Research Seminar 1 Review Traditional Dissertation Process Chuck Tappert

Research Seminar 1 Review Intro to research in computing and IT Focus on traditional dissertation process Leedy textbook Faculty / invited guest presentations Four individual assignments Five quizzes reinforce the material

Research Seminar 1 Review Traditional Dissertation Process Usual University Context Full-time resident at a university Work for a dissertation advisor Usually research/teaching assistant Dissertation topic of advisor’s choosing Often related to external funding Cohort (classmate group) not important No Teams/Teamwork

Research Seminar 1 Review Traditional Dissertation Process Leedy-Ormrod Textbook Part I – Fundamentals Part II – Focusing Your Research Efforts Problem, literature review, planning, proposal Part III – Qualitative Research Methods Qualitative and historical Research Part IV – Quantitative Research Methods Descriptive/experimental research, analyzing data Part V – Preparing the Research Report

Research Seminar 1 Review Faculty/Invited Presentations Provided Examples of the Research Process Session 1 Fred Grossman – Intro Research Seminar Sequence Chuck Tappert – Forgery Detection via Wrinkliness Session 2 Chuck Tappert – Example of Historical Research Xerox v. Palm Patent Infringement Case Sessions 3 and 4 Ron Frank – What is Research Like? Session 5 Mary Lynn Manns – her research

Research Seminar 1 Review Four Individual Assignments 1. Review an Article: Essence, strengths, etc. Review the wrinkliness article 2. Evaluate a DPS Dissertation Any DPS dissertation 3. Practice Review of the Literature On a topic of your choosing 4. Reverse Eng. DPS Dissertation->Idea Paper “Idea Paper” = brief DPS dissertation proposal

Research Seminar 1 Review Assignment 1 Review a Research Paper for Dissertation Ideas You decided on a general area of research and are looking for a specific problem in that area Initial dissertation literature search Quickly review many articles to evaluate their essence, methods, results, and conclusions Suggestions for future work may generate ideas you can use for your dissertation research Case study: assume you’re area is handwriting forensics, and review the wrinkliness article

Research Seminar 1 Review Assignment 2 Evaluate a DPS Dissertation Select a DPS dissertation for review Introduces you to the look and feel of DPS dissertations Gives length, format, and the kinds of topics explored Describe the research: its essence, importance (so what?), methods, results, and conclusions Allows you to explore a DPS dissertation in depth

Research Seminar 1 Review Assignment 3 A Prototype Review of the Literature Find a research problem of interest – hypothesis, question for examination, or theoretical posture Use library research procedures to find articles, books, and other resources bearing upon the research problem Write a review of the literature with the aims of putting the problem in context and justifying its pertinence

Research Seminar 1 Review Assignment 4 Reverse Engineer Idea Paper from a Dissertation Select a DPS dissertation of interest Could be the one selected in Assignment 2 Create a plausible idea paper for the dissertation Idea paper Describes the problem to be investigated Explains its significance ("So what?”) Outlines what is to be done

Research Seminar 1 Review Writing Emphasis We teach the Strunk and White style of writing clearly and succinctly Expressing your ideas in writing gives you a good grasp of them The four assignments gave you writing practice

Research Seminar 1 Review Five Quizzes + Course Survey Quizzes reinforce the materials covered Four cover the chapters in Leedy The fifth reviews Strunk and White Course survey gives instructor feedback