Empirical Investigation: A UVic-inspired Proposal Mike Godfrey SWAG, University of Waterloo.
-
Upload
ethan-blaise-hudson -
Category
Documents
-
view
214 -
download
0
Transcript of Empirical Investigation: A UVic-inspired Proposal Mike Godfrey SWAG, University of Waterloo.
Empirical Investigation:A UVic-inspired Proposal
Mike Godfrey
SWAG, University of Waterloo
The initial exploration
• Try this:– Time yourself walking around the
windowed area in this building.– Count the number of rabbits you see– Calculate:
# bunnies / time = MTBB
(Mean time between bunnies)
Terminology issues
• Need to establish common working vocabulary to avoid confusione.g, What does density mean?
What is the density of rabbits at Uvic?
• Experiment #1:– For a given patch of Uvic land
• Count the bunnies seen– Bunnies move quickly, may need to issue each with
a RFID (Rabbit Fur Identifier)– Tagging may also work [Storey 06 (to appear)]
• Measure area of patch• Perform appropriate math
– Ask a grad student if unsure
What is the density of rabbits at Uvic?
• Experiment #2:– Grab several bunnies– Measure the volume of each– Then immerse in water, and weigh the
displacement of water • The EUREKA project [Archimedes -215]
– Remove bunnies from water OR YOU WILL HAVE PROBLEMS REPLICATING THE RESULTS
What is the density of rabbits at Uvic?
• Experiment #3:– Grab several bunnies– Given them each an IQ test– Compare to average UVic undergrad as a
baseline• Hire the best as RAs
A new CSER project!
• Emergent Applications for
Rabbit-oriented Services– aka EARS
• Sponsor:– PETA (People for Empirical Testing of Animals)
Why rabbits are appropriate for CSER
• Rabbits are good at replication!
• Rabbits already have a custom protocol for network communication– They convert incoming data into small packages for redistribution
• AKA pellet switching
• Industry has good experience with rabbit consolidation– e.g., Schneider’s meats
• Rabbits can be converted into soft wear
Is this a good empirical study?
• What about the Heisenberg effect?– Does the act of observing bunnies interfere with
their presence?• Perhaps they like being observed.
– Does the act of observing and counting bunnies interfere with career path of a computer science professor?
• Perhaps they will be put on medical leave.
Threats to validity
• Can we reliably identify a bunny?– False positives:
Threats to validity
• False negatives:
Threats to bunnies
• Hawks
• Foxes
• Hungry grad students– Perhaps we can explicitly provision for them in the
next round of CSER applications if NSERC approves