Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences Database Technology Research Phase Week (3 & 4) Producing a Research Proposal

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 2 Aims of the Session The purpose of this session is to: Recap on Research Show what is contained in a research proposal

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 3 Recap of What is Research? Proving a theory Done by experts Used to establish facts about something Scientific Objective A lot of hard work and not much fun

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 4 What is Research? (2) All of the above None of the above

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 5 Types of Research Pure, applied, strategic Descriptive, explanatory, evaluative Market, academic Basic, instrumental, action Exploratory, testing-out, problem-solving

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 6 Research Should Be: Planned Cautious Systematic Reliable Ways of deepening understanding Repeatable

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 7 Research is a Process NOT linear Cyclic Never ending Includes critical review of work done Includes identification of further research questions

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 8 Research Questions Why? How? When? What? 3-5 key questions that you will try to answer Some take the view that there should be a YES/NO question

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 9 Focus Identify research questions or hypotheses Define key concepts, issues, contexts Sketch outline proposal Explain ideas to non-specialist computing people Limit to achievable size (for example 15,000 words)

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 10 Research Proposal Outline Objectives – What am I trying to achieve? – One main question, 3-5 key secondary questions Activities – What has to be done to achieve the objective(s)? Products – What shall I produce to show that an objective has been achieved? Milestones – How does this fit into my overall schedule? Delivery – What will be delivered at the end?

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 11 Questions & evidence in the proposal Topic area What is it we want to know about? Getting a good question (Know about the topic area first) What evidence do I need – What already exists/can I produce? – What will I do with it when I have it? – What will that enable me to conclude?

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 12 Topic: “Computer Security”. A Sample relevance tree is given as an example Security Network InternetPhysical Access Data Protection Hierarchical Access Password Security Internet Business Building Access Business Survival Disaster Recovery Software VirusErrors Card Access Credit Card Security Review now Particularly relevant Review later Point to & close off

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 13 Role of literature review Means by which we establish what is already known and recorded about our chosen research topic Used to justify and support your own research work Used to justify and support your methods Used to put your research in the context of current knowledge

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 14 Important Aspects of Literature Review Has focus on an issue or research topic Role of the review is to help you formulate a stance towards the research topic Coherent piece of work – Tells a story – Should lead reader through analysis and arguments for and against, in a way which makes sense

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 15 Important Aspects of the Literature Review Literature review is part of the evidence base Informs your choice of research approach Initially undertaken early in the research process

Deanery of Business & Computer Sciences 16 To Do Read some literature surrounding your suggested topic area (For course work 2 – Research proposal). Produce a Research Proposal which will consist of a research question and a synopsis of what is to be researched.