What is research?

What research is not?

• Reading a lot of books
• Finding a lot of interesting information

What research is (still) not?

• Asking a question and then answering it

What research is?

Contribution to a body of knowledge

• Small contribution

What research is?

Contribution to a body of knowledge

• Specific contribution

What research is?

Contribution to a body of knowledge

• Systematic contribution

What research is?

Contribution to a body of knowledge

• Relevant contribution

What research is?

Defined by a body of

• Relevant contribution

What research is?

A systematic enquiry leading to a small, specific, original contribution to the existing body of knowledge.

What makes a good research question?

• Addresses an issue of Significance

What makes a good research question?

• Has to be researchable with the limitations of time, space, context, resources and capacity

What makes a good research question?

• It has not been definitively answered?

How to arrive at a research question?

"Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

How to arrive at a research question?

"Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Good and bad research subjects about Pride and Prejudice

(and their technology public parallels)

A short critical review of Pride and Prejudice. 

The use of sexist inheritance laws in early 19th century England as important literary devices to create problem statements. 

What was the impact of Pride and Prejudice on popular storytelling and culture?

The role of Pride and Prejudice in the evolution of the Byronic Hero.

The influence of Pride and Prejudice on late 20th century American romantic comedies.

How do modern women (or men) perceive Pride and Prejudice?

What was the impact of Pride and Prejudice on feminism?

Was there fidelity in the descriptions of costumes in Pride and Prejudice?

Studying a large thing from a specific lens. 

A subaltern critique of Pride and Prejudice as the trivial pursuits of priviledged upper class people who lead inherently exploitative lives.

The role of technology as a literary device in Pride and Prejudice

Critical appraisal of resolutions of problem statements in

Pride and Prejudice.  

The Pospositivism Wordview

• This worldview is sometimes called the scientific
  method, or doing science research
• Postpositivists hold a deterministic philosophy in which causes (probably) determine effects or outcomes
• It is also reductionistic in that the intent is to
  reduce the ideas into a small, discrete set to test, such as the variables that comprise hypotheses and research questions. 

The Constructivist Worldview

• Individuals seek understanding of the world in which they live and work.
• These meanings are varied and multiple,
  leading the researcher to look for the complexity of views rather than narrowing meanings into a few categories or ideas. 
• Make sense of (or interpret) the meanings
  others have about the world

The Transformative Worldview

• Postpositivist assumptions imposed structural laws and theories that did not fit marginalized individuals in our society or issues of power and social justice, discrimination, and oppression that needed to be addressed.