How to do a

Research/Project

By

Budditha Hettige

Department of Computer Science

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Research is your life partner

School Level

• O/L Home work / Assignments

• A/L Project

University Level

• UG Assignment / Project

• Post Graduate

– M.Sc. Project

– M. Phil. Research

– P.HD Research

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What is a Research?

• Solving an unsolved problem

• Solving a solved problem in a better way

• Integrate some known solution

• Revealing why something is better than others

• Discover something unseen

• Discover new knowledge for the world

• Invent something for the word

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Research is a

• Substantiality

• Originality

• Usability

• Presentability

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Project Vs Research

M.Sc., Undergraduate ,A/L, O/L

Apply Existing Method/

Techinques

Apply Existing Method/

Techinques With

New Method/ Techniques

Problem

Solution

MPhil , PHD

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Stakeholders of a Research

• Student

• Supervisors

• Industry

• Funding Organization

• Academic Institution

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Quality of good research Student

• Personal Skill

– Drive and determination

– Well organized

– Be curious

– Able to communicate

• Intelligent

• Busy

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Quick Guide to do a Project

• Think, Read, Search and Identify a Problem

• Make a Design

• Implement the Solution

• Test the Solution

• Write Report / Thesis / Papers

• Present your findings

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Academic Project

• Think, Read, Search and Identify a Problem

• Write a Project proposal

• Identify the requirements (Review)

• Make a Design

• Present interim report up to design

• Implement the Solution

• Test the Solution

• Write Report and Paper

• Present your findings

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How to find a Problem

• Think a problem

• Read about existing solutions & existing technologies

• Search existing solutions & techniques

What others have done

• Collect the resources with references

• Make a summary

• Identify correct problem and the Solution you wish to solve

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More … Think the problem

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Collect the Resources

• Form the web

• Form the Books

• From the Lecture notes

• From Other places

– News papers

– Articles

– Others

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Collect the Resources from web

• Collect the resource

• Find the reference – Author

– Name

– URL

– Accesses date

Sample Reference [1] Native Data Access APIs, MSDN,

URL: http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/sqlserver/aa336270

(Access on 0.09.2011)

[2] Java programming language, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java(Access on 20.10.2011)

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Collect the Resources from Book

• Collect the resource

• Find the reference

– Author

– Name

– Publisher and year

– Page

Sample Reference [1] Wren P.C., Martin H., High School English grammar and Composition,

S. Chand and Company Ltd, Ram Nagar, New Delhi, India, 2005, (page 27).

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Collect the Resources from Lecture note

• Collect the resource

• Find the reference

– Author

– Title

– Course

– Department, faculty, University

– URL (if amiable)

Sample Reference [1] GS Makalanda, Introduction to Computer Programming, CSC 107 2.0,

Department of Statistics and Computer Science, University of Sri Javawerdenepura, 2011

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Your Problem is..

• Actually is a Problem

• Can be solve

• Can solve through the existing techniques

• Recourses are available

• Suitable for society

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Before writing Project a proposal

• Clearly define a problem

• Get good idea about background

• Get idea about advantage of the solution

• Way to find the solution

• Required methods and technologies

• Resource requirement

• Time availability

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How to write a project proposal

The proposal contains the following

– Title of the research

– Introduction

– Aim & Objectives

– Method / Design

– Resource requirement

– References

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Title of the Research

• Short

• Clear idea about Problem and Solution

Example:

– Online Book Reservation system for university library

– Automated display board for a lecture hale

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Introduction

• Includes

– Background

– Motivation

– Problem area

– Why solution is impotent

– Solution in very brief

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Aim

• Only one sentence

– Design and develop the solution

– Problem X can solve by using Technology Y

• Design and develop Online Book Reservation system for university library

• Design and develop Automated display board for lecture hale through the Microcontroller technologies

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Objectives

• Critically review the problem area

• Critically study the technology X, Y

• Design a solution

• Implement the solution

• Test the solution

• Write a report

• Present the solutions

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Method/ Design

• Describe your solution with simple design

• Describe the

– Methods

– Technologies

– Input(s)

– Output(s)

– Process

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Resources

Give the Minimum Requirements than can be provide

• Software resources

• Hardware resources

• Other resources

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References

• Include most useful references

– In the proposal please include less than 10

references

Babel Fish [25] is a web-based application developed by AltaVista

which translates text or web pages from one of several languages into

another.

[25] Babel Fish, URL: http://babelfish.yahoo.com/, (Accesses on 10.05.2009)

Citations

Refernce

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Design

• Input

• Output

• Process

• Overview of the System

input Output Process

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Design cont…

• Defines the difference modules, components

and their inter connection

• Define what each component does

• Illustrate with a Design diagram

– System input

– System output

– Proess

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Sample Design diagram

input

Output

Component A

Database

file Component F

Component D

Component B

Component C

Component E

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Design Models

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Design Diagrams cont…

– ER Diagram

– User case diagram

– Activity diagram

– Class diagram

– Etc.

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Before write an Interim Report

• Complete up to design

• Starting the implementation has same

advantage

• Complete the review of the other’s work

• Read some research papers/ Good quality

reports to get idea about scientific writing

* Reading gives the way to good writing *

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Structure of the Interim report

• Title page

• Cover page

• Declaration

• Abstract

• Table of contains (including list of tables and figures)

• Chapters

• Summary

• References

• Appendix

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Sample Chapter breakdown

• Chapter 1: Introduction

• Chapter 2: Reviews other works

• Chapter 3: Technologies

• Chapter 4: Design

• Chapter 5: Implementation (if done)

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Chapter 1: Introduction

1. Preamble Introduction, Motivation, Background

2. Problem in brief

Discusses the problem with your solution

3. Proposed solution

4. Aim

5. Objective

6. Scope

7. Structure of the report

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Chapter 2: Reviews other works

• Reviews the existing systems including

advantages and disadvantages

• Reviews the existing technologies which are

used to solve existing systems

• Finally identify the Actual problems

• Which type of technologies can be used to

slove your problem

• What are the features you need to include

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Chapter 3: Technologies

• Reviews the technologies you are required to solve your problem

• Identify and mention the features

• Show how to use the above tech.

– Install

– Connection

– Requirements

* After reading this chapter reader can use the above technology

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Chapter 4: Design

• Input

• Output

• Process

• Design Diagrams

– Describes each components with

• Input, Output, Process, pre request etc.

• ER diagram (for database)

– (Others diagram can attached as appendix)

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Summary

• Give a one paragraph summary for each

chapter what you have discusses

• Give a further works what you need to

complete

• Give any assumption and limitation you are

identified

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Interim Presentation

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Interim presentation

• Presentation structure is same as your interim

report

• This is the way to “present your work”

• Make a simple but complete and good

presentation

• Do not include more pictures and animations

• Time is very impotent

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Structure of the presentation

• Title page

• Overview page

• Introductions

• Problem

• Aim and objectives

• Existing Systems and technologies

• Technology adapted

• Design

• Implementation (if done)

• Summary and further work

• References

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Before the present

• Show all your supervisor before the present

*** Supervisor is the person try to help you ***

• Prepare to present

• Check everything before start the section

– Slides, Fonts, Vedios, Sound etc…

• Try to do your best

**Practice is improve your presentation skills **

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Implementation

• Implement each modules and test

– Input

– Output

– Process

• Combine each modules

• Complete the full system

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User manual

• Is a help document to use your system for other people

– Installation process

– User interfaces

– Security

– How to manage users

– How to get Reports

– Etc…

IT is depend on your project.

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Testing

• Create a complete test plan – Do white box testing

• Test each module

• Test complete system

– Give your system to other people and test your complete system • Give the user manual and show how other people work without

your direct support

• Test the complete system

• Get idea about user interface / speed/ accuracy

*** Use the other people’s comment and improve your system ***

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Final Report

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Final Report

• Final report is partially equivalent to the

interim report

• You need to add few more chapters

– Implementation

– How system work

– Evaluation

– Conclusion and further work

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Structure of the final Report

• Title page

• Cover page

• Declaration

• Abstract

• Acknowledgement

• Table of contains (including list of tables and figures)

• Chapters

• References

• Appendix 50

Sample Chapters

• Chapter 1: Introduction

• Chapter 2: Reviews other’s works

• Chapter 3: Technologies

• Chapter 4: Design

• Chapter 5: Implementation

• Chapter 6: How system works

• Chapter 7: Evaluation

• Chapter 8: Conclusion and further works

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Before Submit Final Report

• You must check

– Format is correct

– Free from the any mistakes

• Spelling & Grammar

• Tables / figure caption and the positions

• pages are in the correct order

• Sign the declaration form including supervisor signature

• Table of contains are updated

• Printout can be readable

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Final Presentation

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Final presentation

• Presentation structure is same as your Final

report

• This is the way to “present your all works”

• Make a simple but complete and good

presentation

• Do not include more pictures and animations

• Time is very impotent

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Structure of the Final Presentation

• Title page

• Overview page

• Introductions

• Problem

• Aim and objectives

• Existing Systems and technologies

• Technology adapted

• Design

• Implementation

• How system works

• Evaluation

• Conclusion and further work

• Demonstration

• References

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Before presentation

• Show all to your supervisor before the presentation

*** Supervisor is the person try to help you ***

• Prepare to present

• Check everything before start the section

– Slides, Fonts, Vedios, Sound etc…

• Try to do your best

**Practice is improve your presentation skills **

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Demonstration

• Demonstrate your system for the persons who are

masters in the field

• Show the features available in your system

• Do not waste the time to do the same thing

• Prepare to demonstrate under the given time slot

• Before going to present check all the resources do

not tell “This is not work” while the presentation

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After the viva

• The time you have the “Best idea” of the your

system and the project

• Improve the system that can be used as a

practical system

• If you done a reasonable work

– Upload your software to practically use

– Write a research paper to present your work

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How to Write a Research paper

• Search a conference to present a paper

• Download the paper format form the

conference

• Write a paper

• Read 3 or 4 time and make a error free

document

• Give to paper for the supervisor two or three

weeks before the deadline to submit a paper

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Parts of the Research paper

• Title

• Abstract

• Introduction

• Others work

• Relevant technology/ theory/ knowledge

• Design and Implementation

• Conclusion and further works

• Acknowledgement

• Reference

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Part of the Research paper

• Title: Short including meaning full idea about problem and solution (Like Project title)

• Abstract: Write about problem, your solution (What you have done)

• Introduction: Idea about research area major problem, motivation, your solution and what you are present in the paper

• Others works: Critically reviews the existing systems and with advantages and disadvantages

• Relevant theory/ technology: Discusses why it is important to use this technology than other technology

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Part of the research paper

• Design: Present your work including relavent diagrams (Do not include ER/ User case etc)

• Implantation: Describes how implement your system

• Evaluation: Describe how evaluate your system including results

• Conclusion and further works: Give the final conclusions

• Acknowledgement: Acknowledge the people support to you (Not all)

• Reference: Refernces are very infortant in a reserch paper is shows “Where are you in the research field”

** Read few research papers to get more ideas**

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Resources

• Asoka S. Karunananda, “How to do Research”.

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