Tasty » Adam Sampson's honours bookmarks

How to write a scientific abstract in six easy steps | Serendipity edit / delete

"The first sentence of an abstract should clearly introduce the topic of the paper so that readers can relate it to other work they are familiar with. However, an analysis of abstracts across a range of fields show that few follow this advice, nor do they take the opportunity to summarize previous work in their second sentence. A central issue is the lack of structure in standard advice on abstract writing, so most authors don’t realize the third sentence should point out the deficiencies of this existing research. To solve this problem, we describe a technique that structures the entire abstract around a set of six sentences, each of which has a specific role, so that by the end of the first four sentences you have introduced the idea fully. This structure then allows you to use the fifth sentence to elaborate a little on the research, explain how it works, and talk about the various ways that you have applied it, for example to teach generations of new graduate students how to write clearly. This technique is helpful because it clarifies your thinking and leads to a final sentence that summarizes why your research matters."

to abstract academia honours research writing ... on 11 October 2016

a memory less ephemeral: How many times should you run your simulation? edit / delete

Another useful bit of statistical advice for students from Susan's blog.

to honours measurement science statistics ... on 19 March 2016

How Not To Run An A/B Test edit / delete

"Decide on a sample size in advance and wait until the experiment is over before you start believing the “chance of beating original” figures that the A/B testing software gives you."

to ag0803 honours significance statistics testing ... on 24 August 2014

12 ethical dilemmas gnawing at developers today | Application Development - InfoWorld edit / delete

I'll break my usual rule of not linking to numbered lists of things, because this is actually fairly good, if mostly aimed at people building web applications.

to ethics honours internet web ... on 24 August 2014

Statistics with Confidence edit / delete

Susan's stats tutorial (which I first saw at ICARIS 2009). Highly recommended for students who're doing performance measurement.

to ag0803 benchmarking honours performance science significance statistics ... on 19 March 2014

Gamasutra: Tynan Sylvester's Blog - The Simulation Dream edit / delete

Some interesting advice on balancing simulation realism with playability in games. (Honours students will probably want to read it and either cite it or argue against it, as appropriate.)

to design games honours playability simulation ... on 14 December 2013