Today we discussed how to go about our research for the Thesis project. We talked about Chapter 1 of the thesis and how this is to be an outline of the project. The reason for choosing the topic, my own experience within the area of research. Why I understand there is a need to research in this area. So I came to this idea/decision, what other concepts am I aware of, what failed to provoke me to do this research, what inspired me and the evolution of my ideas.
Chapter two looks at the research in my area, things that relate to my project. To make the research personal to my work, I need to pass it through my filter to make it personal. When writing the literature review/chapter 2, I need to show the reader that I understand the writer and why their research is important to my development. Can I criticize their work, see what needs developed (critical analysis). Who else has done research in my field of work. I will look at their techniques and their methodologies. I will argue if they are appropoiate or not, or if they could be related to my project. E.g. I would like to use the same method as ...... This guy has used this and it was very effective because.... and I would like to use the same approach...etc. Mind maps might also be useful, document all the links. Who is the user group?
Is my topic worth while, does it duplicate other works, is this new research in this field. Can I add to the field of research, state my area and build on it. e.g. The interactive table, were did it come from etc. Making sense of what I have read in articles and relate this back to my work and how it could benefit from such methodologies and design approach. e.g. This idea can be traced back to .... but also discussed in this paper is that ....
If your paraphrasing you still need to quote the source. Another important point, a Bibliography is not needed, but a list of reference is needed. Using Mendeley to help research is a god tool, also Citulike or Delicious; also good for publishing is Scribd. A good referencing system to use is Harvard and a good resource for articles is ACMdigital library.
