Table of Contents

Research Methods in Computer Science


News

Dear students,

welcome to the course “Research Methods for Computer Science”. The course is primarily for PhD students, but also open for master thesis students who are doing the master thesis.

Best regards,
Knut Hinkelmann


General Info

Teacher:

  • Knut Hinkelmann

Schedule:

  • Friday, 4th of March, 14:30 - 18:00
  • Friday, 18th of March, 14:00 - 18:00
  • Friday, 1st of April, 14:00 - 18:00
  • Friday, 8th of April, 14:00 - 18:00
  • Friday, 22nd of April, 14:00 - 18:00
  • Friday, 6th of May, 14:00 - 18:00
  • Friday, 20th of May, 14:00 - 18:00
  • Friday, 27th of May, 14:00 - 18:00

WebEx:


Course Objectives

This course prepares students to undertake research projects with a focus on Computer Science and Information Systems research. Emphasis is placed on applying skills that lead to a successful closure of a research journey on maser level or PhD. Skills such as the ability to frame a research problem, evaluate relevant literature, generate research objective and research questions, the ability to understand a conceptual framework, the ability to select and justify a particular research design and methodology and the ability to frame their contribution to knowledge. Students will understand and apply the important methods and techniques and will learn how to report critically on research outcomes.


Course Content

  • Overview of the research process
    • What is Research?
    • Research Process
  • Research Problem
  • Making a Literature Review
    • Purpose of the literature review
    • Finding literature
    • Tools for managing literature (Mendeley, Paperpile)
    • Processing the literature
    • Writing the literature review
  • Research Problem, Research Contribution and Thesis Statement
    • Problem Statement
    • Identify the research contribution
    • Phrasing a Thesis Statement/Research Question
  • Research Methodology
    • Research strategies:
      • Systematic Literature Review
      • Case Study
      • Design Science Research
    • Research approaches: qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods
    • Identifying research objectives and formulating research questions
  • Data Collection and Analysis
  • Project Management
  • Writing a Paper
    • Structure of a paper
    • Referencing
    • Writing strategy
    • Writing tips

Study material

Course Material

  1. Introduction - What is Research?
  2. Research Problem
  3. Literature Review
  4. Research Contribution and Thesis Statement
  5. Research Onion
  6. Data Collection and Analysis
  7. Writing the Thesis

Literature


Exams

Exam Dates A.Y. 2021/22

  • 27th of May, 14:00 -18:00 - Oral interviews