R3 Data To End
- 1. Research Process iii) Data Presentation to the End! 3.0 Introduction to Data Presentation and Analysis Chapter • Introduce this chapter, its logic and structure….this is the ‘meat’ of the dissertation and likely to be the second longest chapter (after the Lit Rev) or even the longest, so it is imperative that you show us the ‘building blocks’ and the ordering to ensure we can make sense of it as we go. 3.1 Structure • Remember – the way you research something for your own convenience is hardly ever the way you would present it - surely you will learn so much through the data acquisition process and analysis and ruminating upon it that you can find some themes or convenient logic upon which to rest the key components. • Survey 1 Qs 1-20 followed by Survey 2 Qs 1 –20 spanning 30 pages is hardly likely to be riveting reading…and then you try to synthesise it and build links between the elements and expect the reader to be able to relate page 19 to page 33 and cross reference it with something he may just remember having seen on page 26…I don’t think so! • Possible alternatives: 1. You MAY find that the structure can be conveniently driven by your aims and objectives or possibly by the structure of your literature review (the latter should mirror the former to a significant degree if you think about it!) or in terms of your ‘Research Gap’. Surely you must be covering things under these same areas in your primary research? 2. The definition of your Research Gap at the end of the Lit Rev will certainly give you a sensible possible template to work from as your research was (I HOPE!) designed to plug this gap. 3. The primary research itself may have ‘resolved itself’ around a number of emerging ‘themes’ which seem to hold the answer to the Qs or hypotheses at the heart of the question – potentially these themes themselves might represent a suitable structure. 4. In your Lit Rev you should have come across concepts, theories, models, processes, approaches (for example, say a chronology of the key phases involved in crisis management) – potentially these might hold the key to the structure and logic of this chapter. • Regardless of what structure you choose, it should be • Clear • Logical • Appropriate • Easy to follow from the reader’s perspective (as opposed to convenient for you as the writer)
- 2. 3.2 Sampling, data acquisition, validity & reliability Do remember, before embarking on your first data set to talk us through the population, the sample, the questionnaire/interview administration process and the issue of the validity and reliability of the data (and yes, you may well need some statistics to do this) – lest you do this, what right have you to suggest that we believe the figures or your conclusions at all? (See above) 3.3 Data presentation, analysis & evaluation It is difficult to ‘script’ this chapter/section – so much depends upon what emerges from your own data analysis. Nevertheless, the following elements hold true: • Use a strong and logical structure (see above – and it may not necessarily be Q1 Q2 Q3….). • Use tables / figs / graphs etc where they lend themselves and ‘paint the proverbial 1000 words’ o That said, you must give a narrative interpretation of tabs & figs – they do not speak for themselves entirely. You cannot assume the reader will see all you want him to see or to draw the conclusions that you do. o Ensure your explanation and interpretation of the data is correct, balanced and justified: watertight. Be sure that there can be no other explanation....or, failing that, entertain the fact that the data is capable of multiple interpretations. o Take care in drawing causal links: ‘this is because…’ in some cases you may want to see it that way (perhaps you wish to ‘prove’ your hypothesis rather than ‘test’ it) but there may be other reasons. You need to maintain balance in your analysis, evaluation and attribution of causal links at all costs. • Consider carefully where you place analysis: o Pages of presentation of data without interpretation and analysis (the latter being held back for a considerable time) is difficult to assimilate and boring….you will need to house analysis reasonably close to the datasets themselves…this may suggest some clustering around themes, objectives, phases in a process, stages in a model, themes arising……think it through and, whatever your decision, ‘sell’ the idea to your reader. • Evaluation is more than analysis. o Analysis explains why something is what it is, the way it is o Evaluation considers its value both intrinsically and in relation to other comparators • Consider carefully where you evaluate and draw conclusions: o As above, you may find it sensible, easier (for you and your readership) to draw some conclusions at each cluster, theme, stage….of course when you have dealt with ALL the themes you will still need to dovetail/synthesise it all together, but you will find it the easier for already having mini- conclusions already in the bag.
- 3. • Although we tend to bracket conclusions and recommendations together, they are separate (though closely related) entities o Conclusions are what may be drawn from the analysis and evaluation of data o Recommendations represent a logical and hopefully practical response to the impacts and implications (for your chosen context) which run from the conclusions drawn. So in this chapter you should be drawing specific conclusions from the data, but stopping short of drawing final conclusions in respect of the whole dissertation. 3.4 Conclusions and Recommendations Here you need to reflect upon your title and aims and objectives; to show that you have thoroughly addressed them and what has resulted therefrom. Depending upon the nature of the project you may find that there are ‘conclusions’ or ‘conclusions followed by ‘recommendations’. You must NOT rush this: this is where YOUR qualities and creative contributions shine through. This is where YOU fill the ‘gap’ and produce something that was not known and appreciated before. This is where you advance the sum total of human knowledge on the subject. Obviously, the higher the level at which you are working, the greater the expectation of your extent and quality of contribution. • Introduction o Provide a structure for the chapter o Re-visit/ remind the reader of the initial aims and objectives • Treatment of aims and objectives o take the reader through an audit of how you have treated and addressed each one of them • Taking the A&Os draw conclusions from each. • Threading the conclusions from the above together, what does it all add up to? o Has the central hypothesis been proven? o Has the central question been comprehensively answered? o Has the problem been resolved? • In the light of specific and overall conclusions are there recommendations one could make: o To the specific context (organisation) o To a broader context (sector..region..) IF APPLICABLE. But do beware here: some things are NOT automatically transferable to other settings.... or at least not without further research to test and establish their transferability. • Consider what it would take to move these conclusions and recommendations into reality: o Further research? • A ‘wrap’ statement leaving the dissertation complete and forward-looking. GREAT!! Finished!!!! ...................... Really??? – Are you sure?
- 4. 3.5 References / Bibliography Please note below the general principles for the use of appendices (‘annexes’):- • References are bibliographic sources you ACTUALLY cited in the text. • At all costs, make sure you follow consistently a recognised referencing system like Harvard or MLA. o this means you must always cite your sources in the main body of your project no matter whether you are quoting or paraphrasing. Remember: citation without attribution = plagiarism! The penalty for plagiarism is unthinkable – at best it could be Conseil de Discipline and at worst exclusion from this university and all other French universities at very least o ‘References’ = sources actually used and quoted. o ‘Bibliography’ = other sources used (not necessarily quoted) which influenced your thinking • The general idea underpinning ALL referencing systems is that you MUST at all costs provide sufficient information to the reader to be able to find the exact source that you yourself used. Where web sources are concerned, for example, it is NOT sufficient to cite things like www. france.gouv.fr – you HAVE to be able to give instructions to the reader as to how to find the precise article upon the page where you found it. If you want the right to rely upon some assertion made by someone you MUST be prepared to give the reader opportunity to verify it for himself. 3.6 Appendices Please do not get the use of appendices wrong. If something is germane to the understanding of the main body of the text...... it should BE in the main body and NOT in the appendices. A reader should be able to make perfect sense of the main body without recourse to the appendices at all. The rule is that appendices are for EXTRA, ADDITIONAL OR CONTEXTUAL information…material which the reader may or may not refer to (It is up to the reader – he doesn’t have to). • This is most definitely not a dumping ground for text when facing a tight word limit. • You must not force the reader to dive from the main body to the appendices just to make sense of the matter. • Students often make criminal mistakes putting things in the appendices which were desperately needed in the main body: do NOT let this happen to you! You must never ‘force’ the reader to have to refer to the appendices to make sense of what you are writing in the main body. If it is so critical to the understanding of the point you are making – it should be in the main body!
- 5. 3.7 FINISHED now, surely??? ............ Really?................ Are you SURE? You may think that you are at the end.... but that only means it is time for you to reconsider the beginning! Like any large-scale endeavour, your project can wander off- target in the writing. You need to reflect upon what you set out to do and what you actually did do and see whether the two are in harmony with one another (or not). Introduction • Go back and re-read your title and introduction and aims and objectives – you may have ‘veered’ off course. This leaves a choice: o Tune the title and A&O to the content o Keep the A&O and edit the content The former is probably the easier at this stage! Acknowledgements? (If you want). Often you may want to thank your boss, supportive colleagues, contributors and key interviewees, partners etc...though this is never obligatory. Take care not to sound too ‘gushing’ in your admiration ‘though! Abstract (if an academic piece of work). Now you can write this. It is NOT an introduction. It is a very short précis (perhaps half a page to two pages max) of the entire finished work including what you concluded so that a future potential reader could determine whether to go to the trouble of reading the entire thing or not. It goes in the front BEFORE the contents page! Executive Summary (If a commercial piece of work). This is often 1 or 2 pages long summarising the entire research work (not just the outcomes). It tends to be read by senior people who need a quick digest because they do not have the time to plough through the entire document.... this ‘ploughing’ they will often leave to their subordinates. It is the commercial equivalent of the academic ‘abstract’. Format. Refer to any Handbook supplied or agreed brief for technical details such as: o Word limit and penalties o Front page o Spacing o Binding o Cover o Etc Making sure you have not infringed any limits or regulations. Deadline • There are NO excuses here…. Last minute ICT / TICE problems are almost never acceptable given the period you have had to plan a project. BE WARNED. Deadlines are deadlines: miss them at your peril.
- 6. Finally... I hope this has helped as a sort of logical template: good luck!