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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


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


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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How to read efficiently :-)


How to take notes and combine them into areview

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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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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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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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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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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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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


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


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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Tense

Use the present tense throughout, except whenreferring to material in earlier chapters, when you

can use the past tense.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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When you are asked questions, take time to

let the examiner finish the question, and

listen to the question.

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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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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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lit review 04122011

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