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The ability to carry out research successfully has come to be seen as a ''key transferable skill'' required of all higher education students - and this book addresses directly the skill element of this. Furthermore the research process, at all levels, is far more systematized than in the past. The single largest change since the second edition came out in 1996 has been the impact of the World Wide Web on student research. This new edition has been thoroughly rewritten and developed in response to this. In particular, Chapter 4, ''Literature Searching'', is completely new and has been structured around a sample online search. Throughout, the comments and thoughts of readers of previous editions have been taken into account in framing this third edition. Its aims remain the same - to provide a clear, comprehensive and useful guide to students undertaking research projects in order to improve their chances of a successful outcome.
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The Management of a Student Research Project Third Edition This page intentionally left blank The Management of a Student Research Project Third Edition John A Sharp, John Peters and Keith Howard Gower © John A. Sharp, John Peters and Keith Howard 2002 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. First Edition first published in 1983 and reprinted 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989 (twice), 1991 Second edition published in 1996 and reprinted 1996 Published by Gower Publishing Limited Gower House Croft Road Aldershot Hants GU11 3HR England Gower Publishing Company 131 Main Street Burlington VT 05401-5600 USA John A. Sharp, John Peters and Keith Howard have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998 to be identified as the authors of this work. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Sharp, John A. The management of a student research project. – 3rd ed. 1. Research – Management 2. Universities and colleges – Graduate work I. Title II. Peters, John III. Howard, Keith 001.4′2 Library of Congress Control Number: 2002100274 ISBN 0 566 08490 2 Third Edition typeset by IML Typographers, Birkenhead, Merseyside and printed in Great Britain by MPG Books, Bodmin Contents List of Figures and Tables Preface to the First Edition Preface to the Second Edition Preface to the Third Edition ix xi xiii xv Part A: Preparation 1 1 Research and the Research Student The aim of this book The structure of the book What is research? Some features of student research Classifying research The process of research The successful completion of student research Types of research and this book The requirements to be satisfied Chapter Summary v 3 3 5 7 10 13 16 18 20 21 25 2 Selecting and Justifying a Research Project Personal value of the topic Selecting a project topic Research degree topic selection in outline Appointing the supervisor Initial selection of a topic Techniques for generating research topics Feasibility of the research proposed Social value of the research Research symmetry Scope for research Developing a research proposal Chapter Summary 26 26 27 27 29 31 34 39 42 43 44 45 50 3 Planning the Research Project The need to plan Network planning An example of network planning in student research Rendering progress explicit: research milestones The role of network analysis during the execution stage Planning part-time research Chapter Summary 51 51 53 53 68 69 70 72 4 Literature Searching The academic library Major primary, secondary and tertiary sources Why scan the literature? Literature searches and relevance trees Citat