Research Seminar – CPIT 695

Research Proposal: Design your Proposal

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Thesis Proposal To identify research point and potential supervisor

Ingredients of the Proposal

Evaluation will be based on:

Thesis Title

The title should be clear, unambiguous, and not cute The words should reflect the focus of your proposal Put the most important words first

Research Objectives (Steps)…(1)

1. State the “specific” aims

A Specific aim is a statement of what you hope to accomplish in order to solve a specific problem (doesn't need to be measurable)

Example:To investigate using a systematic literature review the current pedagogical approaches or/and emerging technological solutions in CSE

Research Objectives (Steps)…(2)

2. State the means to achieve the specific aim

The means have to be scientific (objective or subjective), effective, verifiable, learnable, and affordable

Example:

A mean can be a product, a prototype or a simulation or a model

Research Objectives (Steps)…(3)

3. Write the objective by Connecting the aims to the means using action verbs.

Action verbs are self explanatory verbs that indicate clearly the nature of action to be taken in order to accomplish the aim

Its good to have SMART objectives.Example

Actions verbs: (To develop, To build, To study, to identify, to qualify….. etc)

Example of good/bad research objectives

Research Seminar – CPIT 695

How to Write a good literature Review ?

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What is the literature?

Before you read; check the date on the literature JOURNAL ARTICLES: Most up-to-date but still about 2 years

old. INTERNET SOURCES: Use only refereed electronic journals. CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS: Latest research, but not yet

published as full papers. GOVERNMENT AND CORPORATE REPORTS: Good

resources for commissioned research. THESES AND DISSERTATIONS: Limited use, may be difficult

to obtain, researcher usually inexperienced. BOOKS: Less up to date than journals, can be a good starting

point, e.g., Annual Reviews

What you need to do?

Read the papers in your binder Think about papers in your binder Talk about the papers in your binder

Talk to your professors Talk to each other

And while reading, thinking and talking Look up the references for background material listed in the

binder … … and look up papers of interest from the reference lists of

provided papers.

Resources for online materials

ACM IEEE Xplore Sciencedirect Google

Keep track of what you read

Your references must be accurate:

Type them only once and make sure they are correct – Format them now to save time

Make sure the content goes with the reference – Keep good notes, i.e., annotate your reference list.

Endless iteration

Writing LR: What LR does?

SUMMARIZE the literature EVALUATE the literature SHOW RELATIONSHIPS between different studies

(e.g., differences in methodology) And in a research proposal – SHOW HOW

PUBLISHED WORK RELATED to your work

LR must be:

Accurate: e.g., Citations correct, findings attributed to authors correctly.

Complete: i.e., Include all important papers (not every paper written on the topic).

LR answers:

What do we know about the area of inquiry? What are the relationships between key concepts,

factors, variables? What are the current theories? What are the inconsistencies and other shortcoming? What needs further testing because evidence is lacking,

inconclusive, contradictory, limited? What designs or methods are faulty? Why study this question further?

Above questions should be in your mind while reading and writing LR

Be warned to:

Trying to read everything: Try to read the most relevant work instead. Preauthorize! (most important then important)

Reading but not writing: Writing is a way of thinking… write many drafts Read with purpose Write with purpose

Failing to keep bibliographic information: Remember that you will be writing a page entitled “References” at some point.

Organizing your review chronologically: Organize your paper by ideas.

Golden Rules for Postgraduate Research Proposals

Contents: Be clear, objective, succinct and realistic in your objectives Ask yourself why should anyone fund this research and/or why you are the

best person for this project Ask yourself why this research is important and/or timely State and justify your objectives clearly (“because it is interesting” is not

enough!) Make sure you answer the questions: how will the research benefit the

wider society or contribute to the research community? Style:

If space allows, provide a “punchy” project title Structure your text – if allowed use section headings Present the information in short paragraphs rather than a solid block of text Write short sentences If allowed, provide images/charts/diagrams which may help break up the

text

Golden Rules for Postgraduate Research Proposals

The Process: Identify prospective supervisors and discuss your idea with them. Avoid blanket general e-mails to several prospective supervisors! Allow plenty of time – a rushed proposal will show. Get feedback from your prospective supervisor. Be prepared to take their

comments on board. If applying to an external funding agency, remember that the reviewer

may not be an expert in your field of research Stick to the guidelines and remember the deadline

Making a good proposal

There are stylistic “golden rules” which contribute to a good proposal: Be clear, objective and straight to the point (No waffle!) Justify your objectives: “because it is interesting” is not

enough! Provide a structure and use headings Avoid long solid blocks of text and use smaller paragraphs Write short sentences If allowed and if helpful, insert images/charts/diagrams to

help break up text. Stick to guidelines and the deadline!

Research Proposal

Research proposals have a limit on words or pages so you won’t be able to analyse the whole existing body of literature.

Choose key research papers or public documents and explain clearly how your research will either fill a gap, complete or follow on from previous research even if it is a relatively new field or if you are applying a known methodology to a different field

Literature Review Dissertation research -- your advisor may give you “key" papers to get you

started; read these first and seek out the articles that are cited Start with the most recent sources; there is a “mushroom effect“ as you go

back in time Encyclopedia articles and books are sometimes a good way to start, but

remember there are likely more recent sources Articles that are almost always cited are probably “key" to the development of

the area or were among the first in the area A recurring set of authors will emerge; articles by these authors are probably

“more important" A paper with an accompanying discussion may often be “important” Usually

articles in “main" or “first-tier" journals are the most important, but this is not always true

Do not print, copy, download every and any paper you identify! Instead, read the abstract, introduction, and conclusions or discussion sections. A paper might not be what you think it is.

How to read Because of space considerations, journal articles often leave out a good deal of

technical detail (“It may be shown that...") Initially, you may wish to verify as many details as you can. But this can be

frustrating and time consuming and may get you of the track. Read first instead for the main ideas and message to see if the paper is of interest; you can verify details later.

You will certainly want to verify all the details in the ”seminal“ and “key" papers in your dissertation area

As you learn more about an area, you will begin to see patterns in the kinds of results and arguments that arise

As we will discuss, the quality of the writing is often a help or a hindrance Keep dated, detailed notes of any calculations you carry out or thoughts you

have when reading a paper for later reference

References

CPIT 695 Notes of Dr. Ahmad Barnawi Materials to refer:

How to Write a Successful PhD Dissertation Proposal Reference the literature review using Zotero (Video

Provided)

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