Research Problem

Outline

1.Learn how to define a research problem in CS field.

How to Find Research Problems

• “There were two kinds of scientists: big-bone hunters and small-bone hunters” The biological anthropologist Loren Eiseley

• If Eiseley had been a programmer, he would have called this "bottom-up science."

http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~jason/advice/how-to-find-research-problems.html

How to Find Research Problems

• Computer science includes many different kinds of research efforts. You can contribute to one of these

1. The smallest bone in CS

– implementation of someone else's work.

– Not original but useful to your education and to the field.

Example : Implementation of an authentication algorithm.

http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~jason/advice/how-to-find-research-problems.html

How to Find Research Problems

2. A significant small bone that improves a well-known technique.

– When reading papers, stay on the lookout for such bones. In particular, notice when the author may be making harmful simplifications or arbitrary choices in his/her approach. These are opportunities for you to try

something different.

. http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~jason/advice/how-to-find-research-problems.html

How to Find Research Problems

3. (Medium Size Bone) Along the same lines, you might make a controlled comparison of two or more algorithms– Evaluating them by some objective measure of efficiency or accuracy.

– Designing a clean comparison does take thought, and carrying it out is often a lot of work.

– Note that quantitative studies of this sort are becoming increasingly important in some areas of CS (e.g., operating systems, machine learning, natural language, algorithms).

– Example : Comparison between genetic algorithms and particle swarm optimization

http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~jason/advice/how-to-find-research-problems.html

How to Find Research Problems4. Review the existing research in some area.

• Note that this takes a good deal of time to do well, and is not likely to do much for your career unless a lot of people read and cite your lit review.

• Writing a lit review will make you

1. An expert, able to talk confidently with other researchers in the area;

2. it will give you an idea of the shortcomings of past research;

3. and it may suffice for M.S.E. thesis, or the first part of a Ph.D. thesis.

Example

“Brain–Computer Interface Technologies in the Coming Decades”

This paper focuses on using online brain–signal processing to enhance human–computer interactions; it highlights past and current BCI applications and proposes future technologies that will make significant expansion into education, entertainment, rehabilitation, and human–system performance domains.

http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~jason/advice/how-to-find-research-problems.html

How to Find Research Problems5. Build a large program or device of some kind.

• This gets you some name recognition

• confirms your ability as a software engineer.

Ex; King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology’s SANAM

6. Identify various problems or issues as significant.

• These often represent big bones in the skeleton of the field –

• problems that arise often, and whose solution makes a difference.

How ?

• Get to know some of these problems and the work that's been done on them.

• If you see how to achieve the first-ever solution, or a better solution, or a different style of solution, that's a big deal.

Example : 3D Gaze estimation. (vedio)

http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~jason/advice/how-to-find-research-problems.html

How to Find Research Problems7 . Big-bone Research

1. study important papers in your branch of computer science, flip through some conference proceedings to see what people are working on

2. ask: What problems (recognized or unrecognized) are obstructing progress in my field? Can I solve them? If not, can I at least formalize them? Can I prove to my colleagues that solving them would make a difference?

http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~jason/advice/how-to-find-research-problems.html

TOPICS DISCUSSION

Literature Search

• Google scholar

• Microsoft academic research

• Saudi Digital library

Assignment#1

• Submit by email:– 20 articles

– Top conferences or journals

HOW TO READ A PAPER