3,500

words Research Methods Master Structure Sheet (A2 ‘final’ version)

TITLE PAGE • With module, student #, date, word count
• No page number
This is just a guide:
• Place on new page One short paragraph which should cover three things:
ABSTRACT 1. Introduce the subject (expand/reword/elaborate on your title
don’t use these (or any)
• Page number ii
headings within your abstract.
2. Briefly state the methodology used: specifically, the framework
No citations in here… This should all be one short
3. Broadly given the key finding(s)/implications of the research
paragraph
• Place on new page
Table of Contents

TABLE OF
CONTENTS • Page number iii
• Don’t list any previous pages (title page or abstract); the first entry should be your introduction
• Number sections, and make use of subsections

example
Doesn’t count towards • You can use sections (& sub-sections, etc.)
the wordcount
• Give each section (& sub-sections, etc.) page numbers

• Place on new page: from here pages are numbered 1+…

1. INTRODUCTION
• Think of this in three parts (no need to subtitle, but each section could have its own paragraph) You should briefly
mention your
1. Context: “It is estimated that smartphone use has increased tenfold over the past two years…”
Take a new page for methodological

each main section (1, 2. Intention: “This project will examine the implications smartphone use has on the events industry…” approach.

2, 3, 4…) 3. Purpose: ”It is hoped that this research may contribute to increased understanding between…”

Compiles secondary research sources

2. LITERATURE • —Refer to your project
—Refer to yourself
• Anything can be a source; though you should prioritise peer-reviewed academic literature
REVIEW

DON’T:
—Refer to the process of finding/reading it
• Like an essay but without an agenda: present the information as it comes —Talk about the source
(the name of the book)
• Paraphrase the information (or quote), and cite appropriately (Archibald, 2020, p1) (how useful the book was) etc.

• Write in themed paragraphs; subtitles can help (optional)

The first sentence of each paragraph should be a summary of the entire paragraph.
The rest of the paragraph should justify this opening sentence.

Now that you’ve written your literature review, what has been addressed by the secondary research, and what hasn’t?
3. RESEARCH •
• ’Filter’ your title/introduction through your literature review: what key questions need to be answered?
AGENDA Change these from bulletpoints to subsections: 3.1, 3.2, etc.
This section should consist of:
This will make it easy to refer to them in your Project Findings
1. A paragraph connecting your literature review to the creation of the bullet points (see below)
2. 3–5 bullet points consisting of the key questions/issues you intend to answer/address

4. METHODOLOGY
4.1 Paradigm

4.2 Data Type

How do you see the world? How do you frame information, or ‘truth’? What kind of data will your project use?
Confusingly, what we’re calling the
‘framework’ is sometime referred to by
other researchers/texts as ‘methodology’.
• Black and white, true or false? Paradigm: Positivist Quantitative: quantifiable. Data: statistics, etc…
In this course, we are presenting the term’
methodology’ as a collection of smaller • Open to interpretation? Opinions & points of view? Paradigm: Interpretivist Qualitative: not quantifiable. Thoughts, observations, opinions…
parts; one of which is the framework.

Also, ‘framework’ could also be called a • Whatever it takes to shed light on the answer? Paradigm: Pragmatist Both: qualitative & quantitative
‘Design Frame’

Standardised research approaches recognised across the research community The things you do to gather primary data. 4.5 Coding 4.6 Ethics
4.4 Methods
4.3 Framework

Mixed Methods: allows the use of qualitative & quantitative data in the same study Each method will generate either quant or quality data How have you coded
your data, and why? Each project will have a unique set of
Ethnography: a study of a community from within that community Interviews: structured, semi-structured, or unstructured?
In practice, you could colour code ethical concerns.
Netnography: understanding social interaction in an online community Questionnaires your (for eg) interview transcriptions How will you deal with these?
Autoethnography: reflective process analysing & contextualizing the self in a social setting Observation according to theme
Consider: consent, anonymity, data
Action Research: self-improvement through taking action and critically reflecting Reflective Diary/Journal Any coded data goes in
protection…
Practice-led research: creative practice forms both the research design & research output Secondary Data Analysis/Archival Research the Appendices section

Grounded Theory: research agenda is formed only after the data has been accumulated There are more…
What are the possible limitations of the project?
There are more… 4.7 Validity
(eg,age range etc. of your participants not being totally representative…)

5. PROJECT Simply describe how you went about collecting primary data
If you did interviews, who did you interview and why? Were your diary entries: signal contingent/
interval contingent/
How & where did you conduct your observations?
ACTIVITY What did you ask in your questionnaires?
event contingent?

6. PROJECT Present, analyse, summarise your main findings, according to theme …theme your findings according to METHOD
For example: 6.1 Interview 1
FINDINGS How to theme (subsection) these findings?
DON’T:

Research agenda bullet-points 6.2 Interview 2

6.3 Questionnaire
Literature review themes
These should be sub-headed (6.1, 6.2, etc.) Emergent themes (a grounded theory inspired approach)

7. CONCLUSION If you think of each themed finding (section 5: Project findings) as a ‘dot’, then • Did the project achieve its goals?
section 5 has described each dot individually. What does it look like if you • Were there any Research Agenda left unanswered?
take a step back and connect the dots? What does the big picture look like? • If so, why?
• Any recommendations for future researchers into this area?
References

• …bullet point or number your entries

• Your reference list (not a numbered section) should include every source that you have cited
REFERENCE
Anderson, L. (2001). A Taxonomy for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment.
New York: Longman.

• …include URLs for sources that exist physically

Barr, R. B., & Tagg, J. (1995). ‘From Teaching to Learning—A New Paradigm
DON’T:

for Undergraduate Education’. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learn-

throughout. Alternatively, you could instead include a BIBLIOGRAPHY, which includes all
ing, 27 (6), pp.12–26.

LIST
Behera, B. (2015). A Study Of Construction of Social Skills Among the pre-
• …use an automatic citation tool
This section is
service Teacher Trainees Through Vygotsky’s Approach Of Learning
(Doctoral dissertation). The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Bar-

not numbered sources cited throughout and sources that you have read, but did not cite directly.
oda.
example

Biggs, J. B., & Collis, K. F. (2014). Evaluating the quality of learning: The
solo taxonomy (structure of the observed learning outcome). Cam-
bridge: Academic Press.

Doesn’t count towards • Sources must be laid out in Harvard Style, and in alphabetical order
Black, P., Harrison, C., Hodgen, J., Marshall, B., & Serret, N. (2010). ‘Valid-
ity in Teachers’ Summative Assessments’. Assessment in Education:
Principles, Policy & Practice, 17 (2), pp.215–232.

the wordcount
Bloom, B. S. (1956). ‘Taxonomy of Educational Objectives’. New York: McKay.
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., Cocking, R. R., et al. (2000). How people
learn. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Briggs, J., & Tang, C. (1999). ‘Teaching for Quality Learning at University’.

“Appendices” (plural); “appendix” (singular)

APPENDICES •
• Buckingham: Open University Press.
Bru↵ee, K. A. (1999). Collaborative learning: Higher education, interdepen-
dence, and the authority of knowledge. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins

Your page should begin “APPENDICES” (not numbered), with subheadings 'APPENDIX A’, ‘APPENDIX B’, etc. University Press.

• You can refer to each appendix throughout your project (usually the findings section)
by citing them in brackets (Appendix C)
25

This section is • Previously we only took page breaks for each new main section; here, we take page breaks for each new appendix (A, B, C…)
not numbered
• This is where your raw (unedited) data goes . For example, scans of your diary, questionnaires, sketches, interview transcriptions, • Some raw data from your appendices should also feature in your Findings section;
only the most relevant!
Doesn’t count towards photographs, coded material (with key), URLs to field recordings, etc.
the wordcount • It is also acceptable to put secondary data here, such as patent diagrams, photographs, etc.