Transcript Impact of Internet and Information Technology on Research

Impact of Internet and Information
Technology on Research
Dr. Leena Leon,
Asst. Professor, Department of Home Science,
St. Teresa’s College, Ernakulam.
Introduction
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Internet consists of millions of computer networks connected to one another. Each
computer on the Internet is connected to any one of the many networks that make up
the Internet. This global network is not owned by any single individual, group,
organization, government or country.
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The different networks on the Internet communicate with one another based on certain
protocols. Each day more and more computers are connected to the various networks
and the Internet continues to grow at a very rapid pace. So Internet is the world’s
largest network of computer networks, and the different networks are scattered all
over the world.
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The number of Internet users has grown by 444.8% during the period 2000–2010.
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As of June 30, 2010, 1966.52 million people (28.5% of the world population) use the
Internet.
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In India, the number of Internet users has grown by 1520% during the period 2000–
2010.
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As of June 30, 2010, 81 million people (7% of the Indian population) use the Internet.
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Internet Users in the World by Geographic
Regions
21.3
Australia
63.2
Middle East
110.9
Africa
204.7
Latin America
266.2
North America
475.1
Europe
825.1
Asia
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Source: Internet World Stats (http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm)
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Information Technology (IT)
Information technology (IT) is the study, design, development,
implementation, support, or management of computer-based
information systems, particularly software applications and computer
hardware.
The combination of telecommunication and computer science for the
capture, storage, and transmission of information to every nook and
corner of the world is the result of the developments in the field of IT.
We will see how the exponential growth and popularity of Internet
and the new developments in the field of information technology has
affected the way research is done.
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Speed
Growth and popularity of Internet and developments in the field of
information technology has helped in conducting the research at a
faster pace. This increase in speed has come without any
compromise on the quality of research. The main reasons of the
increase in speed are:
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Faster access to participants
Faster access to research material
Faster access to literature
Faster data entry
Faster review and revision process
Faster communication with collaborators and advisors
Faster communication with experts and peers
Faster analysis with software tools
Faster production of the report with software packages
Faster dissemination of research results
Copyright (c) 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Mobile Computing
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Mobile computing is the use of a computing device while on the move.
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From notebook computers to smartphones like Blackberry and iPhone and standard
cell phones, mobile computing has become an indispensable way of life.
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Mobile laptop and notebook computers can use one of two types of wireless access
services when away from the home or office—Wi-Fi and Cellular Broadband.
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Another technology that has increased the efficiency of mobile computing is cloud
computing. Cloud computing describes computation, software, data access, and
storage services by accessing the Web from anywhere in the World using an Internet
connection and Web browser.
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Thus mobile computing, cloud computing and developments in mobile technologies
and mobile application have made it possible that one can work anytime he wants
from anywhere in the world and can share his work to anyone he wants.
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This gives the researches tremendous potential as they do not have to carry the
documents and reference materials with them.
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They can share their work with their peers. They can work on their projects while they
are travelling. All these aspects improve the productivity of today’s researcher.
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Information Gathering
The amount of information available through the Internet is
staggering. You can get the latest developments in your field, find the
latest research results on your specialization, get alerts on the latest
inventions, read articles, magazines, and books.
With billions of pages, you could spend a lifetime surfing the Web—
following links from one page to another. Surfing is not an efficient
way to find information. If you want to find information, then you
should search for it.
The primary tools for searching the Web are:
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Search engines
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Meta search engines
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Web indexes
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Web directories
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Search Engines and Meta Search Engines
Search Engines
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When you use a search engine you search billions of Web pages, find sites on every subject imaginable in
a matter of seconds. Search engines are useful when you want to find a specific piece of information.
Some of the most popular search engines are:
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Google (http://www.google.com/)
Yahoo! Search (http://search.yahoo.com/)
Bing (http://www.bing.com/)
Ask.com (http://www.ask.com/)
AltaVista (www.altavista.com)
Meta Search Engines
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A web meta-searcher is a tool that helps users to locate information available via the World Wide Web.
Web meta-searchers provide a single interface that enables users to search many different search
engines, indexes, and databases simultaneously. Examples of web meta-searchers include:
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Dogpile (http://www.dogpile.com/)
Vivisimo (http://www.vivisimo.com/)
Mamma (http://www.mamma.com/)
Clusty (http://www.clusty.com/)
Metasearch (http://www.metasearch.com/)
Copyright (c) 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Web Indexes and Directories
Web Indexes
 A web index is designed to assist users in locating information on the
World Wide Web. A web index collects and organizes resources
available via the World Wide Web. There are a number of web
indexes available. Some of the popular web indexes are:
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Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/)
Web Crawler (http://www.webcrawler.com/)
BizWeb (http://www.bizweb.com/)
Web Directories
 A web directory or link directory is a directory on the World Wide
Web. It specializes in linking to other websites and categorizing
those links. Some of the popular web directories are:
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AboutUs.org (http://www.aboutus.org/)
About.com (http://www.about.com/)
Best of the Web (http://www.botw.org/)
The WWW Virtual Library (http://www.vlib.org/)
Copyright (c) 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Data Collection
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The internet and WWW offers superior ways to collect, collate, and
analyze data.
These data collection methods are superior to traditional pen and
paper questionnaire methods as they reduce the error during data
collection and data entry, the data can be collected from participants
anywhere in the world.
These methods are fast, data can be automatically collected from
hundreds of people simultaneously, and the cost of data collection is
much less when compared with the traditional methods.
On the Web data collection is done using Web surveys, on-line
polls, and e-mail questionnaires.
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Web Surveys
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In the case of a Web survey you will send e-mails that contain a link
that takes the participant to an HTML survey form that is designed for
completion and submission through the computer over the Internet.
Information is collected quickly because as soon as your respondent
has finished taking the survey, their responses are immediately
submitted.
The web survey is a cost effective way of administering a survey that
allows you to collect large amounts of information without having to
pay for interviewers, paper supplies, or postage, and does not
require separate data entry for responses to be processed.
The popularity of Internet and WWW and the proliferation of
computers with Internet access and the increased computer literacy
of the general public have made web survey a better and more
efficient alternative of its traditional counterpart.
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Working of a Web Survey
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Portion of a Web Survey Questionnaire
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Web Survey Sites
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There are many sites on the WWW that offer web surveys. You can design
your questionnaire, create the web survey using the tools provided, and
send e-mails to the participants. The responses are collected, consolidated,
and send to you. Most of these sites have a basic account which is free, but
the features available like number of questions, number of participants, page
logic, question logic, data validation, etc. will be limited.
Some of the web survey sites are:
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Checkbox (www.checkbox.com)
eSurveysPro (www.esurveyspro.com)
KeySurvey (www.keysurvey.com)
LimeSurvey (www.limesurvey.org)
MagicSurveyTool (www.magicsurveytool.com)
QuestionPro (www.questionpro.com)
SatPac (www.statpac.com)
Survey Methods (www.surveymethods.com)
Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com)
TestSpin (www.testspin.com)
Zarca (www.zarca.com)
Zoomerang Online Surveys and Polls (www.zoomerang.com)
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
On-line Polls
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The difference between on-line polls and web surveys is that while web
surveys are extensive in nature and are suited professional research
purposes, polls are an easy way to get the opinion of respondents about a
particular topic.
A poll can be placed anywhere—on your website, blog, or in an e-mail. Polls
are only useful and effective when you ask one question and the participant
can select an answer or answers from a given set of choices.
There are many sites on the Web that allows you to create on-line polls.
Most of them offer the basic account free of cost, but you will have to pay for
additional features.
Some of the sites that offer online survey software are:
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99Polls (www.99polls.com)
Go2Poll (www.go2poll.com)
Misterpoll (www.misterpoll.com)
Polldaddy (www.polldaddy.com)
Snappoll (www.snappoll.com)
SurveyPopups (www.surveypopups.com)
Teeza (www.tezaa.com)
Twiigs (www.twiigs.com)
Webcredible (www.webcredible.co.uk)
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
The Poll and Results of an On-line Poll
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E-mail Questionnaires
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Another method of eliciting information from a select group of people is to
send them a list of questions by e-mail.
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The participants reply to your questionnaire via e-mail.
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This method is useful if you want to get descriptive answers for your
questions.
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This method works well only when the number of respondents is limited and
majority of them respond to the questions.
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It is ideal for eliciting expert opinions and comments on a particular topic
from a group of subject experts.
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The e-mail sender’s familiarity with the respondents and his/her status and
affiliation are critical factors in getting prompt and comprehensive answers.
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Literature Review made easy...
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One of the most time consuming part of any research project is the review of
literature.
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Internet and information technology have made the review of literature easier.
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Now you can search the Internet and get the information about your research topic in
minutes.
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You can search entire books, magazine, and journals, complete libraries, magazine
archives, bibliographic services and can find relevant information in a fraction of the
time it used to take before the digital revolution.
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There
are
organizations
like
Zinio
(www.zinio.com)
and
Texterity
(www.texterity.com) that provide digital versions at nominal charges compared to the
print editions.
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The advantage of the on-line journals, e-books, digital editions of magazines and
journals, etc. is that they can be searched for topics of your interest in a matter of
seconds. Another advantage is that you get the latest and up-to-date information.
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Other than the conventional forms like e-books and digital magazines, the WWW
contains a number of websites, blogs, discussion forums, etc. where some of the best
minds in the world share their knowledge and wisdom. You can gain lot of information
from these sites and can interact with the personalities quite informally.
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Copyright (c) 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
On-line Libraries
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There are many libraries on the web.
These libraries offer all the features
and some more than the physical
libraries.
The comprehensive search features of
the digital libraries make them a
powerful tool for the researcher.
For example, instead of searching
through the thousands of volumes one
can search and get a list of publications
containing the search word and most
cases a short summary of what is in
each article or book.
The search query shown in the figure
will bring all the articles which are
published between January 1980 and
February 2011 and that contain the
words ‘fast food consumption’ and
‘health problems.’
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Reference Sites on the Web
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If you want to find a fact quickly, reference sources on the Internet may be able to
help. There are many online dictionaries, encyclopaedias, directories, and reference
works available on the Web.
There are general reference sites and also subject specific reference sites. For
example while ‘Wikipedia’ is a general site ‘TechEncyclopedia’ is a great
encyclopaedia for technical topics.
Similarly while ‘Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary’ is a general dictionary.
‘Nutrition Dictionary’ and ‘Food Dictionary’ are subject specific dictionaries.
Some reference sites on the Web are:
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Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/)
Encyclopedia.com (http://www.encyclopedia.com/)
TechEncyclopedia (http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/)
Encyclopaedia Britannica On-line (http://www.britannica.com/)
How Stuff Works (http://www.howstuffworks.com/)
Google Books (http://books.google.co.in/)
Answeers.com (http://wiki.answers.com/)
Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/)
Visual Thesaurus (www.visualthesaurus.com)
Nutrition Dictionary (http://www.becomehealthynow.com/glossary/nut_dictionary.shtml)
Food Dictionary (http://www.epicurious.com/tools/fooddictionary)
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Discussions on the Web
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A discussion group is a general term for any online ‘bulletin board’ where you can
leave and expect to see responses to messages you have left. Or you can just
read the messages posted on the board.
On the Internet, people who are interested in the same topic will form groups and
have discussions on their favourite topics.
The discussion groups are valuable information resources for the researcher as
they provide a forum to raise questions, get clarifications and opinions and
feedback on various issues and latest developments.
For example, ‘Dietetics Discussion’ which is at http://www.dietetics.co.uk/ is a
discussion forum for dieticians, health and exercise professionals, caterers, and
related students.
So it would help you greatly if you can join a few discussion groups in your
subject of interest. These groups provide a place where you could ask questions,
seek expert help, offer advice, find the latest developments in your field, get
members to participate in surveys and polls, and so on. All these are things
that will help you in doing your research more effectively.
Since many of the discussion groups are started by leading authorities in the
field and have experts with years of experience as members, you can be sure of
getting valuable guidance and advice when you post a question to the group.
The most important advantage of the discussion groups is that you can get all
the above benefits for free. All you have to do is join the group!
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
On-line Communities
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The Internet is also the place for communities. A community is a
group of people who have joined to use their influence or knowledge
for a specific purpose.
Some typical communities on the Web are special interest groups,
blogs, social networking groups, etc.
A special interest group or SIG is a community with an interest in
advancing a specific area of knowledge, learning, or technology
where members cooperate to effect or to produce solutions within
their particular field, and may communicate, meet, and organize
conferences.
A blog or web log is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are
usually maintained by an individual or group of individuals with
regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other
material such as graphics or video. Blogs are useful tools for a
researcher in two ways.
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
On-line Communities (Contd...)
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A researcher can read the blogs of the experts in her field and gain
valuable insights on her area of interest. Since you can interact with the
blog owner by way of comments or through e-mail you can have access
to the experts in your field which would have been difficult otherwise.
Similarly a researcher can have a blog where she can post her thoughts,
research results, problems, etc. and get feedback from the blog readers.
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Social networking sites enable its members to connect and interact
with others in a social online environment via the use of a website.
Social networking sites also have groups where like minded people can
join and share their knowledge, wisdom, views, and opinions.
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In this aspect, the social networking sites perform the same functions
like SIGs and blogs but are easier to join and maintain.
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These communities help a researcher to get help from experts, get
volunteers for research and surveys, find people for collaboration, etc.
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Better Communication
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Internet and information technology has ensured better,
faster, cheaper, and effective communication.
Today, you can communicate in real-time at the fraction
of the cost it would have taken a few years back. The
advancements in information technology, the availability
of high-speed Internet access at affordable prices and
the developments of hardware and software products
ensure that you can be in touch with your friends,
colleagues, students, and family anytime of the day from
anywhere in the world.
Some of the communication technologies that make the
communication effective are e-mail, internet telephony,
live chat, video conferencing, etc.
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Better Communication (Contd...)
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E-mail or electronic mail is the exchange of computer-stored
messages by telecommunication. E-mail messages are
usually text.
However, you can also send non-text files, such as images,
sound files, video clipping, documents, etc. as attachments.
In today’s digital era, everyone has at least one e-mail ID and
a large percentage of the total traffic over the Internet is email.
Internet telephony is the use of the Internet to exchange
spoken or other telephone information. It is less expensive
than the telephone.
In addition to make voice calls to anywhere in the world, one
can send fax messages, SMS, and voice messages.
Some companies that provide internet telephony services are:
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Skype (www.skype.com)
Google Talk (http://www.google.com/talk/)
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Better Communication (Contd...)
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Live chat is a real-time communication via keyboard between two or
more users on a local network or over the Internet.
The word "chat" is a misnomer, because it is a non-verbal, text
communication like sending text messages from a cell phone.
Instant messaging is the exchange of text messages in real time
between two or more people logged into a particular instant
messaging (IM) service. Instant messaging is more interactive than
e-mail because messages are sent immediately.
The basic operation of IM is simple: type a brief message and press
Enter.
Some of the best instant messengers are:
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Digsby (www.digsby.com)
Pidgin (www.pidgin.im)
Meebo (www.meebo.com)
Trillian (www.trillian.im)
SMS (Short Messaging Service) is the common text messaging
service available on cell phones and other handheld devices.
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Better Communication (Contd...)
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Video conferencing service
allows multiple participants to
converse with each other
regardless of their location
through the video end-points
or personal computers. It
involves video and audio
communication.
You
can
do
video
conferencing
from
your
smartphone (like iPhone),
personal computer or laptop
or can use the services of a
professional
video
conferencing
infrastructure
provider.
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Global Participation and Collaboration
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Internet and information technology has shrunk distances and
brought down the cost of communications. Now it is possible to
effectively communicate with people anywhere in the world easily.
This capability has its impact on the research in two ways.
Using the Internet and information technology, researchers can have
their target population from all over the world, if required. This kind of
global participation improves the quality of research as the feedback
of people with different cultural, social, and ethnic backgrounds will
enrich the responses, discussion, and the results.
Since Internet and information technology have eliminated the
physical distances and enabled the people with better
communication facilities, researchers from different parts of the world
can collaborate and work seamlessly as if they are working in the
same institution. This kind of global participation will not only improve
the quality of research, it will increase cultural exchange and will
open up new opportunities for further research.
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Software Packages
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Advances in information technology has led to the
development of new software products with many
features that improves the productivity of the user and let
him do things for which professional assistance was
required earlier.
Some of the areas where software products makes you
an
expert
are
photo
editing,
diagramming,
communication, brainstorming and organizing, data
analysis, etc.
All the software products mentioned below are available
as trail versions, so that you can use them before
deciding to purchase them.
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Diagramming Software
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Today’s diagramming software packages enable you to
create professional looking drawings, charts, and
illustrations with the templates, wizards, and images that
come with it. You can create any type of diagrams or charts
from stacked bar charts to SWOT analysis diagrams with
just a few clicks of the mouse.
Some popular diagramming software packages are:
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SmartDraw (www.smartdraw.com)
Microsoft Visio (www.microsoft.com)
Gliffy Online (www.gliffy.com)
LucidChart Online (www.lucidchart.com)
Lovely Charts (www.lovelycharts.com)
Draw Anywhere (www.drawanywhere.com)
GoVisual (www.oreas.com/gde_en.php)
yEd (www.yworks.com)
Diagram Designer (http://logicnet.dk/DiagramDesigner)
Dia (http://live.gnome.org/Dia)
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Diagramming Software (Contd...)
By using a Diagramming software’s templates and wizards, one can create
professional, accurate, and aesthetic diagrams and charts in a matter of minutes. In
the above example a Venn diagram is drawn from the template
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Brainstorming, Organizing, Planning, etc.
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While doing the research you need to brainstorm for
ideas and solutions, organize your thoughts, plan the
activities, and keep track of your reference material,
notes, etc. There are many software packages that
allow you to do this efficiently so that you become
more productive and organized.
Some of them are:
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Mindjet Mindmanager (www.mindjet.com)
MindGenius (www.mindgenius.com)
Mindview 4 (www.matchware.com/en/products/mindview/default.htm)
GoalEnforcer (www.goalenforcer.com)
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Organizing using Mind Manager
The idea generation, elaboration and organization of this article was done using a Mind Mapping
Software. See how the various points can be arranged and organized.
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Mind Mapping (Contd...)
This figure shows how the main
topics can be divided into
subtopics and again rearranged
and reorganized.
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Photo Editing
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Some of the research projects need the researcher to take
photographs. With the popularity and ready availability of digital
cameras taking photographs has become quite easy.
The problem with most of the amateur photographers is that the
quality of the photographs might not be as good as required. This is
where the photo editing software comes in handy.
These software packages have the capability of improving the quality
of the photographs by adjusting the colour, contrast, and brightness.
Most of the packages offer other features like giving special effects
like embossing, red-eye removal, sharpening, etc.
Some of the photos editing software are:
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Adobe Photoshop (http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/)
Corel PaintShop Photo Pro
(http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1184951547051)
Xara Photo & Graphic Designer (http://www.xara.com/us/products/designer/)
Serif PhotoPlus (http://www.serif.com/photoplus/)
ACDSee Photo Editor (http://www.acdsee.com/)
Photoscape (www.photoscape.org)
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Data Analysis
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Data analysis is a practice in which raw data is ordered and
organized so that useful information can be extracted from it.
Raw data can take a variety of forms, including
measurements, survey responses, and observations. In its raw
form, this information can be incredibly useful, but also
overwhelming.
Data analysis requires specialized skills and expertise.
The data analysis tools put the power of advanced statistical
and data analysis in the researcher’s hands.
Some data analysis software are:
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SPSS (http://www.spss.com/)
BEST Viewpoints
(http://www.wolfram.com/products/applications/bestviewpoints/)
ATLAS.ti (http://www.atlasti.com/)
Tableau Desktop (http://www.tableausoftware.com/products/desktop)
SigmaPlot (http://www.sigmaplot.com/products/sigmaplot/sigmaplotdetails.php)
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Hardware Products
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Many hardware products that are the result of the latest
developments in information technology help the
researchers more productive and effective.
Some of these are laptops and notebooks equipped with
mobile computing technology, portable scanners (also
called pen scanners) with in-built OCR (optical character
recognition) technology that can scan and passages and
convert it into text which can be inserted directly into your
work, speech-to-text devices that can convert your
speech into text, easy to use digital cameras that allows
you to take good photographs, recording systems that
help you to monitor your experiments, etc.
All these products are affordable and are of tremendous
use for the researcher.
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Example of Hardware Products
38
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Writing/Editing/Revising/Sharing
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One of the most tedious phases of the research is to
write up the thesis that is fit for publication. Here also
Internet and information technology help the researcher
in improving his productivity by reducing the amount of
data entry, reducing the errors, improving the quality of
the work by checking for spelling, grammatical, and
usage errors, generating bibliographies, and so on.
Some of the software product categories that help in the
writing process are Word processors, Text analyzers,
Spelling, Usage and Grammar checkers, Readability
improvement tools, Dictionaries and thesaurus,
Bibliography Generators, etc.
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Word Processors
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Today’s word processors pack a lot of features that will
help the researcher in writing a quality report.
The word processors incorporate features like real-time
spelling and grammar checks (i.e., the word processor is
check for spelling and grammar errors as you are keying
in the text), capabilities to include and manipulate tables,
equations, special symbols, scientific notations and so
on.
The documents have review and revision features that
are very useful. You can send your report for review and
the reviewer can use the review feature to mark her
observations, comments, and feedback. You can decide
whether to incorporate the suggested change or not by
just the click of a button.
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Word Processors (Contd)
Example of the Review and Revision Feature
41
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Text Analyzers
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Text analyzers are programs that analyze all types of text
content and provide you with a list or dictionary of the words,
phrases, and grammar forms, and their frequency of use
within the text.
The information you receive from Text analyzers enables you
to check for excessive use or repetition of words or phrases
within any document.
These software packages provide a vital editing function that
is missing from most standard grammar-check and editing
programs.
Some examples are:
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Textanz (www.cro-code.com)
Textalyzer (www.textalyser.net)
Online Text Analysis (www.online-utility.org/text/analyzer.jsp)
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Textanz in Action
43
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Spelling, Usage, and Grammar Checkers
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Nearly every person who needs to communicate effectively wants to
break poor writing habits and write clearly and effectively for results. The
problem is many writers and non-writers are not expert editors.
With so many rules governing grammar, spelling, punctuation,
capitalization, and proper writing style, it is easy to make mistakes.
Anyone who writes—novice or pro—needs an expert editor to weed out
bad grammar and style faults.
There are software applications for correcting and enhancing your
English writing. They allow you to perform advanced grammar checking,
style checking, and spell checking on your texts, in a single click.
They look at your writing like an editor and correct the mistakes, give
suggestions to rewrite for better clarity, provide alternative words, point
out usage errors, help to break bad writing habits, gain new writing
skills, etc.
Some examples are:
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WhiteSmoke 2011 (www.whitesmoke.com)
StyleWriter (www.editorsoftware.com)
AutoCrit Editing Wizard (www.autocrit.com)
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
StyleWriter in Action...
45
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Readability Improvement tools
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When writing for a target audience or trying to classify existing
documents for a particular age group, readability formulas are
invaluable tools. They help in determining the minimum age group
that is able to process reading material by using an analytical
approach. This approach uses variables such as sentence length
and difficult words, although some formulas also use predefined
dictionaries.
Readability improvement tools are packages that simplify the task of
performing these tests, along with offering insightful explanations of
all the results and recommendations for how to improve your
documents. These tools allow you to easily import or paste your text
into a new project, and then quickly inform you of its reading level
using most of the popular English readability formulas.
Some examples of readability improvement tools are:
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Text Content Analysis (www.usingenglish.com/resources/text-statistics.php)
Readability Studio (www.oleandersolutions.com/readabilitystudio.html)
Readability Analyzer (http://labs.translated.net/text-readability/)
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Readability Studio in Action...
47
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Bibliography Generators
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Automated citation creator and bibliography generators are tools that
can save you loads of time building and formatting your references,
time that is understandably valuable and would be better served
working on your paper.
If you do not want to spend countless hours typing in information
about your educational references, or looking through the style
manuals' rules, then these tools can find your source from external
databases, fill in the information, and then accurately format the
citation. If you have the source in front of you, you can enter your
entries in manually.
Some examples are:
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EasyBib (www.easybib.com)
BibMe (www.bibme.org)
Bibs.org (www.bibs.org)
Mendely (www.mendeley.com)
WriteCite (www.writecite.com)
Son of Citation Machine (www.citationmachine.net)
Bibliography Maker
(http://web07.mohonasen.org/staffdev/bibmake/bibmakercitations.htm)
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Bibme in Action...
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Protecting the Work
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There are two potential dangers when you write a report.
The first is that your work can get stolen and published by someone else as their own
work and you might even know about.
The second is that you can accidently include somebody else’s work without getting
permission or giving credit to the source. This is plagiarism and can have serious
consequences including your work getting rejected.
Plagiarism is defined as the wrongful appropriation, close imitation, or purloining and
publication, of another author's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions, and the
representation of them as one's own original work.
You can protect you work from plagiarists and you can avoid becoming one. There are
many tools available that can find out plagiarism and prevent your work from being
copied.
Some of the tools that will help you protect your work and integrity are:
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Plagiarism Checker (www.dustball.com/cs/plagiarism.checker/)
Article Checker (www.articlechecker.com)
Advanced Plagiarism Checker (www.searchenginereports.net/articlecheck.aspx)
Plagiarism Search (www.plagiarismsearch.com)
Plagiarism Detect (www.plagiarismdetect.com)
Copyscape and Copysentry (www.copyscape.com)
Viper (www.scanmyessay.com/plagiarism-prevention.php)
WriteCheck (www.writecheck.com)
Turnitin (www.turnitin.com/static/index.php)
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Global Dissemination
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Internet is a very powerful medium for the dissemination of information. You
can publish your findings, views, opinions, etc. on the Internet.
While publishing your articles in on-line journals and websites of others (like
that of publishers, newspapers, etc.) require their permission, you can
publish them on your own website or blog when you want.
In the Internet content is the king. If the information you provide is good and
if you have a clear and concise writing style with a nice sense of humour,
then your website or blog will become popular and you will get more readers.
If you are an authority on a subject, then you can share your knowledge and
wisdom with others in the field. This will get you professional recognition and
will help to connect with others working in the same field.
Some of the places where you can publish your work are:
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Personal Website
Blog
On-line Journals
On-line Magazines
E-zines and Newsletters
Social Networks
Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Direct and Immediate Feedback
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One great advantage of publishing on the Internet is that
you get immediate and direct feedback.
If you have a popular blog, you will start getting
comments from the readers within minutes after you have
published a new post. If you write an article on your
website or for some on-line journal you will get the
feedback either as comments on the site or as e-mails.
In most cases, people will write reviews of articles or post
links of it on their websites or blogs thus informing more
people about it.
You can use these feedback as a measure of the article’s
relevance and how people like it.
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
Conclusion
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We have seen how Internet and information technology
have affected the way research is being done today.
As we have seen the researchers are blessed with tools
and technology that will help them to complete their
research faster and improve the quality of their research.
It also allows collaboration, participation, and
dissemination on a global scale.
With new developments on the Internet and
information technology, the researchers will have
more power, tools, and techniques to help them work
more productively and effectively at the same time
improve the quality of their work.
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2011, Leena Leon. All rights reserved.