scientific process and reasoning

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May 102015

My brain is ‘hurting’ today. So I’m chilling out by making my first bread in my newish oven (in my newish London flat). As I don’t have any measuring jugs or machine, I have to somehow convert all measurements i.e. in ml, g, kg into ‘cup’. In the past, I will have rushed out to buy the necessary tools (tools are in my house in Staines) to make sure I get a near perfect bread. Well… now I’m more ‘mellowed’, and just happy to make do with whatever I have…The result will be in couple of hours time when I put the dough to the test.

Now, why my brain is ‘hurting’? I suspect it’s because I watched TV till late last night (Robin Hood!) instead of reading and writing my transfer thesis. I said ‘hurting’ as I even forgot to turn off my kitchen tap – left it running for how long, I don’t remember?!

Mmm..am I ‘mellowed’ as well in doing my research process and reasoning?

I have read a bit about the so called scientific reasoning i.e. deductive, inductive and abductive reasoning. I guess the scientific process is linked to the reasoning. I said ‘I guess’ because I don’t know if there’s a standard or recognised method/approach for measurement or assessment of ‘scientific process(es). What constitute ‘scientific process’?

Perhaps I ought to frame my question as; What constitute research process?

Time to test my dough…

Fast forward to the distant future…

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Aug 152014

It’s nearly a year since I started my PhD, and time is zooming into my second year, then into the third and then hopefully into my final year and then the viva.

Start writing, writing, writing even if it’s ‘crappy’ stuff. Mmm..stop! Check this out about viva, Top 40 Potential Viva Questions

Just in case the link and site vanished, the Top 40 Potential Viva Questions are;
1. Can you start by summarising your thesis?
2. Now, can you summarise it in one sentence?
3. What is the idea that binds your thesis together?
4. What motivated and inspired you to carry out this research?
5. What are the main issues and debates in this subject area?
6. Which of these does your research address?
7. Why is the problem you have tackled worth tackling?
8. Who has had the strongest influence in the development of your subject area in theory and practice?
9. Which are the three most important papers that relate to your thesis?
10. What published work is closest to yours? How is your work different?
11. What do you know about the history of [insert something relevant]?
12. How does your work relate to [insert something relevant]?
13. What are the most recent major developments in your area?
14. How did your research questions emerge?
15. What were the crucial research decisions you made?
16. Why did you use this research methodology? What did you gain from it?
17. What were the alternatives to this methodology?
18. What would you have gained by using another approach?
19. How did you deal with the ethical implications of your work?
20. How has your view of your research topic changed?
21. How have you evaluated your work?
22. How do you know that your findings are correct?
23. What are the strongest/weakest parts of your work?
24. What would have improved your work?
25. To what extent do your contributions generalise?
26. Who will be most interested in your work?
27. What is the relevance of your work to other researchers?
28. What is the relevance of your work to practitioners?
29. Which aspects of your work do you intend to publish – and where?
30. Summarise your key findings.
31. Which of these findings are the most interesting to you? Why?
32. How do your findings relate to literature in your field?
33. What are the contributions to knowledge of your thesis?
34. How long-term are these contributions?
35. What are the main achievements of your research?
36. What have you learned from the process of doing your PhD?
37. What advice would you give to a research student entering this area?
38. You propose future research. How would you start this?
39. What would be the difficulties?
40. And, finally… What have you done that merits a PhD?

The Problem

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Jul 032014

The Problem is ‘the problem’.

What is the problem space of my research? More concretely, what exactly is my research question?

I started pondering this question back in early January 2014 and now it is early July 2014.
What is my problem in getting to my research question?

Well, for the past 2 months I got interrupted and distracted (yet again!) by having to find new supervisors. My Cass supervisor left Cass Business School, and my main supervisor in Computer Science department in the School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering (newly combined school) left City at the end of June. It has been quite a frustrating experience in many ways. I now know why students move with their supervisors, if they have the choice. I don’t have the choice (I am funded by the Computer Science department) so it boils down to finding supervisors that want to supervisor me, and also interested in my topic of interests.

Hopefully I don’t have to go through another drama involving change of supervisors, as I don’t want to have to change my research topic and interests. My problem space involves not just finding my research question but how to remain in the research space I want to work on. Doing a PhD research is dealing and coping with change, nothing new or profound. The biggest problem is I am losing time, and this is probably my biggest challenge as I can’t turn back the clock.

Back to now…

What is my research question?

I am aware that a thesis or research outcome has to have ‘depth and substance’. I started off early this year planning on doing a multidisciplinary research. Now I am struggling to find a way to do this, partly because of the change of supervisors, and mostly because multidisciplinary research across schools just don’t work. The University just don’t have the structure to facilitate or encourage multidisciplinary research. Having gone through the process of finding supervisors from different schools highlighted the sad state of affairs. So, I have no choice but to change focus by removing aspects of my research interests.

I am still particularly drawn to social technical issues, issues involving technology and law especially matters with data protection and privacy in the context of organisation business environment. For my research space, technology falls into my solution space not in my problem space.

My problem space is organisations in cyberspace and their relationships in cyberspace and the issues with data loss and data breach.

My smartmobile

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Jan 112014

Just before Christmas 2013 I cancelled my TV licence. I had it because I was on Virgin Media ‘bundle services’ for internet broadband, telephone landline and TV. Back in 2011, buying internet broadband was like grocery shopping i.e. buy-two-get-one-free special deals. So I was sold ‘buy broadband and telephone and get TV free’ deal. I took this as a sign of the end of my analogue TV, and the start of digital convergence into my lounge space. The ‘bundles’ deal turned out to be non economical as I had to buy a new TV and the licence and also pay for the landline calls and subscription. Somehow the death of analogue TV has not killed off the TV licence. Also, it turns out that folks just turn to mobile rather than use the landline.

Then in early 2013 mobile companies were offering ‘unlimited or eat as much as you want’ internet. Within less than 3 years, internet broadband shopping turns from grocery shopping to buffet-style eatery i.e. eat however much you want!

Now I only have one device i.e. a smartmobile for mobile and internet, and one bill and one company to deal with. Instead of paying for a TV licence I am paying for a mobile insurance. Heh! I don’t even have a health or life insurance and yet I am paying for a mobile insurance. Just goes to show how dependent I am on my smartphone or more precisely how technology, especially the internet has changed and is changing my life-style whether I like it or not.

The term internet itself is following a new style or trend. It seems that it is ‘stylish’ to use the term ‘cyberspace’ these days. I use the term ‘stylish’ as it’s a matter of taste or preference, depending on who you are or where you are coming from, and also what you are used to. So far I have the ‘internet or www or the net or cyberspace’ for this ‘interconnected technology’.
Perhaps this description, extracted from govinfosecurity.comcovers it all ;

“The Internet is part town square (where people engage in politics and speech), part Main Street (where people shop), part dark alleys (where crime occurs), part secret corridors (where spies engage in economic and military espionage) and part battlefield.”

Data Data Data December

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Dec 102013

or Information Information Information… overload!

With one ear plugged to the British Library’s live webinar on EThOS (will post the slides) and writing on the fly…
Plagarism and embargoes are mentioned under ‘Future publication concerns’.

Right now I’m facing information overload, and maybe by the end of this month (December) with all the ‘partying’ seasonal events (a good old excuse to chill out )out of the way, I’ll get to do some serious work.

Is PhD research a ‘serious piece’ of work? mmm… I guess it all depends on what are my motives for embarking on this journey.

Oh! I will continue to use my blogging site at http://jollyvip.com/edisclosure/ for blogging to the public sphere.

This research site is not fully open to the public as some pages will be protected.

Have a Merry Christmas!
P.S. Took me far too long to do this xmas2013 slideshows today (13 Dec 2013). Had to use iPhoto and iMovie. Since my pics (scenes from window shopping in London) were in my Samsung mobile I had to use special software to download these into my Mac and then had to play a bit with iPhoto and iMovie before I got a nippy slideshows. Next year will do a real movie if I get inspired by the window displays in the streets of London. This year I only strolled along Regents and Oxford streets (i.e. Liberty & Selfridges) with my twins.

November here!

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Nov 042013

Oh why oh why! my journey from home to Campus (cycle/walk – train – bus) is still not a ‘routine’. One of my daughter commented that I just need to get into a ‘routine’. It’s the bus ‘routine’ that makes me wonder whether I need to consider moving closer into London.

Slowly getting ‘friendly’ with my new MacBook Pro. Still have not figured out how to do housekeeping and maintenance stuff.

Started using Zotero for managing my resources online.

My November activities must focus on ‘reading – reading – reading’.

October Gone!

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Nov 042013

October 2013

1st supervisor meeting 15th October 2013:
A gift – The illustrated Guide to a PhD by Matt Might; message [Keep Pushing!]
Find 5 Conferences 1st & 2nd Tiers ranking
Overview of PhD research in general – built, modelling and or analysis

1st Group meeting 15th October 2103:
Demo and discussion

Started this research website to document my activities and stuff;

2nd Group meeting 22nd October 2013:
Presented my draft research plan

Attended Cass lectures for modules:
SMM352 Theory of Risk and Insurance Markets (PRD1 2013/14)
SMM353 Insurance Law and Regulation (PRD1 2013/14)
SMM356 Risk Management (PRD1 2013/14)

Signed up (but not fully attended) for modules:
INM414 IT Risk Management in Business, Commerce & the Public Sector for Effective Performance & the Prevention of Fraud, Error (PRD1 2013/14)
INM417 IT Risk and Resilience (PRD1 2013/14)

Checkout Moodle for modules/forums (not timetable!)
Timetables via this site:

Met my 2nd Supervisor in Cass Business School

Got my new MacBook Pro! – 25th October 2013

2nd supervisor meeting 29th October 2013:
Find 10 papers and critique – bad & good
Suggestions of authors to browse/read.
List started under Resource

Group meeting 29th October 2013:
Suggestion; Ways to encourage researchers to get-to-gether, form a community?
Got Facebook groups already but no common area for drop-ins etc

Welcome!

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Oct 192013

Welcome to Cher’s canvas!

A place for documenting and sharing most of my research materials.

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