Research Seminar 1 Review
Traditional Dissertation Process
Chuck Tappert
Research Seminar 1 Review
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Intro to research in computing and IT
Focus on traditional dissertation process
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Leedy textbook
Faculty / invited guest presentations
Four individual assignments
Five quizzes reinforce the material
Research Seminar 1 Review
Traditional Dissertation Process
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Usual University Context
Full-time resident at a university
 Work for a dissertation advisor
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Usually research/teaching assistant
 Dissertation topic of advisor’s choosing
 Often related to external funding
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Cohort (classmate group) not important
 No Teams/Teamwork
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Research Seminar 1 Review
Traditional Dissertation Process
Leedy-Ormrod Textbook
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Part I – Fundamentals
Part II – Focusing Your Research Efforts
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Part III – Qualitative Research Methods
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Qualitative and historical Research
Part IV – Quantitative Research Methods
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Problem, literature review, planning, proposal
Descriptive/experimental research, analyzing data
Part V – Preparing the Research Report
Research Seminar 1 Review
Faculty/Invited Presentations
Provided Examples of the Research Process
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Session 1
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Fred Grossman – Intro Research Seminar Sequence
Chuck Tappert – Forgery Detection via Wrinkliness
Session 2
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Chuck Tappert – Example of Historical Research
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Sessions 3 and 4
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Xerox v. Palm Patent Infringement Case
Ron Frank – What is Research Like?
Session 5
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Mary Lynn Manns – her research
Research Seminar 1 Review
Four Individual Assignments
1.
Review an Article: Essence, strengths, etc.
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2.
Evaluate a DPS Dissertation
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3.
Any DPS dissertation
Practice Review of the Literature
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4.
Review the wrinkliness article
On a topic of your choosing
Reverse Eng. DPS Dissertation->Idea Paper
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“Idea Paper” = brief DPS dissertation proposal
Research Seminar 1 Review
Assignment 1
Review a Research Paper for Dissertation Ideas
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You decided on a general area of research and
are looking for a specific problem in that area
Initial dissertation literature search
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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
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Select a DPS dissertation for review
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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
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Allows you to explore a DPS dissertation in depth
Research Seminar 1 Review
Assignment 3
A Prototype Review of the Literature
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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
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Select a DPS dissertation of interest
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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
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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
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Quizzes reinforce the materials covered
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Four cover the chapters in Leedy
The fifth reviews Strunk and White
Course survey gives instructor feedback
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http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/H32TXN2
Research Seminar 1 Review