Quantity or information. Used to gather specific data that can be quantified or Classification. Used to categorise responses into two or more groups. The cate-
7. Open-ended. Used to obtain extended, qualitative answers.
Do you have any further comments you would like to make? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Question order The order you place your questions in a questionnaire can influence respondents and affect your response rate. Loughborough University 2008 suggests the following principles to follow when deciding on your question order: n Place the important questions in the first half of the questionnaire. Respondents do not always complete questionnaires so if there are some important questions you would like answered, make sure that these come early on. n Don’t put awkward, difficult or embarrassing questions at the start of the question- naire. This may put people off completing the questionnaire. This implies that you should put easy, non-threatening questions at the start to draw the respondent in. n Go from general to specific questions. n Go from factual to abstract questions. n Go from closed to open questions. n Leave questions regarding personal information until the end. Anonymity Do you wish the respondent to remain anonymous or do you wish need to know who they are? If they are anonymous you may not be able to contact them for clarification or to provide them with a prize for completing the questionnaire. If they are asked to sup- ply their name they may be reluctant to complete the questionnaire. You should always assure respondents of confidentiality and explain how the data you gather will be used. 34 Chapter 2 n Research Respondent details In addition to their contact details would it be appropriate to ask the respondent information about themselves – for example, their age, professional standing, qualifica- tions, position within the company, etc.? Gather these data only if you are going to do something with them. For example, you may need to know how different levels or experience of employee within a company react to a software system, so knowing their job title andor when they started working for the company is important. Draft and redraft Don’t expect to get your questionnaire right at the first attempt. You might want to de- velop a questionnaire, check it with your supervisor, and send it out to a limited number of respondents to see what feedback you receive. You might then redraft the question- naire in light of these responses – rephrase questions, restructure the layout, and so on. Flay et al. 1983 show how a question might evolve over a period of time into something that provides a response that can be analysed in this case it took eight attempts to reach the final version of the question: First attempt: ‘How much time have you been trained here?’ Eighth attempt: ‘I think the amount of training given here is 1 too much; 2 quite a lot; 3 just right; 4 not much; 5 too little. ’ In summary, there are a lot of issues surrounding questionnaire design and deploy- ment. Even with a considerable effort to produce a ‘perfect’ questionnaire, response rates are usually poor. Be prepared for this and have a contingency plan in place to deal with this when it happens. To conclude this section a few tips on questionnaire design are presented adapted from Loughborough University, 2008: n ‘Avoid leading questions.’ Avoid questions that can lead the respondent to a particular answer – for example; “Wouldn’t you agree that...?” or “Is it fair to say that...?” n ‘Be specific.’ Try to avoid words that could be interpreted by people in different ways such as often, locally, etc. n ‘Avoid jargon.’ The respondent may not understand what you mean or have a differ- ent interpretation to you. n ‘Avoid double-barrelled questions.’ Avoid asking questions that could be difficult to answer, interpreted in different ways or try to elicit two or more answers at a time. For example, “Did you like the system’s interface and its functionality?”. n ‘Avoid double negatives.’ For example, “Do you agree that the system was not designed badly?” would be better phrased as “Do you agree that the system was designed well?”.2.4.5 Observation
Another research technique often used for case studies is observation. According to Blaxter et al. 2006: 178 observation ‘involves the researcher in watching, record- ing and analysing events of interest’. It can, for example, involve you entering anParts
» Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» Introduction What are computing projects?
» Computing project types What are computing projects?
» Programming in computing projects
» Degree structures Degree requirements
» Degree requirements for projects
» Overview Your supervisor Stakeholders
» Clients and users Stakeholders
» Evaluators and testers Stakeholders
» Overview How this book is arranged
» Taught degree projects versus research degrees
» Summary Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» A definition What is research?
» Originality What is research?
» Gaincontribution What is research?
» Knowledge and understanding What is research?
» Identify the broad area of study.
» Plan how you will perform the research.
» Gather data and information.
» Analyse and interpret these data.
» Present the results and findings.
» Review the field – i.e., perform a literature survey.
» Build a theory – based on your understanding and interpretations of the field.
» Test the theory – does it work?
» Reflect and integrate – i.e., update your ideas based on your ‘tests’ and contribute
» Intellectual discovery The research process
» Research methods Research methods
» List or multiple choice. Provides the respondent with a number of options to
» Scale. Used to rate the respondent’s feelings towards something.
» Ranking. Used to order a series of options. You should not provide too many
» Complex grid or table. Used to gather similar responses on a range of questions.
» Open-ended. Used to obtain extended, qualitative answers.
» Summary Further reading Action points
» Techniques and Information Sources
» Additional considerations Choosing a project
» Follow any guidelines precisely. Most institutions require specific information; for
» Proofread thoroughly and get someone else to check it. Any errors or omissions
» Introduction to the subject area. This will provide the reader with an under-
» Current research in the field. This will emphasise that your project is not based in
» Identify a gap. You should be able to identify some aspect of the field that requires
» Identify how your work fills the gap. Having identified a gap in the field, your
» Identify risks and solutions. It is also useful in a project proposal to highlight any
» Explicit sections Preparing a project proposal
» Reviewing your proposal Preparing a project proposal
» Exercise Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» The project process Introduction
» Definition The project’s stages
» Planning The project’s stages
» Initiation The project’s stages
» Control The project’s stages
» Closure. The project’s stages
» Complete a literature search and literature review of existing stock market prediction
» Develop a suitable artificial neural network model.
» Identify and collect suitable data for analyses and evaluation.
» Evaluate the model using appropriate statistical techniques.
» Complete final report. Setting objectives
» Step 1 – Work Breakdown Project planning
» Step 2 – Time estimates Project planning
» Step 3 – Identify milestones Project planning
» Step 4 – Activity sequencing Project planning
» Step 5 – Scheduling Project planning
» Step 6 – Re-planning Project planning
» Rolling wave planning Project planning
» Risks. Include a list of critical risk factors and means of dealing with these risks
» Organisation. If you are undertaking a group project it would be worthwhile
» Alleviate critical risks Introduction
» Identify risks Risk management
» Alleviate critical risks Risk management
» Controlling risks Risk management
» Research degrees versus taught degree projects
» A starting point Introduction
» The literature survey process
» Format of information Literature searching
» Tracing the information Literature searching
» Inter-library loans Literature searching
» Some tips for performing a literature search
» Critical evaluation Writing literature reviews
» Overview The past Introduction
» Introduction The software development life cycle SDLC
» Requirements definition Requirements capture
» Requirements specification Requirements capture
» Functional specification Requirements capture
» Design The software development life cycle SDLC
» Build The software development life cycle SDLC
» Test The software development life cycle SDLC
» Implementation The software development life cycle SDLC
» The earliest ’model’: build-and-fix
» The stage-wise and classical waterfall models conventional models
» explore the requirements of the system with the user – requirements capture, andor
» explore the technical feasibility of a system – experimental prototyping.
» Which development approach should I use?
» Which programming language should I use?
» Introduction Top-down and bottom-up development
» Top-down development Top-down and bottom-up development
» Bottom-up development Top-down and bottom-up development
» Verification Verification, validation and testing
» Validation Verification, validation and testing
» Testing Verification, validation and testing
» Who is involved with testing and evaluation?
» Test plans Miscellaneous testing types
» Quality assurance and quality control
» Exercises Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» Getting started – project initiation
» Managing the five project elements
» Introduction Dealing with problems
» Weakening Dealing with problems
» Personal problems Dealing with problems
» Hardware failure Dealing with problems
» Data availability Dealing with problems
» Discovering your workresearch has been done before
» Analyse what you are currently doing.
» Change what you are doing to achieve your aims.
» eliminate activities you don’t need to do; and
» be more efficient doing the things you have to do.
» Time management tips Procrastination
» Using your supervisor effectively
» Introduction Working in teams
» Team development Working in teams
» Managing the team Working in teams
» Teamwork tips Working in teams
» Considerations Writing and structuring reports
» Approaches to writing Writing and structuring reports
» When should I start writing?
» Identify structure. This relates to the content of your report, using a report break-
» Identify presentational style. You should also try to set standards at this stage on
» Draft the introduction. The introduction gives the reader an idea of the
» Develop the main body. The main body of your report is the next part you
» Articulate conclusions and make recommendations. Quite clearly, your conclu-
» Complete the introduction. As part of the evolutionary approach to writing,
» Write the abstract. You cannot really write a clear abstract for your report until
» Add references and appendices. Although you will be collating references and
» Arrange contents list, index. Leave the completion of an index if one is required
» Proofread, check and correct. It is vitally important to proofread your report after
» Introductionliterature review – the first chapter of your report should always be
» Main body – the content of which depends on the type of project you are un-
» Conclusionsrecommendations – summarises the contribution of the work and
» Style Writing and structuring reports
» Word processing Writing and structuring reports
» Tips Writing and structuring reports
» Presenting charts and graphs
» Common mistakes Data presentation
» Miscellaneous charts Data presentation
» Other data presentation Data presentation
» Introduction Referencing material and avoiding plagiarism
» Citing references Referencing material and avoiding plagiarism
» Listing references Referencing material and avoiding plagiarism
» Commenting program code Documenting software
» Writing user guides Documenting software
» The presentation content Visual aids
» Introduction. One or two slides that introduce you and your talk.
» Main body. The slides that constitute the bulk of your presentation and cover the
» Summaryconclusion. A few slides that summarise your presentation and perhaps
» Dealing with questions Oral presentations
» Poster preparation tips Poster presentations
» Introduction Preparation Demonstrating software
» Demonstration tips Demonstrating software
» Introduction Viva voce examinations
» Introduction Examiners and the marking of your project
» General. Examiners will look at the relevance and appropriateness of the topic
» Report. Examiners will look for clarity, consistency, an appropriate use of
» Defence. Examiners will assess the types of arguments you have made to support
» Other. Examiners will review the administrative issues of your project. For example,
» What was the research question?
» Is it a ‘good’ question? This involves a comprehensive literature review to ensure
» Has the student answered the question adequately?
» Has the student made an adequate contribution to knowledge?
» The project approach from a technical perspective i.e., not a project management
» General project considerations subject independent
» Literature reviewproject foundation Assessment criteria
» Project approachmethods Assessment criteria
» Results and contributions Assessment criteria
» Introduction Taking your project further
» Seeking funding Developing commercial software packages
» Copyright and patents Taking your project further
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