Tag: 3

Most thesis or dissertation research involves collecting a large amount of primary data. As a novice researcher, it is easy to feel swamped by the sheer volume and variety of data you have gathered. Even quantitative or qualitative you have already collected and analysed can appear daunting to derive meaning from.

Students often tell us it is difficult to draw out the key ‘messages’ from their data set, which has been, for example, captured in chart form. They ask how this information can be developed into findings and conclusions. We advise that at this stage of the research process consider employing a technique, called spotlighting. This useful procedure helps identify the most significant data and explore the connections between them. Other similar techniques tend to emphasise logical categorisation (that is, putting data in boxes) whereas spotlighting pinpoints the connection between data and clusters of data.

Spotlighting is essentially a scanning process. It assists you to look through data quickly and screen them, so that you can swiftly develop a shortlist of ideas. These ideas, in turn, prompt further ideas, debate and discussion around a data hotspot. We recommend you follow five simple steps. First, drawing your data together in one place. Second, ‘scanning’, ‘over-viewing’ or ‘speed reading’ the data. Third, gathering initial thoughts and impressions (what is called a ‘trigger spot’). Fourth, clustering other pertinent data around that spot (involves generating a ‘hotspot’). Fifth, and final step, linking the data hotspot to your research questions or hypothesis.

The spotlighting technique works best if you can produce your data in physical form (or are able to write software applications to interrogate your data at scale). Take the example of an archaeologist trying to make sense of the artifacts they have uncovered from a dig. Using spotlighting, they might spread them out on a large display table to examine them. With business and humanities research, if you have collated and analysed quantitative data from questionnaires you could, similarly, print off the results on sheets of paper. You could then spread them out on a large, open floor area. If there is a very large amount of data (the answers, for example, from 1,000 questionnaires), you could summarise the data first using a spreadsheet or a statistical software package. Then print off the resulting charts, diagrams and tables, and pin them to a wall. Alternatively, you may have collected qualitative data from conducting interviews, and subsequently transcribed the conversations verbatim. Using spotlighting, you could enlarge the size of the text, print off the transcripts and spread them out somewhere convenient.

You are now in an ideal position to review the data you have laid out. Pull out or highlight, perhaps using a post-it note or fluorescent markers, any data that seem interesting. For example, data patterns and trends, called spots of data, which could be intriguing to explore. Look around to see if there are any related data that you can associate with the ‘spot’. You could, for instance, physically move all downward trending charts together into one cluster and draw a circle around them. Each of these clusters represents a potential hotspot. Sometimes you may need to join hotspots together, or at other times, keep them separate. It all depends on the situation. The focus is on identifying the meaning and/or implication of each hotspot. Consider, for example, how do the data relate to each other, what impression does it give you, what are its implications, what are its consequences, how does it connect to you personally as a researcher, and so on?

Next, ask yourself, which hotspots (or combinations of them) could provide answers (or partial answers) to your research questions or address your hypotheses? Write out your ‘free’ thoughts on each hotspot (or combinations of them). Then use these structured thoughts to develop a framework for your findings and conclusions. This helps you to identify groups of related data that are connected to each other, and in some definite way, to your research aims and objectives, and questions or hypotheses.

Whether you are interrogating quantitative or qualitative data, it is too easy to become absorbed in the data swamp. Spotlighting helps you resist attempts to ascribe meaning to data too early in the analytical process. The technique acts as a reminder to step back and take a broad perspective to identifying any patterns, or spots, in them. Like the archaeologist, attempt to get the ‘big picture’ first. This could mean, for instance, determining recurrences of the same number or pinpointing a series of numbers occurring frequently in tables of data. It could entail noticing the presence of the same/similar words appearing in pages of text or several charts that all show, collectively, consistent trends. A crucial aspect of spotlighting is taking this high-level, or ‘bird’s eye’, view. Be like a bird gliding on wind and then harnessing the energy from currents to hover over ground. In other words, reflect on the data you have spent time and energy collecting collected. Take time to look down on the data and wait for meaning to come to you. Use spotlighting to help you avoid getting too immersed with the detail of the data, so that you maintain a strategic overview.

Spotlighting reduces the extraneous data your mind needs to focus on. This allows you to highlight what is important and significant from your research. Our students tell us the technique is particularly useful after the analysis and interpretation of data is complete, and they are moving on to discussing, reporting and presenting their findings and contributions.

All was going so well. You avoided the three pitfalls when starting your dissertation (overlooking your proposal, failing to do a thorough literature search, and reviewing, but not critiquing, your sourced material). Now, as you reach the middle of the thesis process, you find yourself ‘all at sea’. To help you navigate these choppy waters, we map the four main hazards to steer clear of during the mid-stage of your journey.

Hazard #1 – hasty research design

The first hazard is not spending sufficient quality time designing your research study. Students often mistakenly think that study design is a simple and straightforward endeavour that falls easily and quickly into place with minimal effort and planning. Effectively designing your research study involves more than simply choosing a method to collect your data. Those who have completed a thesis, or dissertation, recognise that different approaches can be used to investigate a particular phenomenon. For example, theory testing (deduction), theory building (induction), or relying on the most applicable explanations for understanding results (abduction). Successful researchers also appreciate that the various approaches require a research design that is suitable for the study. Suitable in terms of methodology, strategy and method. Effective design takes time!

Hazard #2 – one-dimensional data collection

A second hazard is taking too simplistic a view as to how your raw data is collected. Many students believe that data collection is a one-dimensional activity. This can occur, for instance, when quantitative researchers over-rely on the prescribed technical attributes of online survey instruments. If they fail to manage the process effectively, they can end up with too little data, or data that is poor in quality. Qualitative researchers can also fall into this trap. For example, by focusing on a narrow range, or irrelevant set, of interview questions. In both scenarios, the researcher will not generate reliable and valid findings. Effective data collection aims to produce credible findings that answer the researcher’s questions or tests their hypotheses. It involves a multifaceted process of choosing an appropriate collection method, selecting a suitable sampling strategy, arranging access to participants, obtaining informed consent and ensuring the confidentiality of participant material. Data collection is more than just the way data is collected!

Hazard #3 – unstructured analysis and interpretation

Failing to adopt a structured approach to the analysis and interpretation of your collected data can create a potential third hazard. Regardless of whether you collect quantitative or qualitative data (or both), you need to be able to check things. For instance, verify the data as you collect it, prepare it for investigation, apply an appropriate analytic method, interrogate it systematically, and interpret it truthfully. This requires having a contingency plan to deal with any unpredicted outcomes that may emanate from the analysis and interpretation of your data. The absence of such a proactive strategy can result in, for example, meaningless and senseless scores and statistics, or incoherent and illogical text and quotations. The more detailed, precise and systematic your contingency plan is, the more likely your analysis and interpretation will generate rigorous findings. With analysis and interpretation, expect the unexpected!

Hazard #4 – under-using discussion and presentation of findings

The final hazard to look for is where you are not clear about how to capitalise on the discussion and presentation of your findings. Presentation of findings involves providing answers to your research questions (or confirmation/rejection of your hypotheses). Discussion of findings entails relating your research to previous, relevant research. When discussing and presenting your findings, do not just state what you have found. Contextualise and embed it within the broader conversation of your previously critiqued literature review. Doing this effectively means you can establish the significance of your findings. This helps you summarise and conclude your study with findings of real value and consequence. You can then produce practical and relevant recommendations for further research. Discussion and presentation of findings puts the flesh on your topic’s body of knowledge!

To help you overcome these pitfalls, we have written Doing Your Thesis – A Practical Guide. This invaluable downloadable digital publication contains 90 pages of easy-to-understand information and straightforward explanations to help you research and write a compelling thesis. Buy now for immediate use.

Starting your thesis journey can be a daunting task. It is, after all, a long and extensive piece of independent, academic work. It thus requires use of a wide range of skills. From project management to critiquing literature, and from designing a study and fieldwork, to developing findings and conclusions. The potential, therefore, is high for things to go wrong on your thesis journey, particularly at the beginning.

With a good guide to hand research can be an easy, and even enjoyable. experience. Thesis Upgrade has recently published a book, Doing Your Thesis – A Practical Guide, to help students navigate through the thesis process. Here are the pitfalls to watch out for early in the journey (and tips to help you avoid them) from the guide.

Pitfall #1 – overlooking your research proposal

The first potential pitfall is overlooking your research proposal. During your thesis, you study a single topic, in great depth, over a predetermined and defined time. Preplanning is particularly important, which is why we recommend that you start your journey with a map. In other words, a research proposal that sketches out the route you will take. Why? Because it will help you visualise your journey in a holistic way. A research proposal involves answering a series of questions. For instance: why (the problem or issue); where (your research questions or hypotheses; what (topic); how and when (your research plan); and who (stakeholders). Most colleges and supervisors ask you for a proposal, but even if they do not request one, it is worthwhile asking and answering these questions yourself. The questions assure you, and other stakeholders, that you understand the key components of a thesis and have adopted a project mindset.

Pitfall #2 – failing to do a thorough literature search

Secondly, students may fail to carry out an in-depth literature search. One of the pet peeves of any thesis supervisor is to be asked: “How many references should I have”? This shows a lack of understanding about why you should do a literature search. The aim is not just to skim read over what others have written to get an idea of the topic. It is to help you to find out the key things that are already known about your topic. So, begin by determining your purpose and specific objectives, and invest time in building your search skills. Furthermore, find out what sources are available and suited to your research, where those sources are located, what information is available, who the key authors are. By conducting your search in an organised manner, you learn more about your subject matter, the methodologies used in previous studies and the findings from these inquiries. This adds to the credibility of your research.

Pitfall #3 – reviewing, but not critiquing, your sourced material

Thirdly, a thorough literature search may have been conducted, but it is not followed up by a critique. A well organised literature search will identify important information, but a critique takes things a step further. A critique analyses (not just identifies) what is already known about your topic. This involves establishing the gaps to research in the existing body of knowledge, indicating what the gap is, why it exists and how you intend to address. This approach helps you to build a scaffold, or framework, to support the main arguments of your study.

There are many pitfalls that can trip up, and trap, the unwary student at the beginning of their research journey. We have highlighted the more common ones we have come across over the past decade of supervising and examining thousands of dissertations. To help you overcome these pitfalls, we have written Doing Your Thesis – A Practical Guide. This invaluable downloadable digital publication contains 90 pages of easy-to-understand information and straightforward explanations to help you research and write a compelling thesis. Buy now for immediate use.

.