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Writing a Literature ReviewResearch is to see what everybody has seen and to think what nobody else had
thought. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi.
Zaid Ahmed Shamsan, PhDUniversiti Teknologi Malaysia
Wireless Communication Center
Faculty of Electrical Engineering
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Overview
Report Writing
The purpose of a report
Chapter/Section Overview
Writing a Literature Review
How to read efficiently:-)
How to use the literature to find literature
How to take notes and combine them into a review
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Report Writing
The purpose of a report
To communicate your work to an audience
To demonstrate your understanding of a domain andhow your work fits into/contributes to/extends (as
appropriate) a domain
To back up your claims through appropriate
evaluationTo discuss the significance of the results of your
evaluation3
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Report Writing
Implications(1) Report should be free from spelling mistakes and
grammatical errors
Ideas should be communicated clearly (simple sentences,etc.) and in an appropriate style
There should be a logical structure to the way you presentyour argument
Each chapter/section should introduce whats coming up and
conclude with the significant points you want to make There should be no secrets! Early disclosure is expected.
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Report Writing
Implications(2)
You are expected to read relevant work of others
and report on it (be critical!)Clearly distinguish between your own work and the
work of others
Reference properly and consistently
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Report Writing
Implications(3)
You must back up your claims (either by citing the
work of others, or by referring to the results of your
own evaluation)
Results should be presented in a manner appropriate
for the domain (e.g., how is relevant work
evaluated?)
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Report Writing
Implications(4)
You must demonstrate that you understand howyour work fits into the domain
both in terms of how it fits into the literature and in termsof the results you obtain
Ideally, compare your results to results of othersimilar work
Easiest to do if you have access to shared test/evaluationdata or can replicate experiments done by others andcompare performance metrics (measurements)
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Report Writing
Typical structure of a report
Abstract
Tables of contents (figures, tables, etc.)
Introduction
Background/Literature Review
Design/Implementation
Evaluation & Testing
Discussion of Results Conclusions and Future Work
References Section!8
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Report Writing
Table of Contents (figures, tables, etc.)
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Report Writing
Introduction
What is the problem youre trying to solve?
What is your research question?
Why is it an important problem?
Whats your motivation for solving it?
What are your objectives?
What are your main/secondary contributions?
What were your main/overall results? Chapter/Section overview
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Report Writing
Background/Literature Review(1)
Normally, assume that reader is someone with yourexperience/knowledge *before* you did the current
work However, if work incorporates more than one domain,
you are likely to have to give a brief background to eachdomain
What prior work is relevant to yours?
And why?
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Report Writing
Background/Literature Review(2)
In your report you are trying to convince reader that
your approach is sensible
Youre going to demonstrate that your approach builds on
the work of others, though you shouldnt refer to your
current work here
You should be critical of the work of others
Youre also trying to show that you havent missedanything significant/important
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Report Writing
Background/Literature Review(3)
I like to structure my Lit Review on a model
(system) architecture to solve the problem Im
working on
What significant processing steps are needed to
solve the problem?
What are the different approaches to each processing step,
and which systems use each approach? With what costs?success?
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Report Writing
Background/Literature Review(4) Lit Review should be a cross-section of the literature, rather
than a sequential description of systems
Keep description of other systems high-level Dont underestimate the importance of the Lit Review
Shows that youve thought about the problem; been exposed todifferent approaches to embrace those that work, avoid those thatdont; acquired a certain depth of knowledge; are able to share thatknowledge critically
Stick to peer-reviewed articles/books. Avoid wikipedia, magazines,newspapers!
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http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/72347/july-31-2006/the-word---wikialityhttp://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/72347/july-31-2006/the-word---wikiality -
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Report Writing
Design/Implementation(1)
Now you can talk about your approach, and reasons
for it
It can follow the ideal model you presented in the Lit.
Review
You can, and indeed should, cross-reference to the Lit.
Review
Systems on which youve based your approach can bedescribed in more detail here
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Design/Implementation(2)
Remember to justify every decision that you make!
Remember to adequately reference technologies you
use
Dont go overboard with system schematics (most
of these can go into an appendix), unless it is
appropriate to do so
Write and describe, dont just draw!
Report Writing
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Report Writing
Design/Implementation(3) Especially in implementation chapter, talk about major data
structures and operations on them, rather than organise it byfunction! How do major data structures interface?
What technologies did you use and why?
If youve used code developed by someone else,reference it!
Do give screen shots (remember to no. figures,tables, etc., and to refer to them in the text)
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Report Writing
Evaluation(1)
What claims are you making, and how are yougoing to prove them?
How are these types of system normally evaluated?(Give a small lit review, if there are severalacceptable approaches, and remember to providereferences)
Are you able to follow normal evaluation, or do youhave to do things differently (because ofcost/time/etc)?
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Report Writing
Evaluation(2)
Describe your evaluation set-up or simulationenvironment
Equipment, participants (how many? What skills? Howdid you get them to participate? etc.), duration, location,etc.
Describe your experiments/simulation and orexperimental details, and the results you obtained
(be objective! Dont discuss the implications yet)Use tables, graphs, charts, etc. to describe results,
but dont present the same results in different ways20
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Report Writing
Evaluation(3)
Describe the results, as well as presenting them
Draw attention to anomalous results
If required and/or appropriate, you should also have
a section on testingdiscuss with your supervisor
This should include a test plan and the test results
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Report Writing
Discussion of Results
Objectively explain the significance of your results
Both independently and in comparison to similar systems
Explain why you obtained the results you obtained Including any anomalous results
If you dont get the results you expected/hoped for, dont be
afraid to explain why this may have happened
"Ideas do not have to be correct in order to be good; it's only
necessary that, if they do fail, they do so in an interesting way"- Robert Rosen
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Report Writing
Conclusion
More than just a summary!
Draw conclusions from your work (was it a
worthwhile approach? What would you dodifferently? Etc.)
In Introduction, you asked your researchquestion and you stated your objectives. But here,
Answer the question and state whether you met yourobjectives
Future work23
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Writing a Literature Review
How to read efficiently :-)
How to use the literature to find literature
How to take notes and combine them into areview
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Writing a Literature Review
How to Read Efficiently(1)
Read abstract
If paper is relevant, read introduction and
conclusionIf still relevant, read literature review and
approach/overview
If relevant, read evaluation and results
Only if absolutely necessary, read detaileddesign/implementation
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Writing a Literature Review
How to Read Efficiently(2)
Chicken and Egg
If you know the problem youre trying to solve, your
reading can be focussed
If youre looking for a problem to solve, your reading
strategy must change (initially)
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Writing a Literature Review
How to use the literature to find literature
If a paper is relevant, it should have a relevantliterature review
Read it, and track down and read the papers it refersto
Use system like Cite Seer to find other papers thatrefer to:
The paper youre reading Significant papers that the paper youre reading refers to!
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Writing a Literature Review
How to take notes
If the paper is relevant, write down its bibliographicreference (entry should be complete) and give it an
idJot down notes of anything (statements/opinions)
that is relevant/interesting (in the sections yourereading)
Remember to put direct quotations (sentences/phrases/unusual terminology) into quotes!
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Writing a Literature Review
Based on your research, build a model of the(reasonably high-level) processing steps needed
Organise your notes around the model
You should end up with a series of statementsrelated to each processing step about each paper youread
Remember to use the ref id with each statement!
You can now make statements about groups ofpapers
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Writing a Literature Review
Referencing your sources
Every time you make a claim, you need to provide a
reference
At the point in your report at which you make the claim
And full referencing details of the source in the references list
Avoid Plagiarism.
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615-610 JCarroll
Types of Literature Review(1)
self-study reviews
demonstrate familiarity and learn from others
increases the readers confidence
context reviews
creates links to a developing body of knowledge
establishes the significance and relevance of a
research project
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615-610 JCarroll
Types of Literature Review(2)
historical reviews
shows the development of an idea or theory over
time
only used on the most important ideas
theoretical reviews
presents and evaluates different theories
may integrate and extend theories
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615-610 JCarroll
Types of Literature Review(3)
integrative reviews
presents the current state of knowledge
provides a service to other researchers
methodological reviews
evaluation of the methodological strength of past studies
a meta-analysis critically examines the findings of a
large number of research projects
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Language Style Guide 1
Consider writing in the first person singular(e.g., I)
You can use an active, rather than passive, voice
It shows you identify with what you have done, so itmay be easier for the reader to engage with your
writing
It is less dry
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Language Style Guide 2
Tense
Use the present tense throughout, except whenreferring to material in earlier chapters, when you
can use the past tense.
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Language Style Guide 3
Figures, Diagrams, etc.
Use the past tense to describe what you did.However, you can use present and future tense when
appropriate. Limit mixing tense in the sameparagraph.
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Language Style Guide 4
Figures, Diagrams, Tables, etc.
Start numbering from e.g., Figure 1, Table 1,Diagram 1, etc., and increase number throughout
report Can also restart numbering in each chapter e.g., Figure
5.1 is the first figure in chapter 5.
Always give figure, diagram, etc., a caption
Always place the figure, etc., before the firstreference to it in the text
Always refer to the figure, etc., in the text 37
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Language Style Guide 5
Always follow your supervisors advice!
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LR Comparison?
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A good literature review.... is a synthesis of available research
.. is a critical evaluation
.. has appropriate breadth and depth
.. has clarity and conciseness.. uses rigorous and consistent methods
A poor literature review is..an annotated bibliography
.. confined to description
.. narrow and shallow
.. confusing and longwinded.. constructed in an arbitrary way
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Giving a Presentation 1
The point of the presentation is to explain, inyour allotted time: what problem you were attempting to solve;
what other approaches have been taken to solvesimilar problems;
how you designed and implemented your solution;
your evaluation results (how good is your system at
solving the problem); and your conclusions.
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Giving a Presentation 2
Do not assume your examiners know anything
about the problem domain, or if you are making
assumptions then say so.
Include screen shots of your system working inthe presentation, and use screen shots early in
your talk so that your audience gets a feel for
what you're talking about
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Giving a Presentation 3
Use a large font size - 30 points minimum is a
good size.
You can refer to hand-held cards or notes to
remind you what you want to cover, but pleasedon't just read off the notes.
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Giving a Presentation 4
Don't dump large amounts of text onto slides.
Try to look at your audience when explaining
the content of slides, and try to avoid giving
your back to your audience.
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Giving a Presentation 5
If you feel nervous, don't worry about it - it'snatural. Just take a deep breath. Once you get
into your stride you'll be fine.
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Giving a Presentation 6
Use diagrams and screen shots, not just text.
BE ON TIME - if you're late, you will lose
minutes from your presentation. If you miss
your slot, you'll get a 0.
DO NOT OVERRUN YOUR TIME - when you
are asked to stop, please stop, otherwise you
will lose additional marks.
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Giving a Presentation 7
Also do not finish too early - try to pace your
talk to fill up the time available.
Speak at a normal speed - it's not a race!
Start with an introduction to the problem
domain, and then give a quick overview of the
structure of your talk.
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Giving a Presentation 8
Practice, practice, practice, but please remember
Einstein's Theory of Relativity - time works
differently under pressure (even on the same
planet) :-) Have a working clock/stopwatch with you so
that you can keep an eye on time - expand on
points if you're going to fast, and skip things if
you're going too slowly.
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Giving a Presentation 9
When you are asked questions, take time to
let the examiner finish the question, and
listen to the question.
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Giving a Presentation 11
If you are not sure that you understand what
you've been asked, then say so (politely). It's
also ok to begin to answer a question by saying
"I think I've been asked xyz" and give theexaminer a chance to address any
misunderstandings.
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Giving a Presentation 12
If you don't know the answer to a question,don't try to bluff examiners are pretty good at
spotting stuff like that :-)
It is ok to take a while to think about the answerto a question or to seek clarification. Examiners
are there to try to get you to expose what you
know about your topic.
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More Links
Comrie, A. C., Scientific Report Writing.
UW-Madison Writing Center, 2006, Scientific
Reports
Report Tips
Dolphin, W. D., Writing Lab Reports andScientific Papers
JISC, A Quick Guide to Referencing
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http://geog.arizona.edu/~comrie/geog230/report.htmhttp://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ScienceReport.htmlhttp://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ScienceReport.htmlhttp://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/bgc1998/report.tips.htmlhttp://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/maderinquiry/writing.htmlhttp://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/maderinquiry/writing.htmlhttp://www.plagiarismadvice.org/documents/tipsheetsv3/tp06_AQuickGuideToReferencing.pdfhttp://www.plagiarismadvice.org/documents/tipsheetsv3/tp06_AQuickGuideToReferencing.pdfhttp://www.plagiarismadvice.org/documents/tipsheetsv3/tp06_AQuickGuideToReferencing.pdfhttp://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/maderinquiry/writing.htmlhttp://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/maderinquiry/writing.htmlhttp://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/maderinquiry/writing.htmlhttp://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/bgc1998/report.tips.htmlhttp://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/bgc1998/report.tips.htmlhttp://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ScienceReport.htmlhttp://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ScienceReport.htmlhttp://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ScienceReport.htmlhttp://geog.arizona.edu/~comrie/geog230/report.htm -
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