Week 2 What is a on & Proposal

8/3/2019 Week 2 What is a on & Proposal

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Research Methods

What is a dissertation?


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Structure of the dissertation see AP Handbook Section 5

Title (page)Table of contents

Abstract

Ch 1 Introduction

Ch 2 Literature ReviewCh 3 Methodology

Ch 4 Results Ch 4 Findings

Ch 5 Discussion Ch 5 Conclusion

Reference List

Appendices

Quantitative Qualitative


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Opening section

Title (page) Have a working draft title Review it constantly try it out on your friends!

Only firm it up when your work is completed

Table of contents

Include chapter and sub headings

Lists of figures and tables

Abstract

summary of the purpose of your research, the research

design, your findings and your recommendations


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Chapter 1: Introduction

introduction to your topic research problem(s) to be addressed

background to the problems context

why is your problem important

who will benefit?

who will use your conclusions

policy/ practice/ research

(also why they will use it) structure of dissertation


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Chapter 2: Literature Review

General definitions of concepts General discussion of your concepts and related

topics

Specific research that is related to your topic

who, why, where, when, findings, shortcomings

Existing work on your topic

who, why, where, when, findings, shortcomings

General conclusions about work done to date


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Literature review- The funnel

Locate your research in thebroader context

Researchquestions/objectives

Identify key issues

Narrow towards yourparticular area(s) of focus


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Chapter 3: Methodology

The rationale of process and the actual process ofthe investigation that you are undertook

Theoretical

research philosophy / approach research purpose

research design

Methods

what is your data

what is your sample

what is your collection method

what is your collection instrument what is our anal sis


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Quantitative Style


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Chapter 4: Results

What were the findings of the study?

Sufficient evidence must be presented to enable the

reader to comprehend and critically assess the approach

adopted.

The findings should not simply be listed, but some

indication of the nature and relative importance should

be given.

Are any limitations of the findings acknowledged? Do

they consistently address the topic of the dissertation?


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Chapter 4: Results

Describe your participants

Provide results of descriptive data

Answer each of your research questions in turn

ALWAYS report numerical results in text

Use charts and figures only if needed


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Chapter 4: Results

Example Text:

A correlation analysis was undertaken to determine

whether there was a significant relationship between

in the level of communication satisfaction and the

level of role conflict. The results of the analysissuggested that there was a moderate negative

relationship ( r = -0.596; p = 0.000) between

communication satisfaction and role conflict. This

means that if the satisfaction with communication washigh we would expect to find low levels of role conflict.


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Chapter 5: Discussion

Summarise your results and conclusions in a more

readable fashion. Give the interpretation and evaluation

of your results/findings

Relate your results to the literature you discovered forthe literature review

Suggest recommendations and implications that relate to

the problem you are studying

Discuss limitations of your research


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Chapter 5: Discussion

Introduction to the chapter

Discussion of the results

Limitations of the results

Implications theory

practice

policy Suggestions for Future research

Conclusions


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Qualitative Style


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Chapter 4: Findings

Describe your respondents

Report the major themes via:

a narrative incorporating

etic: interpretations -researchers summarised codes emic: actual words, examples from interviews

discuss relationships between themes

discuss differences between sub groups

Relate findings to the literature as you go

use charts or diagrams to represent relationships


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Chapter 4: Findings

'Needs' referred to the benefits that members received from their

involvement, such as a sense of belonging, enjoyment, and fulfilment.This was typified by one volunteer who commented that, What we

should do should benefit the members [and] not for the benefit of the

organisation (Vol-1). The third code 'members = organisation' implied

that for many people the organisation did not exist without its members.They were the spirit and drive of the organisation. This was clearly

demonstrated by the following statements from volunteers.

One of the things that I've wrestled with is Why is this gym a [name of

organisation] program? What is the difference? Why go to our gym? We

need to ask,

How do the values show in the day to day operation?

Wecould close down every program we run tomorrow and open a whole new set

of programs the following day and still be a [name of organisation]. But if

you removed the members of the organisation, the volunteers, the people

that drive the spirit you wouldn't have a [name of organisation] (Vol-2).


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Chapter 5: Conclusions

brief summary of what was found (use your RQs to

structure this)

give recommendations where appropriate

suggest recommendations and implications that

relate to the problem you are studying

tie it all together in a short, to the point conclusion


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Dissertation

StudiesWriting a Proposal


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Structure

1. Background information (500 words)

2. Methods (1000 words)

3. Appendices

4. Ethics/Governance Documents

A proposal is ALWAYS written in future tense


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1. Background

Background to the research problem

Justification of the Research

relevance and significance of the study,

who will benefit;

Who will use your conclusions

policy makers/ practitioners/ researchers

why they will use it

Statement of the research problem followed by the

aim or objectives / purpose statement and research

questions


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2. Methods

Description of the Design

Experimental, Survey, Phenomenology, Case study,

Ethnographic, Grounded theory, Secondary data

analysis, Historical/Documentary

Description of participants and their method(s) ofselection

Who are your participants and what age are they? Where

and how will they be approached and how will they be

recruited. How many will take part and what are the

inclusion and exclusion criteria?

How will consent be obtained? Who needs to give

consent? (refer to documents in your appendix)


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2. Methods

Description of data collection methods

Face-to-face, telephone, mailed, email, online

Detailed description of the collection

instrumentation(s) Testing process, Questionnaire, observation checklist,

interview guide or schedule (refer to documents in your

appendix)

Outline of the proposed data analysis methods

Statistical methods

Thematic analysis, coding, grounded theory or approach


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2. Methods

Ethics and risk management procedures

Identify any ethical or risk issues there are always some

issues to consider even if these are minor.

It is important to state how these will be

managed/minimised. (refer to documents in yourappendix)

Researchers should be aware of, and compliant

with, the Data Protection policy of the School. You

must be able to demonstrate this in respect of

handling, storage and retention of data.


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3. Appendices

Participant Information Sheet

(follow the suggested template)

Consent Forms

(for individuals and for organizations) (follow the suggested template)

Draft copies of all research collection instruments

(the more detail you provide, the more likely your

application is not questioned)


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4. Ethics/Governance Documents

Ethics application

Risk Management Form

RGO application

Week 2 What is a on & Proposal

Documents

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