1. Managing your
postgraduate research
Carolyne Jacobs
Autumn 2013

2. 
CJ

Group

Moodle PostGrad resources – a quick tour

Vitae setup by Research Councils UK and
Career Development Organisation
guidance, resources, discussion groups
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Introductions

3. What defines a project?
 Why do you need to project manage
your research?


Because you are probably facing:
 A research deadline
 Professional and domestic commitments
 Resource limitations
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Project manage your
PhD/research?

4. (in Project Management speak)
Scoping - overview of what you are
hoping to achieve
 Business case – underpinning rationale
 Requirements – essential elements
 Design – tools and techniques
 Resources – time, consumables, etc.
+
 PM methodology and tools

Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Outline

5.  What
is your project about?
 What do you want to achieve?
Business case
 Why
 How
are you doing it?
will it benefit you
professionally/personally)?
 Analogies (CJ’s examples – UoP
projects, own PhD and research)
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Scope

6.  Take
10 mins (5 mins each) to explain
your research to the person sitting
next to you including:
1. What your project is about
2. What you want to achieve
3. Why you are doing it (how will it benefit
you professionally/personally)
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Practical

7. The overall aim is to achieve your postgrad
qualification, but how does it fit into your longer
term plan for the next 5 years?
Consider your own 5 yr objectives for 10 mins:
 What are they?
 Are they achievable? Realistic? Are they
SMART?
 What will stop you achieving your objectives?
 What will help you achieve them?
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Business Case

8. 
Getting the grasp of key concepts
 What is the difference between
methodology and methods?
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Identifying requirements

9. 
Getting the grasp of key concepts
 What is ontology?
 What is epistemology?
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Requirements

10.  What is ontology? Your view of the world
 What is epistemology?
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Requirements

11.  What is ontology? Your view of the world
 What is epistemology? How knowledge is
acquired
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Requirements

12. Ontology View of your research world Do you think the world exists externally to
human beings?
or.....
Do you think that people contribute to a
constantly changing world?
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Requirements

13. Epistemology How do I think knowledge is
acquired?

By gathering data and seeking out
rules/patterns or cause/effect (positivist)?

Or interpreting and taking into account
context, experience and views
(interpretivist)?
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Requirements

14. Why is this important?

Your view of the world and how you consider
knowledge is acquired impacts on your research.
Examples:
 Effect of volcanic activity on rocks
objectivist?? research design??
 Impact of social networking on integration
constructivist?? research design??
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Requirements

15. Does your research topic:
 Exist outside the influence of human beings?
or
 Do humans influence your area of research?
Will you:
 Gather data, seek out patterns and/or cause and
effect?
or
 Look for context and interpretation? Are you: ‘viewing
events and social world through the eyes of the
people being studied?’ (Bryman, 2008)
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Requirements

16. 
Quantitative
 Experiment, historical, correlational (using
reports, logs, data)

Qualitative
 Ethnographic research, action
research, survey, case study.
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Methodological approach

17.  The tools and techniques you use depend
on your approach
….examples from CJ
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Design

18. Is your research:
 Scientific/positivist or interpretivist?
Why?
Will you use a:
 Quantitative or qualitative approach
Why?
What tools and techniques?
(Discuss in groups of 3/4 for 20 mins max in
total)
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Identifying your methodology

19. 
10 minutes

Vitae setup by Research Councils UK
and Career Development Organisation
Guidance
 Downloads
 Discussion groups

Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Break

20. 
After determining your approach, what
next??

What distinguishes doctoral research
from other research?

How do you find out if your research is
unique?
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Requirements 2

21. 
Which literature resources are available
for your research?

How can you find out about other
sources?
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Requirements 2

22. How will you undertake your research?


How will you identify literature resources?
What approach will you use?




experiment?
case study?
ethnographic research?
survey?
Who or what is the population/data source?
How will you choose the sample? (How do you know it is
representative and not bias?)
 How will you gather the data? (interviews, online
questionnaires, etc.)
Individually(10 mins)
Sharing your thoughts and ideas in a group (10 mins)


Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Design

23. Gaps in the literature
 Identifying your research questions

Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Milestone
(completion deadline)

24. We have considered:
 Your approach/methodology

Literature review

Research design
(population, sample, tools and
techniques)
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Recap

25. How will you analyse your data?
 How will you report your findings?
 How will you disseminate your findings?

Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Other areas to consider

26. Will you need to spend any money?
 What resources will you need?
(printing, postage, online s/w)



How much time will your research take?
(longer than you expect!)
How much time have you got?
(less than you expect!)
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Resources

27. Prioritise
 Recognise strengths and weaknesses
 Be realistic
 Plan ahead, take all your activities into
account and building in some flexibility
 Create weekly or monthly plans, plus a
‘to do’ list
 Be generous with your timings.

Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Managing your time effectively

28. List 9 research activities for the next
week/month
 Rank in order of as A−B−C,where:

A priority = high value goals (urgent activities)
B priority = medium value goals (important activities but
not urgent)
C priority = low value goals (activities without deadlines)

Within in each category order e.g.
A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, etc.
(max 10 mins individually)
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Managing your time effectively
(example)

29. 
The good and bad points (30 mins in total)
 Individually (5 mins):
○ write down 3 good things (each on a separate yellow
sticky note)
○ write down 3 things bad -or not so good (each on a
separate green sticky note)
 Together (20 -25 mins):
○ Look for common themes
○ Sort on large sheets of paper
○ Discuss and note how
 to resolve the bad points
 How good points can be used in future research/ practice
 Group discussion
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Reflecting on your
PhD/research experiences to
date

30. 
Agile
 Flexible system with short deadlines for
tasks, self-organisation. Include frequent
meetings and visible tracking

Waterfall method
 More structured with clear project stages
 Prince 2 methodology for technical projects
For your research you are likely to take the relevant
elements and manage in your own way.
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Project Management
methodology

31. MsProject
 Gantter
 Excel
 Paper

It doesn’t really matter. It is the thinking and
organising in your mind that is important….
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Planning tools

32. 
Identify:
 The key stages of your project
 Likely timescales
 Milestones (key completion dates)
 Use one of the project tools to create an
outline project plan
But remember this is a working document and
will change – frequently!
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Practical (20 + mins)

33. New ideas and thoughts about how you will
approach your research
Comments?
Questions?
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Ending with…

34. Dr Carolyne Jacobs,
Department of Curriculum and Quality
Enhancement
University of Portsmouth
Carolyne.jacobs@port.ac.uk
www.moodle.port.ac.uk/
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
Thank you

35. 

Specific: in both meaning and focus.
Measurable: so that you know when you are achieving
progress and can declare success.
 Advantageous: what's in this for you? If you can see no
personal advantages, don't waste your time; you won't be
seriously motivated towards success.
 Realistic: make sure that you are being realistic: you can get
feedback to help you do this. Setting learning targets in this way
will, through experience, gradually improve your ability to
manage your own self-development and learning.
 Time limited: set deadlines and 'milestones', times when you
will sit down and reflect on and review your progress
(Ref: www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/1221/Setting%20objectives.html)
Go back
Autumn 2013
Managing your postgrad research
SMART

36. Managing your postgrad research
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Autumn 2013

37. Managing your postgrad research
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Autumn 2013