Clarifying your topic

January 2024
Alice and the Cheshire Cat:
̶ "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought
to walk from here?"
̶ "That depends a good deal on where you want to
get to", said the Cat.
̶ "I don't much care where", said Alice.
̶ "Then it doesn't matter which way you walk",
said the Cat.
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Carroll 1989: 63-4)
Overall Research Steps - Computing
1. Identify topic
2. Conduct initial search
3. Finalise the topic
4. Detailed literature review
5. Update the Research Objective / Questions
6. Define research method based on questions/objectives
7. Implement research method
a. Collect data/requirements (if needed)
b. Analyse data
c. Develop prototype/artifact
d. Evaluate prototype
8. Discuss results with reference to literature
9. Write conclusion about research questions/objectives
Formulating your research topic

 How did you find it last week? Any Questions?

 Issues that we will discuss today:

1. Finding a topic
2. Articulating your research problem
3. Practical aspects
4. Finding information
1. Finding a topic
Finding inspiration
 Starting places
 Consider areas you have found particularly interesting, such as:
• Material covered in classes.
• An article or a chapter in a book that you used as background reading.
• A podcast you found online.
• An angle of a previous assignment you would like to study in more
depth.
• A topical item in the news.
• A topical issue in your workplace.
• A theme emerging in a discussion board.

 Follow it up in more depth using relevant sources.

Finding inspiration - Using your reading
 Read!
 Watch out for current themes in research.
 Consider whether you might be able to do similar work with a new set
of conditions.
 If so, how exactly would yours differ?
 Browse journals and book reviews for ideas.
 What the next logical step would be to extend that research?
 Could you contribute through your own research project?
 Look at other dissertations in your subject.
 What kinds of topics have other students chosen?
 How can you take a different approach to such projects?
 Did I say read!!?
Finding inspiration - Clarify
 Clarify your rationale for considering a topic.
 Why is it important? For whom?
 What makes it a good topic?
 In what way would it be original?
 What interest you about it?
Broaden up, narrow down - Broaden up
 Don't jump into choosing a topic too early.
 Be open-minded, initially, about considering a range of
possibilities.
 Look for inspiration in many places.
 Conduct an initial literature search to broaden your ideas.
 Did I say read!!?
 Make a long list of themes that hold some interest or
which offer potential for further investigation.
 Consider the kind of questions or hypotheses you could
research for each of these.
Broaden up, narrow down - Eliminate
 The topic defines the research subject area
 Eliminate items on your list that are likely to be:
 Too complicated to explain.
 Too complicated to research.
 Too expensive to research.
 Too time-consuming to research.
 Likely to raise ethical issues.
 Unlikely to sustain your interest.
Broaden up, narrow down - Specify

 Settle on one topic to research.

 Specify exactly which aspect of that topic you will
research: to what question will your research contribute an
answer?
 Find a manageable focus.
2. Articulating your research
problem
Conveying the problem
 The nature of the dissertation project in this course is an
applied project.
 -i.e. use the knowledge and skills developed in your course to
help solve a real-life problem.
 Once you have found your topic, the next step is to
convey your project and describe it in a way that is easy to
understand for a wide audience.
 A good way of doing this is by effectively telling a story.
 We will be using the McKinsey SCR Framework
(McKinsey, 2014) to do this.
Situation-Complication-Resolution
Framework
• The framing of the important, recent context the
Situat audience already knows and accepts as fact.
ion

Comp
• The reason the situation requires action.
licatio
n

• The action required to solve a problem (or

Resol capture an opportunity).
ution
Situation, complication, resolution...
 Example: Improving emotional intelligence using mobile
game in kids
 Situation
• Emotional intelligence (EI) plays a crucial role in children's overall
development, impacting social interactions, academic performance, and
mental well-being.
• Existing research acknowledges the importance of EI but lacks
comprehensive tools or applications dedicated to enhancing it in children.
• Mobile technology provides a promising platform to engage children in
learning activities due to its accessibility and interactive nature.
 Complication
• Limited availability of mobile games specifically designed to target and
improve emotional intelligence in children.
• Challenges exist in identifying effective methodologies and strategies
within mobile applications that engage children in learning and
practicing emotional skills.
 Resolution
 Develop a mobile game tailored for children, focusing on enhancing
emotional intelligence through interactive activities and engaging
gameplay.
 Utilize gamification techniques, such as storytelling, role-playing,
and problem-solving, to make the learning experience enjoyable and
impactful.
 Evaluate the game’s effectiveness through user testing, surveys, and
behavioural observation to measure improvements in emotional
skills.
 The deliverable
 A mobile game to improve emotional intelligence in kids and its
evaluation in terms of effectiveness.
 For whom? to do what?
 For kids to use and improve their emotional intelligence.
Situation, complication, resolution
 Find a hand-out explaining the SCR framework on Blackboard
 Additional example - courtesy of a multinational company that
has used this technique to address some challenges.

McKinsey’s framework: Dissertation project:

Situation Context of the

project

Complication Research problem

Resolution Deliverable
4. Practical aspects
Considerations
 Motivation
 ‘Will this project get me out of bed in the morning?’
 If the answer is ‘no’, then you may want to reconsider the
project area.
 Expectations of the field of study
 Are there preferred methodologies for undertaking that research
topic?
 What are key texts that you should read within that field?
 Are there key schools of thought?
Considerations
 The size of your project: the ‘Goldilocks strategy’:
 A topic that is not too big, not too small, but just right.
 Consider the following potential statements:
 ‘I wish to undertake a project in computer security’
• Far too broad!
• What aspects of security?
 ‘I wish to undertake a project in encryption’
• Still too broad!
• Encrypting what?
 Why are we bad at passwords or why is cyber security failing
more frequently today?
Considerations
 Time available
 In your course is usually three months
 Costs of undertaking your research
 Most of the things you require will be provided by the
university.
 Software, journal articles, books, Internet access, etc.
 Resources available
 Physical resources such as computers and labs.
• Might be difficult to access specialist equipment, software, etc.
 People resources such as your supervisor or technicians.
 Emotional resources such as family and colleagues.
Choosing a Topic - Checklist
 Capability: is it feasible?
 Is the topic something with which truly
interests you?
 Do you have, or can you develop within
the project time frame, the necessary
research skills to undertake the topic?
 Does the topic contain issues that have a
clear link to theory?
 Are you able to state your research
question, aim and objectives clearly?
 Will your proposed research be able to
provide fresh insights into this topic?
 Is the research topic achievable within
the available time?
 Will the topic still be current when you
finish your project?
 Is the topic achievable within the financial
resources that are likely to be available?
 Are you reasonably certain of being able to
gain access to data you are likely to require
for this topic?
 Appropriateness: is it worthwhile?
 Does the topic fit the specifications and
meet the standards set by the examining
institution?
 Does your topic relate clearly to the idea
you have been given (perhaps by and
organisation)?
 Are the findings for this topics likely to be
symmetrical: that is, of similar value
whatever the outcome?
 Does the topic match your
career/professional goals?
1. Finding information
Finding Information
 Library resources and tools.
 Literature searching & search strategies .
 Evaluating resources and finding peer reviewed research
information.
 Referencing tools (e.g. RefWorks).
Sources of Information

 Web pages  Market research

 Encyclopaedias  Company information
 People - friends, lecturers,  Broadcasts
experts, bloggers, etc.  White papers
 Textbooks  Government publications
 Videos  Statistics
 Journal & magazine  etc.
articles
 News
Identify the…
 Conference paper.
 Magazine article.
 Review journal article.
 Research journal article.

Can you tell if any of the papers or articles are peer

reviewed (refereed)?
 Define topic or
question

Think about the type of

Evaluate and select information you need
suitable results e.g. introduction, latest
research, statistics

Search strategy
Search - using Identify what types of
appropriate resources to look for
techniques

Use the appropriate

Identify keywords search tools for the
type of resource
Which search tools to use?
 Books:
 Library Search
 Other library catalogues
 Book catalogues
 Amazon
 Google books

 Journal articles and conference papers:

 Library Search
 Information databases
 Google Scholar

 Specialist resources:
 Information databases
 Web search engines
Identifying keywords

 Identify the key concept(s) and the context of your

topic. This will help you to select suitable keywords.
 Implications of security threats to mobile devices on
small businesses

concepts
context
 Alternative keywords

 Think of alternatives words: Mobile, phone, laptop, tablet, etc.

Business, businesses, enterprises,
organisations, small and medium
enterprises, SMEs
 Think of spelling variations: Organisations, organizations
 Expand any acronyms: BYOD = Bring Your Own Device
Search techniques
 Boolean searching
 AND
 OR
 Phrase searching (using "speech marks")
 Wildcards & truncation symbols (database*)
 Searching in specific fields
 Abstract
 Author names
 Refining your results to:
 Appropriate materials (including peer reviewed)
 Date ranges
Search on IEEE Xplore Number of results
security threats 7358
"security threats" 1444
security 128909
secur* 139172
secur* mobile 18296
secur* mobile (full text) 38690
Where next?
 Following leads
 new keywords
 new questions
 important authors
 Following the citation trail
 references
 cited by...
Keeping up to date
 Alerts
 citation alerts
 Social media
 blogs
 collaborative spaces
 Email discussion lists
Keeping records
 Print
 Save
 Email
 Copy / paste (making sure you keep the reference!)
 Save to RefWorks...
References
 Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill A. (2016) Research methods for business
students (7th ed.) Essex: Pearson Education
 Cottrell, S. (2014) “Dissertations and Project Reports. A step by step guide”
Palgrave Macmillan
 McKinsey, D. (2014) "Strategic storytelling: how to create persuasive business
presentations". South Carolina: CreateSpace
Situation, complication, resolution...
 Example: Migration of enterprise websites to responsive sites
 Situation
 Responsive Web Design is the new norm, with the trend shifting
towards browsing on the go with smaller portable devices. The current
practice is using a responsive approach. Early adopters however now
face migration of their existing mobile websites to a responsive version.
 Complication
 Responsive Web Design advise is plentiful. There is little however, on
how to approach such projects, particularly migration projects which
require a different process.
 With the large number of website projects failing it's key that with any
migration project there is a clear digital strategy and process, with
testing being at the forefront.
 Despite this knowledge, the question is still posed on how to approach it
and what the key considerations are to be successful.
 Resolution
 Identify the optimum process for a responsive migration project to help Project
Managers through the planning stage and beyond.
 The how?
 Identify and understand the approaches to Responsive Web Design.
 Assess the potential risks to failure in Responsive Web migration projects.
 Identify existing process for such projects and evaluate these against each other.
 Based on research, develop a process on how to approach a responsive migration
project, which bears focus on avoid failure and optimising performance.
 The deliverable
 A framework which outlines the optimum process for a responsive migration
project.
 For whom? to do what?
 Project Managers or equivalent to help them plan and manage a responsive
migration project in a manner which avoids failure and optimises performance.
Situation, complication, resolution...
 Example: Developing and Index of Youth deprivation in England
 Situation
 The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is a ranking deprivation of small areas of
England. The IMD combines the data compiled into seven domains. Each domain is given
a weighing of importance. The domains are combined by weighting percentage to give a
score that is used to describe the overall deprivation ranking across England. Each domain
is a combination of sub-domains that are themselves made up indicator metrics, these
individual metrics are taken from the most up to date and relevant sources.
 The IMD is published by the Department for Communities and Local Government Every
five years and draws form a large range of national statistics and the census
 Complication
 In its current form, the IMD underrepresents and under-reports indices of deprivation for
young people.
 Youth deprivation within England is relegated to supplementary metrics and little is
published by either public bodies of charities. This creates a knowledge vacuum when it
comes to making strategic choices regarding combating deprivation in England.
 Combating poverty and deprivation is an important goal not only morally but
economically for any nation, “failure to protect children from poverty is one of the
costliest mistakes a society can make”.
 Resolution
 Producing a communication and analysis resource that local authorities can use to
better understand the deprivation of young people within England.
 The how?
 Identify reliable public data resources that contain relevant information.
 Create a single unified data resource from the identified data sources.
 Attribute the data indicator metrics to domains and sub-domains.
 Use the unified data resource to rank each geographical area with regards to a
given indicator and domain.
 Use the rankings to create communication resources and visualisations.
 The deliverable
 A data source and a data visualisation portal.
 For whom? to do what?
 Local authorities and charities to better understand where resources for young
people could be directed.