Graduate Research

References:
• Quynh Lê, Pathways to graduate research, Department of Rural Health, University of Tasmania, Australia
• S. Rajasekar, P. Philomination and V. Chinnathambi, RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0601009v1
• Hazizulden Abdul Aziz, Planning and Monitoring Your Project
• P. Kamat, Secret to success in graduate research
Graduate research: Masters and PhD

Major steps:

• Identifying a research topic

• Proposal writing
• Literature study
• Carrying out research
• Thesis writing
• Seminar/defence
Reasons for undertaking graduate research

• A career in academia: graduate research qualification necessary

• Job requirement: Ph.D. qualification is a requirement for
Lecturership
• Employment: High employability with post graduate degree,
particularly in research-orientated enterprises
• Acquire respectability, recognition
• Solve the unsolved and challenging problems
• Get joy of doing creative work
• Curiosity to find new things to serve the society by solving
social problems
Selection of a research topic/problem

• Topic  suitable for research

• Researcher has interest in it
• Should not be chosen by compulsion from some one else

In general:

Topic / problem should be fixed in consultation with supervisor

 - Supervisor suggests a topic and state a problem in broad view

- Researcher narrows it and defines it in operational form
 What is a Good Scientific Research?

• Purposiveness
Started with a definite aim and purpose

• Rigor
A good theoretical base and a sound methodological design

• Testability
Lends itself to testing logically developed hypotheses

• Replicability
Research results supported when research is repeated in
other
similar circumstances
What is a Good Scientific Research ?...

• Precision and Confidence

Closeness of findings to reality and probability that estimations are
correct, respectively

• Objectivity
Conclusions drawn are based on facts resulting from the actual
data

• Generalizability
The scope of applicability of the research findings in one settings
to
other settings

• Parsimony
Simple in explaining phenomena or problems that occur, and in the
application of solutions to problems
Selection of a research topic/problem contd…

Researcher can ask a series of

questions:
• Is the problem really interesting to him/her and to scientific
community?
• Is the problem significant to the present status of the
topic?
• Is there sufficient supervision/guidance?
• Can the problem be solved in the required time frame?
• Are the necessary equipment, adequate library
and computational facilities, etc. available?
Getting Started

Familiarize yourself with major developments in the area

Ask yourself a few questions:

• What new finding will this research contribute?

• Will this fit into my overall thesis/research program?
• Why should anyone care about this piece of investigation?
Graduate research: Masters and PhD

Major steps:

• Identifying a research topic

• Proposal writing
• Literature study
• Carrying out research
• Thesis writing
• Seminar/defence
Literature survey
 Literature survey

Whether the defined problem has already been

solved, status of the problem, techniques that are
useful to investigate the problem

Sources of information

• Journals which publish research articles

• Review articles
• Advanced level books
• Proceedings of conferences
• Past Theses
• Internet
Literature survey contd…

Literature survey helps us

• Sharpen the problem, reformulate  helps formulate the problem
in a clear-cut way.
• Get proper understanding of the problem chosen
• Acquire proper theoretical and practical knowledge to
investigate the problem
• Show how the problem relates to previous research studies
• Know whether the proposed problem had already been solved
• Help us design methodology for the present work
• Explore the vital links with the various trends and phases in the
chosen topic and familiarize with characteristic precepts,
concepts and interpretations
• Help us formulate a satisfactory structure of the research proposal
Literature survey contd…

• Impossible to read everything that might be relevant: instead,

read selectively
• Read some seminal or “classic'' papers / review papers
• Before bothering to read > Scan the title, abstract, glance at
the
introduction, figures/tables and conclusions
• Useful to take notes while you read
• Summarize the points that may relate to your work:
methods,
results, interpretation…
• Keep the papers you read filed away > set up a bibliography
 Example

Taking notes in an Excel sheet during literature survey

Serial No. Authors Title Publication Year Journal Details Key Words Main highlights/findings
A literature review should:
[Caulley (1992), La Trobe University]

• compare and contrast different authors' views on

an issue
• group authors who draw similar conclusions
• note areas in which authors are in disagreement
• criticise aspects of methodology
• highlight exemplary studies
• highlight gaps in research
• show how your study relates to previous studies
• conclude by summarising what the literature says
If you are comparing, contrasting and evaluating the
previous literature, you are on the right track

?/X 
Traps to avoid

• Trying to read everything

• Reading but not writing
• Not keeping bibliographic information
Literature survey contd…

Apart from literature directly related with the problem, the literature
that is connected with similar problems is also useful and must
be consulted
"Two hours in the library
(now through a computer !)
can save six months in the
laboratory"
Graduate research: Masters and PhD

Major steps:

• Identifying a research topic

• Proposal writing
• Literature study
• Carrying out research
• Thesis writing
• Seminar/defence
 Carrying out Research

Some common errors made in research are

• Selective observation
• Inaccurate observation
• Over-generalization
• Fabricated information
• Illogical reasoning
• Ego involvement in understanding
• Premature closure of inquiry
• Mystification
Carrying out Research...

Planning and Monitoring

Carrying out Research...
Carrying out Research...
Carrying out Research...

Logbook / Notebook...

• Put in speculations, current problems in your work,

possible solutions
• Read back over your notebook periodically
• What you put in your notebook can often serve as
the backbone of a paper
Carrying out Research...
Carrying out Research...
Carrying out Research...

Data Analysis

• Just because you collected the data does not mean the task
is over
• Plot the data – preferably on the same day or next morning
• Make sure that there are at least 5 data points to represent
a trend
• Plot/arrange the data in different ways
• Include error bars
• Some times the data are better presented in table form
• Discuss the results with your supervisor and plan the
next experiment
Carrying out Research...

Be Your Own Critic

Question yourself before and after each set of experiments

• Why am I doing this experiment?

• What is the right approach to carry out this experiment?
• Experiment conducted without any interruption or deviation
from the set protocol? (day-to-day variations)
• Expected results  Follow expected trend? If not, what are
the possible reasons?
• Unusual behavior or trends ?  Repeat the unusual
phenomenon (Most of the great discoveries are
accidental!)
• What did I learn from this experiment? Can I draw any
important
conclusion?
Carrying out Research...

Interpretation of results  very very important

• Links the present work to the previous

• Leads to identification of future problems
• Opens new avenues of intellectual adventure and
stimulates the quest for more knowledge
• Makes others understand the significance of the
research findings
• Often suggests a possible experimental
verification
Carrying out Research...

Never hurry while writing the results and conclusion.

After preparing them ask the following questions:

• Are the quantitative and qualitative analysis performed

adequate for the conclusion?
• Are the results and conclusion general ?
• Are the results and conclusion valid only for the particular
situation considered in the present work?
• Is the conclusion too broad considering the
analysis performed?
• Is there any evidence which weaken the conclusion
omitted?

Results and conclusion prepared can be revised

based on
the answers to the above questions
Good Research Habits

• Know  expectations of supervisor and laboratory protocols -

each group operates with different protocols
• Work habits and work ethics  at least 8 research hours per day
• Maintain a clean lab bench
• Record all experimental details directly in your
laboratory notebook  Attach printed results
• Meet with your advisor at least once a week
• Periodically analyze the overall progress
• Scan through table of contents of major journals daily 
Read
one research paper per day
• Discuss with advisor at least one interesting paper during
weekly discussions and suggest new ideas
Carrying out Research...

Good Research Habits contd…

• Set a weekly goal and evaluate the progress routinely

• Minimize the time on Internet for nonscientific browsing
• Just sitting at your desk does not mean that your day was productive
 EIGHT PRODUCTIVE HOURS in the lab during weekdays
• Time required to complete degree  Inversely proportional to
the time and effort you put in on a daily basis
• You are a researcher and not a technician  Supervisor is to guide
you through and help you succeed in your thesis
• Do not expect supervisor to suggest experiments on a daily basis
• Get serious and take responsibility for your own project
Carrying out Research...

Good Research Habits contd…

Staying Motivated

• It can be very hard to maintain a positive attitude / stay motivated

>
insecurity, anxiety, and even boredom
• Realize that these are normal feelings
• Try to find a sympathetic ear -- another graduate student,
your advisor, or a friend outside of school
• To stay focused and motivated > organized activities force
you to manage time > e.g., Set up regular meetings with
advisor, attend seminars, or even extracurricular activities such as
sports or music
• Use a “buddy system'' where you and another student meet
at regular intervals to review your progress
Carrying out Research...

Good Research Habits contd…

Staying Motivated contd…

• Breaking down project into smaller pieces > good tactic when
things
seem unmanageable
• Divide-and-conquer strategy works on a day-to-day level as well
• Instead of writing an entire thesis, focus on the goal of writing a
chapter, section, or outline
• Identify tasks that you can do in an hour or less; then you
can come up with a realistic daily schedule
Research: Unique Features/Challenges
• Confronted with a challenge of making an “original contribution”
• Operate in an ambiguous environment  find or
develop something that is not fully defined
• Be very patient  “dry spells” lasting months / years when
no
significant results emerge in spite of hard work
• Moment of gratification of solving problem  very sweet,
but also very short move to another problem
• Fiercely competitive/aggressive  confront the problem, as if it
is a personal challenge, so you cannot sleep and eat until you win
• No 8 am-to-5 pm work days and no weekends  problem
occupies your brain all the time when you walk, eat, drive the car,
sleep
Networking

Working only with supervisors can result in isolation 

intellectually, socially and emotionally unhealthy

• Isolation and lack of interaction can make academic life

unproductive
• Networking  expands research horizon in terms of
professional relationship and knowledge
enhancement
• Students  active members of various research
discourses
• Engage in networking with other research
students, colleagues and experts locally,
nationally and internationally
Growth of a star --which stage are you in?
(transformation process that some students go through to become a mature
researcher)

Knowing everything stage

• Student: "I have designed a supercomputer even before
graduate school."
• Supervisor: speechless
Totally beaten up stage
• Student: speechless
• Supervisor: smiling at the student's progress so
communication is possible now.
Confidence buildup stage
• Student: "I am not stupid after all." (student thinks)
• Supervisor: "Uh oh, he is ready to argue." (supervisor thinks)
Calling the shot stage
• Supervisor: "I am going to design an n-processor
supercomputer."
• Student: "You are crazy, because ..."
Graduate research: Masters and PhD

Summary:

• Identifying a research topic

• Proposal writing
• Literature study
• Carrying out research
• Thesis writing
• Seminar/defence
A researcher should check, recheck, cross
check, ... all the results before submitting
a research paper to a journal