Green Pea Princess

To my fellow, Triple S - Green Pea Princesses, wear your party hats because today we are officially REBORN.!!!


Triple S - Taipei Chapter
Yesterday was an amazing day because we proved how "ONE" we are. Most of us, if not all had that special agent feeling yesterday as we "hunted" and "told off (kindly if I might add, kekeke)" those disrespecting, illegal uploaders as they not only uploaded the songs from our beloved Rebirth mini-album before the official release date but also as they shamelessly laid the DL links on their sites.

People who do this are either antis or non fans because they did those things without thinking how much our boys have worked hard for it and how much all of us have endured to wait for its release and its success. These people might think of us as selfish fans but I am glad that we proved them wrong. True, not all of us can buy the album because of money problems however, as fans we think of our oppas first before ourselves. Young Saeng oppa already cried when Crazy4U was leaked and Hyun joong oppa invested his own money to buy the songs for this album so let us not let them down. SS501 and Triple S both have suffered greatly because of the changing release dates, leader shii getting swined, and DSP being tricked and almost plagiarized a song and the last thing we need are this ignorant people who tries to mess things up on the day before the official release.

To others, we might seem over the top to create an issue when the official date release is only one day away. They question us why would a day matter. I thank those who raised their voices and said that "True, why waiting for one day should be a big thing". We waited for two years for a new album/mini album, we certainly can wait for one day. I also bow down to those who joined the countdown last night (unfortunately I didn't took part T_T). The two hours before the official release you waited as finally the gift we all wanted now lay available in our midst.

And today, as our Hyunnies hit the 501 page mark on the soompi thread, which is something really amazing since it seems its destiny to have the 501 page on the day of REBIRTH's release and as our Triple S (with hyunnies and joongboers of course)still searching for offenders, we have taken the first step to success.

First step because, buying the album is just an initial step. For international fans buy on online sites that can be counted in the music charts. We need and want them to win on all music stations.

Rebirth Mini-album Song List

Track 1: Wasteland
Track02: Love like this (Title track)
Track03: One Day
Track04: Obsess (written by Baby Joon)
Track05: Green Peas (fan song..ITS FOR TRIPLE S.!!!!!)


SS501 - LOVE LIKE THIS

I LOVE ALL THE SONGS.. Totally new from our boys. As always they never disappointed us. It totally exceeded my expectations. But my favorite song would be, Green Pea/Pea Princess as this song was made for all of us Triple S. I knew that some of you (like me) have shed tears upon hearing the song and cried more upon reading the translations. They sang it full of emotions which really made me feel special. It really made my day.

These are articles from AllKpop.

This one talks about the netizens reactions to the album.

SS501 Rebirth is Explosive

"It didn't take long for the album to be praised and loved, as soon as the album was released, fans and listeners quickly picked it up. The response has been explosive, fans and critics alike were surprised by the artistic quality of the album, re-establishing SS501's image as serious musicians as they come together for their comeback. Already, Netizens have praised the album by saying "The wait was worth every single moment" and that "There isn't a single song on the album that's bad." Currently, the album is on the list for most searched term on portal sites such as Naver and Daum."

SS501 releases “Rebirth” Album

"Due to issues with the title track being a plagiarized song, the album was delayed, but wait no more, it's here! It was unfortunate that the album had been leaked on the 19th but SS501 fans banded together to stamp out the spread very effectively in a short period of time."

Also, thanks to Allkpop for taking down their column on the Rebirth songs yesterday when some Triple S mailed them that its not yet the official day of release.

So to all, Triple S, its gonna be a busy time. Persona concerts here and there, music stations guestings, album promotions, Kyu jong's SETI and CF's to watch and support.!! Fighting.!!!

My Boys Are Back, My Day is Reborn

Today I was feeling a bit off... well actually its an understatement. I am actually and officially pissed off. Whether it is to a particular person or to a group or to an event, even I don't know for sure. I usually don't mind pressure even if its poking me in the day, but then if other people tries to push me more well, there is always a certain point where I cant pull it off anymore. Deadlines, piles of documents to do and all-nighters is what I am facing right now, and frankly though I am not doing fine with it, I am still keeping the relax vibe.

But then today, a lot of people really tested my patience and for someone like me who doesn't get easily swayed or angry (when not at home kekeke xO xo..) when you have reached your limit your character takes a 180 degrees change. Like being totally mean and shout at anyone even if its some dongsengs (younger) or older than I am. I can't believe that I have been totally mean to someone who I did not really know. Waiting for hours while in hunger tends do to that to people but I didn't know I would be that mean, to actually shout at someone and keep nagging on to people. Usually when I am angry I just keep quite and alone so that I would not shed my anger to anyone within vicinity but today was a different case. Poor little dongseng, her sunbae shouted at her when she was just asking a simple question, pretty much guilty right now for doing that. Sorry.. Gome-ne.!!

Another thing I hate when being angry is that, my anger is hardwired to my tear ducts. Whenever I feel really mad or disappointed tears trickle down my eyes, of which I really despise. I mean, when people get angry they usually have this fierce look and not a pitiful teary face which makes other people think someone bullied her. If that face wasn't a damsel in distress puppy dog kinda look, I wouldn't know what would be. Thinking back how I felt like and was tearing up in front of my professor (while I am trying to mentally say to myself: Dont cry Dont cry.!! but to no avail..) is really hazukashi (embarrassing).!!! Its like a total nightmare, the one where you wish that earth would eat you up kinda feeling.

Other people would eat chocolates to cure from depression or play in the arcade to shed off the anger and that's what I usually do but today I opted to goof around and surf the net for something interesting or funny. And when I was doing this amazing news came out that surely made my day. My boys are back (though only with a minialbum).!!

Not a fan of goth but then these boys can give me anything and surely I will love it. Ever since Leader-shii got H1N1 (but he is cured now), we (Triple S), have experienced news and update drought and finally, they are back and so is the scans, pictures, links, videos and most of all music. Taiwan fans got a blast when the boys landed there yesterday as a preparation to their Taiwan Persona Asia Tour Concert this coming October 17. Omo, they are soo lucky. I cant believe that 600 fans where at the airport to greet them, Chinese fans are really passionate and I love it.

Triple S on Taiwan Airport

Another thing that made me happy... rewatching TVXQ's Banjun Drama: Dangerous Love. Cant help but laugh when I see this show. Yunjae fans like me must have this show as their ultimate favorite mini drama since our fantasy of a Yunjae love is shown here. hahaha

Please watch out for SS501's new minialbum: REBIRTH. The first 30,000 copies are already sold out from the pre-orders so make sure that you order your own copy now before the second batch gets sold. If you're a Triple S who have interest in this album just write to Liezle, she has the ordering details.

Scrapbooks Imagery

I just found some really cute but pretty limited scrapbook themes from Edison. ^^

This has no actual importance enough to be posted but really love the pics I used in the scrapbooks so I will be posting it here.

So these are for the ones who likes to see the three friends together..
TVXQ Hero, SS501 Hyunjoong and BigBang TOP.!!









my favorite so far.. because my pics are in it.!! nyahaha

Reviews to Two Research Studies

I am going to review Ms. Adarna’s entry. Ms. Adarna reviewed three research papers and I can say that she did follow the concept of “varying quality” as she also reviewed a sociological paper rather than those focusing on technical matters.

Given that she only given a snapshot of the research studies mentioned above, I skimmed through the whole paper myself to gain more understanding of why it was done, how was it done and what was the outcome. Such action is important not only in reviewing documents but also to gain more knowledge in how to write my own research paper. In fact, its quite obvious that this task was given to us so as to observe and learn the important parts of writing a research paper of which we are to produce this semester.

Going back to Ms. Adarna’s entry, The first topic she assessed was the Faith in treatment influences efficacy among AIDS patients. The study was made determine the extent to which patients' faith in a treatment influences its effectiveness. To get the data needed for the study, one hundred forty men, requesting for an alternative therapy for AIDS, consisting of repeated injections of typhoid vaccine, were enrolled in a treatment program by a San Francisco AIDS Clinic and also agreed to participate in this independent study of other factors which might affect treatment efficacy. Patients were interviewed before entry into the protocol and at intervals of every 2 months for two years while in the protocol. The patient's "faith in treatment" was assessed at each contact. Clinic physicians made weekly ratings of the patients' sense of subjective improvement. CD4 cell count and white blood cell count were measured regularly.

At then end of the observation it was found that faith in treatment was associated with treatment efficiency. A fall in "faith in treatment" among those who initially responded very positively to the vaccine preceded by 4-6 months the development of a life-threatening infection and deterioration in clinical course. The ten patients who continued to respond to the vaccine at the end of one year and two years were those who continued to have a high "faith in treatment."

It was concluded that an effect of faith in treatment upon the course of AIDS was demonstrated. Faith may be important regardless of the efficacy of a treatment and may be the mediating variable which renders statistically ineffective treatments highly effective for those who believe in them.

Since we were asked to review the topics given, I hope my “personal reaction” to the study would be an accepted reply. Well, I believe in the findings of the study. How many people whose lives were endangered or already hung on a balance between life and death due to these chronic illnesses have survived and shared their love for God. God loving and trusting people do get well or feel better after talking to God. People who are suffering from illness renew their connections to God or make their bond with God more closely and this gives them the energy to fight for life that our Mighty Father has endowed all of us. When with God, giving up is visible, hence people tend to fight for life and leave everything to God. In some cases, people can get cured and yet they are ones who let themselves down, thinking that it would be impossible. It is with this kind of people where placebos are an alternative. Placebos are like faith. You give “sick” people faith, and hope and they will fight and positivity will reign. Being positive gives people power to cure themselves and dust themselves off. The study above has a nice topic since it shows results that people/hospitals can use to cure patients. It is very valuable for the people and the environment.

The second topic is, eWatch: A Wearable Sensor and Notification Platform. The idea behind it is already creative and fun since it gives attention to creating wearable computing. The eWatch needs to be small and energy efficient enough to allow for multiple day user studies by non-technical participants. Given these energy and size constraints eWatch should provide the most computation and flexibility to allow an assortment of applications. The goal was to move beyond simple sensor logging and allow for online analysis that could query the user for feedback while collecting data or provide services to showcase context aware applications.

As I read through the paper, I found the features being embed in this device. eWatch can be used for applications such as context aware notification, elderly monitoring and fall detection, wrist PDA, or a universal interface to smart environments. The ability to sense and notify allows for a new variety of enhancements. For instance, much work has been done on fall detection for the elderly. Existing systems do not function appropriately when a patient loses consciousness and cannot press a button. Current automatic systems have a high rate of false positives. An eWatch system could sense if the user was in distress and then query to confirm that it is an emergency. If the user does not respond, then the eWatch could use its networked abilities to call for help. The use of online learning could profile a patient’s daily activity and notify a caretaker if a patient no longer performs their daily routines. The eWatch can also notify a patient when they should take certain medication.


I actually seen infomercials about some products that can be considered as “relatives” to this idea/product such as the bra that can sense if the user is in trouble base on her heart rate and the shoe that can count how far the runner has ran. For the bra, if her heart rate decline or pumps faster than normal then the sensor will send a signal of distress to the phone lines already given by the owner beforehand. All of these technology are pretty useful since its simple and yet very useful for the one who is using it. Its like buyingon object and actually getting two or more objects in return thus investing in these kinds of technology isn’t wasteful.

For both papers, the methodologies they used were correct (if I can say so, basing from the data they gathered from those methodologies), their topic were very interesting and the same time is useful directly to the user and to the environment. As for the paper construction, I can’t find anything wrong. Maybe because I am not really good at reviewing such documents or that these documents are really done well (given that they were published). As for references, I think it was already sufficient (if ten references are already enough for you..^^). Overall, the paper construction to those of these two papers is a bit different from what we were told to do. However, we have a different focus, or target audience that is why ours would be made a bit more detailed and at some parts lacking. Anyways, I hope we can finish our paper on time. ^^

credits:
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/agr/pubpg/eWatch_bsn_06.pdf
Uwe Maurer, Anthony Rowe, Asim Smailagic, Daniel P. Siewiorek

http://www.healing-arts.org/mehl-madrona/mmpapers.htm
Lewis E. Mehl-Madrona, MD, PhD

Difference between Method and Methodology

Originally, this topic is for my assignment in my research class with required only what "I" thought about the topic but since I am posting it here on my blog wherein I hate to post too short entries, I would add some comments of other people on what the distinction of method from methodology and vice versa.

For me:
Simply, a method refers to steps or processes that are done or required to arrive to a solution of the particular problem. Whereas, a methodology refers to the set of methods or sequence of methods used in a systematic way based from proper analysis.

Thus, we can say that methods are part of the methodology and that methodology is made up of methods.

To define it formally:
A research method refers to a process of creating a random sequence of steps to solve a particular problem. While a methodology refers to a process of acquiring solutions by means of a proven method in which selected cases are considered.

Simply, a method is a means or manner of procedure, especially a regular and systematic way of accomplishing something whereas a methodology refer to the theoretical analysis of the methods appropriate to a field of study or to the body of methods and principles particular to a branch of knowledge.

From Eimonthin

"Method is a particular way of solving a specific problem. it is therefore unlikely that your research will just have 'a method' as the whole research will probably draw on different ways of proving/solving discrete aspects of the research.

Methodology, therefore, means the collection of methods you used in a particular piece of research.

However,The term methodology is confusing, because it can often be used to refer to the underlying 'methodology' (or ideology/principles/set of beliefs) which led you to opt for one set of methods rather than another. E.g. if you believe that number crunching does not come up with worthwhile results, you will go for indepths interviews etc. that is part of your 'methodology' and it's based on your assumptions/mindset "

Method and Methodology as defined by xxxJeffish

Method

1. A means or manner of procedure, especially a regular and systematic way of accomplishing something: a simple method for making a pie crust; mediation as a method of solving disputes. See Usage Note at methodology.
2. Orderly arrangement of parts or steps to accomplish an end: random efforts that lack method.
3. The procedures and techniques characteristic of a particular discipline or field of knowledge: This field course gives an overview of archaeological method.
4. Method A technique of acting in which the actor recalls emotions and reactions from past experience and uses them in identifying with and individualizing the character being portrayed.

Methodology

1. A body of practices, procedures, and rules used by those who work in a discipline or engage in an inquiry; a set of working methods: the methodology of genetic studies; a poll marred by faulty methodology.
2. The study or theoretical analysis of such working methods.
2. The branch of logic that deals with the general principles of the formation of knowledge.
3. Usage Problem. Means, technique, or procedure; method.

Key factors for publishing research in top-tier journals like CSP, ACM, i3E, etc.

Making a research study is complex. It needs time, proper management, focus, effort and proper funding to succeed. Having a research to be published in top-tier journals such as CSP, ASM and i3E says that, that research has been made with more effort, passion, and dedication and is of high importance to the sector it belongs to and to the community.


From what I read at acm.org, in ACM's Right and Responsibilities in ACM Publishing, a research that wants to recognized/published it has to pass several processes namely; Reviewing, Processing of Accepted Works and Dissemination. In i3e rules, “research must not be submitted twice to another conference”. Considering the originality of your research is not the end of the consideration; novelty, impact to the readers and content of your research must also be considered, because your research will also be categorized. Thus, we can see how tightly these top-tier journals evaluate research works before considering of publishing it.

As to what factors they apply in their decision making, most of it are also the same factors employed in judging a simple research paper.

First and foremost, “Is it original? Is it unique? Is it timely?”. Topic originality and uniqueness are the most important factor. Though it is true that some research works are a bit similar to one another and that is why review of related research is a component of making a research paper but then the present must showcase a new side and solution to that old problem. No two research works can ever be the same. But then if your research paper tackles problems the society is dealing today, which refers to your study being timely then it is much better than a problem tackled more than a decade.

The second concern would be, “Is your study relevant?”. Mostly all research works done are relevant and because of this another question is raised and that is “How relevant is it?”. If the study is believed to be more relevant or beneficial to its appointed audience or to the society as a whole, then it will have higher chances of being chosen to be published in a top-tier journal.

Next, would be the type of research you are doing. If the research your doing is a bit more on the technical side, it has a better chance of being in a top-tier journal than a social one. Another would be research approach. This deals with the citations used in your study. The rate of publication of your work depends upon how you cited other’s work. If your citations are merely on the flaws of the other’s work it has a low rate of publication or may not be published at all. Otherwise, if you improve his work, and given with proper credit the publication’s rate is high.

If the topic you are raising is already deemed valid and valuable, and the methodologies you have used to prove your hypothesis are already tested for and is proved to be accurate then what’s left to be critiqued now is how you wrote it. As a colleague of min said, "You may have to follow a style that would not be pleasing to the English department".”

The journal you made must follow a particular “standard” way of writing a research paper, whether it is by the APA or other commonly used formal writing style. But since its for a top-tier journal, then they must have a particular writing style you are advised to make use of.

Another factor would the packing of your whole paper. This strategy deals with the overall "look" of your paper. It was stated in the paper that you have to make the main point in your study earlier in the body. Compare and explain the result of your work to others with similar studies and state its contribution to other’s work. In short, "try to see them as others might see them, initially with a skeptical eye".

Footnotes are also essential in their consideration. According to the paper I have read footnotes serve us two purposes. Footnotes allow us to not make our paper very long because we may just cite some references so we may not write them in detail.

Though this is not a proper factor, we can say that an author’s track record is also a significant consideration because we can’t deny the fact if the author is already well-known to have produced relevant research works in the past, a level of respect from the board or panel of judges and a level of anticipation to his new research work. That is why it is undeniable that some writers include the names of established scientists even though they just contribute a little in their work.
Experience is one of the factors too. The authors know the pitfalls and obstacles in publishing, more especially in top-tier journals; that is why it could be easier for them for the next paper to be published.

As I mentioned above, all of these criteria are also used in judging a “simple” research paper, so I believe that the only difference is that top-tier journals have only higher standards. Therefore, selecting a work to be published should also be of high quality because it reflects the totality of a company's reputation. Overall, these are some factors in publishing research: originality, uniqueness, timeliness, reliability, coherence, competence, ethics, and credibility.

Evaluating a Good Research Work

Experts have varying opinions on what are the criteria to define a good research works but over all it points out on the same idea and that is “a research is good if it presents new problems and develops a solution which would be beneficial to all”. The main purpose of research is to distinguish a way or ways to solve a particular problem. And if this condition will be met then we can say that it is a good research work provided also that it is up to date, the complexity of the problem and its solution doesn’t compromise the proper structure of a research paper.


Whatever may be the types of research works and studies, one thing that is important is that they all meet on the common ground of scientific method employed by them. One expects that the purpose of the research should be clearly defined and common concepts be used. The research procedure used should be described in sufficient detail to permit another researcher to repeat the research for further advancement, keeping the continuity of what has already been attained. Also, the procedural design of the research should be carefully planned to yield results that are as objectives as possible.

Also, the researcher should report with complete frankness, flaws in procedural design and estimate their effects upon the findings. The analysis of data should be sufficiently adequate to reveal its significance and the methods of analysis used should be appropriate. The validity and reliability of the data should be checked carefully.
Conclusions should be confined to those justified by the data of the research and limited to those for which the data provide an adequate basis.
And lastly, greater confidence in research is warranted if the researcher is experienced, has a good reputation in research and is a person of integrity.


In other words, we can state the qualities of a good research is that its systematic, logical , empirical and replicable.

By systematic, it means that research is structured with specified steps to be taken in a specified sequence in accordance with the well defined set of rules. Systematic characteristic of the research does not rule out creative thinking but it certainly does reject the use of guessing and intuition arriving at conclusions.

By logical, this implies that research is guided by the rules of logical reasoning and the logical process of induction and deduction are of great value in carrying out research. Induction is the process of reasoning from a part to the whole whereas deduction is the process of reasoning from the premise. In fact, logical reasoning makes research more meaningful in the context of decision making.

As for empirical, it implies that research is related basically to one or more aspects of a real situation and deals with concrete data that provides a basis for external validity to research results.

And lastly, good research work is replicable which refers to the characteristic allows research to be verified by replicating the study and thereby building a sound basis for decisions.

As for evaluation, once the research paper passed the criteria given above what is left is to evaluate how the paper is written.

Most of the time when evaluating, panel is brought in to judge a research work. They test your evidences or results of your study, question on your hypothesis and methodology. All of these are already discussed on the criteria given above. What is left now is judging on how your paper was written. The questions below are likely to be used as criteria in this matter.

• Sources: Does the paper use the right kinds of scholarly or popular-scholarly sources to support its claims?
While no number of sources can be called automatically "enough," the assignment requires that you find sources of sufficient quality to support what you say you know about your topic.

• Is the paper based on at least some recent article-length sources?
Articles are the sources of the most recent and most tightly focused analysis on your topic. Students who rely on books because OLLI is easier to use, or because books appear to have "more on the topic," are still thinking at a pre-college level. They do not understand how quickly book-length manuscripts become outdated, and how books' much larger theses can make it difficult for students to extract useful support from them without misunderstanding what they are borrowing. But then nowadays, student rely so much on the Internet and thus results to what we call “copy and paste technology”. This is now done like a common practice but then it should not be done since this is illegal. Even if you credit the authors whose works you are using, it will still be weighed against you seeing that you have not consider revising terms and phrases. If you want your work to be published in top-tier journals, quoting works of others are almost prohibited.

• Does it use at least one scholarly source, or does it contain a well-written endnote or footnote which explains exactly why there are no scholarly sources available on this topic?
You can use popular-scholarly journals and scholarly reference works to give you a "ladder of expertise" so that you can read professional scholars' work.

• If the topic requires it, are the sources recent enough to be persuasive?
Due to the fast changing things nowadays, books/articles/sources becomes outdated quickly. Conclusions based on out of date evidence fail to persuade. Students who want to succeed in these majors must become persistent enough researchers to seek out the most recent and authoritative sources on their topics.

• Thesis:
Is the paper organized by an independent thesis which at least uses reasoning and/or evidence from one article to contribute substantively to the reasoning and/or evidence in any other article, thus avoiding mere summary of the research? Is the thesis carefully composed to avoid claiming absolute knowledge if its evidence supports only possible or probable conclusions? Is the thesis supported by logically sound reasoning?

These questions are asking whether the author has moved beyond the stage of merely reporting what others say, and into the stage of being able to think creatively about the topic. Early attempts to do this may be tentative and uncertain. To protect your reputation for careful thinking, make sure you distinguish clearly among certain, probable, and possible conclusions. Be content to claim your conclusions are "possibly" correct unless you can eliminate many of the contending conclusions to claim they are "probably' correct. Do not claim your conclusions "certainly" explain the evidence unless you have eliminated all alternative explanations. Logical fallacies often arise because writers unconsciously struggle to force their research to support to their earliest intuitions, guesses, hunches, or hypotheses about what is true. (Think of how often you heard high-school writers say "I'm going to do some research to get sources that support my thesis.") Beware your own prejudices about what you think the evidence will reveal before you've impartially examined it. Let the evidence speak and you can hardly go far wrong.

• Audience:
Does the paper address a scholarly audience and correctly estimate the level of knowledge that audience can be expected to possess? Does it avoid telling experts obvious things, like defining terms of art or basic concepts, providing needless "background," and identifying experts to each other with unnecessary specificity (e.g., "the biologist Lewis Thomas" in a paper addressed to biologists)? Does it always specify the source of generalizations about evidence by correct citations of scholarship?

• Mechanics and Documentation:
Does the paper use standard academic English usage and sentence construction, coherent and well-ordered paragraphs, logical paragraph transition, and a fully functional title, introduction, and conclusion? Does the paper accurately and consistently use a documentation style appropriate to the discipline (MLA, APA, CBE, or U. Chicago), or does it at least use MLA style accurately and consistently? Does it have the proper style, conventions, and organization of words, facts, and subjects? Is too much jargon used that the study can not be understood by its selected audience?

Failure to write grammatically when making a scholarly claim automatically exposes the writer to suspicion that the basic thinking underlying the paper is faulty, too. This is especially difficult for student writers because when the mind must concentrate on difficult, newly learned concepts and methods, grammar and syntax almost always deteriorate. Be especially careful when using terms of art and jargon from the discipline you're just entering. As an "apprentice," you may make mistakes that a more experienced scholar would not make, and they're the kind of mistakes that damage your authority, so you should pay special attention to those peculiar kinds of words and phrases. Double your efforts to proofread your final draft in order to catch these old errors that will come back when you least want them to appear. You can prevent one typical source of dangerous errors if you start your paper's first draft with a list of sources as you accumulate them in your research, properly formatted in the documentation style appropriate for your topic's discipline. This is far to important to leave for the last five minutes of the writing process, and if you develop the habit of doing it early you will save yourself countless disappointments in later papers. Just build the paper on top of that source list, and add to it every time you develop a new source, and you can spend your last hours polishing your prose rather than worrying about documentation format.

One you passed all these criteria then your research work is deemed of praise and recognition.

credits to:
http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng105sanders/research_paper_evaluation_criter.htm
http://www.reportbd.com/articles/57/1/Criteria-Qualities-of-Good-Scientific-Research/Page1.html

The Role of Research in My Future Career

Every object around us is a result of research. From pillows to non stick fry pans, crayons to drawing tablets, from mouse pads to computers and even barbeque flavored biscuits to chocolate wafer ones, all of these and more are the results of research. Not only tangible things like products spring from research but also in vague things such as marketing strategies, advertising ideas, commercials and many how-to functions.

Research in this age and time means searching for a theory, for testing a theory, or for solving a problem. It means that a problem exists and has been identified and that the solution of the problem is necessary or beneficial. When the police is trying to solve a crime, they need to gather evidences, witnesses and make inductive or deductive reasoning to solve the questions, why was the crime done, who did it and how was it done. All of these strategies speak of research.

Kerlinger defines research as “a systematic controlled, empirical, and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions about the presumed relations among the natural phenomena”. And looking for a research problem with such characteristics and entailed with such limitations is really complex. By limitations, I mean that the scope of the research problem that we need to do have been limited to revolve only to “Green Computing”. Though this topic is something I and my classmates are interested with, yet up to this date, all of us are besieged to think of one worthy research idea.

I have actually delayed replying to this topic since I still have no idea on what my ideal research topic is but the time has finally came that I can’t it delay anymore (te-hee). Providentially, I have an idea or two now to help me in answering the question above. But allow me to tell you about how I arrived to those ideas.

When we were told to think of an idea for a research study, I would admit that there were times that I slacked off. In times that I was trying to focus, I would face the computer and search for topics such as economic and environmental problems that is caused by computers or technology, or “green” products. Virtually, I search and read anything that is related to green IT or green computing since that is the main building block of my research study. But in searching the Internet, even with a thousand hits or topics of varying titles, authors and origins the ideas are a bit similar. E-waste management is the most popular result followed by ‘green’ datacenters or recyclable computer parts and then by computer hazards in the environment through C02 and radiation emissions. Basically, the things I read online revolves around those affairs. I even tired asking opinion from friend of mine but most of them just replied e-waste management and CO2 emissions. A friend of mine already proposed E-waste management and to say it simply, it wasn’t really received warmly by our professor, in fact he even advised that particular friend of mine to forget about E-waste and think of another idea. I can’t really blame my professor, though E-waste is existing in the “present” and interesting, it isn’t worthy to be a research topic if you just want to discuss on what it is and how to do it since it has been discussed many times and its “solution” has been demonstrated loads of times. For me, a proper research topic entails creating solution to something undiscovered and vital. If I foresee that not bring solution to my proposed problem then I would not proceed with it.

Days, turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, when I finally realized that only employing one technique (searching through the Internet) to get an idea isn’t enough. It is funny because when I thought about it, I have to “research” not only about a proper proposal for my research but also I have to “research” a technique on how to arrive to an idea. And in lou of that, I understood that research isn’t easy as it sounds, heck, finding a problem itself needs research. So as another strategy, if you may call it, I went on a Research Field Exposure. I got this idea from a show I was watching wherein the contestants went to different places to get inspiration or more specifically to design and concept for a new phone. Though there were things that they can use inside the office such as sketches of prints, color schemes and palettes of which they can base their new designs from they went outside to research and gather a fresh new perspective. One team went to an art museum and the other team went to the carnival and at the end of the day all of them delivered well, even exceeding the expectations of those who were in that business for years. I wasn’t really thinking of exceeding anyone’s expectations (though that would be nice) but I did the same strategy so as to gain a fresh new perspective and not to mention relieve my back pains and dizziness due to spending hours in front of a computer.

Doing research in that way was actually fun, like a breath fresh air. I went in every stall/store in the mall, ate ice cream and taking pictures of things I thought would bring an idea. By every stall, I meant every and any stall from bookstores wherein I spent two hours in reading computer related books (unfortunately not even one talks about green computing so later on I read astrology books nyahaha), appliance shops (wherein I tried to find features which are eco-friendly), cellphone shops (since I was also considering making a “green” application for mobile/cellphones) and even supermarkets (ideas can spurt anywhere right?!). Going to Internet shops was a must too. Observing what problems might occur in those places is relevant to my study.

At the end of the day, I gather a lot of insights and new ideas (mostly from appliance shops). From Sony’s new line of Bravia LCD HDTV comes there WE5 series and the first ever “green” TV. It has three features that made this a green TV and those are: micro-tubular HCFL backlight, a presence sensor and an energy saving switch. I really want to incorporate those features on a computer but the problem is those are patented technology, very costly and needs years to study and training of which I can’t account for in my 5 month research time limit. But then, if really given the proper funding and knowledge I would really like to research on this topic since it would certainly help the environment because (my hypothesis is) it can cut down PC power consumption to 50% just from the microtubular HCFL backlight feature alone.

From then on, I have been reading about computer backlights and this is the first time I knew that computer and TV’s use CCFL backlights but now are being replaced of LED backlights since its more energy efficient. A normal HCFL backlight is energy efficient too but it has not been tested if its suitable for computers, hopefully with this new micro tubular HCFL backlight, its integration to computers will be studied on.

Hmmm… So obviously I am getting wrapped up on my backlights affair so let us now discuss on what is the role of research topic in deciding my future career.

There’s a saying that in life how you begin or end doesn’t matter but the journey on how you get there, and this saying applies to me. The results of research studies varies, if its hardware based it, something really new, you can apply for patent and sell this technology. If its software, you can also sell it to interested parties but it its pure social research then its implementation would benefit a lot people aside from yourself. But then if in the end my end product would not be that satisfying, I wouldn’t feel down about it since what is important and more useful for myself and for my future career is what I learned and how I applied it. For me, whether or not, I formulate a research study worthy of applause or recognition what matters most is the journey on how I came to that idea and how I did it though I still target to have a significant research study that would benefit me and my environment. Right now, I still have no concrete proposal, I already learned a lot of things. Things that I wouldn’t have the wind of if not for this research study. I got interested in a lot of topics and I am hoping I would get to formally study or work on after I graduate of which may help me on what job I would like to apply for when I graduate (which hopefully would be this year). All the things I learned is essential for my growth as a student who would later on be part of a team of It specialist. Through this, I become conscious of the fact that, true, the school teaches us a lot of things but not all the things that would make us ready when we are on the actual field and thus if we want to “be” ready for it, we must research it on our own. The Internet and the environment gives us a lot of data to work on, a lot of ideas to use, new discoveries and areas in which we can vent out all of these.

Creating a research study builds up interest in a particular field of study, and for me as an IT student it might be on programming, or on analysis or technical implementation and I believe when I graduate the impression that research left on me might direct me to an industry or career that interests me or maybe if I am lucky and my research gets known by such industries they might be the one who gets interested in me to join their team.

My Research Field Exposure

Last Wednesday, I went to a “field exposure” on my own. I did this for the purpose of both having my mind refreshed by being away from the teasing EMF emitting computers for awhile and have the possibility of generating an idea for my research proposal.
I have been (or would like to think that I have) trying to think of a research proposal for one of my subjects this semester and unfortunately, I have found nothing good enough. I believe that if ever I was going to look for inspiration for an idea there’s nowhere better to get that from than from the Internet. After spending many hours, days and weeks with this strategy I pretty much believe that it’s a failure now. I mean, how can I get an idea when I don’t even know what to search for. Its not that I haven’t got any ideas from the Internet but then the terms “Green computing” and “technical implementation” got the results of which my expectations can’t reach since its too technical for me. Terms like data centers, hardware manipulation or improvisation for a greener environment are all that came across my readings and let’s face it its too costly and time eating, something that I can not compromise since it would really fit my 5 month plan.
My biggest problem is getting a problem that can satisfy my standards which actually isn’t set really high. Even though our professor already told us to think out of the box and encourage us to set our bars higher, I am honestly not targeting anything beyond my thinking capacity. I research about something I am interested with and within my limits so as to do it efficiently. My limits referring that it focuses more on the social than the technical side of study. The truth of the matter is that I do have some nice ideas for a research study but then I can’t get myself to post it since I always think that the implementation or the technical parts of it would be too hard or even impossible for me, and this “negativity” if you might call it, is my waterloo. As I result, I tend to find new ideas, of which like the first one, proved to be too technical for me. So I decided to go onto field exposure to refresh my mind and so as to block these thoughts or limitations by seeing sceneries and experiencing it first hand than just sitting in front of a desktop computer and have these thoughts eat me. I actually got this idea from a show I was watching, where the participants went to selected places like a carnival or a gallery to come up for a new cell phone design rather than just sitting inside the office and look up patches and color schemes. And so I told myself to forget my other ideas and forget the technical-smickle for a while and just see the world as it is, dissect it into finer blocks so that I can see its drawbacks while eating ice cream (you must admit my idea is cool).

Community is Going Green
I went to SM first, and entered the all shops..whether it be a clothing shop, gamehouse, cellshop, computer shop, music store, or a bookstore. An idea might come up at unexpected places right? I even entered the supermarket and passed by all the aisle look at their products and even bought chopsticks (one of my quirks hahaha). When I was about to pay for the chopsticks I noticed the that SM is now promoting a greener environment by using brown paper bags than plastic bags to put in what their consumers bought. If the customer likes to put it in a sturdier bag, they can purchase the SM green bag made of cloth which costs two for 35 pesos. I was really amazed by this idea since its extra income while promoting a greener environment. Those green bags are cheap but they come as extra income and they came be used over and over again. Plastic bags can be used over and over again too but they would not look that presentable like the green bags would in spite of being used a couple of times of which as a result they wouldn’t be thrown away after use like plastic bags which instantly become part of the garbage after one use. SM even has this sign board in which those who brought green bags can sign on as a proof that they support the advocacy of Bring My Own Bags (but only for Wednesdays). But then even if this practice is done once a week, it’s still a help to make people aware about participating for a greener environment. The green bags have prints on both sides, “SAVE A BAG, SAVE THE WORLD.” on the upper portion, and EXCLUSIVELY FOR SM ADVANTAGE MEMBERS on the lower portion. On the middle portion of the one side, the logo of SM Supermarket Cares, and on the other side, the logo of Unilever Philippines.

That day, I went to a lot of places. Mostly malls like, Gaisano Mall and SM, and internet shops and I also read computer related books in the National bookstore, wherein I spent two hours reading about IT related books, cookbooks, language books and astrology books (love bookstores c: ). I also went in cellphone shops since I was also trying my way in creating a green mobile application and reading the different features from different phones would certainly help. But I gained new ideas in the appliance shops. To what those ideas are, well, I will just present it later when I finished my backup study on it.

All in all, it was a good day. Even if my study would not be approved in the end (hopefully not), it’s still a nice experience for me. Stretching limbs, taking pictures of things that might help you get new ideas and eating ice cream while strolling around (even if I have to soak my feet into hot water when I got home) seems to make new definition of the word “research” for me, than my old closed on the four walled room, sitting infront of a computer and thinking-of-tags-that-would-help days. Being “in” the environment poses a more carefree, relax atmosphere than the radiation filled stiff computer room.

My First Photo Editing Works

Being a fan if someone is really good. As a positive effect, I tried and learned a lot of things like creating fan videos and editing photos of which I was not interested to do before. But as a downside though, my focus on what my responsibilities are a bit off. nyahaha XoXo

Anyways, I wanted to use Image Ready or Adobe Photoshop 7 but the I am using Gimp instead since I can install it anywhere and its more handy/portable.

The subject of course is my favorite group and my idol. I am still doing basic stuff such as quick masks, logos, and pop arts.

Here are my works.

QuickMasks

Pop Arts

Mixed Effects

Philippines Mourns at the Death of its First Woman President

Philippine flags in all government offices around the country, including Malacañang and in police and military camps were raised at half-mast Saturday morning as the country mourn the death of former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino.

At 8 a.m., Philippine flags in Malacañang, military and police camps around the country were simultaneously raised at half-mast.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines also fired volleys at the same time, declaring the day of mourning for the death of the former president.

"We will provide full military honors befitting a former president of the republic and commander in chief," the armed forces said in a statement.

It said the military will go on a vigil and Masses will be held in all military churches during the entire wake of Mrs. Aquino's death.

"Let us continue to pray for her soul and for the entire Filipino nation," it said.

Flags will remain raised at half-mast all over the country during the 10-day mourning declared by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. With a report from Noel Alamar, radio dzMM.

The Aquino family has opted for a private funeral for the late Corazon Aquino instead of a state funeral given to former presidents, according to Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

Aquino said this was because his mother had chosen to be a private citizen when she finished her term in 1992, years after she was installed as the first woman president during the People Power revolution.

The democracy icon succumbed to colon cancer 3:18 am, August 1.

“We want to spend as much time as possible as a family,” said Aquino, as he thanked the public for following their advisories that visitors were not allowed at the Heritage Memorial Park.

He added that a necrology service in Malacanang might not be possible.

“I’m not anticipating an offer, I’m not asking for an offer. There’s a point in time that we would want privacy,” he said.

A public viewing, however, has been scheduled at the La Salle Greenhills gym starting 5 pm Saturday until Monday morning. The former president will then be brought to Manila Cathedral for an overnight vigil, requiem masses and necrological services. Interment will be at the Manila Memorial Park on Wednesday, the Aquino family said.

Aquino said his mother will wear her signature yellow dress and will be buried beside her husband, former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, whose assassination sparked the first EDSA revolution.

Fighting back tears during the press conference, Aquino said his sisters have been very emotional, but the death of their mother brought them closer.

“We draw strength from the five of us,” the senator said in a press conference Saturday.

He said he last talked to his mother days ago, before doctors gave the former president morphine to ease her pain.

“We were told to say everything we want to say because after the morphine she will be sleeping all the time,” he said.

He related that instead of complaining about her illness, the former president would first think about her children’s welfare or check what was on the news.

“Nung first time ko magbantay, she would ask me kung kumain na ako. Other times nagbabasa ako ng diyaryo itatanong niya ano laman niyan. She never demonstrated pain,” he said.

credits to:

Thea Alberto
Yahoo! Philippines

ABS-CBN news

My First Batch of Video Editing Works

Wait a minute, before you watch the videos.. its not a video where special effects were used to edit the video. Its just simply cutting scenes from a set of videos and creating a new video out of them.

The main videos I used are the SS501 Solo Collection Drama MV. Its a top of the line 20- minute music video by my favorite KPop group. Its a drama styled music video, wherein five songs from the five members are featured.

If you want to see the full MV, just click the links below. Its already English Subbed.
Credits to SuperStarSubbing.

SS501 Drama Part 1
SS501 Drama Part 2
SS501 Drama Part 3



I edited these videos so that each member can have their own MV or FV (fan video) as I call it wherein the fans like me can watch without needing to watch the whole 20 minute music video. Also the scenes from the teaser of each music video were not seen in the actual Drama stlye Mv so I decided to incorporate the teaser and the Drama MV.

My Videos: (click on the song title's to see the videos)

Kim Hyun Joong - PLEASE BE NICE TO ME MV


Kim Kyu Jong - WUSS UP


Kim Hyung Joon (baby) - HEY G



This one's a little rough since HJB has only a few scenes on the Drama MV so I used A Song Calling for You and Ur Man MV's too.

The first video I ever made was Park Jung Min's - ONLY ME.


This song was not included in the Drama MV but in the SS501 Tawain Special Hits Album. I really loved this song so I made an MV of it using the scenes in the SS501 Drama MV. Hope you like it.

Please comment/rate the videos.

Review: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I will just keep this short but concise...

I did not like it.. pretty much it won the spot of my least favorite Harry Potter movie (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban rose to second place in "least favorite" category).

Why?

Waiting for it for two years, you'd think that Warner made movie really special since it is the second to the last book in the series and in this series Dumbledore will die so I was thinking of a really grand movie. Yet when I watched it, it just looked like lines and special effects to me. The essence of the book was not captured by the movie.

I have read all Harry Potter books more than five times (each) and so I believe I can pick up what elements this movie were missing. And as I see it, it lost all key elements.

First, having read the book several times I do not reckon that the Burrow was ever destroyed. The fighting scene with Bellatrix in the Burrow was not called for and only caused confusion.

Second, Harry being told by Dumbledore about what are the possible Horcruxes were not included the movie. The question "How will Harry now what these Horcruxes are in the seventh movie?" comes to my mind. What are they going to do about it? Will they make Harry turn into Sherlock Holmes who can solve every problem with that small amount of clues they gave in the movie?

Third, Scrimgeour was not even introduced in the movie. Though this really isn't a major issue since his character isn't really major or central to the story.

Fourth, Albus Dumbledore being the greatest and kindest headmaster of all didn't seem so great in the movie. There was no tribute or grand funeral as it was in the book and it was a major disappointment that they didn't include that in the film.Watching the whole movie and seeing how it failed to capture the book is a real let down and felt like a toothache. I heard that the last book will be divided into two movies and I do hope that they (Warner) will do better if not the best for the last book in the series.

State of Computer Science Reseach

Last 2005, Mr. Wm. A. Wulf, president of the National Academy of Engineering, and the AT&T Professor of Engineering and Applied Science in the Department of Computer Science at University of Virginia was invited in the House of Science to deliver some points about the current state of Computer science research.

There he delivered four points of interest, the first of which is he took it out from the Science the Endless Frontier, the report that established our system of federal funding of basic research, Vannever Bush advocated a system in which the government funds research, but the research to be done is selected on its merit by the researchers themselves. He said that such a system would pay dividends to the nation in national security, prosperity, and health. It is hard to think of a better “poster child” for the truth of this assertion than Computer Science. Consider the abbreviated list:

• National Security: smart bombs, GPS, unprecedented “information awareness” for the war-fighter, unmanned robotic vehicles for surveillance, enormously enhanced training through use of virtual reality, etc
• Prosperity: a 3% national productivity growth fueled by information technology, dozens of multi-billion dollar per year industries (see Figure 1), internet-enabled business models, a 40-fold reduction in the cost of telephony, a global wireless phone system, etc.
• Health: Medical imagery (CAT scans, etc), cochlear implants, bio-sensors, smart prosthetics, smart defibrillating pacemakers, etc.

All of these were made possible by the federal investment in long-term, basic computing research. Like Mr.Wulf, I believe that it is a mistake to think of such funding as an “expense” and it must be regarded as an investment that demonstrably has had a huge return! Technology such as that listed above is the return on the investments made a decade or more ago. Investments made today in research will have equally large returns for our children and grandchildren; conversely, it is our children and grandchildren that will pay if we do not make them now.

Second, computing and computer science is in the unusual position of being both a challenging intellectual discipline in itself, and providing an infrastructure for other fields of science, engineering, and commerce. While the benefits to society listed above can be directly attributed to computer science, there are also many more benefits that have resulted from the use of computing in everything from cosmology, to weather prediction, and to health care. Across this broad spectrum, computer science has enabled a better quality of life for us all. This simply reinforces the notion that funds expended on computing research are demonstrably investment, not expense. They are, in fact, an investment with an enormous multiplier because advances in computing and information technology have immediate, direct and tangible benefits on virtually all human activities.

Thirdly, the idea that basic research begets applied research begets development begets benefits to society is both wrong and counter-productive when applied to public policy decisions. Instead, there is a marvelously rich and productive interplay between basic scientific discovery and application, between universities and industry, between societal need and technology. The bottom line, however, is that if federally-funded, university-based basic research weren’t “in the loop”, these enormously beneficial technologies would not exist. Basic research may not be the original source for all the benefits we enjoy from technology, but it is a vital and irreplaceable component of the rich system that produces them.

Lastly, computer science research is for and about the people. If computing research has a large multiplier because of its broad application, then the people capable of doing that research are yet another multiplier on top of that! Disinvestment in university-based research is a disinvestment in the production of the next generation of people, with far greater negative impact than simply the loss of the research.

In these points raised by Mr. Wulf we can see that at those times the funding for computer science research was being talked over by the government, specifically the US government. As a summary, the government is still arguing whether continued funding for such researches would be beneficial for both government and people. And as Mr. Wulf pointed out, with the proper research support and funding to universities and colleges across the country or even across the globe is beneficial to all, maybe not today but certainly for tomorrow.

Mr. Wulf also stressed the importance of cybersecurity. At that time, PITAC strongly identified the need for a better funded and stable program of long term basic research. The dominant model of cybersecurity, namely a perimeter defense, is flawed and incremental patches to it will never result in the level of security we need for today’s systems, much less the increased dependence we should expect for future ones. This is an excellent example where boldness and courage are needed, and hence where the perception of excessively low proposal success rates can have severe consequences. He emphasized that the future of researches is greatly affected by the resources available, in the mean point, funding is a great issue. New ideas are needed, just as in cybersecurity research, but instead of temerity, conservatism was imposed. Decline in the success rates of proposals indeed has a significant negative impact, however, we must have the courage to explore things and open for discoveries and innovations. One of the highlights of his words is that the thought of research funding is not merely an expense but instead it is an investment.

But on my research today, the government funding to computer science research now leads to the new trend of studying Green Computing. Go to IT related company webpages, search in the Internet or simply read IT magazines and you can see that the trend is going “green. Computers were and are still aiding people for more comfortable life but we can’t deny the fact that at some point the environment is compromised with these advances. Today, consumers are looking for products with good quality but eco friendly and energy efficient which lead to more research about this topic. Computer science researches are going for greener data centers, monitors, hardware and even researches for green softwares. Also, researches for creating products that might lessen the negative effects of computer radiation is also on going. Computers release electromagnetic field radiation.

This EMF is actually a type of radiation. It isn’t the same type as uranium or plutonium; rather, it is a non-ionizing radiation. This means that the emitted radiation is not strong enough to remove electrons, or ionize the atoms. Instead, it just excites the electrons. It already sounds a little Different devices emit different types and amounts of this EMF radiation. But then past and ongoing researches are trying to prove that these is still harmful since it can also premature cell division. The cells actually divide before the DNA is correctly established, which may possibly lead to mutation or can also bring cancer especially for those who have been in contact with computers in a long time (referring to years).

In past, computer science research tends to focus more on using and improving technology. Making it more flexible for implementation of different purposes, beneficial in different areas such as security, defense, healthcare or medicine, and education but nowadays it leans more on ways to make it more eco friendly but not comprising the quality and services it was built to do.

These are the Technical Topics in which Computer Science Researches are now focused:

<1.>
2. Commerce
3. Electronic Teaching
4. Information Retrieval, Databases, and Data Mining
5. Machine Learning
6. Networking, Distributed Systems, and Security
7. Robotics, Computer Vision, and Graphics
8. Software Systems and Architecture
9. Green Computing

Published Research Papers

THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Kevin Crowston and James Howison
School of Information Studies, Syracuse University
{crowston,jhowison}@syr.edu

Summary

What do we really know about the communication patterns of FLOSS projects? How generalizable are the projects that have been studied? Is there consistency across FLOSS projects?

These are the questions this paper responds to. Questioning the assumption of distinctiveness is important because practitioner-advocates from within the FLOSS community rely on features of social structure to describe and account for some of the advantages of FLOSS production.

To address these questions, this study examined 120 project teams from SourceForge, representing a wide range of FLOSS project types, for their communications centralization as revealed in the interactions in the bug tracking system. It was found that FLOSS development teams vary widely in their communications centralization, from projects completely centered on one developer to projects that are highly decentralized and exhibit a distributed pattern of conversation between developers and active users.

And therefore, it was suggested that it is wrong to assume that FLOSS projects are distinguished by a particular social structure merely because they are FLOSS. Our findings suggest that FLOSS projects might have to work hard to achieve the expected development advantages which have been assumed to flow from “going open.” In addition, the variation in communications structure across projects means that communications centralization is useful for comparisons between FLOSS teams. The social structure of Free and Open Source software development 2 found that larger FLOSS teams tend to have more decentralized communication patterns, a finding that suggests interesting avenues for further research examining, for example, the relationship between communications structure and code modularity.

Evaluation

The topic being raised is really interesting (since I can relate to it better than the other researches I found). At its conclusion it really did prove the points raised but the downside for me in this study is its methodology. Though indeed the results are gathered with evidence or supporting data this paper mostly is done by researching topics directly and indirectly related to it. The methodology only consists of gathering data and queueing them up and no other strategies were done (as I see it). As Kate quoted it, "The paper was more of a historical type of research rather than a technical research because they did not perform any experimentation and relied majorly on their literature."

With regards to the format, there were only two major parts: related literature and conclusion. The other parts of a “standard” paper were indeed missing and thus it can e understood that the conclusion and recommendation was drawn from the literature review.

However, I think this research still is effective since it provided sufficient data/ literature to support the study.


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OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE: THE USE OF OPEN SOURCE GIS STANDARD AND ITS IMPACT ON ORGANIZATION
by: Mahmoud Refaat Nasr

Summary

This thesis explores the reasons behind the poor level of adoption of open source web GIS software, and whether it is due to poor awareness about open source concepts or due to technical deficiencies in the open source tools. The research was done in 2 major phases; the first phase involved conducting surveys to measure the awareness and attitudes towards open source. The surveys examined three categories of people involved in the IT industry, namely: decision makers, software developers, and end users. The measurement of awareness was done by developing an Awareness Indicator and a Sentiment Indicator for each category. These indicators were developed by the author during the course of the study in order to provide a measurable and descriptive indication of the results. The second phase involved performing a comparative analysis between MapServer a leading open source web GIS tool, and three of the leading proprietary web GIS software, namely: ESRI’s ArcIMS, Intergraph’s GeoMedia WebMap, and MapInfo’s MapXtreme. The results of the research provide an insight on how different categories of people view open source, and demonstrate that lack of awareness about open source concepts and its competencies may be a major reason behind the poor adoption of open source solutions. The results of the comparative analysis also demonstrate that MapServer is technically equivalent to its commercial counter parts.


Evaluation

All I can say is that this is a very good research paper. Maybe its because I'm still inexperienced in judging the research work but I can't find I fault or major ones anyway in this paper. Upon reading this paper, you can see how detailed the framework is, how in depth the research has gone and the structure of the paper is complete and done nicely. Researching histories and related topics were complete with regards to the points the researcher raised in his objectives and also survey done in terms of testing the hypothesis of the study was also shown and detailed in the paper.

Though the survey done was fine as a suggestion, it would be better if he added observation and interview of organizations who were already using open source GIS standards as to support his survey findings. Format wise its done throughly and
But overall, its a pretty much detailed and good research paper.


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COORDINATION OF FREE/LIBRE OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Kevin Crowston, Kangning Wei, Qing Li,
U. Yeliz Eseryel, and James Howison

Summary

The apparent success of free/libre open source software (FLOSS) development projects such as Linux, Apache, and many others has raised the question, what lessons from FLOSS development can be transferred to mainstream software development? In this paper, they used the coordination theory to analyze coordination mechanisms in FLOSS development and compare our analysis with existing literature on coordination in proprietary software development. The researchers examined developer interaction data from three active and successful FLOSS projects and used content analysis to identify the coordination mechanisms used by the participants. The researchers found that there were similarities between the FLOSS groups and the reported practices of the proprietary project in the coordination mechanisms used to manage task-task dependencies. However, it found clear differences in the coordination mechanisms used to manage task-actor dependencies. While published descriptions of proprietary software development involved an elaborate system to locate the developer who owned the relevant piece of code, The researchers found that “self-assignment” was the most common mechanism across three FLOSS projects.

This coordination mechanism is consistent with expectations for distributed and largely volunteer teams. We conclude by discussing whether these emergent practices can be usefully transferred to mainstream practice and indicating directions for future research.

Evaluation

Honestly, reading these research papers was easy but understanding them is a hard so most of the time I just skim through a whole section and judge it by its format and methodology. As I have observed, the drawbacks of the paper is just like the first paper I commented on. Though indeed the results are gathered with evidence or supporting data this paper mostly is done by researching topics directly and indirectly related to it. The methodology only consists of gathering data and queueing them up and no other strategies were done (as I see it). As Kate quoted it, "The paper was more of a historical type of research rather than a technical research because they did not perform any experimentation and relied majorly on their literature."

With regards to the format, there were only two major parts: related literature and conclusion. The other parts of a “standard” paper were indeed missing and thus it can e understood that the conclusion and recommendation was drawn from the literature review.

As a suggestion, using other data collection techniques to combine with the data or literature collected would be better.