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BYU CS 705 - ResearchPatterns

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Research PatternsProblem Importance ClaimsLeverageClaimsMy solution can be applied to a large number of problems.Strategies for ValidationFallaciesFoundationalClaimsStrategies for ValidationFallaciesDemographic ImportanceClaimsStrategies for validationFallaciesEconomic ImportanceClaimsStrategies for validationFallaciesWidely Recognized ImportanceClaimsSolution Value ClaimsSolving a subproblemIgnoring a relevant claimExistenceClaimsStrategies for ValidationFallaciesUsabilityClaimsStrategies for ValidationFallaciesEfficiencyClaimsStrategies for ValidationFallaciesPowerClaimsStrategies for ValidationFallaciesDeveloping a FunctionClaimsStrategies for ValidationFallaciesFormal ProofClaimsStrategies for ValidationFallaciesBreadthClaimsStrategies for ValidationFallaciesFunctional RelationshipClaimsStrategies for ValidationFallaciesResearch PatternsGraduate students frequently begin research projects with very little background in howto do research. There is a lot of diversity in the topics and styles of research, but there area variety of patterns in how we do research that can be instructive to beginningresearchers. Researchers will have two or three patterns for conducting a researchinvestigation that they use over and over again. The advantage of such patterns is thatthey can give an overall structure to an investigation. Budding researchers frequentlystruggle with “what should be done next?”, “why do we do it this way?” and “why don’tpeople like my results?”. A set of research patterns to start from can help alleviate thisproblem. This document outlines a variety of research patterns. It is not intended to be a definitivelist nor is it intended to be a careful categorization. It is hoped that that document willgrow as other people add successful patterns of their own. All research consists of a problem to be solved and a proposed or a completed solution tothe problem. Research proposals, papers, theses and dissertations consist of problems,solutions and claims about those problems and solutions. Most research patterns revolvearound the kinds of claims that are made and the ways to validate such claims. Claimsfall into two important categories. The first is the set of claims about the importance ofthe problem. Unimportant problems are not worthy of research and certainly not worthreading about. The second set of claims is about the value of the solution and claimsabout its superiority over other solutions. A well-documented research pattern should have the following components.- A description of the kinds of claims being made and validated- A set of strategies to validate claims. These strategies may also include a sequenceof research steps required to execute the strategy.- Examples of good ways to validate the claims. This may include short examplesor possibly pointers to papers or other works that provide examples or skills.- Examples of fallacious support for claims. Where are the common pitfalls inexecuting the strategy?Problem Importance ClaimsWe tend to frequently skip this class of claims. This is particularly true for many of ourM.S. students. The most common student fallacy is “This is important because Dr. XXXsaid it was.” This may get you graduated, but it is not good education or good research. Leverage ClaimsMy solution can be applied to a large number of problems.This is a very important computer science claim. It is, in fact, a key claim whendifferentiating computers science research from applications programming. Making theclaim that solving a problem will make a host of other problems simpler is at the heart ofwhat computers are for. Strategies for ValidationThe key here is demonstrating that the solution really does solve a diverse set ofproblems. The most important step is identifying the set of problems to be solved. Insome cases this can be done formally, in the sense that “My algorithm can parse anycontext-free grammar.” The problem space is well defined and formal proofs can be usedto verify your coverage of that space. Formal definition of a problem space is frequently not possible due to the complexity ofthe space. The next strategy is to identify a number of example problems from diverseapplications and show how the examples have some common feature that is an instanceof your problem. The diversity of the examples is helpful to demonstrate the breadth ofyour solution. The generality argument from these examples must be made. Are the Nexamples that you present simply N isolated points in the problem space or do theydefine some region of the problem space that is occupied by many useful problems? An alternative strategy is the embedded system argument. “If my security solution wereembedded in the file system, then every program that uses the file system wouldautomatically be secure.” “If I solve the usability problem for tree editing componentsand embed it into Windows, then every Windows program that uses trees willautomatically be more usable.” This strategy requires that the embedding be clearlydemonstrated and that little or no work is required for other applications to benefit. Themore work required for other systems to benefit from your solution, the weaker theleverage argument becomes.FallaciesThe selected set used to demonstrate diversity is not very diverse, not realistic or verycontrived. It is possible to cover a broad and yet unimportant problem space.FoundationalClaimsMy solution is a possible key to a more global problem or a set of problems.This is an important claim if it is justified. In many problems there is some key block thatis preventing further progress. Removing the block can open up further areas of research.Any problem whose solution can open new opportunities is important. Needs an examplehere. Turing machines as a key to computability is an example.. Strategies for ValidationOne must show that the global problem is actually important and then one must show thatsolving your problem is indeed a key to the global problem. A variation on this pattern is a contribution to the global problem. In this case the claim isnot that your problem must be solved before the global problem is solved but rather thatby solving a portion of the problem, we can make significant progress. There are twoways to do this. First


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BYU CS 705 - ResearchPatterns

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