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 problembut 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 doesnt 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 answerand no right answer

WHY IS THIS QUESTION IMPORTANT?

Because it encourages you to develop insight into why you do
what you doto:
become aware of the impact of what you doand 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

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 controlit 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 yours
o 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 researchand 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 supervisors 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 investigated

b) Scope of investigation/research (e.g. group(s) being investigated, size of sample, country or locality in
which research was undertaken, etc.)
c) Methodology
d) Theoretical or conceptual framework
e) 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 ewhich points
to what is new and original about your work vis--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 supervisors 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
the
the
the

reading you do
research you do
writing you do
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

Applying the model to a Timor-Leste example

TOPIC
Womens markets

Economic & social dimensions

Which specific market?

Whole market?
One specific street market?

Relative importance of economic & social motivations for stall-holders

RESEARCH QUESTION
To 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

TOPIC
Cultural 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 QUESTION
Drawing 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 TimorLeste
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

THINKING LIKE A READER

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 paragraphs

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 CHAPTERS 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 CHAPTERS 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 upwhere your writing
took youbefore you know what you need to introduce and conclude

You can use the Dot Point strategy to write effective introductory
and concluding paragraphsbecause 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

STRATEGY
The starting point is your paragraphsthe 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 pointsone per paragraph

List them all on a single sheet of paper

You can now check if youve 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 upwhere your writing
took youbefore you know what you need to introduce and conclude

You can use the Dot Point strategy to write effective introductory
and concluding paragraphsbecause 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

paragraphand 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

paragraphs main point, think about how
much more difficult its going to be for a
reader (ultimately the examiner)

If you identify two or more main points in

the one paragraph, think about the
readers 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 readers 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
mornings staff workshop, I nominated four potential joint UNTLVU 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 involvementfrom the initial needs audit though to trialling
the programs.
Are you ready to contribute?