How To Develop A Research/Dissertation Idea?

"How to develop a research topic", "how to develop research questions", and more…

What you'll learn
You will be able to make the most of your time and apply your reading and writing skills to develop a research idea and research questions
Recognize what a "good" research idea is
Understand how to plan your reading, where to look and how to read effectively
Learn a writing strategy (free writing) that will help you with your research idea (and dissertation writing)
Learn to plan your dissertation
Requirements
- motivation to develop a great research idea!
- willingness to trust me and to try out the techniques that I outline in the course!
Description
There are many resources on "How to conduct research" or "How to write a dissertation/thesis/journal article", as well as on specific methods of data collection and analysis or the structure of dissertations, doctoral theses and academic articles. But in my academic tutoring experience, I observed that many students are often concerned with yet another aspect of conducting their first research study - how to develop a good research topic? No wonder, having a good research idea is, after all, a prerequisite for conducting a good research study. I developed this course specifically to share my experiences of tackling this, Seemingly simple, task. I know what it's like to have a tight deadline and wonder "how on Earth am I supposed to come up with something good?" I had to write my own Master's dissertation in 4 months while caring for 2 children and working full-time. I managed to write a strong PhD proposal in just 2 days and to complete my PhD degree in just over 3 years. I know how to manage time effectively, and how to make the best of it when it's limited. Now I want to teach you the same.The example questions which I answer in this course are as follows:- What is a "good" research idea and how to develop it?- What to read? How do you know what topics you should start with? What kind of materials to focus on? Which sections of published work should you pay particular attention to?- Where to look? Where can you find the literature that is relevant?- How to read? What reading techniques should you use?- How to organise your reading sources? How to make sure that you are on top of your reading and don't loose these valuable sources and quotations?- When should you start writing?- What to write and when? - What is free writing and how is it going to help you?- Is Thinking just a waste of time, or is it just as important an activity as reading and writing?- How to come up with research questions?- What types of research questions are there?- What is a "good" research question?- How to incorporate your idea and research questions into the Literature Review chapter?What I DO NOT cover in this course is the exact structure of a dissertation. I focus mainly on how to read, how to write and how to think (!) to effectively manage your time and gradually develop a good research idea. The course does conclude with a short discussion of a literature review but its main purpose is to demonstrate the place of your research idea and questions in it, not to go into detail of the structure of this chapter. 

Overview

Section 1: Looking for a research idea

Lecture 1 Introduction to Section 1

Lecture 2 What is a GOOD research idea?

Lecture 3 READING - What to read?

Lecture 4 READING - What to read ABOUT?

Lecture 5 READING - HOW to read?

Lecture 6 READING - How to organise your reading?

Lecture 7 READING HOMEWORK

Lecture 8 WRITING - Making notes

Lecture 9 WRITING - Free writing

Lecture 10 WRITING HOMEWORK

Lecture 11 THINKING

Lecture 12 Conclusion

Section 2: Developing research questions

Lecture 13 Introduction to Section 2

Lecture 14 What do your research questions say about you and your study?

Lecture 15 4 types of research questions

Lecture 16 What is a good/bad research question?

Section 3: Putting it all together

Lecture 17 Planning your dissertation

Lecture 18 Thinking of the Literature Review chapter

Section 4: Conclusion

Lecture 19 BONUS - interview with Dr Joan Cutting on how to develop a good research idea

Lecture 20 Course conclusion

Lecture 21 BONUS - free materials and discounts

Undergraduate students,Master's students,PhD students,Independent researchers