COP3//LECTURE: RESOLVING YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT//OUGD601

final lecture_resolving your research project
17th jan - 5 weeks away

getting stuck:

• ask yourself why are you really stuck?
• avoid negativity 
• picture what being unstuck would look like

visualise

starting to take charge of your research project, not being a victim, what can I do in five weeks?!

becoming unstuck 

this is how I feel about being stuck > this is what Im really stuck with > being unstuck would look like this > what actions could be taken to get there > in what timescale? > do the action!

losing focus 

•Don’t lose sight of your central goal / overall question

•Prioritise- don’t obsess over how things look or read

•Involve your tutor

•Manage yourself

project self assessment 

•Write down the major aims of the project

•Give a brief summary of the work so far

•Comment on your time management

•Do you know what the final project will look like?

•What steps will you take to ensure it gets there?

•What areas of the project are you worried about?

•What ‘risk management’ plans do you have?

•How are you going to use the remaining tutorials?

running out of time

•17th Jan- 5 weeks away

•Refer to your original plan

•Be more disciplined than ever

•Don’t prioritise the practical over the written element

•Set targets

•Scale down your ambitions if necessary

losing motivation:

finding motivation is about thinking about why you are doing something and think about it having a use, set a target, increases motivation,

own personal deadlines.  You are in charge of the project, this will motivate you.

some other general advice 

•Look again at your question or theme…have you done what you set out to do or do you need to change your title?

•Make sure everything in your project relates to your title/question or theme (if you have wandered off on a tangent you may be penalised).

•Make sure your dissertation is pitched at the right level i.e. avoid lots of description and include lots of critical analysis supported by relevant

theory (see the earlier lectures).

•Justify everything you say with discussion or examples.

•Support all of your assertions with references and evidence.

•Introduce each chapter with a brief statement telling the reader what you are setting out to do and how this chapter fits in with the whole

thing.

•Conclude each chapter by stating what you have achieved and how it links with the next ‘bit’.

•A general overall introduction and conclusion should also be included giving the reader an insight into what is to come (intro) and what you

have achieved (conclusion).

•Presentation / Academic Conventions. Refer to the guides on eStudio carefully