Team-based Computer Science Research: Research Question, Analysis, and Project Management

The major aims of this module are twofold:

1. to learn techniques for working in a team to produce some tangible outcome

2. to learn techniques for investigating computer science problems. Toward that end, you will work in groups of five (5) to pose and answer a research question, using a dataset of your choosing selected from a specified set of candidates. You will be required to use specific tools to achieve this:

• Git, a source code control tool.

• SPSS or R, tools for statistical analysis.

• Markdown, a mechanism for writing structured documents in plain text.

In addition, you will complete an examination testing your knowledge of the background reading, and you will evaluate your group members’ contribution to the final deliverable.

Caution: in case of ambiguity in either the problem statement or assessment criteria, the interpretation of the assignment tutor will apply. As such, if any statement is unclear, seek clarification rather than make assumptions, as your assumptions are likely to differ from the tutor’s interpretation

Part A–Research Question and Answer

1. Research question (10 points). Formulate a research question (or questions) that can potentially be answered by statistical analysis of one of the datasets specified as candidates for this assignment.

2. Research question answer (50 points). Write a report documenting:

(a) An introduction to the context and problem related to your research question, plus a general question. Example: cricket is played around the world, at cities with widely varying altitudes. How does altitude affect performance?

(b) The background that lead to the formulation of your research question. Example: what studies or articles have been published about cricket at various altitudes?

(c) Your research question. Example: does high altitude favor left-handed batters?

(d) Your approach to answering your research question. This should identify your dataset, and the statistical methods used to analyze it.

(e) Your results (the answer to your research question).

(f) Your interpretation of the implications of your results. Example: if altitude favors left-handed batters, managers should adjust the batting order accordingly.

(g) Any conclusions. Usually this is a restatement of the introduction, but in the past tense as you have now answered the question. Include properly cited references to the literature.

3. Peer evaluation (10 points). Evaluate the contribution of each of your group members according to the following scale:

• Definitely contributed.

• Contributed somewhat.

• Did not contribute.

• Hindered progress.

Part B–Project Management

1. Project plan (5 points). Create a work breakdown structure that identifies all of the  artifacts you need to create in order to complete this assignment. Add each of the tasks from your work breakdown structure as cards in your Trello Backlog column, one card per task.

2. Process (5 points). Select a subset of tasks you can complete in a week for the current week’s “Sprint Backlog.” Self-assign team members to each task card as capacity allows. Move cards to “Internal review” and “Done” as they progress. Part C–Test of Readings Test of knowledge of readings (20 points). This component requires you first to read the assigned papers, then take a time--constrained assessment of your knowledge of the papers.