tips about how to do research

7/23/2019 Tips About How to Do Research

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About how to doresearch

Some tips for Graduate and

PhD students(collected and adapted by A Florea)


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Content Choosing a Research Project

Standard Pitfalls for GraduateStudents

o! to do it

Guide to reading Progress

About your research report


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1. Choosing a Research

Project You must be enthusiastic about it

Solving the problems it entails must be

worthy of a MSc. or Ph.D.

It must be within sight of the state of the

art, i.e. it must be !oable" in the time

frame


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2. Standard Pitfalls for

Graduate Students Solving the World$ !o not try to solve all problems in the

worl!% set yourself a high but well focuse! goal

Manna from Heaven$ !o not stay in e&pectation of the 'big'

i!ea coming from heaven (as it will not usually come)% beproactive, search for inspiration an! i!eas, rea!, tal*, try to fin!

e&amples an! use cases

Computer Bum$ !o not rush to implement a program% thin*

first about what you want to achieve, how, what metho!% ma*e a

!escription of the approach, !efine necessary algorithms, !o not

go to implementation unless you have at least a software

architecture an! a functional specification


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Standard Pitfalls for

Graduate Students Micawberism

Wilkins Micawber, a character from Dic*enss novel

David Copperfield, was always imagining himself asalrea!y achieving great things, then he ma!e !etaile!

plans of what to !o once these great things were

achieve!

Do not thin* you will fail% imagine that you have

alrea!y achieve! what you aim for% how !oes it loo*,

how can it be use!- (I am purposefully using present

and not future tense, you should do the same)


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Standard Pitfalls for

Graduate Students Ivory Tower$ !o not shut yourself in an ivory tower to !o your

research (as this will not help your progress)% tal* to people, withcolleagues, professors, people with similar interests but also topeople who *now nothing about your research

Misunderstood Genius$ !o not thin* that what you want toachieve or what you have !one can not be un!erstoo! byanybo!y% you shoul! be able to e&plain to any person what youare wor*ing on, what it is goo! for, what your contribution is

mbition !aralysis$ !o not wait to have the 'great' i!ea% you

may have it but, /ust in case you !o not, start from small i!eas,pic* an e&ample, try to solve it, an! then try to apply the solutionto some other e&amples. Sooner or later the 'big' i!ea willcome.

Work is 1 inspiration plus !! transpiration", #lbert $instein


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3. How to do it1. Define the problem uestion

2. 4orm a 5ypothesis5ypotheses

3. 6ocate 7esources8ather Information 9Materials

#. Plan the 7esearchDeveloping Metho!s

+. Develop a mo!el 9 algorithm approach. Set upfin! a case an! see if it fits


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How to do it0. Design an architecture of your system

:. ;rite functional specifications

ollect !ata an! more cases

11. ?est, interpret results

12. Develop an application(s) an! thin* how to

go further

%ome steps may be re&iterated 'due to feed&back(but do not skip steps


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ommunicate results "o not wait to start writing% write about what youhave !one or what you aim to achieve $ this willhelp you clarify the i!eas an! will allow you toobtain early fee!Abac*

?al* to people$ people *nowle!geable in the!omain but also other people $ can youe&plain your i!ea to people who *now nothingabout research-


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4. Guide to reading3 levels of rea!ing

Buter >ircle

Mi!!le >ircle

Inner >ircle


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Guide to reading #uter Circle$ articles about the surroun!ing

problem (e.g, intelligent agents negotiation)

rea! an intro!uctory material A all rea! 1A2 surveys on negotiation $ all an! in !epth

rea! some papers to become familiar with the

research on intelligent agents negotiation@ rea! the

abstract, +=C of intro, conclusions titles ofsections


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Guide to reading Middle Circle$ articles about the

particular type of problem you have in

min! (e.g., heuristic negotiation) rea! as for Buter >ircle all Intro 1A2

core Sections

mar* can!i!ates for Inner circle collect further rea!ings from references


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Guide to reading Inner Circle$ articles about the specific

approach you consi!er (e.g, heuristic

negotiation strategies for multiple, concurrentbiAlateral encounters ) rea! the entire article, then rea! it again select *ey articles for your wor* an! rea!

them again (a 3r!time) search applications base! on the approach

(you shoul! !o this for the mi!!le circle also)


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Guide to reading$or every article you have read %regardless

of the circle& do'

note title, authors, /ournal, pages, etc., so asto able to refer it afterwar!s

ma*e some notes about the content of everyarticle (usually this will help you both to

remember an! to un!erstan! better) length of notes shoul! !epen! on the circle

level


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. Progress ?ry to *eep your own progress report (your

teacher may as* for one)

Echievements over the past)months 8oals for the ne&t)months

Fame 3 or # *ey papers that you have rea! in the

past)months

(choose the)value that best fits you)

>ollect other people fee!bac* on your

progress


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!ibliogra"h# about HtdR [email protected]!iana.e!umit.research.how.tomit.research.how.

to.html [email protected]

http@!epts.washington.e!urural7H7E6!esignscimetho!.html #ne more tip'!o not ta*e for grante!

everything you rea! about 5t!7 (inclu!ingthese sli!es )

?hin* about it, try it uestion everything(this is what a researcher !oes), an! findyour own way to do it
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/mit.research.how.to/mit.research.how.to.htmlhttp://www.cs.indiana.edu/mit.research.how.to/mit.research.how.to.htmlhttp://www.ifs.tuwien.ac.at/~silvia/research-tips/http://depts.washington.edu/rural/RURAL/design/scimethod.htmlhttp://depts.washington.edu/rural/RURAL/design/scimethod.htmlhttp://www.ifs.tuwien.ac.at/~silvia/research-tips/http://www.cs.indiana.edu/mit.research.how.to/mit.research.how.to.htmlhttp://www.cs.indiana.edu/mit.research.how.to/mit.research.how.to.html


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$. About #our research

re"ort Jy the en! of first semester you have to write

a research report

(e)uirements for the (( of Master Istudents

Min 1+ pages

;ritten in Knglish Hse your own wor!s, even when !escribing

other"s wor* or uote (L says that '')


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Re%e%er what #ou ha&e toco&er in #our RR

1. Define the problem uestion

2. 4orm a 5ypothesis5ypotheses

3. 6ocate 7esources8ather Information 9 Materials

#. Plan the 7esearchDeveloping Metho!s+. Develop a mo!el 9 algorithm approach

. Set upfin! a case an! see if it fits

0. Design an architecture of your system

:. ;rite functional specifications

ollect !ata an! more cases

11. ?est, interpret results

12. Develop an application(s) an! thin* how to go further


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