OUGD601 Organising Your Research Project_

COP 03

Organising Your Research Project

Theory > Doing > Retheorisationg > Action

40 credit module

Doing Your Research Project – Judith Bell (5^th Edition) (Library reference 371.3)

Overview_

400 hours of study

6-9000 words + related practical work

2.5 hours support (as a minimum)

- Turn up with questions / research / ideas / plans

Deadline – 15^th January 4pm

Substantial draft submitted by Christmas

3 Lectures

Start thinking how my initial ideas and research are going to be turned into academic writing and a practical project.

Planning the project_

Write down all of the questions you want to investigate about that topic

-        Be as specific as possible.

Consider each on their merits and focus on two (primary & secondary).

If I want to change my idea, the time is now (make sure I am happy with both primary and secondary).

Write A4 side of ‘first thoughts’ sheet for both primary and secondary questions.

What is the purpose of the study? Is your question researchable?

-        Be ambitious but also be realistic

Working Title

Project Outline_

Draft

Consider timing

Consider holidays / work / life

Think about your working title and the different component parts that need researching

Allocate timings to each

Draw up a project outline based on the above

Allow generous time for initial reading and writing up

Factor in tutorials

Consult with you supervisor about this

Literature Search_

Reading always takes longer than you think

Maximum of 100 hours of reading

Be tactical with your reading

Start by trying to find out all the key texts on your chosen topic

Start with a google search (google scholar)

Look at bibliographies of journals

Focus your reading based on an initial assessment of this survey

Find key texts and plan time to read these

Find secondary sources / criticisms of key texts (triangulation)

www.jstor.org

Referencing_

Start compiling a bibliography at the beginning of the project

Reference as you go along

Include all details (name, forename, date, place, publisher, page)

Ethics_

Ethical approval must be granted if the research involves human subjects and / or data not included in the public domain

Think about the effect your research will have on real people

Approaches to Research_

Quantitative

Qualitative

Action Research

Questionnaires_

Is it the best way of investigating your topic?

If so, begin to word questions and discuss with your supervisor

Avoid ambiguity, impressionism or assumption

Avoid double, leading, presuming or offensive questions

Interviews_

Is this the best way of investigating your topic?

Observation_

Is this the best way of investigating your topic

Critical diary / Reflective log (blog)_