CS 610 - Research Methods - Fall 1996 - Course Description and Syllabus

Richard Halstead-Nussloch, Ph.D.
Last Changed 11/30/96

Notes:

http://www.sct.edu/cs/classes/cs610

email: rhalstea@sct.edu 356H Building voice: 528-5509 Fax: 528-5511

Office/Lab Hours: 10AM - Noon MW 4:30-5:50PM Tu, and by Appointment--528-5509

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:

Projects and Assignments


Lecture Notes Available

Useful Documents

Class Schedule

Oct 1 Introduction, Distance Learning, Two Research Article Comparison Assignment
Oct 8 Library Use, Internet Use, Avoiding Plagiarism, Primary versus Secondary Research, Measurement, Research Proposals, Presentations and Reports
Oct 15 The Learning Resource Center, Research Reporting and Presentation, Questionnaire Construction, Group Exercise, Survey Studies as Example Research Projects, ST6000 Account Check, Survey Assignment and Empirical Research Assignment Open
Oct 22 Library Tour/Presentation, Presentations of Two Research Article Comparisons, Two Research Article Comparison Report Due
Oct 29Survey Design, Study Design, Survey Data Analysis (Quantitative and Visual), Case Studies,
Nov 1LAST DAY TO DROP
Nov 5Survey Implementation, Research Reports, View the slides for week 5 11/5/96 covering PowerPoint Comparison Studies, Code Behavior Studies,
Nov 12 Survey Reports Due, Final Project Proposal Due, Usability Testing, Software Quality Testing
Nov 19Empirical Research Assignment Due
Nov 26Project Workshop
Dec 3Project Presentations - Mandatory Class
Dec 10Final Project Reports Due (NO CLASS)

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.

Class Attendance

Class participation and contribution will account for a quarter 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!!!

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 in the class, you will be required to hand-in five papers:

DATE PERCENT PAPER/ASSIGNMENT

10/22 5% SCT RS6000 ID & 2 Research Articles Comparison Report

11/5 10% Survey Report

11/12 5% Final Research Project Proposal

11/19 20% Case, Comparison, Software Quality Test or Usability- Test Study Report (Must involve primary research)

12/10 35% Final Research Project Report

25% Class Participation and Contribution

Detailed write-ups describe the assignments.

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

Note: A 2nd homework assignment (Survey Report) receiving a grade of B+ or lower may be re-written once, for potential grade improvement. Normally, the highest grade achievable on a re-write is an A-. Note further that the 2nd homework assignment is the only opportunity for re-write to improve one's grade.

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.

Useful Hyperlinks