Thank you Dilla for this lovely blogger award, although I am not an active blogger, hehee..
Sunday, 16 May 2010
Lovely Award
Thank you Dilla for this lovely blogger award, although I am not an active blogger, hehee..
Saturday, 20 February 2010
The strategy in making a paper looks good to the reviewer(s)
Here are some writing strategies that I would like to share with my friends and readers of this blog. These are perhaps more relevant to a paper of empirical content, but I guess these are somewhat general to be applicable in other domains.
1) Before you start writing, read a lot of studies in your research area as well as other related areas. This will give you good grasps in the topic and it is also important that your reading cover as much related areas as possible.
2) Write, write and write. Practice makes perfect! Think about what your paper is all about. Focus your thinking on the purpose of the paper, and then organize your writing into relevant Sections. Typical Sections for writing up an empirical paper are as follows:
Section 1: Introduction
Section 2: Motivation and Related Work
Section 3: Methods
Section 4: Results
Section 5: Discussion
Section 6: Conclusions and Future Work
I usually start writing on the motivation and the related work Section. It’s because I would like to start my writing with a review of previous work and how those studies related to the present study. The missing part should be highlighted and therefore our work is expected to fulfill the gap. That serves as a motivation to our study. An excellent review usually gives a clear picture of where our work fits in the problem domain and a brief explanation of how we are going to tackle the issue/problem.
Upon completion of the Related work, I usually continue with explaining the setting of the study (e.g. hypotheses, procedures/methods, research design etc). This is a pretty straightforward Section where we should describe clearly the research methodology we used in our study (e.g. explain the formulation of hypotheses, the instruments used (if any), the samples, the procedures, and the type of analysis employed).
In the Results Section, we should report the results or findings obtained from our analysis. There are many styles one can use in reporting results. For empirical studies, we can describe the demographics data (or subject we used in the study); results of correlation of variables (to show relationships among variables); describe the distribution of data; results of statistical analysis and whether or not they support our hypothesis. (Note to remember: do not intertwine results with interpretation or our own speculation. The Results Section is the part where we should report our findings and left the interpretation in the Discussion Section).
The discussion Section is the part where you provide justification of the results. This is the hardest and the most important Section where you should interpret your findings (i.e. why the result is such and such, why, why, why???). A well articulated paper usually consists of a clear interpretation of results and makes a connection with existing evidence/literature (if available and applicable). A good discussion usually gives a clear justification of the findings and then leads to recommendation for future work.
Next, write up the remaining Sections: Introduction, Conclusions and the abstract.
Don’t forget to highlight the contribution(s) in the Introduction Section, so the reviewers can see the intention of our work. Introduction should not be too long; it should be precise enough to describe the aim of the study, the importance of the research and brief background of the work). The Conclusions Section is where you conclude the work (as its name implies), so highlight the major findings here. Do not put any new idea in the Conclusion as this is the part where we sum up the whole work and put our flags on the future work.
p/s: Organization of ideas is very important so that you are able to deliver your writing in a consistent, and coherent manner. What the reviewers expect from a paper is a piece of work that is written clearly (or concise), and justifiable in all aspects. I remember my colleague in KICT (Dr Shariza) once said “any research lend itself to a publication if it is written clearly”. I completely agreed with her statement.
3) Ask your supervisor(s) to read and review your paper. Usually when I complete a write up, I will immediately email my supervisors and ask for their feedback/comments. The more feedback you gain the better. It helps improve your writing because other people might be able to see something that you might have overlooked. For those studying in the Univ. of Auckland, the Student Learning Center (SLC) provides a DEAL support group that can help us in proof reading the paper. For details, refer to this website: http://cad.auckland.ac.nz/index.php?p=deal
4) Never take comments personally. Remember that the reviewers are criticizing the work, not criticizing about you. For beginner, it can be hard to receive harsh comments (which I do experienced when I submitted my first paper to an international conference two years ago) but I admit that I have learned a lot from the reviewers’ comments. Looking at the bright side, they taught me that I should avoid from repeating the same mistakes, and making me more conscious in every single piece of thought that I want to convey in a paper. Yes, it takes a while to realize and understand that, but trust me, every clouds has its silverlining. So, never give up.
5) Use thesaurus a lot. Otherwise, do google or refer to the British National Corpus and check out whether or not the prepositions/grammar we used makes sense. If something does not make sense, we should feel weird about it. Don’t you think so? So, make sure you have lots of common sense. Ha ha...:-)).
6) Oh yeah, finally (last but not least), make sure you provide a proper justification and appropriate reference(s) in every single claims you made in the paper. Never let the reviewers struggling reading your paper, so, always try to justify things clearly and wherever possible and applicable relate your findings with findings from existing studies.
p/s: cewah…cewah..cakap mcm la terrer sgt tulih paper. No, I am not terror or terrorist in writing up a paper (heehe..I am just happy to share the knowledge I gained from my own experience in writing up papers during my PhD studies. I really hope my friends can benefit from this experience. Morale of the story is: Never give up! Never Quit! When the road ahead seems more complicated, never quit, but stay persistent and keep moving. Also, never forget to make a lot (A LOT – I do mean it) a lot of prayers. Remember that ALLAH listens to all our prayers. May Allah SWT bless us all, and make our endeavor towards this PhD a successful journey insyaAllah. Ameen.Ameen.Ya Rabbal ‘alameen.
1) Before you start writing, read a lot of studies in your research area as well as other related areas. This will give you good grasps in the topic and it is also important that your reading cover as much related areas as possible.
2) Write, write and write. Practice makes perfect! Think about what your paper is all about. Focus your thinking on the purpose of the paper, and then organize your writing into relevant Sections. Typical Sections for writing up an empirical paper are as follows:
Section 1: Introduction
Section 2: Motivation and Related Work
Section 3: Methods
Section 4: Results
Section 5: Discussion
Section 6: Conclusions and Future Work
I usually start writing on the motivation and the related work Section. It’s because I would like to start my writing with a review of previous work and how those studies related to the present study. The missing part should be highlighted and therefore our work is expected to fulfill the gap. That serves as a motivation to our study. An excellent review usually gives a clear picture of where our work fits in the problem domain and a brief explanation of how we are going to tackle the issue/problem.
Upon completion of the Related work, I usually continue with explaining the setting of the study (e.g. hypotheses, procedures/methods, research design etc). This is a pretty straightforward Section where we should describe clearly the research methodology we used in our study (e.g. explain the formulation of hypotheses, the instruments used (if any), the samples, the procedures, and the type of analysis employed).
In the Results Section, we should report the results or findings obtained from our analysis. There are many styles one can use in reporting results. For empirical studies, we can describe the demographics data (or subject we used in the study); results of correlation of variables (to show relationships among variables); describe the distribution of data; results of statistical analysis and whether or not they support our hypothesis. (Note to remember: do not intertwine results with interpretation or our own speculation. The Results Section is the part where we should report our findings and left the interpretation in the Discussion Section).
The discussion Section is the part where you provide justification of the results. This is the hardest and the most important Section where you should interpret your findings (i.e. why the result is such and such, why, why, why???). A well articulated paper usually consists of a clear interpretation of results and makes a connection with existing evidence/literature (if available and applicable). A good discussion usually gives a clear justification of the findings and then leads to recommendation for future work.
Next, write up the remaining Sections: Introduction, Conclusions and the abstract.
Don’t forget to highlight the contribution(s) in the Introduction Section, so the reviewers can see the intention of our work. Introduction should not be too long; it should be precise enough to describe the aim of the study, the importance of the research and brief background of the work). The Conclusions Section is where you conclude the work (as its name implies), so highlight the major findings here. Do not put any new idea in the Conclusion as this is the part where we sum up the whole work and put our flags on the future work.
p/s: Organization of ideas is very important so that you are able to deliver your writing in a consistent, and coherent manner. What the reviewers expect from a paper is a piece of work that is written clearly (or concise), and justifiable in all aspects. I remember my colleague in KICT (Dr Shariza) once said “any research lend itself to a publication if it is written clearly”. I completely agreed with her statement.
3) Ask your supervisor(s) to read and review your paper. Usually when I complete a write up, I will immediately email my supervisors and ask for their feedback/comments. The more feedback you gain the better. It helps improve your writing because other people might be able to see something that you might have overlooked. For those studying in the Univ. of Auckland, the Student Learning Center (SLC) provides a DEAL support group that can help us in proof reading the paper. For details, refer to this website: http://cad.auckland.ac.nz/index.php?p=deal
4) Never take comments personally. Remember that the reviewers are criticizing the work, not criticizing about you. For beginner, it can be hard to receive harsh comments (which I do experienced when I submitted my first paper to an international conference two years ago) but I admit that I have learned a lot from the reviewers’ comments. Looking at the bright side, they taught me that I should avoid from repeating the same mistakes, and making me more conscious in every single piece of thought that I want to convey in a paper. Yes, it takes a while to realize and understand that, but trust me, every clouds has its silverlining. So, never give up.
5) Use thesaurus a lot. Otherwise, do google or refer to the British National Corpus and check out whether or not the prepositions/grammar we used makes sense. If something does not make sense, we should feel weird about it. Don’t you think so? So, make sure you have lots of common sense. Ha ha...:-)).
6) Oh yeah, finally (last but not least), make sure you provide a proper justification and appropriate reference(s) in every single claims you made in the paper. Never let the reviewers struggling reading your paper, so, always try to justify things clearly and wherever possible and applicable relate your findings with findings from existing studies.
p/s: cewah…cewah..cakap mcm la terrer sgt tulih paper. No, I am not terror or terrorist in writing up a paper (heehe..I am just happy to share the knowledge I gained from my own experience in writing up papers during my PhD studies. I really hope my friends can benefit from this experience. Morale of the story is: Never give up! Never Quit! When the road ahead seems more complicated, never quit, but stay persistent and keep moving. Also, never forget to make a lot (A LOT – I do mean it) a lot of prayers. Remember that ALLAH listens to all our prayers. May Allah SWT bless us all, and make our endeavor towards this PhD a successful journey insyaAllah. Ameen.Ameen.Ya Rabbal ‘alameen.
Monday, 15 February 2010
Open your eyes..
Look around yourselves
Can't you see this wonder
Spreaded infront of you
The clouds floating by
The skies are clear and blue
Planets in the orbits
The moon and the sun
Such perfect harmony
Let's start question in ourselves
Isn't this proof enough for us
Or are we so blind
To push it all aside..
No..
We just have to
Open our eyes, our hearts, and minds
If we just look bright to see the signs
We can't keep hiding from the truth
Let it take us by surprise
Take us in the best way
(Allah..)
Guide us every single day..
(Allah..)
Keep us close to You
Until the end of time..
Look inside yourselves
Such a perfect order
Hiding in yourselves
Running in your veins
What about anger love and pain
And all the things you're feeling
Can you touch them with your hand?
So are they really there?
Lets start question in ourselves
Isn't this proof enough for us?
Or are we so blind
To push it all aside..?
No..
We just have to
Open our eyes, our hearts, and minds
If we just look bright to see the signs
We can't keep hiding from the truth
Let it take us by surprise
Take us in the best way
(Allah..)
Guide us every single day..
(Allah..)
Keep us close to You
Until the end of time..
When a baby's born
So helpless and weak
And you're watching him growing..
So why deny
Whats in front of your eyes
The biggest miracle of life..
We just have to
Open our eyes, our hearts, and minds
If we just look quiet we'll see the signs
We can't keep hiding from the truth
Let it take us by surprise
Take us in the best way
(Allah..)
Guide us every single day..
(Allah..)
Keep us close to You
Until the end of time..
Open your eyes and hearts and minds
If you just look bright to see the signs
We can't keep hiding from the truth
Let it take us by surprise
Take us in the best way
(Allah..)
Guide us every single day..
(Allah..)
Keep us close to You
Until the end of time..
Allah..
You created everything
We belong to You
Ya Robb we raise our hands
Forever we thank You..
الحمد الله
Alhamdulillah..
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
End of holidays – back to the reality of life & happy new year all!
I have no choice but to stay and to do work at home to avoid exposure to the sun. It was quite annoying dealing with the sunburn after getting back from holidays at Northland. I have visited Northland couple of times before this but failed in our attempt to drive to the
The most amazing scene at
(Hole in the rock)
Finally arrive at the Cape Reinga
(The dark blue ocean is the Pacific Ocean, the light blue is the Tasman Sea)
(The light house)
Saturday, 7 November 2009
I went to Disneyland!!
Last month, I had the chance to present my work at the ESEM09 conference (Empirical Software Engineering & Measurement) which was held between 13th - 16th Oct. at the Lake Buena Vista, Florida. That was my first visit to the States, so obviously I felt so excited and nervous at the same time especially when thinknig about presenting my papers in front of other peers and the experts. But Alhamdulillah, everything went well. Thanks to my family members, and my dear friends for making dua.
The trip was a very long one! The flight departed from Auckland at 10.30pm and reached LA after 12 hours. Then, I have to wait for the next flight to Washington (another 6 hours in a plane), on the next day, I took another flight from Washington direct to Orlando. I was surprised that the weather there was almost exactly like the weather in my home country. huhu...panas lor....!. Finally, I reached the conference venue at the Hilton Walt Disney Hotel, at Disney Downtown. I was sooo tired, plus jet-lag. But then I had a good sleep at the hotel :-D
The next day, I joined the Doctoral Symposium. I highly recommend those who are still newbie in your PhD research to participate in this kind of event (altho I am not considered newbie but my sup. asked me to send my work, so kena present lor..)During the doctoral symposium, you'll be assigned with an advisor who will give a very critical feedback on your work, and it also gives you experience in defending your research. Supervisor is not allowed to speak or to defend on behalf of students. Panels will ask you lots of questions and they would like to know how are you going to tackle those questions in your research. The good thing is, it gives you something to ponder or to think about, and students also encourage not to take the comments personally. After all, their advices are important, and that's what we want to learn, aye? Alhamdulillah, I was lucky enough that the panels are happy with my presentation and agreed with the contribution and remaining work that I suppose to do. Yea, I was soo relief... definitely all praise is due to HIM.
On Thursday, 15th Oct I attended the ESEM opening ceremony. The keynote address was given by Fred Brooks, the author of the famous book "The Mythical Man-Month". After the opening, my supervisor introduced me to her ring of research mates, and advisors. What a lucky day! I've been longing to meet some of these famous people like Prof Barbara Kitchenham, and few others :-D So, I really feel like meeting superstars, hahaa.. its because all these while I have been reading, and citing lots of their work, and suddenly I met them in person!! How wonderful...!
On Friday morning, 16th Oct. I finally presented our full referred paper to the conference. I was sooo gabra initially but Alhamdulillah after went up to the stage, all the butterflies gone! magic betul. Lega tak terkire rasanya lepas present tu! Happy lor.. :-D
Another exciting moment was the time we spent at the Disney Magic Kingdom. Below are some of our photos:
To go to Magic Kingdom we can use either monorail or ferry boat. We picked up the fastest one :)
This one was taken at the Downtown area, the day before..
Overall, it was really a great conference and I think Florida is a great place to be visited - If you have kids, they will definitely enjoy! I don;t get the chance to visit other theme park, I've heard people recommend to visit the Animal Kingdom and Epcot too. InsyaAllah, next time!
The trip was a very long one! The flight departed from Auckland at 10.30pm and reached LA after 12 hours. Then, I have to wait for the next flight to Washington (another 6 hours in a plane), on the next day, I took another flight from Washington direct to Orlando. I was surprised that the weather there was almost exactly like the weather in my home country. huhu...panas lor....!. Finally, I reached the conference venue at the Hilton Walt Disney Hotel, at Disney Downtown. I was sooo tired, plus jet-lag. But then I had a good sleep at the hotel :-D
The next day, I joined the Doctoral Symposium. I highly recommend those who are still newbie in your PhD research to participate in this kind of event (altho I am not considered newbie but my sup. asked me to send my work, so kena present lor..)During the doctoral symposium, you'll be assigned with an advisor who will give a very critical feedback on your work, and it also gives you experience in defending your research. Supervisor is not allowed to speak or to defend on behalf of students. Panels will ask you lots of questions and they would like to know how are you going to tackle those questions in your research. The good thing is, it gives you something to ponder or to think about, and students also encourage not to take the comments personally. After all, their advices are important, and that's what we want to learn, aye? Alhamdulillah, I was lucky enough that the panels are happy with my presentation and agreed with the contribution and remaining work that I suppose to do. Yea, I was soo relief... definitely all praise is due to HIM.
On Thursday, 15th Oct I attended the ESEM opening ceremony. The keynote address was given by Fred Brooks, the author of the famous book "The Mythical Man-Month". After the opening, my supervisor introduced me to her ring of research mates, and advisors. What a lucky day! I've been longing to meet some of these famous people like Prof Barbara Kitchenham, and few others :-D So, I really feel like meeting superstars, hahaa.. its because all these while I have been reading, and citing lots of their work, and suddenly I met them in person!! How wonderful...!
On Friday morning, 16th Oct. I finally presented our full referred paper to the conference. I was sooo gabra initially but Alhamdulillah after went up to the stage, all the butterflies gone! magic betul. Lega tak terkire rasanya lepas present tu! Happy lor.. :-DAnother exciting moment was the time we spent at the Disney Magic Kingdom. Below are some of our photos:
To go to Magic Kingdom we can use either monorail or ferry boat. We picked up the fastest one :)
This one was taken at the Downtown area, the day before..
Overall, it was really a great conference and I think Florida is a great place to be visited - If you have kids, they will definitely enjoy! I don;t get the chance to visit other theme park, I've heard people recommend to visit the Animal Kingdom and Epcot too. InsyaAllah, next time!
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Prayers for All
Dear all,
I wish to share the following message I obtained from this link: http://sufi-london-meditation.blogspot.com/search/label/prayersforhelp
InsyaAllah a reminder to myself and to you my dear friends.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may find this message a timely reminder for us all.
=====================================
Prayer for All
Allah Almighty always has three replies to our Dua/Prayers
1) 'Yes'
2) 'Yes, but not now'
3) 'I have a better plan for you'
There's never a 'NO'....just have faith and keep praying.
This is an awesome prayer .
Believe it and you shall be blessed even more.
The problem with many of us is that we don't believe that God will open a window and pour out blessings that we won't have room to receive them. I dare anyone to try God. He is true to His word. God does not lie and His promises are sure. Three things will happen to you this coming week, Insha'Allah:
(1) You will find favour with someone you don't expect;
(2) You will be too relevant to be ignored;
(3) You will encounter God and you will never remain the same again.
Prayer for you today:
The eyes beholding this message shall not behold evil, the hands that send this message to others shall not labor in vain, the mouth saying 'Ameen' to this prayer shall know laughter. Remain in God's love as you send this prayer to everybody on your list. Have a lovely journey of life! Trust in Allah with all your heart and He will never fail you because He is the Greatest, Most Generous, Most Merciful.
If you truly need a blessing, continue reading this email:
Allah Huma Salle Ala Muhammdin Wa-Ale Alihi Wa Sahibihi Wa Sal-lam (SWS)
Ya Allah, most Gracious and Loving God, I pray to You that You abundantly bless my family and me. I know that you recognize, that a family is more than just a mother, father, sister, brother, husband and wife, but all who believe and trust in you. Oh Allah, I send up a prayer request for Your blessings not only on the person who sent this message to me, but for all those whom I have forwarded this message on to and myself. I am also aware that the power of joint prayers by those who believe and trust in You is more powerful than anything. I thank you always for Your blessings.
Almighty Allah, deliver the person reading this right now from sickness both from spiritual and physical being, oppression, from wickedness and any evil plotted against them, anxiety, debt and debt's burdens. Release Your Godly wisdom that we may be good stewards over all that You have given us Ya Allah, for I know how wonderful and Almighty You are.
Ya Rabbul Alameen, I am also fully conscious of the fact that if we just obey You and walk in Your way, that You have shown to us, you will pour out your endless blessings on us. I thank you now Allah for the recent blessings I have received and for the blessings yet to come because I know you have not closed your favours to me. In your name I pray,
Innaka Alaa Kulle Shay-in Kadeer. Ameen .
Take 60 Seconds and send this on quickly and within hours, you will have caused a multitude of people to pray to God for each other. Then sit back and watch the power of Allah work in your life for doing the thing that you know He loves.
May Allah bless the person and whoever forwards this message. AMEEN
Salaams
'MWC'
---------------------------------------------------------------
I wish to share the following message I obtained from this link: http://sufi-london-meditation.blogspot.com/search/label/prayersforhelp
InsyaAllah a reminder to myself and to you my dear friends.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may find this message a timely reminder for us all.
=====================================
Prayer for All
Allah Almighty always has three replies to our Dua/Prayers
1) 'Yes'
2) 'Yes, but not now'
3) 'I have a better plan for you'
There's never a 'NO'....just have faith and keep praying.
This is an awesome prayer .
Believe it and you shall be blessed even more.
The problem with many of us is that we don't believe that God will open a window and pour out blessings that we won't have room to receive them. I dare anyone to try God. He is true to His word. God does not lie and His promises are sure. Three things will happen to you this coming week, Insha'Allah:
(1) You will find favour with someone you don't expect;
(2) You will be too relevant to be ignored;
(3) You will encounter God and you will never remain the same again.
Prayer for you today:
The eyes beholding this message shall not behold evil, the hands that send this message to others shall not labor in vain, the mouth saying 'Ameen' to this prayer shall know laughter. Remain in God's love as you send this prayer to everybody on your list. Have a lovely journey of life! Trust in Allah with all your heart and He will never fail you because He is the Greatest, Most Generous, Most Merciful.
If you truly need a blessing, continue reading this email:
Allah Huma Salle Ala Muhammdin Wa-Ale Alihi Wa Sahibihi Wa Sal-lam (SWS)
Ya Allah, most Gracious and Loving God, I pray to You that You abundantly bless my family and me. I know that you recognize, that a family is more than just a mother, father, sister, brother, husband and wife, but all who believe and trust in you. Oh Allah, I send up a prayer request for Your blessings not only on the person who sent this message to me, but for all those whom I have forwarded this message on to and myself. I am also aware that the power of joint prayers by those who believe and trust in You is more powerful than anything. I thank you always for Your blessings.
Almighty Allah, deliver the person reading this right now from sickness both from spiritual and physical being, oppression, from wickedness and any evil plotted against them, anxiety, debt and debt's burdens. Release Your Godly wisdom that we may be good stewards over all that You have given us Ya Allah, for I know how wonderful and Almighty You are.
Ya Rabbul Alameen, I am also fully conscious of the fact that if we just obey You and walk in Your way, that You have shown to us, you will pour out your endless blessings on us. I thank you now Allah for the recent blessings I have received and for the blessings yet to come because I know you have not closed your favours to me. In your name I pray,
Innaka Alaa Kulle Shay-in Kadeer. Ameen .
Take 60 Seconds and send this on quickly and within hours, you will have caused a multitude of people to pray to God for each other. Then sit back and watch the power of Allah work in your life for doing the thing that you know He loves.
May Allah bless the person and whoever forwards this message. AMEEN
Salaams
'MWC'
---------------------------------------------------------------
Selamat Hari Raya 1430H
Dah berbulan tak jenguk blog ni.. mujur masih ingat lagi password . haru sungguh! too many things happened.. but now here I am, hope it is not too late to wish every muslim a blessed and wonderful 'Eid-ul Fitri. Maaf zahir batin. "Semoga Allah menerima amalan (amalan dan ibadat di bulan Ramadhan) kami dan kamu". Ameen.
Let us make a prayer that we will meet with next year's Ramadhan insyaAllah. ameen.
Let us make a prayer that we will meet with next year's Ramadhan insyaAllah. ameen.
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