Saturday, April 5, 2008

The Seven Steps of the Research Process

STEP 1: IDENTIFY AND DEVELOP YOUR TOPIC
SUMMARY: State your topic as a question. For example, if you are interested in finding out about use of alcoholic beverages by college students, you might pose the question, "What effect does use of alcoholic beverages have on the health of college students?" Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question.
STEP 2: FIND BACKGROUND INFORMATION
SUMMARY: Look up your keywords in the indexes to subject encyclopedias. Read articles in these encyclopedias to set the context for your research. Note any relevant items in the bibliographies at the end of the encyclopedia articles. Additional background information may be found in your lecture notes, textbooks, and reserve readings.
STEP 3: USE CATALOGS TO FIND BOOKS AND MEDIA
SUMMARY: Use guided keyword searching to find materials by topic or subject. Print or write down the citation (author, title,etc.) and the location information (call number and library). Note the circulation status. When you pull the book from the shelf, scan the bibliography for additional sources. Watch for book-length bibliographies and annual reviews on your subject; they list citations to hundreds of books and articles in one subject area.
STEP 4: USE INDEXES TO FIND PERIODICAL ARTICLES
SUMMARY: Use periodical indexes and abstracts to find citations to articles. The indexes and abstracts may be in print or computer-based formats or both. Choose the indexes and format best suited to your particular topic; ask at the reference desk if you need help figuring out which index and format will be best.

STEP 5: FIND INTERNET RESOURCES
SUMMARY: Use search engines. Check to see if your class has a bibliography or research guide created by librarians.

STEP 6: EVALUATE WHAT YOU FIND
SUMMARY: See How to Critically Analyze Information Sources and Distinguishing Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Periodicals: A Checklist of Criteria for suggestions on evaluating the authority and quality of the books and articles you located.
If you have found too many or too few sources, you may need to narrow or broaden your topic. Check with a reference librarian or your instructor.
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STEP 7: CITE WHAT YOU FIND USING A STANDARD FORMAT.
Citing or documenting the sources used in your research serves two purposes, it gives proper credit to the authors of the materials used, and it allows those who are reading your work to duplicate your research and locate the sources that you have listed as references.
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RESEARCH TIPS:
WORK FROM THE GENERAL TO THE SPECIFIC.
Find background information first, then use more specific and recent sources.
RECORD WHAT YOU FIND AND WHERE YOU FOUND IT.
Record the complete citation for each source you find; you may need it again later.
TRANSLATE YOUR TOPIC INTO THE SUBJECT LANGUAGE OF THE INDEXES AND CATALOGS YOU USE.
Check your topic words against a thesaurus or subject heading list.

research

definition

Research is an ORGANIZED and SYSTEMATIC way of FINDING ANSWERS to QUESTIONS.

SYSTEMATIC because there is a definite set of procedures and steps which you will follow. There are certain things in the research process which are always done in order to get the most accurate results.

ORGANIZED in that there is a structure or method in going about doing research. It is a planned procedure, not a spontaneous one. It is focused and limited to a specific scope.

FINDING ANSWERS is the end of all research. Whether it is the answer to a hypothesis or even a simple question, research is successful when we find answers. Sometimes the answer is no, but it is still an answer.

QUESTIONS are central to research. If there is no question, then the answer is of no use. Research is focused on relevant, useful, and important questions. Without a question, research has no focus, drive, or purpose.

The process of gathering information for the purpose of initiating, modifying or terminating a particular investment or group of investments.

Microsoft


Founded in 1975 by Paul Allen and Bill Gates, Microsoft Corporation is one of the largest and most influential companies in the personal computer industry. In addition to developing the de facto standard operating systems -- DOS and Windows -- Microsoft has a strong presence in almost every area of computer software, from programming tools to end-user applications.

Microsoft home page The Microsoft home page hosts a collection of company news articles, as well as links to product information, training, support, free software, events, and company information.

Microsoft ResearchHome page for the computer science research organization of Microsoft Corporation. Contains links to research areas, technical reports, news, researchers, and free demos of research projects and downloadable files of interest.

Microsoft training and certification program siteProvides information on Microsoft's training and certification programs as well as links to course catalogs, FAQs, self-paced software, and news.

Hardware/software

Sebuah komputer itu dibahagikan kepada 2 bahagian iaitu perkakasan (Hardware) dan perisian (Software).

Perkakasan komputer terdiri dari papan kekunci, tetikus, monitor, papan induk, RAM, kad video, kad bunyi dan sebagainya.

Perisian pula adalah program yang disimpan di dalam cakera keras dan cakera liut untuk digunakan bagi melaksanakan berbagai­ tugas. Contoh perisian untuk komputer peribadi (PC) seperti program Win95, Win98, WinNT, WinMe, Win2000, WinXP, Microsoft Office dan sebagainya. Salah satu program sistem operasi percuma yang mula diiktiraf ialah program Linux.



Hardware refers to objects that you can actually touch, like disks, disk drives, display screens, keyboards, printers, boards, and chips. In contrast, software is untouchable. Software exists as ideas, concepts, and symbols, but it has no substance.

Software is often divided into two categories:
systems software : Includes the operating system and all the utilities that enable the computer to function.
applications software : Includes programs that do real work for users. For example, word processors, spreadsheets, and database management systems fall under the category of applications software.




Hardware (Perkakasan) komputer

Perkakasan komputer boleh dibahagikan kepada 3 kumpulan.
Komputer Sistem Asas
Komputer Sistem Multimedia
Komputer Internet Tersedia







1. Komputer Sistem Asas

Komputer Sistem Asas terdiri dari sebuah komputer yang mempunya perkakasan yang paling sedikit.

Papan induk (Motherboard).
Prosesor (Microprocessor atau CPU)
Ingatan capaian rawak (RAM)
Cakera keras s
Pemacu cakera liut
Kad Video (Video card)
Monitor
Papan kekunci (Keyboard).
Tetikus (Mouse

CPU - Central Processing Unit
HDD - Harddisk drive
FDD - Floppy Disk drive
RAM - Random Access Memory



2. Komputer Sistem Multimedia

Komputer Sistem Multimedia terdiri dari sebuah sistem yang mempunyai bunyi dan boleh memainkan video cakera padat (VCD), Cakera padat (CD) serta berkaraoke. Senarai perkakasan sistem multimedia yang dicampurkan dengan perkakasan sistem asas seperti di bawah.

Kad bunyi (Sound card)
Pemacu CD-ROM (CD-ROM drive)
Mikrofon (Microphone)
Pembesar suara (Speaker)



3. Komputer Internet Tersedia

Komputer yang disediakan modem (Internet Ready) untuk melayari Internet. Senarai perkakasan sistem Internet, tambahan kepada sistem asas seperti di bawah.

Modem luar atau dalam:Perkakasan untuk disambungkan ke ISP dan melayari Internet.
Akaun Tmnet atau laring: Akaun untuk mendapatkan hak melayari Internet.
Satu talian telefon untuk sambungan: Satu media yang membantu menyambungkan komputer dengan ISP.

Pengenalan Komputer

Nama komputer diambil dari perkataan 'compute' yang membawa makna melakukan pengiraan. Peralatan yang melakukan tiga perkara iaitu menerima arahan input, memproses maklumat (mengira) dan mengeluarkan data output akan dipanggil 'computer'.

Komputer mempunyai 4 bahagian untuk ia beroperasi dengan sempurna


Peranti input : papan kekunci/tetikus

Peranti output: monitor/pencetak

Storan : cakera liut/cakera keras

Papan induk : CPU/RAM/kad video