BAHRIA UNIVERSITY

KARACHI CAMPUS

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PROFESSIONAL FIELD RESEARCH INTERVIEW

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Researchers: Osama Afzal, Sohaib Aijaz, Noman Zahid
Semester: 5th

Department: Computer Science

Section: A
Registration Number(s): 48427, 48478, 48525
Enrollment Number(s): 02-134171-031, 02-134171-087,
02-134171-135
Course Instructor: Miss Zahra Khan

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Table of Contents

No. Content Page

1 Introduction 1

2 Our Objectives 1

3 Our Approach 1

4 Questions 2

5 The Interview 2

6 Conclusion 3

7 References 4

8 Recommendations 4

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 Task Distribution

Osama Afzal Consent Form, Interview,

Report

Sohaib Aijaz Questionnaire, Interview,

Report

Noman Zahid Graphs, Interview, Review

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PROFESSIONAL FIELD RESEARCH INTERVIEW –
REPORT
Researchers: Osama Afzal, Sohaib Aijaz, Noman Zahid
Technical Writing and Presentation Skills – Assignment

Introduction
In Europe and in the United States, both undergraduate and graduate schools maintain
a strong research culture, evident by numerous annually published reports that
consistently rank American and European schools among the top institutions in term of
research output in academia (as ranked by Times Higher Education, 2018). This
ingrained research culture has led to greater exploration and advancement in science
and technology, literature, and all other educational fields beyond the confines of
textbooks and lectures. However, higher education institutions based in Pakistan have
lacked severely in terms of research output when compared to other regional and
international educational systems, such as in India, Turkey, and China. This state of
dismay has led to significant brain drain in Pakistan (S. Farooq & E. Ahmed, 2017) as
students leave the country to pursue quality education elsewhere, primarily in the
Anglosphere (US, UK, Canada, Australia) bolstering their workforce and sapping an
already thin workforce of educated Pakistanis.
Our Objectives
This report seeks to explore the state of research in academia in a local context,
highlighting the shortcomings of Pakistani undergraduate institutions and proposing
potential solutions to revamp the education system through a greater emphasis on
research work and extra-curricular activities.
Our Approach
To serve as the primary focal point of this research report, we interviewed one of our
former lecturers at Bahria University, Dr. Raheel Siddiqi. A Senior Assistant Professor at
Bahria University’s Karachi Campus, Dr. Siddiqi has a total of seven published research
papers that primarily deal with theoretical computer science and machine learning
between 2008 and 2013.

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During an in-person interview with Dr. Siddiqi, we asked several questions regarding his
research and his opinion on the current state of research academia in Pakistan. Our
prepared questionnaire included a diverse mix of subjective and objective questions to
gauge the opinion of a professional in the field of Computer Science.

Questions

1. How often do you read different research studies in a month?

2. The research studies you read are on what extent related to your domain?
3. How much help do you get in your domain of teaching from the research studies?
4. How much do you think writing a research paper is important for an undergraduate
student’s career?
5. How much effect in a constructive way reading research studies and writing research
papers does to projects you worked on?
6. How much more the research needs to be done in the domain of Computer Science?
7. How often do you write each day or week?
8. How important is what you write to the successful performance of your job?
9. Is writing important to your promotion?

The Interview
Dr. Siddiqi indicated a key interest in analyzing and studying various research studies,
stating that he would often read research studies, primarily from within his own domain
of research. Although admitting that the research studies were not a significant help in
his teaching endeavors, he stressed upon the importance of research work in
undergraduate studies and advanced projects. When asked how much research he
believed was still required in Computer Science, the professor simply stated that we had
only just begun scraping the surface when it came to research work in theoretical and
experimental Computer Science and that a vast majority of work was still to be done.
In the professor’s opinion, a good research paper is built upon three Cs: clarity,
coherence, and conciseness. He stated that unless a research paper could inform a
reader with the utmost clarity, could be read coherently and flowed naturally, and
maintained a general conciseness in its length, it was of no good use to anyone. With
this final subjective question answered, we concluded the interview.

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 Responses given by Professional
Question 9

Question 8

Question 7

Question 6

Question 5

Question 4

Question 3

Question 2

Question 1

0 1 2 3 45

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These are the answers which were given by the professional in response to the
objective questions when the short interview was conducted. On the x-axis are answers
ranging between ‘1’ and ‘5’ (1 being ‘strongly disagree’ and 5 being ‘strongly agree’) and
on the y-axis are the question numbers of the questions which are provided above.
Conclusion
The interview proved to be a success and we managed to gather the firsthand opinions
and recommendations of a professional with years of experience and research work to
their name. According to the answers we received and the research we conducted, it
became evident that although a large number of personnel in academia would prefer a
greater emphasis to be placed on research work, certain restrictions such as a lack of
proper funding, lack of awareness among undergraduate students regarding research
opportunities, and an ambivalent attitude of leading faculty members towards
undergraduate research at universities.

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References
Times Higher Education, World University Rankings, 2018
S. Farooq & E. Ahmed, 2017; Brain Drain from Pakistan: An Empirical Analysis,
Forman Journal of Economic Studies
Recommendations
R. Siddiqi & C. Harrison, 2010; Improving teaching and learning through short-answer
marking, IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies
R. Siddiqi & C. Harrison, 2008; On the automated assessment of short free-text
responses, IAEA Conference Paper.

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PLAGIARISM REPORT

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