![8
Basic ingredients
• What you’ll need to know to write up your proposal:
– A clear idea of the topic you want to explore
– A draft research question or questions
– Relevant data sources [and any ethical issues arising]
– An idea of the methods you’ll use, including any fieldwork
– Any external collaborators [projects with CASA partners / CDRC
may pre-specify some of the above]
• You should also: look at the Mark Scheme to see what
CASA values for a) Review and Research Framing b)
Research Design
(c) Max Nathan](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/24-01-31writingaproposal241008204211-250719224811-2d539de1/85/Writing-Proposal-for-a-PhD-Candidate-in-Universities-8-320.jpg)
![12
Background literature review
• Not a full literature review! That comes later
• For the proposal, synthesise at least 6-10 sources
• Sources should be credible [e.g. academic papers /
books; government / policy documents]
– You can also use e.g. a media report / social media / video ref. to
motivate your topic, especially if it’s very new
– Wikipedia is good, but you should mainly use credible sources
• Use the Harvard format for references (see handbook)
• Use a reference manager, e.g. Zotero, Endnote (see
ISD software database)
(c) Max Nathan](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/24-01-31writingaproposal241008204211-250719224811-2d539de1/85/Writing-Proposal-for-a-PhD-Candidate-in-Universities-12-320.jpg)
![33
1) Review existing academic / business / policy literature on the ‘creator
economy’ to identify key features
[wide literature, fuzzy terminology, needs pinning down ~ pull key features around RQs]
2) Develop a conceptual framework, definition of ‘creators’
[use this to identify creators in the core datasets used; validate build etc]
3) Show the spatial distribution of creators across cities, and any
regional variations, using data visualisation and statistical analysis
tools
[think about data and tools you’d need to answer your RQs, also definition of cities and
regions in your data]
4) Explore the factors explaining the spatial distribution of creators,
through statistical analysis
[what tools would you need to answer your RQs; use the literature to identify push/pull
factors and go find datasets that cover these]
(c) Max Nathan
Is there a spatial dimension to the creator economy?
Are certain spaces more attractive to creators? What
are the attractors?](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/24-01-31writingaproposal241008204211-250719224811-2d539de1/85/Writing-Proposal-for-a-PhD-Candidate-in-Universities-33-320.jpg)
Writing Proposal for a PhD Candidate in Universities
- 1. BARTLETT CENTRE FOR ADVANCED SPATIAL ANALYSIS CASA004/10/12: Dissertation Writing a dissertation proposal Max Nathan Associate Professor, Applied Urban Sciences, CASA max.nathan@ucl.ac.uk @iammaxnathan / @maxnathan@bsky.social February 2024
- 2. 2 What I’ll talk about 1) Why you should do a proposal for your dissertation, and why you should start early i.e. now 2) What you need to include / proposal structure – This bit will be quite detailed, I will go step by step – Title, research question and objectives, literature review and referencing, research design, timeframe 3) How to submit, and then use your proposal 4) Resources, including sample dissertations (c) Max Nathan
- 3. 3 Why
- 4. 4 Why do a proposal? • CASA makes you do one; it’s a course requirement • Helps match you with the right supervisor • We give you less time than you may think! The proposal helps you get ahead – Identify a suitable topic and research question(s) – Explore prior work – Identify and start on relevant methods and data – Plan your time (c) Max Nathan
- 5. 5 Why you should start early (c) Max Nathan Get started early with the research itself Spend time on your proposal now
- 6. 6 What
- 7. 7 The big picture (c) Max Nathan Topic Lit review Questions Design Analysis Reflection & Discussion Your proposal is a first go at these bits It’s an iterative process! You may not get it right first time! The dissertation should get more focused / then pull focus; elements should inform each other
- 8. 8 Basic ingredients • What you’ll need to know to write up your proposal: – A clear idea of the topic you want to explore – A draft research question or questions – Relevant data sources [and any ethical issues arising] – An idea of the methods you’ll use, including any fieldwork – Any external collaborators [projects with CASA partners / CDRC may pre-specify some of the above] • You should also: look at the Mark Scheme to see what CASA values for a) Review and Research Framing b) Research Design (c) Max Nathan
- 9. 9 Basic proposal structure • Working title • Research question(s) – What bits of your topic will you explore? – 50-100 words • Background literature review – Brief background to the topic; explain its importance – 200 words incl. references • Research design – Methods + analysis / data / ethics – At least 400 words • Timetable (c) Max Nathan Use this basic structure to build your webform answers You aren’t committed to do exactly what’s in your proposal!
- 10. 10 The working title • Concise, engaging, and conveying the general topic • CASA uses it to help allocate your supervisor • Not critical, so don’t spend ages on exact wording … • … you can change it as many times as you want later • Examples: – ‘Crowdsourced mapping for all? Gender bias in OpenStreetMap’ – ‘A geospatial analysis of the creator economy: where creators live and work, and why’ – ‘Speed 2.0’ – ‘Bubbles’ (c) Max Nathan
- 11. 11 Research questions • The central question(s) you will try to answer • Research questions ≠ topic! – The question or questions need to pick out what part(s) of your topic you’re going to address – Questions should be pertinent and topical – Questions should be as specific as possible • Use clear / precise language. Examples: – How has the gender bias in OSM contributors impacted the quality of data on OSM? – Is there a spatial dimension to the creator economy? Are certain spaces more attractive to creators? What are the attractors? (c) Max Nathan
- 12. 12 Background literature review • Not a full literature review! That comes later • For the proposal, synthesise at least 6-10 sources • Sources should be credible [e.g. academic papers / books; government / policy documents] – You can also use e.g. a media report / social media / video ref. to motivate your topic, especially if it’s very new – Wikipedia is good, but you should mainly use credible sources • Use the Harvard format for references (see handbook) • Use a reference manager, e.g. Zotero, Endnote (see ISD software database) (c) Max Nathan
- 13. 13 Harvard referencing scheme • In the text, it looks like this: – According to Dennett and Reades (2023), CASA is the world’s greatest urban spatial science group …” – “Some assert that CASA is a globally pre-eminent urban spatial science group (Dennett and Reades 2023). Others disagree …” – “Arribas-Bel et al (2024) claim Liverpool is significantly better.” • In the bibliography, provide full citations: – Dennett, A and Reades J (2023) “CASA is the best”, Urban Studies, 10: 300-310 – Arribas-Bel D, Green M and Singleton A (2024) “You’re Wrong: A reply to Dennett and Reades”, Urban Studies, 1: 215-220 (c) Max Nathan
- 14. 14 Research design • Your research design = how you answer your RQs • After the research questions and framing, this is the most important part of the proposal … • … and where you should put most time and thought • Three (or four) linked elements: – Methods + analysis – Data – Ethics • The mark scheme rewards innovative, appropriate, robust and reproducible choices of methods / data (c) Max Nathan
- 15. 15 Design: methods • Linking your RQs to the tools for answering them • Justify your choice of methods, given your RQs, and what existing studies have / haven’t done • Then think about: how you use these methods • Most of you will be using quantitative tools, e.g. clustering, linear regression, ABMs … – Use what you’ve learnt at CASA – But your methods also have to fit your questions. So, your methods and analysis may need to go beyond the course – If you’re ambitious, this can be good! – If you don’t like the sound of this, go back to your RQs (c) Max Nathan
- 16. 16 Design: data • Linking your RQs to the tools for answering them • Again: justify your choice of data, given your RQs, and what existing studies have / haven’t done • Iterate: questions <~> methods <~> data <~> analysis – Try: data that’s open/public, or which UCL Library has access to – Open data also have minimal ethical issues • Make time in your forward planning: – Cleaning / wrangling data to get it ready for the analysis – Dealing with data problems, e.g. variables may have a lot of missing observations, or may not tell you what you need – ALWAYS read the metadata / manuals! (c) Max Nathan
- 17. 17 Some open data sources • A few good places to start: – London Data Store: https://data.london.gov.uk/ – UK Data Store: https://data.gov.uk – UK Office of National Statistics: https://www.ons.gov.uk/ – NOMIS: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/ – UK Data Archive: https://www.data-archive.ac.uk/ – EU Data Portal: https://data.europa.eu/en – UCL Library data repo: https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/az.php – Geocoded global patents: https://www.worldwide-patents.com/ – PatentCity: historical data: https://cverluise.github.io/patentcity/ – OpenAlex: scientists, papers, unis: https://openalex.org/ (c) Max Nathan
- 18. 18 Design: ethics • Jon will cover ethics in more detail next week • Key = you MUST include some discussion of ethics, even if you just say that there are no ethical issues. You will lose marks if you don’t include ‘ethical reflection’ • Research involving human participants (e.g. interviews, prototype testing) may require ethical review • Research using personal information (e.g. point data / microdata) may require ethical review, data protection registration (c) Max Nathan
- 19. 19 Timeline • Not formally part of the proposal, but do it now anyway - Try: a GANTT chart - Set milestones - Tasks can and should overlap - You can and should iterate certain tasks, e.g. literature review, analysis, writeup (c) Max Nathan https://templates.office.com/en-gb/Simple-Gantt- Chart-TM16400962
- 20. 20 How
- 21. 21 Research is messy The dissertation means doing real research. You don’t know the answers yet. Neither does your supervisor. You’ll encounter problems that are hard to plan for. This can feel un-nerving and stressful! (c) Max Nathan
- 22. 22 Research is messy • Your supervisor is here to help you with all this • Your project will evolve, and this is fine • It is not unusual if you refine or change one or more of – Research questions – Lit review – Focus – Methodologies and analytical strategy – Datasets … • So again: your proposal doesn’t commit you • BUT putting thought and effort into the proposal now *should* minimise the need for future changes
- 23. 23 Remember the big picture (c) Max Nathan Topic Lit review Questions Design Analysis Reflection & Discussion Your proposal is a first go at these bits
- 24. 24 Submitting your proposal • Iterate using the basic structure shown here • Submit your proposal by March 22 • Submit your proposal using the Google form (coming soon!) • Matching by 2 April (c) Max Nathan • Working title • Research question(s) – What bits of your topic will you explore? – 50-100 words • Background literature review – Brief background to the topic; explain its importance – 200 words incl. references • Research design – Methods + analysis / data / ethics – At least 400 words • Timetable
- 25. 25 Resources
- 26. 26 Example dissertations • Take a look on Moodle / sample dissertations for: – A list of past dissertation titles – Example dissertations which scored pass / merit / distinction – This should help you match up effort and desired outcome … – For MRES students, there are also examples of articles which got published in journals (c) Max Nathan
- 27. 27 Dissertation mark scheme • Available in Moodle / assessment • For proposals, look again at review/framing and design
- 28. 28 Dissertation handbook • A crucial resource, please download it, use it often • Available in Moodle / assessment
- 29. 29 Questions?
- 30. 30 Appendix
- 31. 31 Research objectives • Not formally part of the Google form • May help you with planning the proposal • Will be important for wider planning / writeup • Key = ensure objectives are linked to your research questions, logical, clearly explained (c) Max Nathan
- 32. 32 Research objectives • One useful tool you could try: SMART – Specific: state what you need to achieve ~ link to RQs – Measurable: how will you know if – Achievable: based on your experience so far – Realistic / relevant: doable in the time available, and remembering that this is an MSc thesis not a 3-year project – Time-constrained: when should objectives be completed to get the thesis done • Don’t get too hung up on ticking off each of these – your actual research will evolve from the proposal (c) Max Nathan
- 33. 33 1) Review existing academic / business / policy literature on the ‘creator economy’ to identify key features [wide literature, fuzzy terminology, needs pinning down ~ pull key features around RQs] 2) Develop a conceptual framework, definition of ‘creators’ [use this to identify creators in the core datasets used; validate build etc] 3) Show the spatial distribution of creators across cities, and any regional variations, using data visualisation and statistical analysis tools [think about data and tools you’d need to answer your RQs, also definition of cities and regions in your data] 4) Explore the factors explaining the spatial distribution of creators, through statistical analysis [what tools would you need to answer your RQs; use the literature to identify push/pull factors and go find datasets that cover these] (c) Max Nathan Is there a spatial dimension to the creator economy? Are certain spaces more attractive to creators? What are the attractors?