Review on Research Problem: Problem finding, Literature Survey, Publishing / Patenting

1. A
Presentation
on
“Review on Research Problem: Problem finding,
Literature Survey”
Submitted to : Submitted By:
Dr. Neeraj Tiwari Rajendra singh
Professor- Department of SET 2019PUSETPHD00754)

2. Research Problem: Problem
finding, Literature Survey,
Publishing / Patenting
• Problem solving versus problem finding
• Formulation of a problem
• Types and attributes of research problems
• Sources of research problems
• Literature survey
• Papers and patents

3. Finding a problem
• is harder but more essential than solving it
• is as much a student’s responsibility as that of the guide.
A problem must spring from a researcher’s mind like a
plant springing from its own seed.
Research Problem: Problem Solving vs
Problem Finding
Students are used to well-defined problems having a single solution. They are
uncomfortable with ill-defined problems.

4. A just-found problem is ill-defined. Its formulation as a well-defined
problem is an iterative process, which may get completed only after
thesis writing !!
Research Problem: Problem Solving vs
Problem Finding

5. Do not worry too much whether your problem is the best
one to study. Once you go deep, any problem becomes
interesting. The important thing is to get started.
Research Problem: Problem Finding
Problem finding is an autocatalytic reaction !

6. Research Problem: Getting Started
Ideas strike by chance, but only to a prepared mind
Only a prepared mind can follow a lead opened by an observation
which is too insignificant to attract the attention of a common man.
To prepare the mind, do the following cyclically
- Reading
- Implementing someone else's work
- Thinking (in partial ignorance)

7. Research Problem: Steps
in finding a problem
• Identify an area of interest
• Gather information looking for gaps
• Formulate a hypothesis

8. Research Problem:
Formulation of a hypothesis
General statement

Resolution of ambiguities

Thinking and rephrasing

Clear, concise, manageable statement

9. Research Problem:
Formulation of a hypothesis
Example 2
1. Average learners are less nervous because they are average.
2. Students possessing average intelligence are less nervous than others.
3. Students possessing average intelligence have fewer symptoms of
abnormal behavior than those having very high or very low intelligence.

10. Research Problem: Types of
Research Problems
 Theory building or modeling of experimental data
 Collecting experimental data to prove or disprove
a hypothesis
 Innovation or invention of a new device.

11. Research Problem: Attributes of
Research Problems
 Difficulty
 Value or usefulness
 Originality
 Is it interesting (does it deny
commonly held assumptions ?)
 Significance / impact (all the above and more)
 Cost / equipment / cooperation

12.  “Future work” sections in thesis and papers
 Interaction: discussion, answering doubts,
teaching, explaining
 Comparison of different approaches by some
objective measures of efficiency or accuracy
 Harmful simplifications or arbitrary choices in
a paper - try something different
 Derivation of simple closed-form solution
Research Problem: Sources of
Research Problems

13.  Identify all variables and alternatives of a situation
to see which have not been explored.
 Study existing systems / procedures and note what
they do badly at.
 Implement someone else's work yourself and see
the many problems out there to work on.
 Combine and reorganize existing knowledge
structures
Research Problem: Sources of
Research Problems

14. Research Problem:
LITERATURE SURVEY
• Why literature survey
• What to read
• How much to read
• How to read
• Note taking

15. • To know sufficiently enough to identify gaps and inconsistencies in an area.
• To know the views and interest of others in a topic.
• To know and establish contact with people who may be interested your
work.
• To know if others have already done what you want
to do.
• To integrate and compare various ideas on a topic.
• To get hints on how to tackle your problem.
Research Problem: Why
Literature Survey

16. Primary sources (new information)
• Journal papers
• Patents
• Research reports
• Conference proceedings
• Theses
Research Problem: What to read

17. Other sources (old information)
• Indexing and abstracting services
• Review articles, history of the problem
• Books
Research Problem: What to read

18. • Start with articles published recently and go back to about 5 years earlier.
• Read and think alternately. Don't spend eternity on literature survey, start
doing your own thinking early. One has to start in a state of partial
ignorance, and this has an advantage that you are free from prejudice
which suppresses new ways of doing things.
• Reading should continue throughout the research process
Research Problem: How much to
read

19. Research Problem: How to read
 Scan to get an overview.
 Read the title, abstract, conclusions, and the figures.
 Highlight anything that has attracted your attention.
Then read in detail.
 One can read word by word, line by line, paragraph by
paragraph, chapter by chapter, even book by book !!

20. Research Problem: Note Taking
 The purpose of notes is to try and keep information to
assist memory.
 Notes are memory maps. Branching notes with sketches,
remarks, key words etc. may be more effective than the
paragraph-wise compiled material.
 Notes are developed alongside the learning process, not
after the process.

21.  Leave liberal margins for future additions and remarks.
 Every new topic should start on a separate page.
 Notes must be updated by reading more and more.
 Notes taken for the same subject by different persons
may differ appreciably, because the subject-matter
understood by the note-taker is integrated with the
existing knowledge and then jotted down as sketchy
notes.
Research Problem: Note Taking

22.  Include all details of a publication, on which you are
taking notes, as succinctly as possible.
Research Problem: Note Taking

23. The Research Process
Steps
1. Identify a research problem broadly in a general area of
interest.
2. (a) Do background course work to acquire breadth.
(b) Review basic concepts and theories.
(c) Make a comprehensive review of relevant literature.

24. The Research Process (contd.)
3. Define the research problem of the thesis.
4. Formulate a hypothesis (if appropriate).
5. Plan the mode of execution. (Work could
be experimental or theoretical or both.)
6. Deliver a seminar talk.

25. The Research Process (contd.)
For experimental work :
7. Design and build experimental set-up.
8. Do preliminary testing to check set-up.
9. Collect data in a systematic manner by
varying the independent parameters.

26. The Research Process (contd.)
For theoretical work :
7. Model the situation and set up the
governing equations with constraints.
8. Solve the equations ( either analytically or
numerically).
9. Obtain results by systematically varying
the independent parameters.

27. Research Process: The Issue of
Plagiarism
Plagiarism – Using someone else’s research
work in the form of ideas, results or words
and passing it off as one’s own work by
not giving credit to the original work.
Plagiarism is unethical and incorrect, but is
widespread.

28.  To philosophers and thinkers, research may mean the
outlet for new ideas and insights;
 To scientists, research may mean more and more
innovations and discoveries;
 To Analysts and Intellectuals, research may mean the
generalizations of new theories;
 To literary men and women, research may mean the
development of new styles and creative work;
 To those students who are to write a master’s or Ph.D.
thesis, research may mean a careerism or a way to attain
a high position in the social structure;
 To some professionals in research methodology, research
may mean a source of livelihood.

29. Characteristics of research
 Research originates with a question or doubt.
 Research is a highly intellectual activity which is
not every body’s cup of tea.
 Research inculcates scientific, creative and
inductive thinking and promotes the
development of logical habits of thing among
human beings.
 All progress is born of research because
Research is directly proportional to Development
(R & D Concept).

30. Knowledge – The FOUNTAIN of
research
 Creation, Verification, Generation and Discovery of
Knowledge is the ultimate goal of Research process.
Knowledge perishes and sometimes becomes
obsolete. Research is the only tool by which we can
update and maintain our knowledge banks/resources.
Knowledge has been recognized as the key driving
force in the 21st century and India’s ability to emerge
as a globally competitive player will substantially
depend on its knowledge resources. To foster
generational change, a systemic transformation is
required that seeks to address the concerns of the
entire knowledge spectrum (National Knowledge
Commission).

31. HOW TO READ RESEARCH
1. Locate and read a few articles from within a field
you are comfortable with.
2. Read studies that are of interest to you.
3. Read the abstract first.
4. Identify the research question and objectives.
5. Why did the researcher(s) choose a particular
setting or sample?
6.What were the methods chosen to collect data?
7.What were the most important findings?
8. Do not be over-concerned with statistical
analysis.
9. Be critical but objective.

32. Assumption – you are familiar with topic
Pre-requisite to reading a technical research paper:
You are “somewhat” familiar with the broad idea
Else
Better to first become somewhat familiar
Read a textbook for fundamental concepts
Take a course
Go through tutorials
Read a survey / review paper
32

33. 3+ stage approach to reading a research
paper
IIT Bombay 33
Stage 0
Get a “feel”
Stage 1
Get the
big picture
Stage 2
Get the details
Stage 3+
Synthesize the
details
Adapted from “How to read a CS/EE research paper”, Syed Ali Khayyam,
http://wisnet.seecs.nust.edu.pk/people/~khayam/pdf/lecture_research_paper_reading.pdf
Stage 3
Evaluate the
details

34. The Scientific Research Paper is a
Peculiar Piece of Writing
 Highly structured, almost predictable headings
 Every item in paper exists for a reason, nothing merely for
cosmetic reasons
 Each part connected with other parts
 sentence1  sentence 2, paragraph1 paragraph2,
section1 section2
 Sequence is important
 Figure  text
 Yet, space is highly constrained
34

35. Structure of a scientific research paper
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Background / Motivation
Contribution of paper
Related work
Problem definition (research questions)
Solution approach or outline
Scope / Assumptions / Limitations
Details of solution - experiment / system / model
Findings
Evaluation
Take-away from paper
References
35

36. Mini-Activity – 1 minute
Locate the following parts in the uploaded paper. Mark on paper
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Background / Motivation
Contribution of paper
Related work
Problem definition (research questions)
Scope / Assumptions / Limitations
Solution approach
Details of solution - experiment / system / model
Findings
Evaluation
Take-away from paper
References
Discuss your answers with your neighbour
36

37. How to get the big picture
Read :
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Conclusion
Go through
Section and sub-section headings
Look at
Figures
37
< 2 pages

38. How to get the big picture
Write answer to the following questions:
 What research area / sub-topic does the paper fall under?
 What problem does the paper attempt to solve?
 What is the motivation for this problem?
 Why is this paper needed – i.e. what is related work and why is it not sufficient
 What key contribution does the paper claim?
 Broadly, how does the paper solve the problem?
 How do the authors defend the solution?
 What category of paper is this?
Make notes while reading paper
In margins
Using highlighter
In separate notebook / file
38

39. Pair Activity – 10 minutes
On the paper (print-out or soft-copy), make notes to answer
the following questions. 1-3 lines for each question.
 What research area / sub-topic does the paper fall under?
 What problem does the paper attempt to solve?
 What is the motivation for this problem?
 What is related work and why is it not sufficient
 What key contribution does the paper claim?
 Broadly, how does the paper solve the problem?
 How do the authors defend the solution?
How to make notes while reading paper
Write in margins
Use underline (blue / red / green) or highlighter
Write in separate notebook / file
39

40. Stage 2: Get the details
What you are looking for Where to find it
What problem does the paper
attempt to solve?
Introduction, Problem
definition
What is related work? What are
gaps?
Introduction, Literature
Survey or Related Work
What contribution does the
paper claim – idea, technique,
proof, surprising result etc?
Introduction, Conclusion
How does the paper solve the
problem?
Solution, Experiment,
figures
How do the authors defend the
solution?
Methodology, Experiment,
Results
40

41. Stage 2: Get the details
What you are looking for Where to find it
What is the precise research
question addressed?
Introduction, Problem
definition
Why is it believed that solution
works, better than previous ?
Solution approach, figures
What are assumptions, scope? Problem defn, solution
approach
What are details of proposed
solution – argument, proof,
implementation, experiment?
Solution, System details,
Experiment, Methodology,
figures
What evidence is provided? Figures, Results
What is the take-away
message from the paper?
Overall
41

42. Stage 3: Evaluate the details
42
Is the research problem significant ?
Is the problem novel?
Is the solution approach novel ?
Are the contributions significant ? –
Is relevant related work surveyed “sufficiently” enough?
Have alternate approaches of solution been explored?
Are assumptions valid? Has paper violated assumptions?
Are the claims valid?
Are the different parts of the paper consistent?
Are the figures, graphs, diagrams precise?
Does the paper flow logically?
What is the paper trying to convince you of? Does it succeed

43. Stage 3+: Synthesize,
Ask Creative Questions
43
• What are some alternative approaches to address the research problem?
• Could there be a different way to substantiate the claim?
• Are their counter-examples or arguments against the paper’s claims?
• Are all assumptions identified and validated?
• How can the research results be improved?
• How can the results be generalized?
• What are the new ideas and open problems suggested by this work?

44. THANKS
 ANY QUERY