Research Methods in Computer Science – Course Outline
Chapter 1: Introduction to Research in Computer Science
Meaning and importance of research
Characteristics of scientific research
Types of research in CS:
Experimental
Simulation
Algorithmic/theoretical
Software engineering research
Research ethics (plagiarism, data privacy, integrity)
Chapter 2: Problem Identification & Topic Selection
Identifying a research problem
Writing a clear problem statement
Formulating research questions & objectives
Hypothesis development (if needed)
Scope and limitations
Chapter 3: Literature Review
Purpose of literature review
Searching academic sources
Google Scholar
IEEE
ACM Digital Library
Reading and evaluating research papers
Summarizing literature
Identifying the gap
Creating conceptual/theoretical framework
Chapter 4: Research Design and Approaches
Quantitative vs qualitative vs mixed approach
Experimental research design
Simulation-based research design
Design Science Research (DSR) in computing
Case study research in software/system development
Research Methods Used in Computer Science
A. Experimental Methods
Algorithm testing
System performance evaluation
Benchmarking
B. Simulation Methods
Network/system simulation
Using tools (NS-3, CloudSim) – concepts only
C. Software Engineering Methods
Requirement analysis
Prototype building
Usability testing
D. Data Science / Machine Learning Methods
Dataset collection
Data preprocessing
Basic evaluation metrics (accuracy, precision, recall)
Chapter 5 : Data Collection Techniques
Logs and system output
Surveys/questionnaires (for usability)
Interviews (for user studies)
Observations
Source code repositories (e.g., GitHub mining)
Data Analysis Techniques
Descriptive statistics
Comparison tables and charts
Interpreting experiment/simulation results
Using tools: Excel, Python (basic)
Presenting results clearly
Chapter 6: Research Tools for Computer Science
Document writing tools: Word, LaTeX, Overleaf
Reference management: Zotero, Mendeley
Version control: Git/GitHub
Plagiarism checking tools
Module 7: Writing a Research Proposal
Title and background
Statement of the problem
Objectives & research questions
Methodology outline
Work plan (Gantt chart)
Expected outcomes
Writing the Final Report / Thesis
Structure of a CS thesis
System design or experiment setup
Results and discussion
Conclusion & recommendations
References in IEEE style