honours project study guide 10-11 (without appendices)

8/11/2019 Honours Project Study Guide 10-11 (Without Appendices)

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School of Engineering and Computing

Honours Research and Project Methods (MHG405297)

MODULE HANDBOOK

and STUDY GUIDE

for students on BSc (Hons) in:

Computing

Computer Games

Information Technology Management for Business

Networking and Systems Support

undertaking Honours Project (MHG405293)

Session 2010/2011

Prepared by Dr Richard FoleyFrom original documents developed by Richard Foley and Caroline Parker


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Table of Contents

1 Introduction to this Guidance Material........................................................................... 41.1

Contents and Purpose of this Handbook/Study Guide .............................................. 4

1.2

The importance of the Honours Project ..................................................................... 5

1.3

The importance of understanding the project module, planning it and the amount of

effort involved ......................................................................................................................... 5

1.4 Support and Assistance in undertaking your Honours project .................................. 8

1.5

Outlining the Material in this Guidance Handbook ................................................... 8

2 Honours Research and Project Methods (MHG405297)Module Guide ................. 10

2.1 Module Descriptor Information ............................................................................... 10

2.2 Module Assessment ................................................................................................. 12

2.3 Module Feedback Strategy ...................................................................................... 13

2.4

Module Teaching Schedule ..................................................................................... 15

3 Understanding the nature of the Honours Project ....................................................... 183.1

Learning what is meant by a research project ......................................................... 18

3.2 Sample generic software/hardware/infrastructure research questions ..................... 19

3.3 Sample generic Theoretical, evaluative or experimental questions ........................ 21

3.4 Summarising the (typical) types of Project ............................................................. 22

3.4.1 Develop and Test Project ............................................................................. 26

3.4.2

Experimentally Based Evaluation Project ................................................... 27

HCI based Evaluation ..................................................................................................... 27

Practical or Simulated Network based Evaluation ......................................................... 28

3.5

The distinction between Primary and Secondary Research ..................................... 29

4 Steps in undertaking your project ................................................................................. 314.1

Step 1 - Selecting your topic.................................................................................... 31

4.2 Step 2 - Identify the research questions (& initial hypotheses) ............................... 31

4.3 Step 3Literature review, learning what others have found out about your area .. 32

4.4 Step 4Select and design methods to allow you to test your hypotheses .............. 34

4.5 Step 5The practical implementation phase .......................................................... 35

4.6 Step 6Collating and analysing results .................................................................. 35

4.7 Step 7Thinking critically about your approach and the data ............................... 36

4.8 Step 8Drawing overall conclusions ..................................................................... 36

4.9

Writing up ................................................................................................................ 36

5 The Honours Project Timescales and Milestones ......................................................... 375.1

Summary of Honours Project Process and Timetable ............................................. 37

5.2

Additional Guidance Sessions and Material after the end of the HRPM Module ... 39

5.3

Project planning ....................................................................................................... 39

6 Report formatspre-final report .................................................................................. 416.1

Project Proposal (HRPM assessment) ..................................................................... 41

6.2

Dealing with Ethical Approval of your Project ....................................................... 44

6.3

Interim Report (Honours Project assessment) ......................................................... 45

6.3.1

Some initial notes about writing a Literature Review ................................. 46

7

Report format - final project report .............................................................................. 48

7.1

Report structure ....................................................................................................... 48


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7.2 Preliminary pages .................................................................................................... 49

7.2.1 Title page ..................................................................................................... 49

7.2.2

Abstract ........................................................................................................ 49

7.2.3 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................... 49

7.2.4

Table of contents/Table of Figures .............................................................. 50

7.3

Introduction ............................................................................................................. 50

7.4

Literature Review .................................................................................................... 50

7.5

Problem and systems analysis (develop and test type projects) .............................. 50

7.6

Methods section (experimental type projects) ......................................................... 50

7.7

Design and Implementation (develop and test type projects) .................................. 51

7.8

Testing and Evaluation (develop and test type projects) ......................................... 51

7.9

Results (experimental type projects) ....................................................................... 52

7.10

Final Discussion and Conclusions ........................................................................... 52

7.11 53

7.12

References ............................................................................................................... 53

7.13 Appendices .............................................................................................................. 56

7.14 Final words on the report ......................................................................................... 56

7.15 Writing style ............................................................................................................ 57

7.16 Report size ............................................................................................................... 57

8 Handing in your honours report .................................................................................... 58

9

Honours Conference and Project Poster Presentation ................................................ 59

10 Assessment of the Project................................................................................................ 6110.1

Supervisor awarded marks for Student Effort and Supervisory Meeting Records.. 62

11 Supervision of Projects .................................................................................................... 63

11.1

Project Monitoring and Grievance Mechanism ....................................................... 63

11.1.1 What is expected of students........................................................................ 63

11.1.2

What is expected of supervisors .................................................................. 64

12 Honours Prizes ................................................................................................................. 65

13 Appendix A: Ethics guidelines for Honours students and staff 6613.1

Outline Guide to the General Process 66

13.2 Flowchart Outlining the Procedure for Ethical Approval for Research Projects 70

13.3

Formal Ethical Guidelines for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Student Projects 71

13.3.1 Disclosure Scotland checks 73

13.4

Ethical Approval Form Cover Sheet 75

13.5 Ethical Consideration and Approval Form (SEC EC Form) 76

Appendix B: University Guidelines on Project and Dissertation Supervision 80Appendix C: Supervisor/Project Topic Agreement Form 84

Appendix D: Proposal Methods and Marking Scheme agreement form 85

Appendix E: Marking scheme for project proposal 86

Appendix F: Marking scheme for Interim Report 87

Appendix G: Supervisory meeting record sheet 91


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1 Introduction to this Guidance Material

1.1 Contents and Purpose of this Handbook/Study Guide

The Honours Project (MHG405293) is without a shadow of a doubt the most important aspect

of your final year. It is a double credit module and is undertaken across both Trimesters. It is a

research-based module. You are prepared for it through an associated half module (Honours

Research and Project Methods, MHG405297) which in session 2010-11 is delivered in a

short fat mode over the first 8 weeks of Trimester (i.e. approx. the first half of the 15

weektrimester period). This module gives you information and practice in the main research

and planning techniques which you will require to use to succeed when you undertake your

project.

That MHG405297 Preparation module (which is coursework only) culminates with its

assessment (to be submitted at the end of the module period, i.e. end of week 8 of Trimester1) which is a fully detailed project proposal and plan for your Honours Project. The proposal

is assessed as a free standing piece of academic work. However, from week 8 onwards

guidance and support for both the technical and process aspects of your Honours Project are

the responsibility of your allocated project supervisor.

Thus, the content of this handbook serves 2 purposes:

As the Module Handbook for the Honours Research and Project Methods module

As a more detailed Study Guide for undertaking and submitting the Honours Projectitself

This Study Guide is a collection of all of the guidance material to help final year Honours

students undertake their Honours Project. By reading it and following its advice you should

be better prepared for your Honours Project

The University also issues guidelines on Project and Dissertation Supervision. These also

apply, as are appropriate, to the arrangements for the Honours Project. This study guide acts

as the Module Handbook for that purpose and this study guide meets all of the requirements

of the University Guidelines. For completeness, a copy of the university guidelines is

included within the appendices of this handbook.

Whilst the requirements of the University Guidelines are covered in the course of the materialcontained in this guide, the regulations ask students to take particular note of specific

assessment regulations (Section 7.5 of the University guidelines). These are:

Penalties for late submission

Cheating and Plagiarism


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1.2 The importance of the Honours Project

The Honours Project is probably the most crucial module of the Honours year for a number of

key reasons:

It is worth 2 modules out of the 6 modules at level H and thus has a greater overallweighting in determining the class of Honours degree you can obtain.

Under the best 180 credits system for calculating the classification for an Honours

Degree, this module must be included in the calculation. It cannot drop out if there

are other taught modules across levels 3 and H which have a higher mark.

If you fail (even marginally) in your Honours Project, you will notbe awarded any

class of Honours degree. Your performance in a project module cannot, under the

University regulations, be compensated.

If you are allowed to resubmit a failed Honours Project as a second attempt 1, then (as

with any resit module included in the Honours re-calculation) the mark used for

calculation purposes will be considered to be capped at 40% and, furthermore, yourfinal award would be restricted to a maximum of a 2.2, no matter the performance in

your other modules.

The last thing you want to do is jeopardise your chance of a good honours award by not

putting in the necessary balance of effort.

1.3 The importance of understanding the project module, planning it and theamount of effort involved

The Honours Project is a substantial piece of individual work concerned with a problem that

is of practical value to the discipline of your programme (e.g. Computing, Computer Games,ITMB, Networking), and which reflects your own interests. This study will include the

development and identification of an appropriate research question, potentially identifying

hypotheses to test, and systematically testing those hypotheses through some well-develop

primary research method and associated instrument. The latter generally requires a computer-

based implementation/or experimentally based implementation involving computer software,

of some type.

The role of the Honours Project is to allow the student to:

Demonstrate the ability to plan and carry out an in-depth research based study and

to work independently.

Demonstrate a clear understanding, as appropriate to the problem, of research

based techniques, technologies and tools to the chosen area of work.

Demonstrate their skills in analysis, synthesis and critical evaluation.

Demonstrate their communication and presentational skills.

The typical range of projects are illustrated and explained in Chapter 3 of this guide. However,

in all cases the project must involve evaluation against a practical problem-solving situation

which is typical/ important in the application of Information System Engineering as applied to

1

Being allowed to resit one or more failed Honours modules is now generally possible, but not guaranteed. Ifyou are allowed a resit in one or more Honours modules by the assessment board you are only allowed one

additional attempt, not the 3 possible resit attempts at modules undertaking in years 1, 2 and 3.


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the students specialist programme domain. A literature survey accompanied only by

theoretical and potential conclusions (however substantial) is not sufficient as an Honours

Project. The practical nature of the type of allowable projects is also constrained by the British

Computer Society, who accredit our programmes for the requirements of their professional

membership.

Thus the honours project will involve the student in carrying out/developing:

A critical literature/technology survey of the research material related to the

project problem area and directly focussed on the specific objectives of the

students own project

An in-depth study of the project area and its context.

The design work for a solution to a real practical problem.

A significant practical investigation/development of relevance to the project.

A critical evaluation of the approach adopted, technologies used and work

undertaken.

A project report and (Poster-style) final presentation.

This guide provides you with information you will need if you are to produce a successful

project. If you have never undertaken an independent Project Module on your course before

you may be quite apprehensive about it and this guide will provide some reassurance. Even if

you have undertaken an application project at degree or HND level you need to be aware that

the Honours Project is fundamentally different to that type of project. If you dont pay

attention to the differences you may do badly.

Past experience has shown that because there is no formal class contact in the Honours

Project and less official stageddeadlines, then for some reason, the work of the HonoursProject is given a lesser priority by some students. You too may be tempted to leave aside

project work to concentrate on more imminent coursework deadlines. You may think that as

you have plenty of time to do your project you can leave it to concentrate on a specific piece

of coursework. You would be cheating yourself if you did these things. Students who fail the

Honours Project normally do so due to poor planning, and underlying foundation work,

both during the preparation module and then during the course of the project itself.

If you still dont think that this advicemakes sense - look at the arithmetic. Most standard

modules have two course works and an exam. In many cases the weighting of

exam/coursework is 50/50. Thus if you spend some time on one coursework you are spending

time on something worth 25% of one module (in other words on only 5 credits worth of youryear). If, however, you spend time on your project, which consists of coursework only, then

you will be spending time on something worth 200% of one module (i.e. on 40 credits worth

of your year)! Ask yourself, which piece of effort is more likely to have a greater impact on

your final overall grade of Honours award?

We are not saying that you should forget everything else and only concentrate on your

project. What you need to do is put things in perspective and ensure that you strike a balance.

What you certainly must not do is just to forget your project to concentrate on your

coursework and taught modules. Discipline and realistic planning are primary

requirements in succeeding in the Honours Project. If you simply follow the lets just

forget about it until nearer the deadline mode of organisation, then you are very likely to fail.


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Consider the following norms of student effort and the spread across the 2 Trimesters on both

MHG405297 and the Honours Project itself.

MHG405297 is a 10 credit module: i.e. 100 hours of student effort over (approx.) halfa Trimester (i.e. 8 of the 15 week period)

The Honours Project is a 40 credit module: i.e. 400 hours of student effort over oneand a half Trimesters (i.e. 100 from weeks 9-15 of Trimester 1, then 300 hours during

the 15 weeks of Trimester 2)

Let us do the arithmetic for this calculation:

In Trimester 1: During each and every week you will need (and be expected) tospend 200/15 i.e. approx. 13 hours per week on work for your project. In the first 8

weeks 3 of those hours will be class contact in the MHG405297 module, but that

means you will need to spend around 10 hours per week every week on associated

work! In the 2ndhalf of the Trimester even if you average one meeting a fortnight

with your supervisor, it still means approx. 12 hours per week of your own time

must be spent on project activities.

In Trimester 2: During each and every week you will need (and be expected) to

spend 300/15 i.e. 20 hours per week on work for your project.

It is absolutely astounding the numbers of students I have seen who cheat only themselvesand donteven attempt to spend anywhere near this amount of effort on their project. They

seem to think that they can follow the same study pattern which (they think) has served them

well during their first 3 years of study, i.e. do nothing much in the weeks running up to a

deadline and then try to cram it all in in one big rush the week or so before the hand in!

Beware!! - of the 120 or so Honours Students last year approx. 20% (around 25) had dropped

out by the middle of Trimester 2! In only a small number of cases was this due to failure in

taught modules. In virtually all cases the reason cited was the Honours Project and the fact

that those students were just not coping with it. In many of these cases (in my view) it was

because the student had clearly not grasped the fact that the Honours Project could not be

treated just like any other coursework. I.e. do nothing much, then cram everything in at the

end using the tactic of looking at another example and just changing some of the words! The

Honours Project is an individualised piece of work. The topics are all essentially different.

Different literature sources will be required to support and contextualise what you are

proposing to do, different project and research methods could be used, and different methods

are more practical and realistic for different project types, depending on the projectsobjectives.

To some extent you need to treat your Project a bit like training for a marathon. Most people

can do a marathon. However, it requires continuous effort in undertaking (training) activities

before the deadline itself. Regular and significant hours need to bespent each week on the

track and pounding the roads, for you to be in a fit state to succeed. Some well-known

celebrities have tried to attempt to run a marathon. For example Jordan (AKA Katie Price)

and her then husband, Peter Andre, attempted the London Marathon in 2009. However their


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attempt wasnt very successful. Thus who are you going to be training like for this project

marathon? Jordan/Peter Andre2or a true Honours Student!

1.4 Support and Assistance in undertaking your Honours project

The Honours Project, like any project in a University programme, is a major piece ofindependent work undertaken by the student. However, support is provided to assist you with

this undertaking. The support comes in 3 key forms:

This Study Guide:This gives guidance on the nature of the project, its stages and how it should be

undertaken. You should thoroughly read this Guide within the first few days of the

commencement of Trimester 1 (remember you have at least 10 hours independenteffort even in the first week!). You should also continually refer to it for guidance as you

progress through each stage of the project.

The Honours Research Issues and Methods (HRPM) module(MHG405297):This is a half module which runs in Trimester 1 which will provide you with guidance on

the nature of research, project planning and the methods that can be used to carry out,

analyse and report your project work. You will be expected to use this module to produce

your initial project proposal. The assessment of that proposal is part of the HRPM module.

Your Supervisor:The role of your individual project supervisor is also crucial to your project. You should

use your supervisor appropriately and wisely.

1.5 Outlining the Material in this Guidance Handbook

Chapter 2 of this guidance booklet is the formal module handbook for the preparation halfmodule Honours Research and Project Methods (MHG405297)

Chapter 3 gives a thorough explanation of the nature and format of the Honours Project. It

identifies the key concepts of research and takes you through the types of projects you might

undertake.

Chapter 4 takes you through the stages involved in the process of developing and completing

an honours project one step at a time.

Chapter 5 gives you an overview of the timescales and project deliverables.

Chapter 6 provides some detail on the reports due in ahead of the final project report.

Chapter 7 takes you through the honours report structure and gives you an outline of the

content expected in each section. The sub-sections 7.11 and 7.14 (about referencing and

2Their time for the 2009 marathon was around 7 hours and 11mins (not exactly Olympic standard). Peter was

24171stout of the 24298 male finishers! Jordan was 10877

thout of the 11051 female finishers! They admitted

afterwards that they had not put enough time in on the training and hadnt grasped the enormity of the task in

hand. We are told that they found all of this very stressful! As we now know they split up a few weeks later. Wasthat the reason for their abject failure and subsequent break-up?


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writing style) are also very useful for both your Initial Proposal and your Interim Report and

so you would do well to study these early in the process)

Chapter 8 describes the hand in process and requirements.

Chapter 9 describes the Honours Conferenceand your projects posterpresentation

Chapter 10 discusses the assessment process and gives you an outline of the type of marking

profile that might be applied.

Chapter 11 describes the supervision process and the roles and responsibilities of yourself and

your supervisor.

Chapter 12 briefly outlines the prizes that can be won by outstanding or innovative honours

projects.

Finally there are a number of supporting documents in the appendices (including markingschemes and samples of some of the forms that you will need to complete during the project

process).


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2 Honours Research and Project Methods (MHG405297) Module Guide

This chapter gives details of the module content, teaching schedule, recommended reading,

assessment and feedback strategies used for students undertaking the Honours Research and

Project Methods module (MHG405297). It acts as the formal module handbook for thismodule.

Module Leader contact details: Richard Foley, M611A, ([email protected]).

You should contact me in the first instance with any queries you may have concerning the

delivery, timetabling or staffing of the module.

I am scheduled to take all lectures for this module. Individual Tutorials will be taken by

myself, Prof. Caroline Parker, M605A, ([email protected]) and Prof. Julian

Newman, M620C, ([email protected]). Labs will be covered by a variety of staff.

Some specialist assistance in relation to Data Analysis will be provided by Frances Garven,

M708, ([email protected])in selected Labs (during weeks 6 and 7 of the Trimester).

2.1 Module Descriptor Information

Here is the key module descriptor information from the Module Catalogue (please refer to the

web based catalogue for the full descriptor information)

Module Structure (for 2010-11)Module delivered over the first 8 weeks of Trimester 1.

Lectures: 8

Tutorials 8

Labs: 8

Weekly pattern of timetabled contact: 1 Lecture, 1 Tutorial and 1 Lab per week. It is a 10

SCOTCAT credit module which presumes 100 hours of student effort at level H across these

8 weeks.

All Lectures, Tutorials and Labs will commence in Week 1.Please, therefore, ensure that

you attend for the very first session on your class timetable from week 1.

Summary of Content

This module provides more detailed coverage of the development of research skills to

underpin the final honours project, including reviewing a variety of research methodologies

and their applicability to a range of projects within the overall domain of Computer Based

Systems Engineering
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Learning OutcomesOn completion of this module, students should be able to:

Source and critically review research related literature relevant to a chosen projecttopic using a variety of bibliographic tools

Evaluate the suitability of a range of research methods and data analysis methods inrelation to specific project objectives

Develop a proposal and associated project plan for a research related project in anappropriate area of Computer Based Systems Engineering relevant to their programme

of study

Consider the ethical issues involved in undertaking research

Teaching and Learning StrategyThe course material will be introduced through lectures, whilst between-class exercises, based

on the lecture material, and focussed towards the students own project topic will be given to

be undertaken on a self-directed basis. The practical sessions and associated tutorials will be

used to help explain and elaborate on both the lecture material and the self-directed exercises.

This module is delivered in a short fat format during the first 8 weeks of the teaching period

of the Trimester.

Syllabus

The nature of research:

The research process

Classifying Research

Types of Research based projects, e.g.

o Develop and Test,

o

Experimental Evaluations,o Case Study,

o Survey based

Research methods and applicability to different projects

Data Gathering and Analysis Techniques

Ethical Considerations in research projects and activities

o Intellectual property and plagiarism

o Research Involving Human Subjects

o Using minors and vulnerable people in research activities

o Applicability of Professional Body Codes of Practice

Searching for and reviewing Research Literature

Searching for and souring of academic literature

Critical evaluation of literature sources

Literature review writing

Plagiarism in academic writing

Project Proposals

Scoping a field of research

Developing a research question

Hypothesis formulation

Project planning, risk and resource management


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Indicative Reading

It is recommended that either of following textbooks is purchased by all students:

Dawson C W (2009) Projects in Computing and Information System: A Students

Guide (2ndEdition), Addison WesleyOates, B J (2006) Researching Information Systems and Computing, Sage Publishing

Other Recommended Reading:

Cornford T, Smithson S (2006) Project Research in Information Systems: A StudentGuide (2ndEd), Palgrave Macmillan

Creswell J W (2002) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Method

Approaches (2ndEd), Sage Publishing

Kumar R (2005) Research Methodology: A Step by Step Guide for Beginners (2ndRev

Ed), Sage Publishing

Sharp J A, Peter J, and Howard K (2002) The Management of a Student ResearchProject (3rdEd), Gower Publishing

2.2 Module Assessment

This module is 100% coursework only assessed, through a single submitted assignment. That

assignment is the Full Project Proposal and Associated Plan for the students own individual

Honours project. This assignment must be submitted to the Module leader by 4pm on

Monday 8th

November 2010.

Submission must be in hard copy to the Module Leader in M611A. The student must also

submit a soft copy on the Digital Drop box of the MHG405297 HR&PM Blackboard account(i.e.10/11 A - HONOURS RESEARCH AND PROJECT METHODS). The softcopy on Blackboard

should be clearly labelled with an appropriate filename: i.e.

Joe_Bloggs_BHxx_Honours_Project_Proposal.doc3, and

Joe_Bloggs_BHxx_Honours_Project_Plan.mpp (if you have produced the gannt chartplan as a separate MS Project file)

You should also submit a copy of the proposal(and plan) to your Project Supervisor at the

same time. Via email, to your supervisor, should be sufficient for that purpose as it is as a

courtesy since you should be seeing your supervisor with the week after submission to

formally start the main project work under his/her guidance.

3Where BHxx is your programme timetable course code, BHCU, BHCD, BHGA, BHGN, BHIN, BSNE etc.
http://blackboard.gcal.ac.uk/webapps/portal/tab/_1_1/%20/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_33381_1%26url%3dhttp://blackboard.gcal.ac.uk/webapps/portal/tab/_1_1/%20/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_33381_1%26url%3dhttp://blackboard.gcal.ac.uk/webapps/portal/tab/_1_1/%20/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_33381_1%26url%3dhttp://blackboard.gcal.ac.uk/webapps/portal/tab/_1_1/%20/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_33381_1%26url%3d


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2.3 Module Feedback Strategy

The will be two main aspects of feedback utilised within this module to provide both formal

and informal feedback on the students understanding of materialand performance during the

module, as well as on their submitted work.

Feedback via tutorials/labs as you work towards the Project Proposal development.A set of detailed Tutorial Exercises are provided to the student. These exercises, and the

proformas provided as part of the exercise material, are aimed at providing feedback to

students on the related module material as the student works towards the development of their

Project Proposal. This feedback will come in the form of peer-review comments and

associated exercise solutions (as appropriate) for the tutorial exercises.

Each tutorial exercise involves the student undertaking (sometimes) significant preparatory

work which must be brought with them to the scheduled tutorial. The student should therefore

be prepared to put in the necessary time/effort in the preparation for each tutorial exercise and

the associated post tutorial study to reflect upon the solutions and the associated feedback

gained as it would apply to the students own project. If the student does not make appropriate

attempts at this preparatory work then any attempt at assimilating feedback may be

completely ineffective.

The labs are initially utilised to help the student develop skills in searching for and organising

relevant literature sources related directly to their own project topic. The member of staff in

attendance during the lab should be used by the student as a source of feedback concerning

the searching techniques undertaken and sources found by the student. The student should

therefore come prepared to a lab with details of sources found and searches undertaken so far,

and be prepared to take the initiative and ask the member of staff specific questions in relationto those in order to gain direct feedback advice.

Feedback on the submitted Project Proposal and PlanThis feedback should come in 4 forms:

1.

After the formal submission of your Project Proposal and Plan, you should make a

formal appointment with your Project Supervisor. After submission of your proposal,

the responsibility for advising you on undertaking the project and all aspects of its

feasibility/undertaking in both practical and technical terms lies with your supervisor.

At that meeting you should discuss your submitted proposal document with your

supervisor and obtain this appropriate feedback and kick off the formal supervisionarrangements.

The proposals are formally marked (separately)by the module team as a free-standing piece

of academic work. In the main that assessment is judged on the soundness of the proposal

in terms of the depth and consistency of arguments presented, evidence sourced and

communicated. The detail and depth of the presented plans and associated rationale for the

project as a whole and its constituent elements is also judged.

A bad mark for the proposal doesnt, in itself, mean an impractical project.However it

can often suggest that the student has not undertaken sufficient preparatory work and

associated overall effort. This may come back to haunt them at a subsequent stage. A poor


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mark may also suggest that the student doesnt seem aware of the practicalities of the project

and what might be required to make it a success.

Conversely a good mark for the proposal doesnt, in itself, mean that the student will

achieve a good mark in their eventual project. After all, the student hasnt actually

undertaken it yet! However, a good mark generally does mean that if the student doesundertake the project successfully, then s/he should be able to communicate this as a free-

standing piece of academic work, in an appropriate fashion, through the project report. It

also usually means that the student has demonstrated a better awareness of what is involved in

the project.

Anyway this formal marking provides 3 final aspects of feedback to students:

2. A general class commentary is produced after a reasonable sample of the reports has

been marked. This is issued (via Blackboard email) to students as soon as possible

after the hand-in deadline (normally one week). It gives detail about the general

problems and pitfalls/errors which seem to have manifested themselves in thedevelopment and presentation of the proposals and associated plans. Students can

independently consider this detailed generic commentary and reflect again on their

own submission, discussing with their supervisor as required.

3.

Also the student must include an abstract for their proposed project as part of their

proposal submission. This abstract must be within the absolute word length of

240-250. Each individual student will be given a brief comment about the quality of

this abstract in terms of how cohesively and/or completely it explains (and thus

demonstrates the students understanding of) the proposed project. The aim is for the

student to be given this individual feedback the week after submission. This abstract

must be within these absolute word count limits. If not it will not receive any marks

when it comes to the formal marking of the abstract element within the full proposal

marking.

4. Whilst the marking is not formally considered until the publication of the Trimester 1

results in end January, the provisional un-moderated marks for the assignment will be

returned to students with some specific feedback comments in relation to their own

mark/submission. It is aimed that this should be completed within the standard 3-4

week turnaround time for marking of submitted student work.


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2.4 Module Teaching Schedule

Lecture Schedule: The weekly lectures will highlight key elements of the syllabus. The

envisaged schedule for the lecture programme is:

Week Topic Recommended Reading1 The nature of research and

research projects

HP Study Guide pages 1-30

Dawson Chapters 1 and 2 (pp 3-36)

Oates Chapters 1 (pp 1-15) and 3 (pp 32-42)

Also useful Oates Chapters 7, 8, 9 & 10

2 Project Logistics and the

purpose of an Initial

Literature Review

HP Study Guide pages 33-34, 66-79

Dawson Chapters 3 and 4 (pp37-86)

Oates Chapters 2 (pp16-31) and 5 pp54-69

3 Undertaking a literature

review, Academic Writing

and Plagiarism

HP Study Guide pages 46-47, 53-57

Dawson Chapters 5 (pp87-109) and 8 (part of:pp181-197, 208-215)

Oates Chapter 6 (pp71-92)4 From Research Question

(through Hypotheses) to

Method

HP Study Guide pages 31-36

Oates Chapters 13, 14, 15 & 16 (pp186-243)

Dawson Chapter 2.4 (pp25-35)

5 Developing your Proposal HP Study Guide pages 41-44Dawson Chapters 3 and 4 (pp37-81)

6 Data Gathering Techniques Oates Chapters 13, 14, 15 & 16 (pp186-244)

7 Data Analysis Techniques Oates Chapters 17 & 18 (pp245-279)Dawson Chapter 8 (section 8.4 pp197-208)

8 Proposal done, Next Steps HP Study Guide pages 32-40, 45-47, 61-64Dawson Chapter 7.1-7.4 (pp148-168)

Tutorial Schedule: The weekly tutorial schedule will provide a variety of exercises aimed at

helping you in understanding the process and practicalities of research. These exercises are

also aimed at enabling you to obtain feedback in terms of your progress and understanding of

these issues as you work towards the development of your own Project Proposal.

An indicative schedule for the tutorial programme is:

Week Tutorial Topic

1 Understanding different Research Strategies & Methodologies

2 Considering the practicalities and scope of a research project

3 How to Read a Journal Article4 Academic Writing Exercise

5 Developing your Research Question

6 Reviewing a Sample Honours Project Proposal

7 Reviewing your own Draft Proposal: Peer Review Exercise

8 Final Drop-in Session

Other than the tutorials in Weeks 1 and 8, all tutorial have associated preparatory exercises

and (in a number of cases) depend upon the directed and independent work in the associated

lab work (and within that your own progress in the work required for the development of your

own specific Project Proposal).


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In most of the exercises, the tutorial discussions will be based around peer groups. To obtain

the benefit of the tutorial work you must undertake all of the preparatory work and you must

bring it to the associated tutorial. You must also ensure that you monitor your own progress

towards the objectives set in the lab work where these objectives require to be used for input

to an associated tutorial exercise/session.

Lab Schedule: The weekly lab schedule provides a series of exercises in associated practical

skills which you will require to enable you to both source material for and write your own full

proposal. The lab schedule has essentially two phases. The first phase commences from the

week 1 and continues through to week 5. The second phase takes place in the remaining

weeks 6-8.

The objectives of the first phase of the lab based work are to give you some guidance in the

following basic research related practical skills:

Using the Athens facility and the GCU library journals/serials collection

Providing a basic introduction to the bibliographic database facilities to enable the

sourcing of research related sources

The principles of keyword based searching used in bibliographic databases

Using Refworks to organise your own references and associated bibliography of

literature sources

Using Write-N-Cite in the writing of a research based paper/report/proposal to assistwith the formatting of citations and references

All of these skills are provided to enable you to prepare your own annotated bibliography of

initial literature for the purposes of the evolution of your initial project topic from the

outline project synopsis into the fuller development of a complete and detailed full proposal.

The skills developed in this first phase are also required when you conduct your fullerliterature survey and associated literature review when you undertake the project itself after

the proposal phase.

The main objective of the second phase is to give you an introduction and some guidance into

practical qualitative data analysis techniques. Those related labs being supported by Frances

Garven.

Thus the indicative schedule of the lab programme is:

Week Lab Topic/Objective

1 Undertake the lab exercises on a self-directed basis. The objective is for you to usethese skills and develop a complete annotated bibliography of (approx 20) related

literature sources relevant to your own project, which will provide initial literature

for you to draw upon for the construction of your proposal.

You should have most of your sources by the commencement of week 4 since your

knowledge of them will required for the preparation work for the Week 4 tutorial.

This objective should be fully completed by the commencement of week 5since

you require it to feed in to the preparation work for the Week 5 tutorial

2

3

4

5

6 Intro to Data Analysis (with SPSS) session 1

7 Intro to Data Analysis (with SPSS) session 2

8 Final Drop-in Session


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Please note that the first phase of the lab programme does not set any hard and fast

timescale for either undertaking the work or for the interim development of the overall

deliverable. It simply sets an overall deadline for when you need to achieve the overall

objective of constructing your own annotated bibliography of (at least) 20 relevant literature

sources, if you still wish to remain on track in the development of your Full Project

Proposal. The responsibility for the time management of that is your own. However you areextremely and very strongly advised to manage that time such that you spend at the very

least 5-6 hours per week(approx half of the total effort of the module) during the first phase

working towards that lab objectivealone. Thus you are very strongly advised to get the self

directed lab exercises out of the way ASAP. Indeed I would very strongly suggest that you

spend your 5-6 hours of lab effort in week 1 to complete the basic activities of all of the lab

exercises which have been provided to you. Ideally there should be no student in the week

2 lab still directly working their way through the set of exercises given to you in the lab

booklet. Your efforts from week 2 onwards can then be in working on the initial literature

search and review which you will need to produce the bibliography which you will then

require to use to undertake the initial review of literature which you require for your Project

Proposal. Also by spending this time on these activities during the period of the HRPMmodule, then you should also be in a good position when it comes to undertaking your main

Literature Search and Review after the formal commencement of the Honours Project itself

(i.e. from week 9 of Trimester 1).

Please also remember that you only have one hour of timetabled lab time per week where

there will be a member of staff in attendamce. Thus you are again very strongly advised

that, to make up this 5-6 hours per week of total lab based effort,you will need to spend 4-5

additional hours independently of any staffed lab you go to working on that objectivein

that phase of the lab programme. If you do not then you will only be cheating yourself!

Furthermore, this approach means that you should use the staffed lab wisely. My best and

strongest advice would be that you should be doing as much of your lab effort and

exercises before any staffed session so that you come to the session with specific points

and/or queries for which you would like specific feedback from the member of staff

manning the lab. This could (indeed should) either be on an issue associated with the

exercise itself or your own specific project situation as you are attempting to use these skills

when searching for and developing your own specific bibliography for your specific project.

Again if all you do in the lab is pretend to be doing something by going through the raw

exercise and not really putting in the time outside the staffed lab, then it is highly unlikely that

you will have any proper questions to ask relating to what you are doing and thus would

have no opportunity to obtain feedback from the member of staff. It is also highly likely, ifyou take this approach, that you will not have collected together, read and reviewed, sufficient

literature based material to actually develop a Project Proposal of any coherency and/or merit!


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3 Understanding the nature of the Honours Project

3.1 Learning what is meant by a research project

Research is about investigation. An honours project in Computing is a detailed investigation

of a practical problem. That project is encapsulated and represented by a research question,

possibly some testable hypotheses, and the identification of some form of solution. Once the

student has identified/developed these, then s/he needs to develop some objectives and a

detailed plan for the project. Only then can it be undertaken (with any hope of being

completed successfully).

Computing projects are generally centred on some aspect of systems development or

evaluation but may be slanted towards one of the course modules of your named programme.

They may also address human, organisational and behavioural aspects of an IT based

problem, although care must be taken to ensure that these can still be considered computing

projects and are still view as suitable for your programme.

Projects may also vary widely in the nature of the work to be carried out but they are all

investigative in nature. That means that you are trying to investigate the usefulness or

appropriateness of a (software, system or support) technology or approach in solving some

kind of, or aspect of, a practical problem. To a great extent you are trying to provide some

insight into your topic area that might provide some useful lessons for others. Think of it as

finding out answers to questions that other people might be interested in.

You can adopt different research methods to investigate different research questions and each

type of investigation will result in your learning and having insights into different aspects of

your chosen topic. Indeed the same research question could be investigated using differentresearch methods, in which case this would produce different projects. Either way, your

research question needs to be fairly specific to succeed although in some cases it can be

software related or more comparative (potentially speculative) in nature. However, even in

these cases, it still requires to be detailed and specific.

Also it is critical to understand that a research question cannot just be plucked out of

thin air. Also your supervisor is not going to (indeed should not) give you an explicit

research question at the stage of the initial project synopsis. The synopsis is really just the

main project idea phase. A research question cannot be properly developed without (the

student) undertaking an initial literature review (i.e. as part of the basic tasks for the labs

during weeks 1 to 5) and then presenting that (hopefully sound) research question through thediscussion of the initial literature review which they incorporate within the

Introduction/Background of the project proposal.

Having identified, and developed through a discursive justification (which you have to

present as part of your proposal), the question you are most interested in you can start to look

for the best ways to answer them. A different type of project could use the same research

question. However, some projects might be more or less practical for a given question and for

a given student situation. Thus you must think about the detail of potential alternative project

types. It is also very easy to ask a question that is too broad to be answered in the time

available. This is often the case when a research question has been formulated without much

preparation, or initial literature investigation, upon which to base it. In many cases, a


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developed research question can also be even more explicitly focussed through the generation

of hypotheses based on that question.

Hypotheses are statements that you can test. E.g. Algorithm A will produce a better result

than Algorithm B. You will learn more about hypotheses and hypotheses testing in HRPM.

For now it is enough to know that once you have your topic, your research question and(potentially) your hypotheses, the rest will be able to follow. If you dont have these building

blocks there is actually no way that you can successfully develop a full project proposal and

its associated plan, never mind actually undertake your project with a good degree of success.

The order of these events is: Given the basic project idea/synopsis, undertake an initial

literature search focussed around the main project idea/areas. Your reading, understanding

and review of this literature must be used to enable you to develop an appropriate research

question. You may then Go on to develop one or more hypothesis. However, hypotheses

can (like a research question) only be grounded in literature, i.e. you cannot develop one

and thus argue for it unless you have undertaken further literature review. Thus you may not

have developed any specific hypotheses at the stage of the project proposal. However, youwill have decided upon your project type (or main methodology) by the time you have

developed your research question.

Before we look at the main tasks in completing your honours project let us have a look at the

types of research you could carry out.

3.2 Sample generic software/hardware/infrastructure research questions

As many of you are on the course because you are interested in the specifics of computing

you will be interested in questions which require you to learn more about a particular

language, package, network technology or method. Examples of the types of questions youmight be interested in, the specific hypotheses you could ultimately test, the approach you

might take and the insights they might give you are provided below. These are, however, set

at a higher level, since they are generic in nature. Thus, in themselves these questions

cannot be viewed as of the specific level precision and detail required for an Honours Project.

Ultimately, and for your proposal (and project), you will have to flesh yoursout with quite

a bit more detail and specifics. This is the subject of some of the associated MHG405297

preparation modules tutorial work. However, the following examples at least illustrate the

conceptions involved and the linkage between each different element.

Question: Which of these two tools/methods/approaches is the most suitable for this problem?

Hypothesis: Tool/method/approach A will produce a faster solution than Tool/method/approach Bfor this type of problem.

Approach: The design and implementation of a system/network solution using two different

tools/methods/approaches and an experimental evaluation of their performance.

Insight: The particular aspect of each tool or method, or the underlying approach that they use,that are better suited to specific types of application domain.

Question: How can I support the collection of information about quality during this type ofdevelopment?

Hypothesis: This type of tool will be efficient in collecting quality data in this context

Approach: The development of a prototype tool to assist in the collection of data for the assessmentof the quality of e.g. a software development and the measurement of its efficiency.

Insight: An understanding of quality issues and how such a tool could be used to improve thequality of e.g. a software development.


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Question: How can we speed up the requirements analysis process for object-oriented design?

Hypothesis: It is possible to develop a tool to assist in the process of requirements analysis.

Approach: An analysis of methods for and the development of a tool to assist with the process ofrequirements analysis, measurement of its effectiveness.

Insight: The appropriateness of the particular approach and/or method the tool embodies for thistype of analysis technique.

Question: Is it possible to reproduce this aspect of human function in software?

Hypothesis: A human observer wont be able to tell the difference between the output of thisprogram and a remote human keying in answers.

Approach: The identification of the key components of the human function, the development of

software to mimic them, a practical experiment using the software, and a critical analysisof the success of the software in so doing.

Insight: Understanding of the differences and similarities between human and computerprocesses and the possibilities and limitations of this branch of artificial intelligence.

Answering these types of questions will invariably require the development of a piece ofsoftware or network infrastructure (at least in prototype form). The structure will vary

significantly from project to project, for example some software may require extensive data

handling, while others entail complex processing, some solutions may have a well-defined

higher level functional specification, while in others an outline proposal, perhaps involving

systems investigation and analysis, may be a significant component of the work.

The other aspect you should note is that each project is supposed to provide some insight

into the problem being studied. You also need to be able to identify that potential insight as

part of your project proposal and how that could be usefully used by a variety of stakeholders.

Early warning for those developing software or other implementation solutionsNote that implementation in an Honours Project is always used to support the answering of a

research question and is not an end in itself. A polished commercial type implementation

will gain you no more marks than a well-developed prototype, if the prototype can be

successfully used to demonstrate or disprove a point. Your implementation is supposed to

demonstrate an underlying approach or the use of a specific type of base technology. It may

be used to investigate the applicability of suitable techniques or technologies to specific

application areas. However, even if it is a prototype implementation, it still has to be

sufficient an implementation to be able to demonstrate a detailed evaluation. Thus if you

develop a poor and inadequate prototype you are likely to obtain a poor and inadequate

mark.


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3.3 Sample generic Theoretical, evaluative or experimental questions

Programming may not be the main focus of your interest, indeed it is not the focus of all of

our BSc programmes anyway, and you may have other types of question youd be interested

in answering. As long as they have a practical component and are centred on producing a

solution to a real problem there is nothing wrong with this type of research question.Examples of these, the approach you might take and the insights they might give you are

provided below:

Question: Which of these x methods/interface styles etc is most suitable for this task/problem?

Hypothesis: Method/interface styles A will outperform methods/interface style B in terms of measureY (e.g. speed, usability rating, errors)

Approach: Systematic testing of the methods/interface styles in a practical (possibly experimental)situation etc and critical analysis of results.

Insight: Understanding of testing methods, task/problem characteristics and the particularbenefits/disadvantages of the methods/interface styles etc.

Question: What are the usability problems associated with this type of system/technology?

Hypothesis: Users will experience specific usability problems with this type of system/technology.

Approach: Appropriate choice of and application of usability testing method in a

practical/experimental situation and critical analysis of results.

Insight: Understanding of specific usability issues for system/technology, knowledge of usabilitymethods and appropriate use of them.

Question: What are the issues surrounding this problem and what practical guidance could beprovided to other developers/designers?

Hypothesis:

The collation and presentation of guidelines for this problem will be useful to thedevelopers/designers of these particular systems.

Approach: Large-scale literature survey supplemented by primary data gathering methods (e.g.questionnaire, interview, workshop), collation and organisation of material, presentationin a practical form useful to developers/designers (e.g. a web-based resource), testing ofusefulness of guidelines.

Insight: Detailed understanding of problem area and of needs of developers/designers forinformation, and of guidance available.

Answering this type of question does not usually involve the development of large programs

as long as they have a practical component. These types of question may require a more

extensive literature review and analysis of the material on the topic and generally require a

much greater understanding (and rigorous application) of methods for testing and evaluation,

so that the primary research activity can be more fully constructed. In many cases you will

also need to produce mock-ups for testing purposes.

Early warning for those undertaking these kinds of non-software development

projectsThe primary research activity (usually because it does not generally involve software

development) often sounds easier to a student. This is an absolute myth! The only thing

which is easier about undertaking this type of project is that it is easier to produce a poorer

effort. These types of project can often turn out to be more difficult since they involve a

primary methodology which is based around an experiment/usability evaluation and involves

the use of specific associated data capture techniques for this experiment/evaluation (e.g. useof questionnaires, observation, interviews, usability checklists) which most students on our


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Computing/IT programmes have little/no experience of. In cases like this some students end

up with weak projects since their undertaking of the questionnaire, associated survey,

interview and analysis are weak. The strengths of our programmes are that they give

students technical skills, i.e. software design/development or network technology

construction/configuration. Thus students should (in my view) always try to undertake a

project which uses, as a basic foundation, skills they should already have some degree ofbackground in (i.e. software design/development or network technology

construction/configuration).

Having said this, though, that is not to say that valid projects of this type cannot be

successfully undertaken by our Honours students, and I have supervised a number of these

types myself were the students were very successful (also some which were not so, of course).

However, in the cases where the students succeeded well, this was generally due to the fact

that they made it their business to understand what was required with this type of project and

prepared fully for it by investigating the various techniques and studying the associated

methods in detail independently (often obtaining their own textbooks about these methods)

and then applying these with rigour to the project in hand.

What all of these comments demonstrate is the importance of students understanding fully the

nature of the project process and the different types of project which are possible and what

is involved in each. Indeed that is the purpose of the next section.

3.4 Summarising the (typical) types of Project

Given this discussion so far, you should appreciate now that there are a variety of different

types of research-related projects. However, when you analyse these different projects from

the previous section, it actually suggests that there are only two main categories as far as ourprogrammes are concerned. In our case a practical project (which involves the development

of some software) or an experimental project (which might involve the use of some

software in the construction of a practical experiment).

In a wider academic sense there are actually more than these two types of allowable

research project. A project type is normally categorised by the nature of its primary research

methodology. The primary research methodology is the term given to the basic nature of the

approach used in the project. In our case the two primary approaches which we accept are

projects which adopt either of the following two primary methodologies:

A Develop and Test approach: (i.e. involves the development of some practicalsoftware) or

An Experimental (Evaluation) approach: (i.e. involved the development of apractical experiment)

What our programmes consider to be suitable as practical (and thus acceptable) projects, is

very much influenced by our Professional Body, the British Computer Society (BCS). The

BCS very much views Computing/IT as an engineering profession, i.e. a profession which

is all about building artefacts and solving practical problems.Thus it only accepts these

two types of project as suitable to meet their requirements for practicality.

However, academia generally identifies several other primary methodologies as valid in aresearch project. Whilst you would not be undertaking a project using any of those primary


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methodologies, you may find that some of the techniques which are often used as part of the

data capture/analysis/evaluation of our projects do come from those overall methodologies.

Thus it is useful to have a general understanding of the wider range of research project

methodologies. Others, which we do not accept on our programmes as a validsole primary

methodology, are:

The Case Study approach: A case study focuses on one instance of the thing being

investigated. For computing research it could be an Information System

Organisation/Department or the use of an Information System or Systems

Development Methodology in an organisation/department. In this type of project you

dont generally develop any artefact and use it in anger. In many disciplines

Case Study research simply involves observing a phenomenon to better understand

it and it is primarily for that reason that the BCS does not view this as acceptable. For

example, you might wish to investigate the use of time management

applications/hardware within a large organisation. Thus you might use a case study

primary methodology to investigate, and thus better understand, the precise ways in

which the software/hardware is used by the range of staff within that single case studyorganisation. Whilst wider academia accepts this as valid research, it is an approach

which does not involve you constructing anything practical yourself!

The Survey Based approach: A survey only project is a very common mode of

research strategy in other discipline areas, e.g. Business Studies and Social Sciences.

Often such an approach is used to gain insight into the detail of an area within a wider

population. Again this type of primary methodology is used to observe and thus

better understand a phenomenon. Its primary technique is the use of data gathering

through detailed questionnaire(s). A distinction between this and the Case Study

approach is that in a Case Study all observation is of a single organisation/entity,

whereas the population being surveyed in the Survey Based (only) approach will be

individuals from across a wide variety of organisations. Again, for this main reason

that the project objective is essentially investigation through observation, the BCS

does not view this project type as appropriate for the purposes of an engineering

profession.

Having said that, however, it is likely that you may utilise some of the data gathering/analysis

techniques, which are commonly used in these project approaches, within your own Develop

& Test or Experimental project.

For example some of the supplementary methods4 used within the overall umbrella of

Case Study methodology are:

Documentary Analysis: This could be process manuals, project records, management

statistics, process/product metrics, historical development metrics, and/or strategy

documents. It could also be the analysis of performance monitoring logs when case

studying the efficiency of an organisations network.

Interviews: This would be with key personnel to obtain highly specific information or

clarification.

4

I use the term supplementary methods because these are not, in themselves, an overall form of primaryresearch method. As such some of these methods may also be used within other forms of primary research, i.e.

questionnaires could be used within an Experimental Evaluation project.


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Questionnaires: These would be issued to a large number of individuals to obtain

specific information (but often higher level views) on a wider basis. (Also a main

technique used in Survey only projects)

Direct Observation: You would arrange to physically observe key aspects of personnel

undertaking (an aspect of) the task involved.

Thus you may very well utilise one or more of these supplementary methods in your project.

For example, it is common to use observation and/or interviews/questionnaires as a data

gathering exercise in HCI Experimental Projects. Similarly there are several ways in which a

case study could be used to provide parts for your primary methodology. E.g.:

In a Develop and Test project: You could use a particular organisations case toperform the requirements gathering for your Development and indeed you might even

test it (evaluate it) using existing data/scenarios from that case study organisation.

Or even trial it in their organisation if you had the resources/permission.

In a (Network-based) Experimental project: You could use a particular organisations

configuration (e.g. topology and/or data traffic scenarios) as the basis for the

simulation scenario which you would set up and then you could configure this to run

several realistic simulation scenarios which you gather your data to evaluate a

new/amended network protocol. To find this out you might use Documentary Analysis

of their material/ manuals/procedures/ logs.

In a (HCI) Experimental project: The participants in your HCI evaluation/experiment

could all come from a single case study organisation. Indeed this could provide a

much more realistic evaluation as the people involved could be experienced users in

the domain area for the (possibly new) software/HCI approach which you have created

the practical experiment for.

This discussion, therefore, should demonstrate that whilst, in computing projects, this

categorisation of projects, as either Develop & Test or Experimental, is a reasonable

distinction, the categorisations are a bit wider than just two project types in terms of the

underlying research methodology (or strategy) used. Thus an understanding of the

combination of both an acceptable underlying primary methodology along with that of the

range of individual methods which cross all project methodologies is crucial for

understanding and thus undertaking a research project acceptable to any specific discipline

domain.

One very important point to continue to emphasis about these (so-called) supplementary

methods (e.g. Documentary Analysis, Interviews, Questionnaires, Observations) is that theseare techniques which are not very familiar to students in your programmes. Thus I cannot

emphasis enough that you need to undertake your own detailed study of such techniques as

key preparatory tasks as you undertake your project. Thus again, you really should source

your own more detailed textbooks about these sorts of research methods. You will find that

there are plenty in the University Library. If you enter keywords such as; Business research

Methods or Case Study Research you will find that there are plenty of books for you to

peruse which will give more detailed information about these sorts of techniques.

Furthermore, the previous section also indicated that the development of a research question

is crucial to drive the investigatory nature and outputs of the project. The examples of

questions used as illustration in 3.2 and 3.3 (above) were still fairly high level and genericsince they are being used just to illustrate the basic concept of research. For your project


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proposal you will have to properly develop a much more detailed research question which you

will have justified through an initial literature based background discussion (which you will

have had to have sourced yourself). Some students think that a research question is something

which you can just think up in a flash of inspiration. Like most aspects of a research project

that is another myth. Anyway, we shall return to that question later. This section will try to

give a summary of the different types of project usually undertaken as an Honours Project asthey relate to the main categories of overall research methodologies which are commonly

found.

In order, however, to more fully understand the process of research, what you have to

understand is that whilst the project types might look different, the process of research, the

objectives, the concepts of collecting and analysing data/investigatory results, is actually all

the same no matter what type of project. As already indicated, very often students think that

some of these types are easier to do than others. It has already being indicated that this is

another complete myth! In most cases, the types of project which some nave students think

are easier are actually much harder to do effectively and successfully.

Certainly the underlying method of primary research in each of our two types of project may

be different, but the projects are all essentially the same and are all essentially built on the

same foundations.

To summarise, the complete project has to:

1. Be introduced and justified on a sound academic basis.

2. Be centred on a detailed single research questionwhich is both focussed on specific

aspects of a wider topic and is clearly investigatory in nature.

3. Have a serious of sub-questions (or interim objectives) which are stepping stones in

the tasks of building the specific primary research for the project. Although I often

use the term sub-question it is not meant in the same vain as a research question.

These are questions which drive the objectives required for the project once its

specific direction has been decided upon via the Research Question and Project

Methodology.

4. Draw out the answers to some of the sub-questions/objectives as a literature review

which is clearly linked (by your discussion of them) to the projects specific

investigatory aspects and its activities. Thus some of these sub-questions are really

specific objectives of the main literature review. However phrasing them as questions

can help you know when you have completed enough literature review for a particular

aspect of that project phase.5. Develop and execute a piece of primary research, which uses your clearly identified

conclusions of the literature review to direct/justify its construction and analysis.

6. Gather data from the development and execution of the primary research.

7. Demonstrate and present critical analysis of the results of the primary research which

discusses and reflects on the issues and draws conclusions about the specific project

being investigated.

For every different type of project this process is exactly the same. Only the actual piece of

primary research which is constructed is different. In each case, although the primary

research instrument is different, it purposes within this research based framework is exactly

the same. Data is gathered through the construction and/or use of the primary researchinstrument and that data is analysed/evaluated in order to provide discussion, reflection,


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conclusions and thus insight into the project being investigated. The stages of the projects

foundation, basis and subsequent analysis are exactly the same in each case.

The most interesting feature is that if we take any given research question as the overall

objective(or aim) of a project, it is generally possible to use that self-same question as the

basis for a different type of project in any of these different categories of project type.

Here then is the summary. For each of our two project types, what now follows is a brief

outline of its characteristics and underlying research methodology as well as some pitfalls

to be considered.

3.4.1 Develop and Test Project

Sometimes this is termed a Design and Create project methodology. Sometimes it is also

viewed as a form of Action Research, which is the carefully documented study of an attempt

to actively solve a problem. In such a viewpoint the problem is actively being attempted tobe solved by the development of a new IT product/computer based solution. Thus the focus of

the primary research is the development of this new product/solution. This does involve

analysing, designing and developing a computer based product (e.g. a website, group support

system, computer based animation/game, a program which enables a new technology to be

used). However, what distinguishes the research aspect of this project from a standard

application development to solve a standard commercial application is that it is intended to

explore the feasibility (or otherwise) of an underlying technique, algorithm, or technology as

a potential solution. Some examples are:

An IT application which uses IT in a new domain/problem area. You are trying to

explore/demonstrate the technical feasibility of its use. You would thus have todevelop an appropriate application and evaluate it through a scenario which

demonstrates its potential use or assesses its technical feasibility.

An IT application which incorporates a new theory or uses an existing theory in adifferent domain, e.g.

o An educational theory incorporated into a computer aided learning package

o A game genre which uses a new I/O device or HCI approach. Either new to

games, or an existing device/approach which is new to the genre.

o Development of a web site using a new architectural model, HCI approach,

application framework or development tool

An IT application is developed in order to examine the use of a particular development

method. E.g. a new/novel OO methodology could be used to develop a Typical

commercial web-system in a particular application area to assess the use of this

approach either as an approach or for its application to that domain.

In each case, whilst the application developed is often viewed as a Prototype it has to have

sufficient functionality to be viewed as Typical of a full-scale application, or at least

sufficient to enable a sufficiently sizable and valid evaluation of the scenario of application.

As with all types of project the evaluation method used in conjunction with the primary

research instrument has to have sufficient depth and rigor as well. All too often I have seen

rather thin (indeed pathetic) prototypes and equally flimsy evaluations.This point should

be considered if you undertake this type of project.


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3.4.2 Experimentally Based Evaluation Project

Formally an Experiment is a research strategy which tries to find cause and effect. It

involves the development of an experiment. The experiment is a scenario which can be

realistic (as much as possible) or artificial/simulated (but is argued as realistic in terms of

demonstrating the key characteristics of what is being investigated and sufficientlycontrolled to enable you to draw conclusions (hopefully) on the cause and effect.

We have already talked about a Hypothesis. It is probably wrong to expect all Honours

projects to have a hypothesis, since a hypothesis must be testable. It is really only in a

controlled experiment that the investigator has sufficient control over the variables

involved to enable proper measurement andthus enable a hypothesis to be properly tested.

Thus, if you undertake this type of project we are ultimately looking for specific hypotheses

associated with your research question which you use to enable you to develop the details of

your experiment and its associated evaluation criteria. Unlike (say) the develop and test (or

even some case studies), where the amount of work involved in the development of the

primary research instrument is usually more significant and, we dont often expect extremely

detailed and generally quantitative analysis to always be used.

This research approach/project type is categorised by:

Observation and measurement: you construct your (set of) experiment(s) and make

precise and detailed observations of outcomes and changes when a specific factor is

added/removed. This generally is repeated as several circumstances are manipulated,

experiments re-run and re-observation/measurement made.

You are trying to prove/disprove (or at least demonstrate) appropriate relationships

between two or more factors. Indeed, ideally, you should be trying to identify thecausal factors.

You are looking to Explain the link between factors involved so that understanding

of the scenario being investigated can be gained.

The experiments are often repeated many times (e.g. with a large set of test subjects)sometimes under varying conditions to be as certain as possible that results are not due

to any other freak or unusual factor.

In computing we generally find two popular types of experimental evaluation based projects:

these are HCI based Evaluations and Practical or Simulated Network based Evaluations

HCI based Evaluation

Some examples which might illustrate this type of experimental project are:

You wish to investigate the suitability of a particular applications (or domain of

applications) HCI approach as appropriate for its intended task.

You wish to investigate if a new HCI approach/technique could be usefully used in a

particular application to improve usability amongst a typical group of users.

You might wish to investigate the requirements of the HCI for a new peripheral or

computing device.

You might wish to assess the adequacy of the HCI which has been applied to a

new/novel domain.


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In these examples we have talked about HCI. By that we mean the potentially very wide

domain of Human Computer Interaction which can sometimes move into multidisciplinary

areas and can be trying to investigate the Impact a device or use of technology has on a n

activity (either everyday or specific industry/commercial situation). Thus this type of project

is not just restricted to screen design, use of the mouse and pull-down menus!

Again some students think this is a soft option. However, the construction of the experiment

has to be quite complex to enable appropriate demonstration, and the selection and

development of an appropriate evaluation method is also complex. There are a very

significant number of potential HCI evaluation techniques, which all use different approaches,

which could be used as the basis for an experiment. Each has different characteristics, pros

and cons, suitability and practicalities. Also you have to deal with the (often complex)

logistics of obtaining appropriate numbers and range of test subjects to perform the

evaluation if an experiment involving human subjects is used. This also tends to have ethical

considerations and thus you need to arrange for ethical clearance through the associated

University procedures.

It never fails to amaze me how many students undertaking this type of project seem to give

little consideration to the logistics of the test subjects involved and the practicalities of the set

up and resources for the experiment and dont actually try to address these until very late in

the project itself. They then find that they cant get a realistic sample of people and their

evaluation becomes rather thin. Similarly,

honours project study guide 10-11 (without appendices)

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