Engineering Research Methodology Presented by: Dr. Mohsen Kahani Computer Engineering Department Ferdowsi University of Mashhad http:// kahani.profcms.um.ac.ir

Topics Research Methodologies Research thru Internet

What is Research? The systematic investigation into and study of materials, sources, etc, in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. An endeavour to discover new or collate old facts etc by the scientific study of a subject or by a course of critical investigation

Research Methodologies Scientific method Engineering method Empirical method Analytical method

Scientific method Observe real world Propose a model or theory of some real world phenomena Measure and analyze above Validate hypotheses of the model or theory If possible, repeat

Engineering method Observe existing solutions Propose better solutions Build or develop better solution Measure, analyze, and evaluate Repeat until no further improvements are possible

Empirical method Propose a model Develop statistical or other basis for the model Apply to case studies Measure and analyze Validate and then repeat

Analytical method Propose a formal theory or set of axioms Develop a theory Derive results If possible, compare with empirical observations Refine theory if necessary

Different Types of Research Fundamental Research Applied Research Developmental Research

Activities Find your Topic Do a review of the literature Formulate your thesis Defend your thesis title Develop your solution Validate and compare your answer Write up Defend your thesis Search the Internet has an important role

Find Research Topic Check for conference CFP and conference programs Check Other universities research topics Test your topic too much information --- narrow your topic too little information -- use synonyms, hypernyms

Literature Review FIND BACKGROUND INFORMATION WikiPedia USE CATALOGS TO FIND BOOKS AND MEDIA USE INTERNET TO FIND PERIODICAL ARTICLES READ & EVALUATE WHAT YOU FIND CITE WHAT YOU FIND USING A STANDARD FORMAT

Search Library Connect to the University Library http://c-library.um.ac.ir/ Use Guides to learn how to use the system Click on جستجو وتمديد منابع كتابخانه http://clibrary.um.ac.ir/simwebclt/WebAccess/SimwebPortal.dll

Searching the web Search engines How do they work? Gathering information from the web (offline) Indexing documents Responding to the queryies Rendering the findings Different Search engines, different startegies General purpose vs. special purpose Search engines Use Advanced Search for more options Be hunter not searcher

The Invisible Web What is it? Part of the web that can’t be indexed by search engines The invisible web is now (mostly) visible Search engines are now more powerful Dynamic sites are indexed Use hints from sites (eg. robots.txt) Databases have opened their doors for search engines Eg. Sciendirect, IEEEexplore, ACM, … Search engine have special tools Eg. Google scholar, Google groups, Google Maps, …

Academic Search CiteSeer Scopus Google Scholar

Citeseer http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/

Scopus

Google Scholar

Evaluation & Comparison Validate your results Simulation methods & tools Analyze your results Use Scientific approaches Compare with similar works Redo their work Compare with the published results Use standard metrics (if exists) Concentrate on both pros & cons

Write Up Dr. Pour Reza will talk about it in details Publish your results in conferences Go for prestigious conferences International Conferences costs you a lot Publish the complete works in journals Use only accredited journals (ISI) Some journals charge you as well

Thanks for your attention Questions?