CoP Lecture 1

Lecture Notes:

Organising research project

Project management and timetabling
Blog proposal
6000 to 9000 words

DEADLINE: 12 Jan '17
- 15 weeks
- Start asap

PLAN & initial ideas for practical

*** Try to have the first draft done for interim submission ***

- Project needs to evidence a strategic approach / methodology
- Practical and written need to be cohesive
- In depth research in sketchbook and essay that work together
- Write a list of potential questions

TASK 1:
- Why am I looking at my question?
What do I want to find out?
What do I want to achieve?
Is the question researchable within 15 weeks?
Can I write about it in 9000 words?

Should lead to a working title.

- Title needs to be an answerable thesis, not a statement
- Must be a question that can be answered in a conclusion
- No more than 15 to 20 words in title

- Make notes of potential questions that I find throughout my research
- Use key terminology in the title

TASK 2:
- Project outline. Plan ahead
- Use questions and link everything to the question
- Project needs to stay focused
- Timings
- Plan around holidays

- Be concise in research
- Prioritise
- Time plans for research / practical / writing
- Mini goals / targets
- Number of words by a certain deadline?
- Allow time for research and reading

Consider binding / print at the end
Factor in tutorials
Use eStudio

TASK 3:
- Literature search
- Need to know key info, key writers & sources of my topic
- Focus on 2/3/4 books for main research
- Rest of research supplements or challenges this
- T R I A N G U L A T E
- Use jstor.org

TASK 4:
- Start a bibliography
- Make notes of references now and as I find the work
- Make note of page numbers
- Bibliography should be long.. Harvard references

Dissertation should be structured into chapters
Each chapter:
Different theoretical / methodological approach?
Different thinking / writing?
Different Theories?

Intro & Conclusion
Evolving & structured arguments
Dissertation starts generally but gets more specific & concise
1) Topic as a whole
2) In a certain context?
3) A specific example?
4) Drawing it together

eStudio: guidance and order / number of words

Intro
- Clearly outline topic and explain why it is important to study
- Clearly state the research question and any sub questions
- How it is being investigated. Methods.

Main Body 1
- Argument. Structured into chapters
- Show understanding
- Research
- Key dates / events / writers / artists etc
- Triangulation

Main Body 2
- Look at illustration
- Use theory from literature or theory search and apply to artists work

- Reflective practice
- Descriptive analysis of my practical work
- Demonstrate SYNTHESIS
- Link my practical work into the dissertation
- Research / timescales etc
- Writing about own practice
- Theoretical and contextual analysis of the work that I produced

Conclusion
- 10% of dissertation
- Answers the question
- Points that I proved / raised linked to evidence in the text
- Evaluation

Start thinking about mapping out these sections
Need a Q first though