A Sample Structure for an Inquiry / Research Proposal

I thought this might be of interest to my students currently planning a piece of research or inquiry in terms of a possible structure:

Title of Inquiry

·      This is the working title of your inquiry. It may change over time, but defining the title will help you decide your focus and methods, and suggest possible literature.

Topic Outline

·      Aim of the inquiry (overall, if your inquiry was successful, what do you think it might achieve for you? This is aspirational, it is what you are trying to achieve);

·      Identify the Context of the Inquiry (what it will apply to, its currency in relation to contemporary practices or theories);

·      Rationale (why it is important? will anyone will benefit from what you find out? How is it relevant to your interests or career?);

·      Inquiry Question(s) (these are the specific and answerable questions that the inquiry is designed to address. Answering these questions successfully should enable you to succeed in your aim)

·      Theoretical Framework (What existing theories do you think apply to your inquiry, and how might these help you to gain an insight into your topic area?);

·      Methodological Framework (what methods of gathering and analysing data do you think you will use and for what reasons?);

·      Resources (briefly assess what resources you need in terms of time, access to individual’s who you might interview etc.);

·      Objectives (explain what you are actually going to do in the inquiry, e.g. what you will read, who you might speak to, and the timeline you think will keep you on track);

·      Ethical Implications (are there any likely ethical issues or problems that might arise in your inquiry process, especially relevant if you are gathering data from people, e.g. through interviews?);

 

Literature

·      What are the main current ideas in circulation that are current to your topic?

·       Where are these located (academic texts; journalistic work; within a practice setting)?

·      Who else has tackled your topic area, how did they do it, and what did they find out?

Constructing an Argument

I thought it might be helpful to set out some thoughts on how you set out your arguments. I think one good way is to write 1 paragraph per argument, cycling through the process above. I am very happy to receive comments and have posted this to Google Docs for your convenience:

Link to:  'Argument Diagram'.

Mapping Professional Domains

Following on from the campus session, I have put up on 'My Learning' a template of the 'Mapping Professional Domains' diagram. You can use this to explore your ideas on any of the modules of the programme. I have included below a simple example of questions that emerge as we think about developing a plan for the inquiry using the template.

I hope this is of interest.

You can click on the image below to enlarge.

Thoughts on the ‘Reflection’ Blogs … generic feedback on Part 2

I thought it would be helpful to discuss some observations and thoughts about some of the posts on ‘Reflection’. Some of the best posts seem to focus in on one or more of three aspects. Here are some examples of how different people have tackled these three different aspects I have observed from Blog posts on Reflection. There are plenty of other good examples so please do not see these as necessarily the only good examples:

Firstly, In this example we can se how Beth conceptualises reflection as an internalised process of learning. We can see reflection as a process of revisiting the memories we make of our experiences, trawling them to extract out new or more worthwhile conclusions.

 

Ruth discusses reflection as relational to the external world of practice. We can see reflection as locating our responses in the wider world of practice. The ‘experiences’ matter because they are located in the external world, and are mostly focused on making sense of that external world.

 

Amy discusses reflection in terms of the methods of engagement, i.e. using different technologies and tools to engage the process of reflection. If we create internal memories based on reflection upon experiences (or memories of experiences) then the different methods we use ‘to’ reflect may assist in the formation of particular types of usable, worthwhile memories.

So Reflection can be seen as a ‘method’ of learning or adaption to ‘the external world’ of practice and life that has ‘internal, personal resonance’. To make Reflection effective, this way of thinking about it (internal; external; methodological) seems to have value and utility. My overall thought on current posts is that the most useful conceptualisation uses these, or similar models and I hope this is helpful generic feedback.

What is Research?

This is mainly intended for my students studying on the Television Production Proposition module TVP3110 but may be of interest to others

My lecture on 'What is Research' can now be accessed on My Learning

Here is the link to the Seminar worksheet 'Planning for The Research Proposal'

I hope this helps you in your assignment.

Feedback on the general qualities of Module 1 Posts

This is likely to be of interest mainly to Module 1 students

I have been reading through the Blog posts today for Module 1. There are lots of good posts, the best of which are really good and set a high standard for all of us to emulate. I’m not going to say precisely who but I have seen excellent examples of:

• Individuals who have made multiple comments to others and by virtue of their activity, attract lots of comments to their own posts. This means ample and good quality feedback is already flowing to those individuals that will help them develop their ideas and skills;
  
• Some good levels of critical thinking in some posts. In particular, individuals who have questioned why they do things in the way they do, and have sought alternatives. Some people have tried to rationalise what they have done. We are about developing high levels of good critical thinking and people are already showing good qualities:
  
• People making multiple attempts at tasks. BAPP Arts is about experimenting and then evaluating. We learn from our experiences, so why undertake a task just once? Why not try it different ways and they post on the best way and why you think it works best? Our brains are like muscles, thinking something once will relegate that thought to the dustbin. Keep with a thought and hone it, and it’ll stay with you forever.

Overall I have seen the above qualities evident in peoples’ posts. You could do worst than to go and find examples yourselves.

Well done to all the active BAPP Arts Bloggers!

More on Making Questions ...

This post is primarily intended for Module 2 students but I would welcome comments from others.

I have been thinking about the features or characteristics of meaningful inquiry questions, and think the following three perspectives might be helpful:

Three possible elements of an inquiry question (?):

a.     The reasons for asking the question

b.     The context in which the question makes sense

c.      The coherency of the question-making

The reasons for asking the question
At the core of a good question may be an assurance that it has some meaning to you, the questioner. Too may questions that arise in schools and universities are motiveless. They stem from the interest of the teacher (through a syllabus) or external interests (say on terms of a discipline). It seems to me, less about the interest (or interests) of the student. Within the space of BAPP Arts, it is essential that the question has relevance and value to you as a student because it is YOUR practice that is the focus of learning. Looking at your emerging questions, try and think in terms of the utility of the answers to you, personally, professionally and creatively. Avoid inquiries that are simply ‘about’ something, and look for inquiry questions that do something meaningful for you.

The context in which the question makes sense
Having thought about the relevance to you of your question(s), it is equally important to think about the context that the question relates to. If the emerging question is about developing your choreography, then a number of contexts are suggested. These might be for example, the nature of dance practice (in a particular place, e.g. UK); choreographic practice (again with specific localised differences); career development in dance; lived experiences of choreographers etc. Each of these are the professional contexts in which the question will, or will not, make sense.

The focus of attention here is on understanding the context so that you can evaluate the question for its appropriateness and value. This considers then the extent to which your question(s) are grounded realistically in the context to which they relate. It is about understanding similar questions posed that relate to the contexts, how others have tackled the questions, the particular conversations, what has been said and what are the conventional ways of understanding this question within the specific context.

The coherency of the question making

This last perspective is about the consideration given to the internal logic and coherence of the question making itself. So for example, a question that seeks the ‘best way’ to do something carries its own internal fault. It assumes there is always a ‘best way’. It carries perhaps also the prejudice of the questioner, i.e, that they think in terms of ‘best ways’. A better internal construction for a question might be ‘in what different ways’ is something constructed. This does not create a hierarchy before any attempt to look at an issue; rather it seeks to simply understand the different ways something is done. The coherency of the question is therefore about the technical method by which a question is framed. It is important because some questions are technically (in terms of research methods) straightforward to tackle, while others carry faults that mean they can never be answered.

I hope that is of interest and prompts ideas.

You might like to look at a previous post I have made on The Art of Asking