CHAPTER 3

Resources to Conduct Research

What does it mean to conduct research?

Conducting research is an inquiry-based

process that involves identifying a question,
gathering information, analyzing and
evaluating evidence, drawing conclusions,
and sharing the knowledge gained.
The ability to conduct research is a critical
skill students need to be college and career
ready.
What are research resources and how are they used?

Research resources are usually thought of as

primary sources and secondary sources.
Primary sources can be firsthand accounts of
actual events written by an original literary or
artistic works.
Example: letters, official records, interviews, survey
results, or unanalyzed statistical data.
A secondary source interprets and analyzes
primary sources. These sources are one or more
steps removed from the event.
Example: Textbooks, journal articles, histories,
criticisms, commentaries, encyclopedias.
3.1 Digital Libraries (IEEE, ACM, Science
Direct, Springer, etc.)
What is a digital library?
 A digital library, also called an online library, an internet
library, a digital repository, or a digital collection is an
online database of digital objects that can include text, still
images, audio, video, digital documents, or other digital
media formats or a library accessible through the internet.
 The advantages of digital libraries as a means of easily and
rapidly accessing books, archives and images of various
types are now widely recognized by commercial interests
and public bodies alike.
 Traditional libraries are limited by storage space; digital
libraries have the potential to store much more information,
simply because digital information requires very little
physical space to contain It. As such, the cost of
maintaining a digital library can be much lower than that of
a traditional library.
What Does Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) Mean?
The Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers (IEEE) is a global association and
organization of professionals working toward the
development, implementation and maintenance of
technology-centered products and services.
IEEE is a nonprofit organization founded in 1963.
It works solely toward innovating, educating and
standardizing the electrical and electronic
development industry.
It is best known for its development of standards
such as IEEE 802.11.
What is IEEE Xplore digital library?

The IEEE Xplore digital library is your

gateway to trusted research:- journals,
conferences, standards, ebooks, and
educational courses —with approximately 5
million documents to help you fuel imagination,
build from previous research, and inspire new
ideas.
What is the ACM?
The ACM Digital Library is a research, discovery
and networking platform containing the Full-Text
Collection of all ACM publications, including
journals, conference proceedings, technical
magazines, and newsletters.
What is the ACM Digital Library (DL)?
The DL is computer science’s most comprehensive
and highly-used online research platform.
The ACM Digital Library (ACM DL) is the most
comprehensive collection of full-text articles and
bibliographic records covering the fields of
computing and information technology.
Science Direct
Science Direct is a website which provides access to
a large bibliographic database of scientific and
medical publications of the Dutch publisher Elsevier.
 It hosts over 18 million pieces of content from more
than 4,000 academic journals and 30,000 e-books of
this publisher.
The access to the full-text requires subscription,
while the bibliographic metadata is free to read.
Science Direct is operated by Elsevier. It was
launched in March 1997
What is the main purpose of Springer?
Springer is a leading global scientific, technical
and medical portfolio, providing
researchers in academia, scientific institutions and
corporate R&D departments with quality content
through innovative information, products and
services.
What is SpringerLink?
SpringerLink is now the place for you to buy and
read any of our Springer, Palgrave and Apress
books. More details about the changes to the site
and your account. Read over ten million scientific
documents on »SpringerLink.
3.2 Documentation Tools (Ex: Latex) and
Language Skill
What tools do you use for documentation?
Design tools :-Design tools allow you to design any
digital screen and manage all the digital assets. ...
Documentation tools:-These host accessible
websites that anyone can use to retrieve
information and often feature version control. ...
Design documentation tools:-Frontify, Zeroheight,
Nuclino,Lucid and Bynder are all tools that focus
more on design. ...
What is a distinguishing feature as a software
documentation tool?

A distinguishing feature as a software

documentation tool is that it allows developers
to draw flowcharts or sequence diagrams in
order to visually represent workflows.

This markdown editor is provided for free.

3.3 Team Work
Team effectiveness, also referred to as team
performance, is a team's capacity to achieve its
goals and objectives.
 This capacity to achieve goals and objectives
leads to improved outcomes for the team
members (e.g., team member satisfaction and
willingness to remain together) as well as
outcomes produced or influenced by the team.
 In a science team or larger group, the outcomes
include new research findings or methods.
 and may also include translational applications of
the research.
3.4 Datasets
What is a dataset?
A dataset (also spelled ‘data set’) is a
collection of raw statistics and information
generated by a research study.
Datasets produced by government agencies or
non-profit organizations can usually be
downloaded free of charge.
However, datasets developed by for-profit
companies may be available for a fee.
3.5 Simulation, Experimental or Visualization
Tools
3.5.1 Simulation Models
 Simulation models have become important tools in
Botanical Epidemiology. There are many reasons for
this, but we emphasize three of the more important.
1. they enable exploration of hypotheses, and as such,
have become invaluable means to guide research;
2. they are unique approaches to integrate (in the literal
term of the word) epidemiological knowledge, in the
form of experimental results.
3. they enable connecting epidemiology with other fields
of study ranging from agrophysiology to ecology, and
from social sciences to natural resource management
3.5.1 Who are the users of simulation models?

Development of simulation models does not

require mathematical and programming
expertise. But it does require
1. a good understanding of the system under
consideration.
2. some basic knowledge of calculus, and, again,
3. a good articulation of the scientific question
at hand.
3.5.2 Experimental

The three essential elements in an experiment are;

control, manipulation and observation.
In this, experimentor has to imagine that research
conditions are entirely new, they were not
existing previously and recently.
Whatever we know about the environment, is
possible only by observation.
All types of experiments are related with
observation and generalization of these observed
facts and it is also possible to test the internal
validity.
3.5.3 What are data visualization tools?

It is the process of organizing data in a way

that can be easy to understand.
Therefore, data visualization tools help you in
creating data that an average person can use.
Examples of visualization tools are Excel and
Google Sheets.
With the tools, you can create charts, pie
charts, histograms, and other graphs
How to choose the right visualization tool for
your business?
One of the best ways to judge
a visualization tool is by analyzing how
efficient and user-friendly the dashboard is.
For example, some business
intelligence tools offer advanced charts like
treemaps, vector graphics, custom reports via
JavaScript and JSON which require a steeper
learning curve.
Question?