1. Research as a ‘Driven’ Process
I am going to attempt to ‘sell’ to you the idea of research as a rational (and logically
invariable) process which seamlessly integrates activities arranged in stages or phases
such that each of these phases in turn ‘drives’ its successor.
The reason I feel that you need to get a ‘grip’ (a clear understanding and appreciation) on this
is because projects tend to be very ‘big’ things and it is very easy to ‘get lost’ in the sheer
volume of work: to concentrate on the minutiae and to miss the all-important ‘big picture’. I
guarantee if you are a little ‘lost’, your readers and examiners will be all the moreso. If you
can understand and appreciate the flow and underpinning logic/rationale in the activity we
know as ‘Research’, then you will doubtless undertake the research more effectively yourself
and be capable of writing it up in such a way as to meet the examiners’ expectations of you
and research.
It goes without saying that if you do not follow this logic, each ‘failure’ in each phase
compounds as it cascades down the line. For example: inappropriate, irrelevant, incomplete
and poorly thought through aims & objectives will inevitably mean you are missing important
things out and wasting effort on other things that are mere distractions.... and this will impact
upon everything thereafter: a poor Research Requirement specification, missing data/analysis/
evaluation etc. You really have to ‘see’ and understand how research ‘works’ to be able to do
it effectively, so please really try to work at this ‘until the light comes on’! The three-part
lecture programme which follows will seek to cover this in further detail.
Fig 1. Research as a ‘Driven’ Process.