Evaluators and testers Stakeholders

14 Chapter 1 n Introduction

1.5.2 Taught degree projects versus research degrees

The mortarboard and certificate symbol left highlights areas in the book where differences between taught degree BSc, BEng, etc. and research degree PhD, DPhil, MPhil, etc. projects are discussed. MScs may strad- dle the boundary between the two depending on how they are taught and assessed – for example, some require a significant research component potentially leading to publishable work, while others may accept less research- oriented software development projects. Not all sections in this book are relevant to PhD students, although they may provide some useful background reading. Similarly, some sections may go into more depth than a particular taught degree project requires but, for other taught degree projects research- based projects, for example, the text may be highly relevant. Use these symbolised sections to decide which portions of the book are suitable reading for your own project. •

1.6 Summary

n The field of computing ranges from ‘hard’ theoretical computer science, through practical software implementation, to ‘softer’ areas of information systems concerned with the use and the effect of IT. n Computing projects tend to fall into one of the following five categories: research- based, developments, evaluation, industry -based or problem solving. n This book covers projects that are undertaken as part of taught degrees bachelor’s and master’s degrees such as BScs and MScs and research degrees from MPhils to PhDs. n Your project will have a number of stakeholders, the most important of which is you. Others include your supervisors, clients, users, examiners, software testers and evaluators. n This book is arranged chronologically into the following five sections: Background, Foundations, Conducting, Presenting, and The Future. •

1.7 Action points

n Consider where your own course and project lie on the computing scale shown in Figure 1.2. n Classify your own project into one of the categories identified in Section 1.2.2. n Identify the stakeholders in your project. Do you know them all yet? What is your relationship with them? n Read Section 10.2 in Chapter 10 to see what your project must achieve in order to satisfy the examiners. Think about what you will need to do to meet these criteria. • 2.1 What is research? The good researcher is not ‘one who knows the right answers’ but ‘one who is strug- gling to find out what the right questions might be’. Phillips and Pugh 2005: 48 CHAPTER 2 Research Aims: To introduce research in the context of computing projects. Learning objectives: When you have completed this chapter, you should be able to: n Discuss what research means. n Understand the research process. n Classify research and understand the different research methods available. n Understand the issues surrounding interviews, questionnaires and observational studies. n This chapter is highly relevant for research degrees. n This chapter is highly relevant for research-based taught degree projects and provides useful reading for other taught degree projects. 15