Reference no: EM132845885

MITS6011 Advanced Research Topics in IT - Victorian Institute of Technology

Learning outcome 1: Examine topics and associated literature in Information technology fields and be able to recognise knowledge boundaries and formulate suitable research questions

Learning outcome 2: Construct a research proposal to investigate a specific research question

Learning outcome 3: Understand the research methods and be able to apply the right research method for addressing research problems in a technical IT discipline

Learning outcome 4: Identify components of literature survey and be able to critically analyse published work and comment on the technical merits and limitations of the published work

Learning outcome 5: Independently set up lab-based research experiments, perform research explorations and theoretical computational research in IT

Research Question and Abstract

The research question lies at the heart of your research project. After considering a research problem (whatever the field of study) from there you will develop the research question. We will discuss formulating research questions in session one and two, but within the research problem the research question focuses specifically on one aspect of the problem that you will undertake as part of the research programme. There are many ways to present the research question, and these will be discussed during the sessions.

Along with the presentation of the Research question, you will also provide an abstract. An abstract at this stage is a carefully written single paragraph which succinctly describes the background and research problem that is being investigated by the researcher. The general approach can also be outlined here. The format of the abstract will be discussed in the first two sessions.

Full Proposal

The full proposal is a document that contains your entire proposal for the research to be undertake. These documents are normally required by academic departments before students are admitted undertaking research degrees such as a Masters research degree or a PhD. This document will contain your abstract and research question from the previous submission but integrated into a

coherent document along with other components that will be discussed in class. A selection of references that you will use in developing your research paper will also be included at the stage.

The format of the full proposal can be found in the example document (proposal.doc). Use this document as a starting point to develop your full proposal and submit by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.

Introduction and Full Abstract

The Introduction of the research report contains a full introduction to the research you have undertaken. The Introduction normally contains a statement of the problem (including the initial research question, the Significance of the problem, some historical background. The purpose, or goal to be gained from a better understanding of the research question, statement of hypothesis, any assumptions and limitations as well as any possible ethical considerations. Perhaps also a brief overview of the methodology.

The format of the Introduction can be found in the example document (report.doc, chapter 1). Use this document as a starting point to develop your Introduction (add and delete sections as appropriate).

Literature Review

The literature review gives the reader (and the examiner) the necessary background to understand the study by citing the investigations and findings of previous researchers and documents the researcher's knowledge and preparation to investigate the problem.

Studying the existing literature is one of the essential preliminary tasks when you undertake a research study. This enables you to acquaint yourself with the available body of knowledge in your specific area of research. "The literature review is an integral part of the research process and makes a valuable contribution to almost every operational step" (Kumar, R. Research Methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners, 3rd ed, Sage 2011).

The literature review will be discussed in class and examples given, the literature review would normally constitute Chapter 2 in a research report, see suggested guidelines in (report.doc, chapter 2)

Discussion - Concept Map

This will not be submitted online but checked in class only during the individual discussions with each of the students. The concept map is a graphical representation of your intended structure of the literature review. From the concept map we should be able to discern the structure of the literature review and how you intend to proceed, including any thematic partitioning of the references.

Discussion - First Page

This will not be submitted online but checked in class only during the individual discussions with each of the students. This will be the first page of Literature Review including any references cited in the first page.

Methodology

In this section you clearly outline what methodology you used in your research i.e. what you intend to do and how you intend to do it. It must be clearly written so that it would be easy for another researcher to duplicate your research if they wished. Most researchers will use one or more of a number of well documented and acceptable methods understood by the research community. We will discuss a number or research methodologies in different sessions, but there will be many others you can choose from

The structure of a methodology chapter will be discussed in class and examples given. The Methodology would normally constitute Chapter 3 in a research report, see suggested guidelines in (report.doc, chapter 3).

Discussion - First Page

This will not be submitted online but checked in class only during the individual discussions with each of the students. This will be the first page of Methodology component including any references cited in the first page.

Full Research Paper

In this submission you incorporate the previous three submissions into a final document and submit by the due date and time. This submission will incorporate the Full Abstract and Introduction, The Literature Review and the Methodology chapters into one document. This will give you a chance to take on board any comments given by your instructor in the previous submissions, make corrections and possibly recover some marks which may have been deducted in the previous submission.

Presentation

For this component you will be required to give a 10 - 15-minute presentation on your research report and answer any questions from the audience. The presentations will be conducted in a symposium type setting after the end of the semester, typically in week 15. There is no submission for this component of assessment, you will be graded on your presentation and ability to answer any questions put to you. The structure of the presentation will be discussed during the semester and a suggested format will for the presentation will be made available in a sample set of PowerPoint slides, see (presentation.ppt).

Attachment:- Advanced Research Topics in IT.rar