CS 6023 - Research Methods and Presentations - Summer Term 1999

Rich Halstead-Nussloch
is solely responsible for this page.

• Last Changed 8/5/99
• To hand in final projects and all other papers before 8:05 PM 8/6/99:
  • If it is open, hand them in at the CS Office 370J--ask that the paper(s) be put in my mail.
  • Hand them into me at my office, 382J, or slide them under my door.
  • If the H building is open, put them in the drop box outside the old CS department office (350H).
  • If no building is open, put them in the drop box outside the door on the West side of the H building.
• The survey form with codes.
• The survey spreadsheet (sumsur99.xls).
• The survey open question answers (sumsur99.doc).
• Jim and I were able to get scripts to work on the new server. But, the scripts do not write the data to files correctly. So, we will collect the data on paper forms and transcribe them into a text spreadsheet and file during class on 7/21/99. This outcome illustrates the value of always having at least one backup option.
• Monday and Wednesday meetings in H323
• Tuesday and Thursday meetings in H324

Text | Class Notices | Objectives | Projects and Assignments | Lecture Notes | Documents/Handouts |
Class Schedule | Journal | Class Attendance | Graded Work | Policies | Feedback | Hyperlinks
Disabilities (ADA) |

• Have a good term!
• **Please take Dr. Rich's **Survey**

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Benjamin Disraeli, as cited by Mark Twain ... on Lies and Statistics

"There are lies and there are damned lies...And then there are statistics."

Objectives

Upon successful completion of the course, each student will be able to:

• Define and discuss major categories, techniques, and methods of doing computer-science research.
• Plan and design the use of major empirical methods of computer-science research, specifically surveys, case studies, comparisons, testing, and simple experiments.
• Plan, design, and implement a significant research project in an area of computer science.
• Present and report effectively on research in an acceptable manner for the computer science profession.

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Disabilities--Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance

Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the counselor working with disabilities at (770) 528-7226 as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.

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Projects Assignments and Graded Work

Three homework papers and a final project (requiring submission of both a proposal and a project report) are required for the course. Participation in and contribution to class discussion is required. Thus, in addition to participating and contributing in the class, you will be required to hand-in five papers:

• Two Research Articles Comparison Report, 5%
• Final Research Project Proposal, 10%
• Survey Report, 15%
• Quick and Efficient Empirical Research Assignment , 20%
• Final Research Project , 30%
• Class Participation and Contribution, 20%, Ongoing

Note: All written work must be typed, preferable using a wordprocessor and spell-checker. Deductions will be taken for persistent misspellings, etc.

Note: A survey report assignment handed in on time that is evaluated as a B+ or lower might be re-written for potential grade improvement. If this assignment is handed in after the due date, it may not be re-written for potential grade improvement.

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Lecture Notes Available

• View the notes for the empirical study
• View the notes from the first segment of class
• View the slides covering PowerPoint
• Lecture Notes including Survey Studies, Questionnaire Construction, Survey Assignment and Empirical Research Assignment

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Useful Documents and Handouts

• Avoiding Plagiarism and Citing References
• Final Research Project Requirements
• Final Project Presentation Criteria
• Criteria for two article presentations
• Feedback form
• View the example 2 article comparison write-up
• A quick guide to presentations
• Search engine comparison table with hyperlinks
• Measurement
• Sample Survey Report Outline
• View the notes for the empirical study
• Ethics: Hints and Tips for Research and Testing
• View the course syllabus from Spring 1999
• View the course syllabus from Fall 1998
• View the course syllabus from Summer 1998
• View the course syllabus from Winter 1998
• View the course syllabus from Fall 1997
• View the course syllabus from Summer 1997
• View the course syllabus from Spring 1997
• View the course syllabus from Winter 1997
• View the course syllabus from Fall 1996
• View the course syllabus from Summer 1996

Note--to achieve the goals of the course, it might be necessary to deviate from the above schedule.

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Journal

Keeping a journal is highly recommended for this course. Include in it descriptions of your readings, your reviews of your readings, tips and techniques for doing research, the results of your research, logs of, e.g., Internet activity, etc.

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Class Attendance

Class participation and contribution will account for a significant portion of your grade. Since one cannot contribute to and participate in the class without attending, attendance is recommended. Regardless of attendance, each student is responsible for keeping up with materials and information from each class period. This means it is up to the student to arrange with another class member, obtaining notes, handouts, etc., from any class meeting, or portion thereof, missed.

NOTE: All students are expected to attend the final presentation sessions in their entirety. Any un-excused absences during this period will result in the loss of a whole letter grade from your final course grade. If you're going to miss either of those classes, let me know ahead of time!!!

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Policies

1. No late submissions for full grade credit except for documented emergencies.
2. All work assigned to be turned in is due at the beginning of the class.
3. Assignments turned in late will be accepted, but at a grade discount. Multiple late assignments will result in additional discount applied to your final course grade.
4. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.

Note that you will be leaving the Southern Polytechnic website by taking these links, and neither Southern Polytechnic nor Richard Halstead-Nussloch has control over what you will encounter.

• ACM Home Page
• IEEE Home Page
• Galileo Home Page
• The largest freely accessible literature database in computer science
• Georgetown Linguistics' Chi Square Calculator
• Mark Leone's compliation of resources for computer science researchers from Kevin Hall
• Vanderbilt Professor Thomas P. Novak's Written Report Guidelines
• Vanderbilt Professor Thomas P. Novak's Draft Questionnaire Assignment
• Professor John McKendrick's Paper on Epistemology and Research
• Professors Chung Ting-yiu and Kitty Mak's Report on a Traffic Congestion Survey
• Professor Patricia Bellas' Mini-Course Outline on Questionnaire Construction
• Missouri Professor Michael K. Swan's Report on a Distance Learning Survey
• Computer Science Education Research at the University of Texas