Four Tips to Name Your Data

My first name is Yasutaka. When you Google my first name, a Japanese musician will pop up whose name is Yasutaka Nakata; he writes songs for perfume and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. (His music is cool!) Although I hope someone mixes me up with Yasutaka Nakata (someone might think I can compose such cool songs), you don’t want to mix up your files in your laptop by having a confusing name.

File name is important if you want to eliminate a lifetime of searching for a file. I learned several tips from my experience, and I want to share them in this post.

 

by using numbers, folders are ordered automatically.  it saves a lot of time!

(1)    Your data name should start with the date in the form of “20190223.”

First, you may look back to the file in five years after now. Thus, the year is important.

By only using numbers, the files are automatically aligned chronically. This makes it a lot easier to organize your files.

(2)    Pick up one, two, or three most important words for the data, and use them to name the file.

Of course, the file name should not be too long.

(3) Put the close data into the same folder.

(4) An alias (link) is useful.

Good luck on naming data beautifully!

Three Logic Flows That You Might Want to Use

 

Before I entered graduate school, I thought professors had super-logical brains. Now I see that, yes, they are logical, but professors are logical because they are comfortable with logical arguments—not because their brains are made to create logical arguments. So, you better give them what they want: a logical presentation. It is, however, easier to be said than done, especially when it comes to your things.

Here are three logic flows that you might want to use. At least they have been the useful checklist if my claim sounds logical.

thinking outside of the box is important, but must be logical

i)               Syllogism

Most popular logic flow, i.e., A is B. B is C. Thus, A is C.

In scientific arguments, however, you better be careful that the logic is enough to satisfy scientific rigor.

ii)         Toulmin Logic

With this method, the logical story can be made of six factors: (1) data, (2) warrant, (3) claim, (4) backing, (5) qualifier, and (6) reservation.

If you are good with syllogism in your presentation, we already have used half of it. (1) Data are your data; (2) warrant is the number of your emphasized points (review last week’s paper); (3) claim is the conclusion (review last week’s paper).

Toulmin logic can make your logic flow smooth. Find (4)–(6) and put them into your presentation. “Backing” is, for example, the previous report or paper. “Qualifier” is, for example, the logic that could disprove your claim. “Reservation” is, for example, your additional idea or data that disprove the one that could disprove your conclusion listed in (5).

iii) Use PISTOL

In order to be logical, you better use PISTOL. Don’t get me wrong, PISTOL is simply the acronym for problem-importance-solution-ownership-timeline-location (or limitation of the discussion). This logic flow is especially useful when answering questions from your audience.

Good luck on your logical presentation!

Organize Your Thoughts Efficiently

People think.  People forget.  People think again.  People forget again.  If people cannot forget, there is so much sadness in the world and we can not stand by that. 

However, it should not be like that in your research! This time, I am talking about organizing your thoughts!

Research papers are simply an organized bundle of thoughts. You put unique interpretations or important characterization of your materials on paper. The key is to combine all in a logical fashion and to organize them well. Thoughts are tricky because, if you don’t write them down, they sometimes fly away (just like a sad memory has gone away). Your thoughts and thought-processes matter, and, in order to keep them handy, again the organization skill is the key.

My folder of a project.  Some of the "thought" folders were not finished or wrong. But it is important to remember you decided not to finish, or you clearly write your thought process so that you can find where was wrong later.

You want to create each folder for each topic.

If you put numbers in the beginning, it will be self-organized. Highly recommended!

You may want to put relevant papers into the same folder. You may want to make all contents in the folder self-sufficient.

You wanna write your thought process so that you can be back where you were.  I guarantee that this will save your time a lot by eliminating time to recall what you thought or to find your mistakes. 

Then, you create easy questions, e.g., “How large is it?” “What is the crystal structure?” or difficult questions, e.g., “What would be a possible mechanism of MA-FA exchange?” “Why FA product was not stable?”

You want to leave your thought process. Your thought process could include a reviewer’s question.

Good luck on your unforgettable analysis!