Rethink Education. Reinvent Yourself.

 

ENGAGED IN RESEARCH: THE RESEARCH PROCESS

 

The aim of this portal is to provide UJ Sciences Researchers and Postgraduate students with assistance in their first steps of writing their Theses & Dissertations, from the Literature Review to the Citing and Referencing. 

 

Visit the Sciences Librarian Research Support  website for information on Library services & resources in support to your research needs!

 

For subject specific information make use of the available Sciences Subjects Portals.

 

The Resources for this subject have been selected by Pavlinka Kovatcheva, subject librarian, Sciences at APK Campus, Level 1, Tel: 011 559-2621, e-mail: pkovatcheva@uj.ac.za

 

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ENGAGED IN RESEARCH: THE RESEARCH PROCESS Getting started in Science! STEP 1: IDENTIFYING A RESEARCH TOPIC AND QUESTION Identifying a Research Topic Identifying Research Questions  Having Problem identifying Research Topic or Question? Before you begin your Research Literature Review What is Literature Review? Where to Look for information?  Judging the Reability of Sources  Starting Your Literature Review Acknowledging Sources: Citing & Referencing/Avoid Plagiarism STEP 2: FORMULATING YOUR HYPOTHESIS  STEP 3: TESTING YOUR HYPOTHESIS STEP 4: COLLECTING AND ANALYSING DATA Planning Your Research Different Research Methods  What will I need? Keeping a Record Designing your Experiment How are you going to Collect your data Anticipate problems How to Manage your Time STEP 5 : DRAWING YOUR CONCLUSIONS STEP 6: COMMUNICATING YOUR FINDINGS BOOKS FOR YOUR RESEARCH SOUTH AFRICAN BOOKS ENGAGED IN RESEARCH BOOKS THE RESEARCH WRITING BOOKS  DEVELOPING QUESTIONNAIRE BOOKS BASIC STATISTICS BOOKS RESEARCH TOOLS SURVEY/QUESTIONNAIRE SOFTWARE STATISTICAL TEXTBOOK CITING & REFERENCING  THESAURUS SOFTWARE DOCUMENT PREPARATION

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ENGAGED IN RESEARCH: THE RESEARCH PROCESS

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Getting started in Science!

 

Research is an investigation or enquiry into a topic, with the aim to discover, revise or interpret facts. The end result of your research should enhance existing knowledge of your chosen subject area and often provides more questions for you or other researchers to investigate further.

The foundation of all research, regardless of discipline and activity, is the Scientific Method and following it is often a matter of common sense.

 

The Scientific Method can be summarised by six steps:

1. Identifying a research topic and question
2. Formulating your hypothesis
3. Testing your hypothesis
4. Collecting and analysing data
5. Drawing your conclusions
6. Communicating your findings

 

I'm following the structure of the freely available guidelines from Engaged in Research website (UK). It is an interactive research resources for BioSciences & Environmental Sciences students.

 

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STEP 1: IDENTIFYING A RESEARCH TOPIC AND QUESTION

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Identifying a Research Topic

 

Most research starts by thinking about a topic you're interested in. In many instances, you may not be given much of a choice about your research topic, particularly if you’re preparing coursework (essays, posters, oral presentations, etc) or if you’re conducting an experiment as part of your studies.

 

"Engaged in Research: Step 1" website will give the right directions (examples for research topics; identifying research questions; choosing research question; if you're having problems selecting a topic, etc.) 

 

Depending on your Department/Supervisor requirements, you may be expected to come up with your own research topic for your dissertation. Some students may have a specific interest and a clear idea of what they’re going to research.

 

To help you select a research topic and to ensure that your research will be unique for South Africa, you need to search through the available current and completed research done in SA.

  

UJ Theses & Dissertations search

 

The UJ Library has print & electronic copies of past dissertations and looking through a good thesis will not only give you an idea about the types of research you can be involved with, but also help you see what's expected of you.

 

UJDigispace

2002 - current; Electronic Theses & Dissertations; UJ Institutional Repositories; Full-text; Open access

 

UJLink (Library Catalogue)

Print copies for completed UJ Theses & Dissertations. When searching, the result will be with this shelf code: AA10 (Geography); AG10 (Geology), etc.

 

To learn more on how to search these resources go to the Sciences Librarian Theses & Dissertations Support website. 

 

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Current & Completed Research in South Africa

 

To ensure that the proposed topic/title for your research is not a duplicate of previous or current research, a search has to be carried on Nexus Database. 

 

Nexus database “Current and Completed Research Projects” includes South African dissertations and theses. It provides information on all fields of science since 1919. A limited number of records contain links to the full-text.

 

Direct access to NEXUS:

•  For access, click on Nexus Database.
• Select “Current and Completed Research Projects”.
• You will be asked for User ID and Password. Ask your Subject Librarian for access or make an appointment.

 

Access to NEXUS through Africa-Wide:Nipad database

 

• Nexis Database can be access also through the Africa-Wide: Nipad (on EbscoHost) database.

• To access and search you will be asked to LOG IN: Surname, Student/Staff number, PIN number (Hos to create: PIN instructions)
• Once you access the database, choose from the option “Database” to search only Nexus database.
• Start your search by typing your keywords.
• If you need HELP with how to search Africa-Wide: Nipad go to:

  

Visit the Sciences Librarian Theses & Dissertation  website for more available resources.

 

Go to the Sciences Librarian Portal for more Sciences resources and subject information.

 

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Identifying Research Questions 

 

The research question is the specific aspect of the topic you're interested in. Have a look at these examples:

• Conservation Research Questions  
• Renewable Energy Research Questions.  

 

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Having Problem identifying Research Topic or Question?

 

If you’re having difficultly choosing a research topic or question, here are a few ideas  to get you started. Listen to the Podcasts on how to choose a research topic.

• What Motivates you?
• What subjects do you enjoy?
• What research is going on in your Department?
• Do you have a career preference?

If you're still struggling to identify a research topic or question, have a look at this help sheet!

 

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Before you begin your Research

 

When you are thinking about your research question, there are a few things you should bear in mind - it should be original, interesting and achievable. Read MORE...

 

Originality is the Key!

An important aspect of scientific research is to know what has been done before in your research area. This will give you the best chance of contributing something original to your area of study. One way of doing this is to conduct a literature review, which will help you identify the types of work that had been done before, as well as identifying areas for possible future research.

 

Does the Research interest you?

Research can be one of the most rewarding things you will ever do – but only if you choose a research topic and question that interests you.

If, however, you choose a topic because you think it will be easy, because it has been in the news recently, or because someone else suggested it’d be good, your time and effort could be wasted.

Your research also has to interest others – including the people who’ll be reading and/or assessing your work!

 

Is your Research achievable? 

There may be constraints that prevent you from studying your preferred research topic or question. Before you start your research it is important to think about time, budget, facilities, ethical considerations, etc.

 

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Literature Review

 

Reviewing literature, the end product of which is often a written document known as a literature review, is an essential part of research. This is where you read around your research topic, using both primary and secondary sources. The aim of a literature review is to understand the background theory and to find all of the important research (or the vast majority at least!) that has been conducted on your topic.

 

Why do we Review Literature?

• to ensure you have a thorough understanding of the topic

• to identify potential areas for research

• to identify similar work done within the area

• identifying knowledge gaps that demand further investigation

• to compare previous findings

• to critique existing findings and suggest further studies.  

 

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What is Literature Review?

 

A literature review is a written document that provides background information on your subject area and details previous research that is relevant. A good literature review is far more than an account of who researched what and when.

 

Listen to Podcast: What makes a good Literature Review? (Dr. A. Wilby, Environmental Sciences)

 

More useful Links to learn about Literature Review:

• Starting with your Literature Review (Engage in Research)
• Guidelines for Writing Literature Review (UCT)
• Writing Literature Review (University of Canberra)
• How to .. Write a Literature Review (University of California)
• The Literature Review (Deakin University)
• The Literature Reviews (University of North Carolina)
• Review of Literature (University of Wisconsin)
• The Literature Review: A Few Tips in Conducting it.  (University of Toronto)
• Tools for Preparing Literature Reviews (The George Washington University)

 

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Where to Look for information?

You are preparing a literature review, but where do you start to find the relevant information about your subject?

 

     UJ Library  >>>>>>>>>  Sciences Librarian Portal  >>>>>>>>>>    Sciences Subject Portals

 

WELCOME TO THE SCIENCES LIBRARIAN PORTAL! 

YOUR ONE STOP TO SCIENCES RESOURCES!

 

Make use of both Secondary & Primary Literature sources available through the Library!

 

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Secondary Literature Sources

 

If you're relatively new to the chosen subject area, secondary literature (books, websites, journal reviews) can give you a gentle introduction and provide basic information to get you started.

 

• Books and textbooks are an excellent source of background information:

 

     - Print Books:  UJLink (Library Catalogue)   

     - Electronic Books: Safari E-books ; Referex E-books ; AccessEngineering E-Books ; CRCNetBASE E-Books  

 

• Websites - Official Governmental websites for your specific research topic. Always consider the reliability of the Internet sites.

 

• Journal Reviews - Although scientific journals are generally classed as primary literature, they may also contain review articles on a subject which are 'technically' classed as secondary sources of information. Review articles discuss previous research on a particular topic, but don't present new results.

 

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Primary Literature Sorces

 

Researchers rely on peer-reviewed primary literature (scientific papers, conference proceedings and dissertations) more than secondary literature. 

 

Make use of the Bibliographic & Full-text Databases available through the Sciences Librarian Portal or the Sciences Subject Portals to find academic, peer-reviewed papers the Sciences Subject Portals.

 

TOP SCIENCES RESOURCES:               

 

ISI Science Citation Index  >> ScienceDirect >> SpringerLink >> WileyInterscience >> 

 

American Chemical Society >> Royal Society of Chemistry >> Chemical Abstracts Online  >> JSTOR >>

 

Institute of Physics >> APS Prola >> Engineering Village2 >>  IEEE Xplore  >> 

 

ACM (Association of Computing Machinery)  >> MathSciNet >> Energy Citation Index >>  BioOne  >>

 

Biological & Agricultural Index  >> GreenFile >> CABI Databases >> Parasitology Database >>

 

Water Resources Worldwide >> Africa-Wide: Nipad  >>  SA E-Publications 

 

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 Judging the Reability of Sources 

 

 It's important to make sure the literature you read and references contain accurate information. MORE...

• Scientific Journals
• Conference Proceedings
• Dissertations
• Books
• Internet

 

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Starting Your Literature Review

 

There are several important aspects of a literature review that you should consider.

 

Starting Your Literature Review 

• Stay Focused 
• Plan Your Sections 

• How Much Should I Read

• When Can I stop Reading?

• Reading Techniques

• What, Where and How You have Searched?

• Analysing What have you Read

•  

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Acknowledging Sources: Citing & Referencing/Avoid Plagiarism

 

From the start of your University career, particularly when you produce written work and presentations, you will be expected to acknowledge any sources eg., books, papers, web sites, etc., that you have used in the production of your work.

 

When you acknowledge someone else's work/ideas in the body of the text, an abbreviated acknowledgement, known as a citation, is used. At the end of your work you should produce a list of all the work you have cited. This is called a reference list. Find out MORE...

 

• Why you must Cite and Reference? 

• How to Cite?

• Correctly Cited? (test your knowledge)

• How to Reference?

• Spot the Mistakes (test your knowledge)

 

The above links will help you learn more about Citing and Referencing. The websites are interactive, you can test your knowledge by answering the questions.

 

Also use this interactive tutorial You Quote It, You Note It! to learn how to cite and reference to avoid Plagiarism. More on Plagiarism.

 

Also visit the Library Research Suppot website and the instructions for citing and referencing.

 

The use of RefWork is recommended for you to manage better your references.

 

QUICK QUIZ: Test your understanding of literature reviews by answering these short questions

  

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STEP 2: FORMULATING YOUR HYPOTHESIS 

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Generating and testing hypotheses is a fundamental aspect of scientific research. But what is a hypothesis? A hypothesis is an educated ‘guess’ at what the results of a piece of research will be. Read MORE...

 

From Research Question to Null Question (test your knowledge)

 

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STEP 3: TESTING YOUR HYPOTHESIS

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You’ve formulated your hypothesis - so what's next? You now need to test your hypothesis and this is done by collecting data and analysing the results. Statistical tests determine the probability that a null hypothesis is true.

 

Click here to read more: Testing Your Hypothesis

 

QUICK QUIZ: Test your understanding of the scientific method and hypothesis by answering these short questions

 

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STEP 4: COLLECTING AND ANALYSING DATA

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Planning Your Research

 

Once you have formed your hypothesis and conducted a literature review, you'll hopefully have a good idea of the type of research you'd like to do.

 

The next step is to spend some time planning your research, taking into account the following:

• The Type of Research involved
• The Type of Resources you may need
• The Design of your Experiment
• How are you going to Collect your data?
• Thinking ahead, possible problems that might occur
• How to do the research in the time you have

 

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Different Research Methods

 

There are three main types of research:

• Experimental, typically conducted in a laboratory or field situation and culminating in the collection and analysis of quantitative data
• Observational: often conducted in a lab or field situation, culminating in the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data
• Opinion-based: often completed by individuals or as part of a group discussion, culminating in the collection and analysis of qualitative data.

 

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 What will I need?

 

When you have got a clear idea of what research you are going to do and how you are going to do it, it's a good idea to spend a few minutes noting down what you'll need to help you carry out your research. Think about what equipment, facilities and raw material you may need. When you have got your list, the next step is to make sure you'll have access to everything you will need.

 

The first thing is to talk with your supervisor to agree a list of things you will need access to - your supervisor will have a lot of experience so it's worth making sure you both know the resource implications of your planned research right from the start.

 

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Keeping a Record

 

The ultimate output from your research is likely to be a written assignment, report or other form of publication. Whatever the format of the document, it is likely to contain a Materials and Methods  (Lab Reports) section, which details what you did and how you did it. It's important that this section gives enough detail to allow fellow researchers to replicate your work and your results should they wish to do so in future.

Read MORE...

 

• The Ultimate Test: Ultimately, your materials and methods section should allow a researcher to replicate your research and obtain similar results. This can only be achieved, however, if you keep in-depth records to start with.
• Missing Information: There are several key points of information that are missing from materials and methods like: plant material, spacing, etc.

 

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Designing your Experiment

 

How well your research is designed will affect the reliability of your data. There are a number of reasons why it's important to get your experimental design right before you begin your research. Find out MORE...

 

• Experimental Design
• Controls (In science, controls are used in an experiment to determine if the recorded effects are caused by the treatment imposed)
• Treatment
• Blocking
• Replications
• Randomisation

 

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How are you going to Collect your data

 

Once you have confirmed your experimental design, it's worth spending some time thinking about how you're going to collect and manage your data. This is largely dependant on whether your data are primary or secondary. Read MORE...

• Collecting Primary Data
• Essentials of Data Collection

 

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Anticipate problems

 

Although you may not be able to account for every eventuality, especially if you're working with humans, animals or plants, or you  are working out in the field, you can still anticipate problems and therefore have a contingency plan to fall back on. Find out MORE...

 

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How to Manage your Time

 

Time management can not only help you plan your coursework and help you to balance your University commitments with your part-time work and social life, but it can also help you make the most of your time for research.

 

• How to plan your time effectively
• Sample Timetable

 

QUICK QUIZ: Test your understanding of planning your research by answering these short questions

 

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STEP 5 : DRAWING YOUR CONCLUSIONS

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Step-by-Step Statistics

 

Analysing your Data

 

coming more...

 

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STEP 6: COMMUNICATING YOUR FINDINGS

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More is coming..

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BOOKS FOR YOUR RESEARCH

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Search UJLink for books to help you get started with your research. These books have been selected as a starting point:

 

SOUTH AFRICAN BOOKS

  

• The emerging researcher : nurturing passion, developing skills, producing output / by John W. de Gruchy and Lyn Holness. 2007. South Africa.

 

• First steps in research/ Kobus Maree, editor. Pretoria, 2007

 

• Constructing a good dissertation : a practical guide to finishing a Master's, MBA or PhD on schedule/ Erik Hofstee. South Africa. 2006.

 

• How to succeed in your master's and doctoral studies : a South African guide and resource book/ Johann Mouton. 2001.

 

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ENGAGED IN RESEARCH BOOKS

 

• The literature review: a step-by-step guide for students / Diana Ridley. 2008.

 

• Getting the most out of the research experience: what every researcher needs to know / Brian Roberts. 2007.

 

• The postgraduate's companion / edited by Gerard Hall and Jo Longman. 2008.

 

• Research design : qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches / J. W. Creswell. 3 ed. 2009.

 

• Practicing research: discovering evidence that matters / Arlene Fink. 2008.

 

• The research student's guide to success / Pat Cryer. 2006. 3^rd ed.

 

• Research without tears: from the first ideas to published output / John Creedy. 2008.

 

• The craft of research / Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams. 3 ed. 2008.

 

• Researching online / David Dolowitz, Steve Buckler and Fionnghuala Sweeney. 2008.

 

• Creating effective undergraduate research programs in science : the transformation from student to scientist / edited by Roman Taraban and Richard L. Blanton. 2008.

 

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THE RESEARCH WRITING BOOKS 

 

• College writing skills / John Langan. 7 ed. 2008.

 

• Dissertation writing : a research journey/ Cecile Badenhorst. 2008.

 

• Research writing: breaking the barriers /Cecile Badenhorst. 2007

 

• Revising your dissertation: advice from leading editors / edited by Beth Luey. 2008.

 

• Science and technical writing: a manual of style. 2001. 2 ed.

 

• Scientific papers and presentations / Martha Davis. 2005.

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•  Scientists must write: a guide to better writing for scientists, engineers and students. 2002. 2 ed.

 

• Thesis and dissertation writing in a second language : a handbook for supervisors / B. Paltridge and Sue Starfield. 2007.

 

• The write stuff: the style guide with a difference / D.J. Dykman, E.E. Viljoen-Smook, J.D.U. Geldenhuys. 2008.

 

• Writing your thesis / Paul Oliver. 2008.

 

• Writing up your university assignments and research projects : a practical handbook / Neil Murray and Geraldine Hughes. 2008.

 

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DEVELOPING QUESTIONNAIRE BOOKS

  

• Developing a questionnaire/ Bill Gillham. 2007.

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BASIC STATISTICS BOOKS

 

• SPSS survival manual : a step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS for Windows /Julie Pallant. 2007. 3 ed.

 

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RESEARCH TOOLS

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SURVEY/QUESTIONNAIRE

 

• UJ Statkon

 

• Questionnaire Design  (UJ)

 

• Survey Monkey

  Intelligent survey software, SurveyMonkey has a single purpose: to enablet anyone to create professional online surveys quickly and easily. 

 

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SOFTWARE

 

• Free Statistical Software

          Provide access to number of statistical software.

 

• SPSS South Africa

 

• STATKON: SPSS Licensing

 

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STATISTICAL TEXTBOOK

 

• Electronic Textbook StatSoft

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CITING & REFERENCING

 

• RefWorks (Help yourself by visiting RefWorks Support)

 

• Zotero - Is a free, easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. It lives right where you do your work — in the web browser itself.

 

• CiteULike  - CiteULike is a free service to help you to store, organise and share the scholarly papers you are reading. When you see a paper on the web that interests you, you can click one button and have it added to your personal library. CiteULike automatically extracts the citation details, so there's no need to type them in yourself. It all works from within your web browser so there's no need to install any software. Because your library is stored on the server, you can access it from any computer with an Internet connection

 

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 THESAURUS SOFTWARE

 

• WordWeb  WordWeb is a one-click English thesaurus and dictionary for Windows that can look up words in almost any program.

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DOCUMENT PREPARATION

 

• LaTex LaTeX is a high-quality typesetting system; it includes features designed for the production of technical and scientific documentation. LaTeX is the de facto standard for the communication and publication of scientific documents. LaTeX is available as free software.

 

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