Department of Geomatics
The University of Melbourne
451-824 GIS PROJECT (RESEARCH METHODS)
http://www.geom.unimelb.edu.au/cgism/resmeth.html
2001 Course Outline
Coordinator: Ian Bishop
Rm B305, Ph 8344 7500
idbishop@unimelb.edu.au
Objectives
The overall aims of the GIS project/Research
Methods include:
- developing expertise in planning
& managing a project
- developing expertise with one or
more GIS systems
- developing skills in written and
verbal reporting
- providing for study in areas of
own interest and using own methods
This semester is intended to help you define
your project/research direction, to largely complete the literature review
portion of the work and to generate a detailed proposal which can be followed
for the remainder of the project/research. By the end of the first semester of
the GIS project or Master research program you should have:
1. become
familiar with the terminology, fundamental logic and problems associated with
the conduct of project/research work;
2. acquired the
skills necessary for analysing and evaluating the dependability of knowledge
acquired through research;
3. be able to
clearly and concisely state a problem in a form amenable to study by an
accepted research or development process;
4. proposed a
problem for study and a procedure for addressing the problem; and
5. completed an
extensive literature review covering current research in the proposed area of
study.
What, then, is research?
Research is the manner in which we
attempt to solve problems in a systematic effort: to push back the frontiers of human ignorance
or to confirm the validity of the solutions to problems others have presumably
resolved. Ultimately, research is a way of thinking. It is a way of looking
at accumulated fact so that those data become meaningful in the total process
of discovering new insights into unsolved problems and revealing new meaning.
For those who have never processed data or pursued facts to fresh
interpretations, research can be a highly exhilarating experience. Research is
the thrill that comes with the making of a new discovery. We shall discuss
research as a process that enlists the assistance of the scientific method in
solving perplexing problems and resolving unanswered questions.
Content
Lectures in research techniques and research
management. Literature review. Research paradigms. Hypothesis formation.
Experimental design. Project management. Organisation, analysis and
interpretation of data. Evaluation procedures. Scientific writing.
Assessment
For Student in 451-824 GIS project the
assessment is broken down as:
Literature Reviews and Assignments (28%)
Three reviews of journal articles pertinent
to your area of research are required. These are worth 3% each. Guidelines are
below.
There are 4 other assignments assessed as
3%, 4%, 5% and 7% respectively of the subject mark.
Project Report (72%)
The remainder of the assessment is based on
the final project report.
For students in 451-606 Research Methods,
you do only the Literature Reviews and Assignments. It is hoped that this then
provides a good basis for your research (whether this is a half-year or a
full-year of work).
Schedule
Week 1 Introduction
to course.
Week 2 Introduction
to library reference facilities. (Bess Secomb)
Week 3
Research paradigms
Week 4 Bibliography
software
Week 5 Observation & Measurement
Week 6
Guest
Easter Break
Week 7 Research
proposal structures and scientific writing
Week 8 Guest
Week 9 Validity
issues
Week 10 Presentation
of Literature summaries (6 minutes each)
Week 11 No
class
Week 12 Presentation
of research proposals (10 minutes each)
Assignments
General Comments
1. There are 7
specific assignments for this course designed to help you with the development
of your research proposal.
2. Each paper is
to be submitted by the beginning of class on the due date (see below). This may
be as an attached file on e-mail or as printed hard-copy. No disks or hand
written work please. Keep a back-up copy of all work.
3. Anything
longer than the specific page limit (see below) will not be assessed. This,
hopefully, will help you to be concise and explicit. Keep your creativity to
the questions of the assignment. Don’t use unnecessary verbiage, and make use
of section titles to help the reader and to limit the need for transition
sentences. The purpose of this limitation reflects the real demands of any
funding proposal to conform to page restraints.
4. Use a formal,
scientific writing style. Spelling and grammar errors will lower your grade.
Feel free to get editing help, particularly if English is not your first
language or if you are not used to technical writing. This course relies
heavily on communication by writing, as does the scientific community.
Assignment #1 Bibliography
Learn how to use the library literature
search facilities The week 2 introduction is only that - you need to follow up
on your own! Become familiar with CD-ROM sources, on-line searching and the
science and social science citation indices. Mostly the various computer based
searching systems are available to students free of charge.
Use these systems to prepare a brief (10 to
15 items - but no more) bibliography of articles on an area of interest from
the past 4 years. The list must be in a proper citation format (see the reading
list for examples). Describe the process you went through to find these
articles. Select two articles from this list which are in peer-review journals
(i.e. not in conference proceedings or magazine style publications). Hand in a
copy of the first page of each article.
Assignment #2, 3 and 4 Literature
Reviews (2 pages)
Briefly answer each question for a referred
journal article drawn from your literature search. The reviews are due on the
dates shown above.
You should be able to answer the questions
in less than 2 pages.
Note that there are five questions which
must always be answered.
1. Full, correct citation.
2. How did you become aware of this paper
(another paper, citation index, ...... )?
3. What is the main research
question/problem?
4. a) What are the specific objectives of
the study?
b) Are the specific objectives met? Why or why not?
5. According to the authors, what is the
importance of their study and to whom?
According to the nature of the paper under
review also answer any two of the following questions.
6. Critically evaluate the type and quality
of the article’s literature review. Is it a good synthesis or more like an
annotated bibliography? How could it be improved?
7. What are the major validity and
reliability concerns with this study?
8. Identify the type of research method
used and discuss whether or not it is appropriate?
9. To whom are the findings important and
why? Is this the same audience that the authors are addressing?
Assignment #5 Review of Proposals (3
pages)
A number of research proposals - both
successful and unsuccessful - will be made available. Choose two of these and
write critical reviews of the proposals. You should:
(a) in your own words, provide a summary of
what the researcher(s) proposed to do.
(b) comment on the significance of the
proposed research: as suggested in the proposal, and in your view
(c) indicate whether, and why, you feel that
the place of the proposed research within a larger body of research has been
sufficiently explained in the proposal
(d) assess whether the method to be followed
has been sufficiently explained for a lay reader.
Finally, indicate which of the two proposals
you would recommend for funding.
Assignment #6 Literature Summary (4
pages + oral presentation)
In this assignment you will develop a
description of the state-of-the-art or extent-of-knowledge in you field of
interest. This should be much more that simply a restatement of your literature
reviews to date. It should be both more comprehensive (covering additional
sources) and more integrating (drawing out commonalities and contrasts in the
research done to date). Finally it should provide a clear sign post to your own
research. Clear gaps in development and/or knowledge should be identified and
this should lead to more detailed discussion of the particular gap to which you
intend to direct your attention, and the particular aspect of that gap to which
you feel you can make a contribution.
Do not go on to describe your intended
project in detail but make it very clear where the work you intend to do fits
into the literature you have been reviewing.
Assignment #7 Research Proposal (6
pages + oral presentation)
1. Briefly (no more than two paragraphs)
define a research problem in your area of interest; eg., What is your area of
interest? What specific aspect are you concerned with? What is a problem of
interest to you within that specific aspect that you feel is important to
investigate?
2. Briefly describe the significance of
your research problem:
a) Why is it
important?
b) To whom is it
important?
3. What are larger social, environmental,
economic and/or organisational problems that are associated with your
particular research problem?
4. Describe the research method
anticipated for the research. As appropriate include some or all of the
following:
a) What research
materials will be developed?
b) What
procedures will be used in their development?
c) Who or what
is your study population (i.e., who will be exposed to these materials)?
d) To what
population do you want to generalise your findings and conclusions?
e) How
representative is your study population to the general population of interest?
f) What
questions will be asked of the study population?
5. In some types of research a properly
conducted experiment is, by its very nature, successful whether the hypothesis
is supported or not. In others it is necessary to have some criteria by which
to measure whether the objectives have been met. Discuss and evaluate the issue
in the context of your proposal and if appropriate indicate what measures of
achievement will be employed.
6. Timetable for the research/project.
Due dates
Assignment should be submitted by e-mail
before the class in the week shown:
Assignment 1 - Literature search and
bibliography – week 3
Assignment 2 - Literature review 1 – week 4 (2 page limit)
Assignment 3 - Literature review 2 – week 5 (2 page limit)
Assignment 4 - Literature review 3 – week 6 (2 page limit)
Assignment 5 - Review of Research Proposals
- week 8 (3 page limit)
Assignment 6 - Literature summary – week 10 (4 page limit)
Assignment 7 - Research Proposal - week 12 (6 page limit)
At the end of first semester you will
continue work with a chosen supervisor.
References
Text -
Leedy, P. D. (1985) Practical Research:
Planning and Design. Macmillan Publishing Company. New York.
Other references-
Bechtel, R. B., Marams, W. & Michelson,
W. (1987) Methods in Environmental and Behavioral Reseach. Van Nostrand
Reinhold Comany Inc.
Day R.A. ( 1988) How to write and publish
a scientific paper, Oryx Press, Phoenix
Holland, J.H. Holyoak, K. J. Nisbett, R. E.
and Thagard,. P. R. (1989) Induction: Process of Inference, Learning and
Discovery. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Kerlinger, F. N. (1986) Science and the
Scientific Approach, pp. 2-14. In Foundations of Behavioral Research. ,
Holt, Rinehard & Winston, New York.
Kuhn, T.S. (1970) The structure of
scientific revolutions (2nd Ed), International Encyclopedia of Unified
Science (Vol 2 No 2) The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Mann, T. (1987) A guide to library
research methods, Oxford University Press, New York
Phillips, E. (1987) How to get a PhD: a
handbook for students and their supervisors, Open University Press, Milton
Keynes.
Turabian, K.L. (1973 or later) A
manual for writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations, University of
Chicago Press, Chicago.
Williams, F., Rice, R.E. and Rogers, E.M.
(1988) Research methods and the new media, Free Press, New York.
Web Sites
Center for Social Research methods http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/
Literature search: http://libgis.lib.uoguelph.ca/Training/Subj-Resources/Res-by-Sub-Area/subject.htm
Research paradigms: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/proj/res_meth/login.html
Lots of resources: http://www.fis.utoronto.ca/programs/courses/LIS/1240a/resource.htm
Doing Research http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~dmlap/e309k/research.html