A strategic approach to research

A workshop for students completing a research project

by

Ron Adams and Joao Noronha

UNTL Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning

July 2015

WORKSHOP OVERVIEW

The completion of a research project can be a significant challenge. It is not unusual for students to be confused and to have self-doubts about their capacity to undertake research. However, it is often not the capability of the student that is the problem—but the lack of awareness on the part of students, supervisors and institutions of what is expected in doing research, and the absence of practical strategies for meeting those expectations.

For a number of years Victoria University has offered a program called Demystify your thesis, which deals not only with completing a research project but also developing students so that they can apply their research skills to other parts of their life. The program doesn’t tell students what they have to do, but provides a framework and a range of strategies to equip them to take greater control over their own research training. The workshop will introduce a range of strategies from the program for exercising greater control over the research and writing processes, applicable to both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

AN ACTIVITY TO START WITH

List the three most important things you expect from the staff member supervising your research project:1 __________________________________2 __________________________________3 __________________________________

WHY DO I WANT TO DO RESEARCH?

Answers from VU students:

• Make an original contribution to knowledge• Discover something new• Solve a real-world problem• Make the community a better place• Further my career• Make lots of money

There is no one answer—and no right answer

WHY IS THIS QUESTION IMPORTANT?

Because it encourages you to develop insight into why you do what you do—to:

– become aware of the impact of what you do—and how you do it– reflect on your own motivations– be aware of the complexity of life and how you cannot avoid making choices– understand how the choices you make have an impact on others– be sensitive to how your expectations might clash with the expectations of

others– work out ways for resolving clashes of expectations

This is the pathway to successful completion of a research project

RESEARCHER DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

• What do I want to say?• Why is it important?• How can I best say it?• Who is my intended audience?• How will they best hear me?

GETTING THE MOST FROM SUPERVISION

• Provide something in writing to inform every meeting with your supervisor• Send an accompanying email listing what you would like to cover in the

meeting• In the early meetings: it might just be a series of dot points you provide• Later it might be a review of an article you have read – or one or two pages

outlining your approach to the research problem• For later meetings, your dot points can become an elaborated statement• Your single review of an article might be part of a fuller literature review• The page outlining your approach might become a persuasive positioning of

your work within a broader conceptual framework• From the beginning your supervisor can assess your writing strengths and

needs as well as your intellectual strengths and weaknesses

THE SUPERVISOR-STUDENT RELATIONSHIP CHANGES OVER TIME

There comes a point when you start to become the expert

A CHANGING RELATIONSHIP

Becoming empowered means assuming more control

• Not total control—it is still a mutual and reciprocal relationship• But as a supervisor, I would expect you to assume increasing control:

o Initially, the knowledge of the supervisor far surpasses yourso But as you becomes familiar with the literature, frame a research question, undertake

the research and start developing your argument, your knowledge overtakes that of the supervisor

• There comes a point when you become the expert in your particular area of research—and reaching this point needs to be the aim of both you and your supervisor

THE SUPERVISOR REMAINS RELEVANT THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS

• Supervisor still provides guidance through to the end e.g. in preparing for examination or writing up your results

• But the relationship takes on a more collaborative, mentoring role

• Be aware that not all supervisors see it this way

• Some want to reproduce themselves through their students

• But a supervisor’s role should be to facilitate development of research students as creative, critical, and autonomous intellectual risk-takers, able to push the boundaries of knowledge

• What follows are suggestions for how you can become more of an independent researcher

POSITIONING THE NEW KNOWLEDGE YOU ARE PRODUCING

USING A TEMPLATE TO CRITICALLY REVIEW THE LITERATURE

Step 1: Summarise the key points of the text you are reviewing in terms of:

a) Research question/issue being investigatedb) Scope of investigation/research (e.g. group(s) being investigated, size of sample, country or locality in which research was

undertaken, etc.)c) Methodologyd) Theoretical or conceptual frameworke) Major findings

Step 2: Indicate as specifically as you can the ways in which your study is borrowing from/building on a, b, c d and e. Acknowledging the work of others in this way positions your work in relation to the literature (existing knowledge).

Step 3: Way(s) in which your research goes beyond or differs from a, b, c, d and e—which points to what is new and original about your work vis-à-vis the literature (existing knowledge).

Step 4: Why we need this new information. How will it be significant? What are its practical as well as intellectual outcomes? Will it cause people to think about the issue/s in a new way?

Enter all this information briefly into template, which, because it uses the same categories, enables you to compare and contrast different texts, noting shared or different approaches to issues, or methods used. In this way, you can group the different texts into main schools of thought.

RETHINKING THE RESEARCH QUESTION

A precise research question defines the scope of the work you have to do

The supervisor’s job is to help you achieve the right balance between being too broad and too narrow Aim: to work with a Research Question that encourages you to:

• read with purpose• develop an appropriate methodology• conduct the necessary research• make an original contribution to knowledge

Research Question

Working with your supervisor, ask the following questions:

• Is this a fruitful approach to the problem?• Is it offering the possibility of new insights?• Are there similar accounts or approaches?• What else might I read?• Is the emerging Research Question significant?• Are there potentially more fruitful approaches?

Handy Hints

• Research Question should be expressed in plain language• It should be explained concisely

(Paste an A3 size copy of the Research Question above your desk, to be replaced with updated versions, which you can date & retain as a record of how the project developed)

• Make it an answerable Research Question e.g. not “Does the proposed filtering process stop membrane fouling?” but “What are the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed filtering process for stopping membrane fouling?”

Defining and Articulating the Research Question

The Research Question drives:

– the reading you do– the research you do– the writing you do– the thinking you do

Refining the Research Question typically entails:

– reduction of scale– clarification of issue

A precise Research Question makes the project manageable

REFINING THE RESEARCH QUESTION

Entails two sub-questions

BEGINNING TOPIC

Chronic illness

Psychosocial adjustment to chronic illness

Psychosocial adjustment to Huntington’s disease

Psychosocial adjustment to Huntington’s disease by recently

diagnosed sufferers

RESEARCH QUESTIONWhat are the variables determining why some people adjust well and others do

not adjust well to being diagnosed with Huntington’s disease?

How did they respond? (narrative, descriptive)

[NOTE HOW A STRUCTURE IS BEGINNING TO EMERGE]

Why do they respond in these ways? (analysis/interpretation of factors)

Applying the model to a Timor-Leste example

TOPICWomen’s markets

↓Economic & social dimensions

↓Which specific market?

↓Whole market?

One specific street market?↓

Relative importance of economic & social motivations for stall-holders↓

RESEARCH QUESTIONTo what extent does being a street vendor at Taibesse street market meet the social as well as

economic needs of the women stall-holders?

Another Timor-Leste example

TOPICCultural impact of modern education

↓Impact of primary school educational practices on traditional village leadership

↓Which village(s)?

↓Role of village leaders in teaching Tetun to village primary school children?

↓Competing educational models for village leaders to teach local language (e.g. from PNG, Vanuatu

as well as local examples)↓

RESEARCH QUESTIONDrawing from international experience, what is the scope for village leaders to teach Tetun in

village primary schools in Timor-Leste?

Other Timor-Leste topics

Imagine how you could use the same refining process to transform the following broad topics to precise (& manageable!) research questions:

– Impact of Dili urban lifestyle on inhabitants’ health– Sustainability of fishing practices in Timor-Leste– Traditional vs modern state approaches to conflict resolution– Land dispute settlement practices in Timor-Leste– Logistics and supply chain management of coffee production in Timor-

Leste:– Role of women in Dili urban planning processes– Skills development for hospitality industry workers in Timor-Leste– Unemployed youth in Dili

RETHINKING THEORY

An example of the role of theory in research

Imagine you are researching the extent to which the position of working women has improved over the past decade

EVIDENCE THEORY THESIS

Hours worked regularity of work security of

employment childcare provision role in trade unions wage rates management

responsibility ownership of shares

Weberian:

class (income)

status

power

The position of women workers has improved significantly over the last decade

Marxist: class is to be defined in terms of one’s relationship (ownership & control) to the means of production

The position of women workers has not improved significantly over the last decade

Same evidence Different theories Different thesis/argument

THINKING LIKE A READERIn terms of contribution to scholarship, the hierarchy is:

(i) ideas

(ii) expressing ideas

(iii) presenting ideas

Yet, in terms of the reader’s exposure to the ideas of the thesis, the order is reversed.

(iii) (ii) (i)

(iii) (ii) (i)

Imperative: ensure that there are no obstacles in

or which obstruct

WHY USE PARAGRAPHS?

Because readers understand that a paragraph deals with just one idea

That when they start another paragraph they know they are moving onto a new idea

Think of paragraphs as mini blocks of text, typically containing: – a main point (claim)– information supporting the main point

Sentences within a paragraph should all relate to the paragraph’s main point

Golden rule of writing : one idea per paragraph

Silver rule: link your paragraphs

Make the introductory paragraph work for you!

Four possible functions: – showing the relationship of the chapter to the overall

argument

– introducing/signposting the chapter about to be read

– providing a link with the preceding chapter

– linking with the following paragraph

EXAMPLE OF A CHAPTER’S INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH

The preceding chapter suggested that the sources for Chinese medicine

are not ‘static’, but change over time according to the new contexts in

which they are read. This dynamic and fluid aspect of the sources of

Chinese medicine can be seen in relation to the ancient medical

concept of ke or possession (Sivin 1987, Harper 1982, Unschuld 1980).

As this chapter indicates, the concept dates to early Chou times and has

remained a key idea for ‘traditional’ medicine, though not in the same

way. As this chapter argues, since Chou times possession has been

apprehended according to the changing contexts of social life, in terms

of which it has assumed various meanings and translations.

Make the concluding paragraph work for you as well!

Parallels the four functions of the introductory paragraph:

– reiterating how the chapter just read was related to the argument

– providing a sense of completion or conclusion

– providing a link with the following chapter

– linking with the preceding paragraph

EXAMPLE OF A CHAPTER’S CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH

By focusing on the notion of possession, practitioners are introduced to

other ways of understanding how qi can also be an evil influence. The

discussion returns practitioners to ‘unfamiliar’ ways of understanding

illness causation and how this informs our understanding of states of

being. This chapter has shown how evil qi or possession can be

understood differently at different times and still have meaning for people.

The following chapter focuses on more familiar emblematic structures

such as yinyang, qi, wu xing and liu jing, giving emphasis to how true qi is

said to move and change in the body. Comprehension of these and other

Chinese medical ideas builds upon the metaphor and symbols which

inform and structure discourse on the nature of qi.

DOT POINT REVIEW STRATEGY

The introductory and concluding paragraphs are the last things to be finalized You first have to know how everything ended up—where your writing took you—before you know what you need to introduce and conclude You can use the Dot Point strategy to write effective introductory and concluding paragraphs—because you now know what to introduce and what to conclude You can use the strategy for refining draft chapters before giving them to your supervisors for comment It equips you to develop your points so that they express a sequential narrative or construct a logical argument

USING THE DOT POINT STRATEGYThe starting point is your paragraphs—the building blocks of your writing Remember the rule: one idea per paragraph Identify the idea for each paragraph and summarise it as a dot point You end up with a series of points—one per paragraph List them all on a single sheet of paper You can now check if you’ve covered everything you want to say

USING THE POINT STRATEGY

The introductory and concluding paragraphs are the last things to be finalized You first have to know how everything ended up—where your writing took you—before you know what you need to introduce and conclude You can use the Dot Point strategy to write effective introductory and concluding paragraphs—because you now know what to introduce and what to conclude You can use the strategy for refining draft chapters before giving them to your supervisors for comment It equips you to develop your points so that they express a sequential narrative or construct a logical argument

THE DOT POINT STRATEGY GIVES YOU CONTROL

You can check if points that should be included are missing You can check if points are repeated You gain a clear sense of what to introduce in the introductory paragraph—and

conclude in the concluding paragraph You can check if you are developing a sequential narrative or constructing a logical

argument You can decide on the order of your points You can decide if some points need further emphasis or development You decide if the text expresses exactly what you want to say

THE DOT POINT STRATEGY HIGHLIGHTS THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

If you have difficulty establishing a paragraph’s main point, think about how much more difficult it’s going to be for a reader (ultimately the examiner)

If you identify two or more main points in the one

paragraph, think about the reader’s problem trying to work out what your point is

THE DOT POINT STRATEGY ENSURES BETTER SUPERVISOR FEEDBACK

Submit your dot point list with your draft to your supervisor for feedback

Supervisor now knows what it is that you are attempting to argue, and can comment from a reader’s perspective on how well this is being done

Your supervisor is better placed to give you feedback on whether you are: • establishing the main point of each paragraph (which might be clear to you

but is not evident to the reader!)• establishing logical sequence of paragraphs• adequately supporting/explaining the argument• being repetitive or omitting key points• adequately cross-referencing within and beyond this chapter• adequately introducing and concluding what this chapter covers

ADAPTING VU PROGRAMS FOR UNTL

In the Finding Pathways in Education conference and at this morning’s staff workshop, I nominated four potential joint UNTL-VU projects:

1. Adapting Demystify your thesis to the needs of coursework masters and undergraduate research students

2. Adapting the Supervisor Toolkit to the needs of coursework masters and undergraduate research supervisors

3. Adapting the Graduate Certificate in Education Supervising research students to the needs of UNTL academics wanting to supervise

4. Adapting the Researcher Development Framework to the needs of coursework masters and undergraduate research students

To be relevant and sustainable, the projects need student input and involvement—from the initial needs audit though to trialling the programs.

Are you ready to contribute?