Research Project III

Take your research skills to the next level.  Course now available online. 

Prerequisites: Research Projects I & II or equivalent

Being a good researcher involves more than coming up with brilliant ideas and implementing them. Most researchers spend the majority of their time reading papers, discussing ideas with colleagues, writing and revising papers, staring blankly into space – and, of course, having brilliant ideas and implementing them.

There are 5 lessons in this course:

1. Determining Research Priorities.
   • Beginning your research
   • Brainstorming
   • How to brainstorm
   • Basic steps for brainstorming
   • Terminology
2. Planning Research Improvement
   • Overview
   • Mind maps
   • How to mind map
   • Concept mapping
   • Flow diagrams
   • Analytical procedures
   • Terminology
3. Testing the Viability of Alternative Approaches
   • Research design
   • Major types of research design
   • Action research
   • Fishbone diagrams
   • Lateral thinking
   • Lateral thinking techniqies
   • Pareto analysis
   • When and where to use pareto analysis
   • Observations
   • Root cause analysis
   • Finding the root cause
   • Hypothesis
   • Null and alternate hypothesis
   • Terminology
4. Conducting Detailed Research into Commercial Work Procedures
   • Log books
   • Collecting and logging data
   • Checking data for accurtacy
   • Developing a base structure
   • Data transformations
   • Analysing your data
   • What shape is data in
   • Analyzing documents
   • Analyzing interviews
   • Analyzing observations
   • Analyzing questionnaires
   • Interpretation
   • The results
   • Writing up your report
   • Report structure
   • Terminology
5. Developing an Improved Approach to a Workplace Procedure
   • Overview
   • Terminology

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims:

• Analyse current industry procedures to determine possible areas for improvement or innovation.
• Plan research on the development of innovative approaches for improving a commercial work procedure.
• Conduct detailed research into the viability of alternative innovative approaches to a commercial work procedure.
• Conduct detailed research into the viability of alternative, innovative approaches to a commercial work procedures.
• Develop an improved approach to a workplace procedure based on results of research.

For more information on this course, please request your free course information pack.