Finishing

You're close. All that's left is the final chapter. In this chapter you get to use all the information you've gathered along the way -- all the data, all the knowledge from the literature you've read, all the deep thoughts and discussions that have shaped what you've done and how. You can pull it all together in this final chapter.

In this chapter, you get to answer your research question. You also get to say some of the stuff that you really want to; talk about what it all means. You should take the opportunity to reflect on the process itself: what went well? what would you do differently next time? does research such as this potentially inform practice?

Once you're done this there are some housekeeping things. Do a final read-thru and look for:

• sentences that suddenly don't make sense;
• sentences that are repetitive and/or unwieldy;
• missing information (e.g. how many participants? return rate on questionnaires?)
  
• referencing accuracy (PLEASE, I beg you, check Harvard and get it right!);
• formatting - check font size, ensure paragraphs are indented or spaced;
  
• spelling and grammar issues.

And finally, make sure you're sure you've answered your inital research question. Once you've done all this, go outside and smell the flowers and spring and relax!

It's been a pleasure working with you all.

The International Development Research Office (IDRC) has a useful site with information on qualitative data collection tools. Given that most of you have already collected your data and are now on the home straight, it might be worth a look to put what you've done into perspective.

If you're feeling particularly stressed, focus on the soothing ocean -- it will make you feel calm!

Doing internet research -Internet for Education

Doing research using the internet isn't as easy as you might expect. There are questions of validity, viewpoint, source and copyright to deal with.

This site might be just what you're looking for! It's a personal tutorial from the Virtual Tutoring Suite by SOSIG, focussing on techniques for searching and sifting through information on the internet. As you move through the tutorial, you can put interesting links into a virtual shopping basket for later reference.

The skeleton

The bare bones of your dissertations/projects are going to be taking shape soon. I came across this fabulous x-ray of what goes where in Rowena Murray's (2002) "How to write a thesis". Might be of use:

Background/context/review of the literature/introduction
• The subject of the research is important because …
• Those who have worked on this subject include …
• What has not yet been done is …
• The research project aimed to …

Theory/Method/Approach/Materials/Subjects
• This study was based on the approach of …
• This approach was chosen because …
• It was likely to achieve the project aims by …
• Others have used this method to …

Results/Analysis
• The steps in the research involved …
• Analyses were conducted by …
• Data/information/observations were gathered as …
• These were organized into …

Discussion/Interpretation
• Analyses suggested that …
• This interpretation was based on …
• Taken together the analyses show …
• Research aims were achieved to the extent that …

Recommendations/Implications/Conclusions
• Further research is needed in order to …
• More information is needed on …
• Practice could be improved by …
• Proposed changes would be feasible if …

Questionnaires

If you're sitting around tonight trying to design your questionnaire, have a look at the D-I-Y questionnaire writing guide. The section on 'rubbish questions' is really quite useful and links nicely to the need to test-drive your instrument!

Piloting your instruments

Many of you are now developing questionnaires and interview schedules. It is important to test drive questionnaires and interview questions -- doing this can provide an insight into how effective your instrument is and can provide initial data. Piloting allows you to:

• test out how you will administer your questionnaire/interview
• ask participants for feedback so that you can identify ambigous or misleading questions
• find out how long it will take for participants to do the questionnare or take part in your interview
• identify and alter/remove unnecessary questions
• rework questions which lead to unexpected responses

Conducting a pilot is a key part of a solid research design. Basically, piloting can show up any potential difficulties before you proceed to the rest of your project and gives you the opportunity to 'tweak' your instruments to ensure a good fit with your research design and question.

Referencing, the Harvard way

Now that you're all starting to make notes and write sections of your literature review, you should give some careful thought to the issue of referencing. As nit-picky as it seems, referencing is a vital component of academic writing. You need to get it right!

Here are some sites which will be useful. Leeds Metropolitan University has (very usefully) produced an accessible on-line guide to the Harvard Referencing system. Have a look.

If you are using loads of online references, you might find the University of Southern Queensland site a useful addition -- it has lots of examples and covers most of the kinds of online referencing you will find you need to do.

Remember, referencing is important and you need to make sure you've been as accurate as possible, both in the way you reference and what you reference.

Research diaries

Keeping a research diary is an effective method of keeping track of where you've been and where you're going next. Each diary should be as individual as the person who keeps it, and can include:

• ideas
• feelings (and changes in feeling)
• facts, concepts
• names of people, organizations
• guesses, hunches, thoughts and dreams
• concept maps, diagrams, maps, photos
  
• observations and field notes
• clippings, notes
  
• reflections on previous entries
• plans for what to do next

Research questions

Ahhhhh -- the reality of having to do some research is starting to hit home!

Don't panic... there is a GREAT site which will help you refine your research question and support your search for appropriate literature review sources.

Research 101 has been developed by the University of Washington libraries and provides a step-by-step overview of the research process, from identifying a topic and refining a question through to searching and evaluating high-end information sources. For the really dedicated, there are even a series of review quizes!

Literature reviews

Hi all,
One of the first things you're going to work towards in this module is a draft of your literature review. There are some really useful sites around in relation to literature reviews -- explaining their purpose, outlining key sections, giving advice on how to approach them. You will find it useful to have a look at some of them.

One of my favourites, from the University of Toronto, notes that "A literature review is a piece of discursive prose, not a list describing or summarizing one piece of literature after another. It's usually a bad sign to see every paragraph beginning with the name of a researcher. Instead, organize the literature review into sections that present themes or identify trends, including relevant theory". Keep this in mind as you begin to think and write.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison also has some useful information about writing literature reviews.

Technology and girls

A couple of interesting sites to visit (if you haven't seen them already) that focus specifically on girls and technology.

GirlGeeks is a general site with information and links for women and girls interested in technology, either as a career, hobby or just for the cool gadgets.

GirlTECH is a site (and professional development programme) developed to support girls to move into the computer sciences. I've seen a branch of this spring up in Australia and it does good work with young girls.