Project Research and Planning Week Eleven

About 3/5 of my research report is done and now  it is a high time to think about other important parts of the report. By knowing the rules of how to write conclusion or introduction it will be much more easier to formulate my thoughts. Due to the fact that we were spoken about the structure of the research report quite a long time ago I have refreshed my knowledge using secondary sources from the Internet.

Abstract

For my report it is required to write and abstract that should not exceed 120 words. An abstract is a one-paragraph summary of the most important elements of the paper. Generally speaking, an abstract is an overview of everything that is written in research paper. It should be short, clear and  straightforward.  It needs to provide the main points of the paper. There are two types of abstracts. Abstracts can be informative and descriptive.

Descriptive abstract explains the purpose, goal, and methods of the research paper but there is no results or conclusions sections. This abstract is typically only 100-200 words and is written before the paper.

Informative abstract gives an overview of everything in the research including the results. It states the purpose, methods, findings and results. It is logically to write the informative abstract after the rest of the paper is completed. The length of the informative abstract is often more than 250 words.

The essential content of abstract can be following:

Motivation: background, context of the paper, importance of work, impact, what makes the problem interesting and relevant?
Problem Statement: purpose of the study, aim of research, what is the specific problem? (hypothesis, overall question).
Approach: how the report is done, briefly summaries  focus and methods, how are the objectives achieved?
Result: provide quantitative results, what are the main findings and results of the work
Conclusions: state the answer to the question, what are implications of the results?

Introduction

The introduction to a research paper can be the most challenging part to write, that is why it is better to write introduction in the end, when the rest parts of the research report are done. The introduction should begin with the opening paragraph including a few sentences containing supporting information about the topic (background information). It should give the reader an idea of what issue will be discussed in the report. The structure of the “inverted pyramid” is suitable here. That means that research paper should start with some general information on he main subject and become more narrow and specific later.

The introduction should contain all the major points of the paper. An effective introduction to a research paper needs to have a clear and tightly focused thesis statement. This thesis statement should present an argument about the research paper topic and it should be a statement that can be supported by the evidence that are going to be presented in the research paper.  The aim and objective should be introduced and briefly discussed, explained and justified with a thorough introduction to the main tasks, problems and difficulties. There should be also a few words about the methodology ( its choice and evaluation). By reading the introduction of the report, the reader must know what to expect from the paper. Well-written introductions set the tone for the paper, catch the reader’s interest, and communicate the hypothesis or thesis statement.

Conclusion

Conclusion of the research paper is the chance to have the last word on the subject. The conclusion allows to have the final statement on the issues that are raised in the paper. Conclusion needs to summarise the content and purpose of the paper without presenting any new information to the reader. It also demonstrates the paper’s findings and generalise their importance. As a part of the conclusion there should be a critical evaluation of the extent to which each objective is met.

 The role of  conclusion:

Summarize the main points that are made in the introduction and review of the literature.
Briefly review and evaluate the research methods
Repeat (in abbreviated form) the research findings.
Discuss the broader implications of those findings.
Mention the limitations of your research (due to its scope or its weaknesses).
Offer suggestions for future research.

After conducting a small research on the structure of the report it became clearer of what to write about. The structure is very important for any academic piece of work. To make it easy for readers to follow a thesis development, everything should be organized in a highly logical manner.

Project Research and Planning Week Ten

Reflection on the objectives

The large part of my research report consists of the literature review and discussion. There are four main sections that consist of one objective. As I have mentioned earlier I only used secondary sources to find the answers to my objectives. In order to avoid being to descriptive, in the end of each section of the literature review I made a critical evaluation of the main findings of the specific objective, where I tried to summarise the results and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the presented information.

My research paper mostly consists of the different expert’s opinions regarding Andy Warhol’s influence on the art and culture. Due to the fact that Andy Warhol is one of the most influential artists, there is a lot of literature on Warhol. The most difficult thing for me was to find relevant academic paper. I only used books from library and academic journals from the university’s database service. Most of the academic journals presented a wide range of different evidences, so it was very hard to find exactly what I was looking for. A prior background knowledge almost about everything that is somehow related to art was required to understand most of the academic journals. Some of the journals that I found on Discovery did not answer my objectives to full extent, so it was useless to read them.

The biggest problem that I found on Discover was that some of the really useful sources were missing. There was no access at all to that sources, that is why I was forced to look for some information on the Internet.

The other most challenging task for was paraphrasing. I needed to find a balance between presenting the information that was found and the critical analysis of this information to avoid being too descriptive. Most of the academic sources required a deep philosophical thinking about culture and art, so sometimes it was hard to formulate my own interpretation of the text.

Due to the fact that my subject matter is more subjective, I felt that I was not able to give a clear answer to my objective. All the presented evidences in my report are complex and arguable. However, I tried to be objective and present the rational conclusion that covers all questionable aspects of the issue.

Writing in the third person did not cause any difficulties for me. Moreover, it helped me to stay objective and take up a neutral position. I also tried to be very careful with referencing. I think that the most tricky moment in Harvard referencing is secondary referencing. I felt that my report sound a bit complicated, when I cited a piece of work mentioned or quoted within another author’s work. Another problem was that sometimes authors of academic journals do not put proper bibliography list in the end, so readers do not know where does the original source come from.

Overall, I think that at this stage of my report research I described my objectives to the full extent. I was able to present different opinions and discuss them within the given framework. I believe that my objectives answer the research question, so I can claim that I made everything right. Next, I need to focus on the rest part of the research paper and write them successfully.

Project Research and Planning Week Nine

This week we were given some tutorials on how to update the project plan on Microsoft Project. For me, to set a right project plan in this software requires great planning and management skills. To track the progress of any project it is necessary to create a baseline and use tracking GANTT. That will help to measure the process of the entire project development process. All the variances must be recorded and analysed regularly. If the certain stage of the project took longer time, the evaluation of variance will set a clear picture of constraint principles of time, cost and scope of the project.

Du to the fact that my initial project plan was created one month ago, I wasn’t able to foresee all my actions. In the beginning of the module I didn’t have a clear picture of the report structure, so I now need to edit a development and edit phase in my GANTT chart. Here are the changes that I made:

Development Phase

Start writing a research report
Week 7  Write an abstract Write first objective
Write an introduction
Week 8 Literature review Write second objective
Week 9 Write the methodology and results Write third objective
Week 10 Analyse and present research information Write fourth objective
Week 11 Write report conclusion Final work on the research journal
•11.1 Make proposed project plan pitch  Update proposed project plan
•11.2 Upload research journal to x-stream
Week 12 (I have added some more tasks in this phase)
• Write discussion/analysis of existing works
• Write conclusion and recommendations
• Write introduction
• Write abstract

Edit Phase

Week 12 Review research report structure Organise and structure the collected information
•  (new) Create table of contents and title page
•  (new)  Review and reread report
•12.1 Check grammar and spelling
•12.2 Write references and bibliography
•12.3 Final research report in class
•12.4 Upload to x-stream

So here is my updated project plan in Microsoft Project.

From here it can be seen how many percentage is completed on each stage.

By analysing the Gantt chart I can say that this project took much more time that was planned. I spent a lot of time on writing my objectives, reading and looking for references. I also was not able to stick to my personal deadlines due to the fact that I had other three modules to do. If I made a Gantt chart for all of my models, there would probably be less delays. Nevertheless, it is difficult to plan your time for the long period. You need to think about all possible circumstances that might happen to you. I hope that there will be less delays in my Gantt chart for the next semester.

Project Research and Planning Week Eight

By the end of this week there is a requirement to write the first objective. However, my first objective is already done. The body part of my research report consists of four main objectives. I will write 800 words on each objective to fully discuss the formulated issue. I have already been given a feedback on my first objective. Overall, it was positive. The advice from my tutor was  to keep this level of focus and write the rest of my report in the same manner. By discussing  my first objective, I tried to answer the formulated question with the help of literature review. I evaluated different opinions and made the conclusion based on the findings from the literature. Today on the lecture we spoke about critical review. This session was extremely helpful for me. It allowed me to think whether I was enough critical in my writing. By the notion ‘critical’, I mean the ability to question the information and opinions in a reviewing text and present my evaluation or judgment of the text. In other words  to evaluate the overall ability and effectiveness of the text) . I need to present the aim of the text and summarise the main findings or key argument.

To write a good critical review, first of all, I need to give some background to the text that is being reviewed. Here I can introduce the general subject and main issues. After that the main task is to summarise its contents by identifying the author’s thesis and outlining the main argument. I need to determine what the author is arguing for or against by outlining the author’s main argument and identify all the main ideas of the work in order to analyse them. Next, I should indicate what type of evidence is presented to support this argument. The last step is to provide the evaluation. It is a good point to present ideas of other writers to support my opinion about the text. In conclusion I need to give my overall response to the text.

In my report I am planning to write about 500-800 words on each objective. Moreover, I need to include in referencing list at least 30 academic sources. That means that in my critical writing I need to be precise and clear as much as possible. I also need to be aware that I use the third person everywhere. The use of reporting expressing such as “the author argues/suggests/concludes”, “according to X” ect, is essential. The most tricky moment for me is paraphrasing. I need to use my own words mostly to avoid plagiarism. While writing the report, I must be careful and not to use the same sentences from the text.

Project Research and Planning Week Seven

As I discussed earlier, I am only using secondary sources to write my report. A review of the literature is an essential part of my work. By not having enough information on this topic yet, I have found some explanations on the Internet about what does literature review section actually means. By conducting academic research report, there are different kind of sources that can be effectively used. To fully answer my research question I need to use a diverse range of secondary sources such as academic journals, books, authoritative databases, newspaper and magazine articles.

The purpose of literature review is to show your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. The review should describe, summarise, evaluate and clarify the literature. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept, for example by your research objectives. A literature review must be related directly to the thesis or research question that you are developing. It should synthesize results into a summary and identify areas of controversy in the literature. It can also formulate questions that need further research.

A literature review may consist of a simple summary of key sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis, often within specific conceptual categories. The aim of the research is to evaluate and show relationships between the work already done (Is Researcher Y’s theory more convincing than Researcher X’s? Did Researcher X build on the work of Researcher Y?) and between this work and your own.

Goals of the literature review:
• To provide background for your topic using previous research.
• To show that you are familiar with previous, relevant research.
• To show the path of prior research and how a current project is linked to it.
• To integrate and summarize what is known in an area. Pulls together and synthesizes different results.
• To learn from others and stimulate new ideas. Suggests hypotheses for testing.

There are several steps toward writing a strong literature review:
1. Synthesize and evaluate information
2. Identify the main ideas of the literature
3. Identify the main argument of the literature review
4. Organize the main points of the literature review
5. Write literature review

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/literature-review

Click to access grad-literature-review.pdf

Project Reseach and Planning Week Six

Methodology

This week lecture on methodology was definitely a bit confusing for me. There were a lot of new information. We were introduced to the different types of research. For me it was hard to define what kind of research I am doing, because everything seemed to be applied for the scientific report. Well, I tried to sort out things by using Google. Methodology is a the method you used to do something. It describes all the tasks you need to do to get your results, and the reasons why you chose to collect your data or information in the way that you did. 

Generally speaking, methodology is a series of choices:
1. Choices about what information and data to gather
2. Choices about how to analyze the information and data that you gather
3. Other methodological choices

Research Types by Source

My research is going to be Secondary research. That means that I will be using other research to derive new findings.

Research Types by Location

I am going to do Library research. In other words, my research will be fully based on analysis of literature.

Analitical/Descriptive Reseach

My research will be Analytical. My goal is to offer a critical interpretation of secondary sources throughout literature review.  I will be analysing existing facts to make critical evaluation of material.

Analytical research is a type of research that uses critical thinking to find out facts about a given topic, and from the answers obtained, develop new interpretation of the topic. Critical thinking is a method of thinking that puts assumptions into question to decide whether a given claim is true or false.

*Don’t know whether can I describe my research as an Empirical and Inductive and use Qualitative research model. Need to discuss this issue with my tutor.

Generally speaking, my research paper is entirely literature-based. I need to review the literature from an explicit angle and identify some themes to make the review distinctive. Despite the  fact that there are so many approaches, my research report will be fully analytical.

Good web site, that explains methodology

Research Reports: Structure

Title
Abstract
Table of Contents

Main Body

Introduction (aim and objectives) +
Methodology

Literature Review +
Discussion (four objectives as four paragraphs)

Conclusion

References

Project Research and Planning Week Five

Today on the lecture I completed the actual ethics form. This form is needed to the university to consider all the ethical aspects of any research. My study had been classified as Risk Category 1. As far as I understand, this category normally applies to the study, where there is no primary data collection such as questionnaires or interviews. My research will be fully based on the literature review. I am going to evaluate existing literature and gather data from books or any other relevant academic resources. The results of my research will benefit society by generally improving knowledge and understanding of Andy Warhol’s oeuvre impact. According to this, now I need to set a clear plan of how I intend to collect relevant information. This semester the most important skills are time-management, planning and organising skills. I understand that I chose a challenging and hard topic to research, and there are a lot of materials available on my subject area. By keeping it all in mind, I need start doing my research and focus on the work.

The first thing that I need to clarify for myself is the meaning of the notion of ‘critical reading‘. As I have mentioned before, my research is based on the literature review, so I need critically analyse everything that I am going to read. The main point of this is to consider any information not as fact, but as the argument of the writer. I need to challenge and question everything I read. I also need to ask myself why I am reading certain material and what my purpose is. I always need to keep in mind what information am I require. Academic reading requires concentration on a deeper level. By reading the certain book or article, it is important to identify arguments made by the author and analyse other concepts and theories. There are some useful questions that need to be asked while reviewing a text:

Considering the source
· What is the author’s background in this subject?
· To whom is the author writing (determine the purpose of  the text)? 
·  What kind of publication is this?
· Is the text effective?

Recognising assumptions and implications
· What is the thesis or main idea?
· What are the supporting points that create the argument? How do they relate to the thesis?
· What are the examples used as evidence for the supporting points?
· What sources are used? What other theorists or researchers are referred to?
·  What has the author assumed to be true?

Recognising intent and attitude

·  What is the author’s attitude, tone or biases
·  Does the author mean what he says or is he making his point in a roundabout way through humor, satire, irony, or sarcasm?
·  Which of the author’s statements are facts? opinions?

Analysing arguments

·  Which of the author’s statements does he support? Which does he leave unsupported?
·   What conclusions does the author reach?
·   Of the author’s conclusions, which are justified? Which ones are not justified
·  How can I use it to develop my own argument?

A critical reader:

→ Does not believe everything he reads
→ Questions everything which doesn’t make sense to him
→ Questions some things even though they do make sense to him
→ Rereads when he thinks he may have missed something
→ Admits that the effect on him of what the author says may be caused more by the author’s style of writing than by the facts presented
→ Analyses arguments
→ Has good reasons for believing some things and disbelieving others – for agreeing with some authors and disagreeing with others

Original sources are here:

http://ollie.dcccd.edu/Services/StudyHelp/StudySkills/sub/rdgcri.htm

http://ctl.utsc.utoronto.ca/twc/sites/default/files/CriticalReading.pdf

In general, I hope that all these findings and tips will help me to read critically and more effective within the given time. The main conclusion that I made is that I really need to think about what I am reading and why I am reading that. By the end of this week I am planning to read some books from the library and some journal articles from the university database.

Project Research and Planning Week Four

In order to complete the pitch document, I need include the evidence of a skills audit there. A skills audit is a written document that clearly lays out all the skills that you currently have and how advanced those skills are. It also documents what skills you need for your current or future job. It identifies the gaps in your skill set and let you think about how you can gain or improve the skills that you need. I think that a skills audit is a good starting point of making changes in your current employment situation. It lets you clearly illustrate all the things you need to think of, in order to confidently make possible life changing decisions regarding your job or career. It also allows you to formulate a plan of the further actions, which you are going to undertake to develop yourself. In other words, skills audit is a critical analysis of your skills and personality.

To think about my strengths and weaknesses, I have completed the Skills Audit questionnaire, that was given by my tutor. I found this paper beneficial for me, because it helped me to clearly understand the most important gaps in my current employability skills. Now I know, what I need to develop in myself to be more competitive i future. This skills assessing workbook also helped me to formulate the skills, which I need to have to make my final year artifact. Based on the results of little the exercises, I have developed a greater understanding of the skills that are required for me to achieve my goal (to make a magazine). Here is the result:

Project Research and Planning Week Four

Yesterday I had an appointment with Barbara an academic librarian. I can say that this meeting was beneficial for me because I finally decided on my subject matter for the research. I chose my first idea about Pop Art influence, however there are now some modifications. I am going to research the oeuvre of one of the representatives of Pop Art to make my report more specific. This representative is going to be Andy Warhol. I have chosen him for several reasons. First of all, he is a key figure in Pop Art movement. Next, his artworks are very popular and easily recognisable today. I believe he made a revolution in art and had a big influence on next generations. Finally, I think that Warhol is an interesting figure by himself. His world vision, lifestyle and philosophy were unique, so that’s why he inspired lots of people with his famous paintings. According to this, I am planning to research how exactly did Andy Warhol influence today’s mass culture and generation. Based on these thoughts,  I need to formulate my research question, aim and objectives. Research question is the central question around which the research is built. It identifies the subject to be studied and it should be clear, focused and narrow. Generally speaking, it describes what are you doing and what is your research about.  The title of the research can reflect the research question. Here is my research question:

Title: How did Andy Warhol’s Pop Art paintings influence today’s generation?

Next step is to consider the aim of my research. In scientific writing aim is the overall purpose of the study. It is a statement of a desired outcomes and general intentions of the research. In other words, it describes the impact that is to be gained from the research. The aim is a general statement, that broadly points out what you hope to accomplish and focuses on long-term intended outcomes.

Aim:  To determine the influence of Andy Warhol’s paintings on today’s consumer
generation

While the aim is what you want to achieve,  the objectives describe how you are going to achieve that aim. Objectives lay out how you plan to accomplish your aims. While aims are broad in nature, objectives are focused and practical.  They include a list of practical steps and tasks you’re going to take to meet your aim. Each objective must have a concrete method set out. 

Objectives:

1. To explore the key reasons that influenced Andy Warhol to produce his mos iconic Pop Art works such as Campbell’s Soup Cans and Turquoise Marilyn?

2. To define why Andy Warhol’s Pop Art paintings are still popular and recognisable today

3. To consider Andy Warhol’s entire creative output and his contribution to the modern art

4. To evaluate how Andy Warhol’s oeuvre influence our perception and thinking about mass culture

All in all, here you can see my title proposal pitch for the research paper. I hope that the formulated aim and objectives will work for me well. To make sure in its efficiency and effectiveness I need to get a feedback from my tutor. After that I will continue to work on my research paper.

Project Research and Planning Week Four

I came up with some ideas for the final year project. As I said before, I intend to produce 30 images. According to this, my project should be a photo feature. However, I would like to create an online magazine, which will be focused on the artistic use of photography. My actual idea is to make a digital photography magazine, where social issues and problems will be presented visually. There will be 6 different topics (like short articles) with 5 images (one image per page) to illustrate the problem or issue.

To do my final project title proposal pitch, I considered some market elements, that are needed to present your idea to the client. I formulated aim and objectives of the creating this type of magazine, looked at possible key selling points and wrote down a short overview of the final artefact. Thankfully, we did something similar last year, so I was quite familiar with the procedure of pitching your project idea. The provisional title of my magazine is SHUM Magazine. “Shum” is a Russian word that is spelled with English letters, which means “noise“. However, the title of my magazine is a subject to change. For now, I just needed pick any title to make my pitch look professionally.

Below you can see a short overview of the artefact:

SHUM Magazine is a photography magazine featuring contemporary and conceptual photography. It brings together diverse photographic images that create a dynamic dialogue with a reader. There are different themes on social and personal issues that present subjects in unexpected ways. SHUM Magazine is a platform where ideas are communicated both visually and narrative.

Final artefact aim and objectives:

Aim:

To produce a high quality contemporary photography magazine that is aimed for the specific target audience

Objectives:

• To define a niche market and industry segment for the magazine

• To evaluate and define its commercial value and unique selling points

• To produce the appropriate visual and written content that matches the magazine’s style and its target audience

• To design and create an online magazine using a professional software

Selling Points:

• Unlike many other photography magazines, SHUM Magazine doesn’t bring technical photography issues forward. There is no fashion and glamour. It only focuses on the ideas that can be communicated via images.

• SHUM Magazine is for everyone who is interested in contemporary and conceptual photography. It provides insight into the world of creativity and imagination.

• SHUM Magazine is a selection of photographs that bring people’s attention in creative and unique way. Social problems, feelings and emotions, fun and irony, all these things are presented to the reader by means of digital photography.

A delivery method:

SHUM magazine is going to be an online magazine with 30 images and about 1000 words copy. There will be 6 topics on various issues with 5 images and 200 words in each.

Draft work: Magazine flat-plan

Overall, I like my initial idea. I have a lot of ideas of what to put in the magazine. I think that I will be able to produce a creative piece of journalism and master my photography skills as well, because it is something that I want to develop for my future career. So, the production of this kind of magazine will be a very valuable and interesting experience.