buseco hdr workshop: writing the confirmation report - ms josephine hook

BusEco HDR workshop:

Writing the Confirmation report Josephine Hook

Research & Learning Coordinator

Monash University Library, Caulfield

Image source: http://freelance-writing.lovetoknow.com/Companies_Hiring_Freelance_Academic_Writers

27 September 2012 BusEco HDR Workshops – Confirmation report

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Outline

1 Confirmation report – written & oral

2 Writing

3 Articulating research

What does a successful PhD student look

like?

What knowledge, understanding, skills,

behaviours and attitudes are required to

carry out excellent research?

Think about the attributes you need to

demonstrate in your confirmation report…

27 September 2012 BusEco HDR Workshops – Confirmation report 3

4 domains

12 sub-domains

63 descriptors

Researcher Development Framework

www.vitae.ac.uk

27 September 2012 4 BusEco HDR Workshops – Confirmation report

1 Confirmation report

Title of research report/thesis

Statement of the research problem(s)

i. introduction

ii. research question or hypothesis

iii. subsidiary questions

iv. review of relevant research and theory

The procedure

i. theoretical and conceptual framework

ii. analytical techniques and research design


1 Confirmation report cont.

Timetable for completing research report/thesis &

detailed statement of progress to date

Brief bibliography

List of publications produced during probationary

candidature (if applicable)

http://www.monash.edu.au/migr/research-degrees/handbook/chapter-

three/3-9.html


Purpose of confirmation process

For faculty

To assess whether you have a viable project


Purpose of confirmation process

For you

To create a pause in the doctoral process – to take stock, to

review and to consolidate focus

To signal the end of the first phase of your candidature –

focus shifts from what you want to say to your readers‟

criteria – „exteriorising‟

To produce a structured piece of writing that articulates

your argument – knowing what the confirmation report

requires and adapting your thinking and writing accordingly

To gain feedback on your research from a wider audience


2 Writing

What writing have you already done?

Developing a toolbox of skills – rather than waiting for an

„uprush of inspiration‟

What constitutes good writing practice and quality written

product?

– Learning through writing

– Quality through revision

– Regular writing develops fluency

Source: Murray p. 7


Freewriting & generative writing

Freewriting Generative writing

Write for five minutes Write for five minutes

Without stopping Without stopping

In sentences In sentences

Topic – eg., “What is the „story‟ of

your thesis?”

Useful to revisit a topic from

freewriting

Private writing – no external

reader

Let someone else read it

No structure needed More structured


DISCUSS SHARE

Brown’s eight questions

Who are the intended readers? (list 3-5 names)

What did I do? (50 words)

Why did I do it? (50 words)

What happened? (50 words)

What do the results mean in theory? (50 words)

What do the results mean in practice? (50 words)

What is the key benefit for readers? (25 words)

What remains unresolved? (no word limit)

Source: http://www.literaticlub.co.uk/writing/articles/write.html


What can you write about now?

My research question is…(50 words)

Researchers who have looked at this subject are…(50 words)

They argue that…(25 words)

Smith argues that…(25 words)

Brown argues that…(25 words)

Debate centres on the issue of…(25 words)

There is still work to be done on…(25 words)

My research is closest to that of X in that…(50 words)

My contribution will be…(50 words)

Source: Murray, p. 98


What constitutes scholarly writing?

Students say: concise writing that follows a format; using

correct terminology

Supervisors say: making solid arguments supported by

empirical evidence and theory

Source: Murray p.3

“The synergy between hypothesis, theory and method is

absolutely central to the thesis‟s success”

Source: Lynne Pearce, How to Examine a Thesis, 2005, p. 74, in Murray p.14

The overall thrust of the thesis is the central research

question: “You define the question: you deliver the answer”

Source: Dunleavy p. 20


3 Articulating your research

The research question/thesis/central argument

Shape your thesis question to showcase your findings, to

draw out their interest and significance – „guesstimating‟

your results and outcomes at the same time as formulating

the topic

Build in some „insurance‟ – what you can say and do if your

research does not go to plan


Find the research questions in a thesis

Hard copies in the library

Online versions available through ARROW

(Monash) and TROVE (NLA – all theses

http://trove.nla.gov.au/)


http://trove.nla.gov.au/

Gap spotting vs problematisation

Frame your thesis around an intellectual problem

Finding the problem provides you with an intellectual focus

– not enough to add to existing literature, or to fill gap

The idea of the French une problematique – translates

roughly to problematising your thesis question


Five components of the intellectual

problem (Nozick):

1. A goal

2. The existing literature

3. Research methods to change the initial state

4. Constraints

5. Outcome

= a problem has been solved if the initial state has been

changed into an outcome that meets the goal without

breaching the constraints Source: Dunleavy p. 23


Freewriting to develop research question/s

Spend 5 minutes writing about the problem that you hope

to answer in your research.

Question what you already know. How do you know this?

Are you sure about it? What other possibilities exist?

What questions do you have?

Other prompts for „freewriting‟:

What do you want to write about next?

How does the literature compare with your own views?

What are the questions you currently have about your

project?


What makes a good research question?

It is CLEAR - easily understood and unambiguous

It is SPECIFIC - specified in such a way that it is clear what constitutes an

answer

It is ANSWERABLE - data be needed to answer the question is clear

It is RELEVANT - worthwhile and non-trivial and worthy of the effort to be

expended on answering it

It is APPROPRIATE - it relates to the problems or issues which interest

the researcher

AND where there is more than one research question:

The questions are RELATED to each other in a meaningful way to

ensure that the research is coherent


Evaluate your research question

Does the question deal with a topic or issue that interests me enough to

spark my own thoughts and opinions?

Is the question easily and fully researchable?

What type of information do I need to answer the research question?

Is the scope of this information reasonable?

Given the type and scope of the information that I need, is my question

too broad, too narrow, or okay?

What sources will have the type of information that I need to answer the

research question (journals, books, Internet resources, government

documents, people)?

Can I access these sources?

Given my answers to the above questions, do I have a good quality

research question that I actually will be able to answer by doing

research?


References

Patrick Dunleavy, Authoring a PhD: how to plan, draft, write, and finish a doctoral thesis

or dissertation, Palgrave Macmillan, UK, 2003

Rowena Murray, How to write a thesis, 2nd ed., Open University Press, Maidenhead,

2006

http://wms-

soros.mngt.waikato.ac.nz/NR/ANZAM/docs/Neil_Paulsen_DevelopResearchQuestions.pd

f


Want to know more?


Language and Learning Online


Librarians

• search for relevant resources for your assignment or research topic

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Learning skills advisers:

• Academic reading

• Academic writing

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• Exam Preparation

• Citing and Referencing

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Visit a Learning Skills Adviser

What do we do?

• Academic language

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Email a learning skills adviser

for an individual consultation

27 September 2012 BusEco HDR Workshops – Confirmation report

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buseco hdr workshop: writing the confirmation report - ms josephine hook

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