Projects Day 2012

Category 2: Non-Experimental Research

Preliminary Briefing
Prepared by Mr. Tommie Chen 19 January 2012

Reader, after my best efforts, heres what I believe not the whole or final truth, but a truth important to me. I have tested and supported that truth as fully as my time and abilities allow, so that you might find my argument strong enough to consider, perhaps to accept, maybe even to change what you believe. (Booth, Colomb and Williams, 2008, p.186)

Qualitative Research
An important three-step formula for identifying the significance of your research question: Topic: I am studying ___________ Question: because I want to find out what/why/ how __________________ Practical/Conceptual Significance: in order to help my reader understand __________________________.

Qualitative Research
Qualitative analysis is commonly used in Humanities and Social Sciences research. It has special value for investigating complex and sensitive socio-political issues from either a sociological, historical or literary standpoint. It can be broadly divided into 2 sub-fields: 1. Practical/Applied Research 2. Pure/Literature-Based Research

Applied vs. Pure Research

Practical/Applied Research Is motivated by a practical problem which defines the research question. E.g. An existing socio-political/historical issue widely reported in the newspapers or widely debated in online forums. Often leads to a proposed solution that helps to solve the practical problem. Research Significance: Topic: I am studying ___________ Question: because I want to find out what/why/how __________________ Practical Significance: in order to help my reader understand __________________________. Potential Practical Application: so that readers/political leaders can __________________________.

Applied vs. Pure Research

Pure Research Is motivated by a conceptual problem that helps us to understand an issue in-depth. It does not bear a solution to a practical problem, but it improves the understanding of an EXISTING community of researchers. Research Significance: Topic: I am studying ___________ Conceptual Question: because I want to find out what/why/how __________________ Conceptual Significance: in order to help my reader understand __________________________ by refining a particular theory/ philosophy.

Qualitative Research
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Centered on reviewing academic literature, with a focus on primary and/or secondary sources (Especially applicable to projects with a History/Literature slant). Examples of past projects which qualify for this sub-category are: Revisiting the riots: A media perspective A review of the recent politics of Sino-American relations The Political Openness of Singapore: Past and Present Mastering the history of the Communist Statue Park in Budapest. Captain America: Saving Americas Lost Children The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill A corpus-based study of metaphors in British & American Discourse Changing Lanes : A Study of the evolution of secular rhetoric in Singapore Politics Shedding Light on the Literary Vampire Analysis of Singaporean Nationalistic Song Lyrics Examining the Evolution of Female Representation in Popular Culture: Madonna vs. Lady Gaga A Corpus-Based Approach Masculinity as Portrayed in Ip Man (2008, 2010) Examining the diachronic evolution of Masculinity in James Bond Films The Search for the "Ideal I" : An Examination of the Portrayal of the modern hero in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne Identity (2002)

7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Qualitative Research
You need to critique Concepts/Theories. E.g. How useful certain concepts or theories are for understanding particular patterns of behaviour/ events. You need to delineate the contexts and justify the choice of your dataset/theories IN OTHER WORDS You need to base your research on existing academic perspectives. In research projects with a History slant, emphasis is placed on how sources are selected, interpreted and used. In other projects, there is a focus on reaching judgements based on the value of key concepts or theories in understanding the world. The foundation for the entire research MUST be based on a solid academic platform.

Literature Review
Wikipedia should only be used as an initial springboard for the research, it SHOULD NOT be the MAIN SOURCE of data. Remember to base your methodology on existing research by a recognised community of practitioners.

Literature Review
PRIMARY SOURCES Raw data used to test the hypothesis and to solve research problems. These include documents from the period (speech transcripts), objects, maps, subject interviews or the text itself (for historical or literary research) SECONDARY SOURCES Mainly consists of journals/research reports written for scholarly and professional audiences. Often used by researchers to keep up with their respective fields and frame new areas of research. TERTIARY SOURCES Academic Textbooks and Articles that synthesise secondary sources for general readers includes mass circulation publications found online (NEWSWEEK/ TIME) or in encyclopaedia entries or magazines.

What makes a good Cat 2 Project?

A good and relevant Thesis Statement/Hypothesis based on EXISTING research/literature OR CURRENT issues Well-formulated Research Questions that will support your Thesis Statement/Hypothesis. Theoretical Scaffolding
- - - - - - Psychoanalytic Film Theory/Lacans Spectatorship Theory Critical Discourse Analysis Marxist Theory Foucault (Discourse & Power) Gender/Feminist Theory Conceptual Metaphor Theory Well-scoped with CLEAR delimitations. Practicality in terms of data/text collection Reliability in data analysis Interpretation & Extrapolation With Scope for Future Research

Clear research methods

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1 2 3
How does the portrayal of the protagonist in The Bourne Trilogy (2002- 2007) aid the spectator in the identification process and to make the heroes more realistic?

What are the defining characteristics of the modern hero, as seen in Jason Bourne? How do contemporary developments in society explain the difference in the portrayal of modern heroism?

Thesis and Research Qns

This Project will Analyse the Conceptual Metaphors present in National Day songs. Discern their use in the formulation of Singapores national identity (Ortmann, 2009) Research Questions Are there any stock metaphors in Singaporean nationalist songs? What are the conceptual metaphors behind these representations? What underlying national ideologies do the conceptual metaphors promote?

Research questions
How has the usage of secular rhetoric and conceptual metaphors changed over the years to protect the multiracial and potentially explosive composition of society? Through the usage of secular rhetoric, how has the government upheld secularism through an unwavering emphasis on pragmatism as a cornerstone?

Research Questions
How do Madonna and Lady Gaga differ in their representation of the female in their lyrics? What are the Conceptual Metaphors used in the representation of the female in the lyrics of Lady Gaga and Madonna? How do they differ? How are the proposed representations on gender further justified empirically by the use of Corpus Linguistics?

Theoretical Frameworks
Corpus Linguistics

Conceptual Metaphor Theory

Critical Discourse Analysis

What makes a good Cat 2 Project?

Two key questions you need to ask yourself: So what? Beyond your own interest, why would others think that your topic is a question worth asking. What will be lost if your question is not answered? How will not answering your research question keep us from understanding something better than we do?
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What makes a good Cat 2 Project?

You need to identify of a worthy issue for exploration. A potential issue for further research has the following characteristics: 1. Real world: Relevant, contemporary, widely-debated, ambiguous and evolving with no simple answers e.g. disturbing trends in contemporary film, literature texts or socio-historical or political developments. 2. Multiple points of view: Identify the stakeholders. There should be a practical slant/link to Singapore society OR to a specific academic community. 3. Practical: There SHOULD be existing academic literature/research in the field pertaining to your area of interest and there should be the availability of substantial information/data for collection/mining. 4. Multi-faceted and Significant: You have to ask questions about things that matter. You also have to consider the arguments of others and contribute your personal perspective and original thinking..

 Breakfast with Outlining/Storyboarding CEOs

I. Introduction II. Literature Review/ Theoretical Scaffolding

a. b. c. a. b. Author A Author B Author C Identifying Gaps in Literature Real world Implications

27th October 2010

III. Key Issue IV. Outlining the Problem/ Data Collection V. Analysis and Evaluation VI. Conclusion VII. Future Areas for Research/Extension Having an outline like this helps to ensure overall coherence/persuasiveness & enables you to chart your progress satisfactorily. Many thanks to Mediacorp Channel News Asia 2010

Thank You for Your Kind Attention. Any Questions?

Tommie Chen Senior Consultant Corporate Communications tommie@hc.edu.sg