Specific
 Answerable
 Interconnected
 Substantially relevant

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