Masters in Project Management: Academic Writing and the Research Question

1
Masters in Project Management Academic Writing
and the Research Question

• Lawrence Cleary and
• Íde OSullivan
• Shannon Consortium
• Regional Writing Centre

2
Workshop Procedure

• Summary Review of the Features of Academic
  Writing
• Developing a Research Question
• Lunch
• Developing a Research Question (cont)

3
Whats Academic about Academic Writing?

• When someone says academic
• writing, what features characterize
• that kind of writing for you?

4
Changes

• Freewriting Prompt How has your academic writing
  developed since we last met?
• Freewriting (Murray 2006)
• Write for 5 minutes
• Write complete thoughts (sentences)
• Do not stop
• Private writing -- no one will read it
• Write about the topic or sub-topic
• Like brainstorming in sentences
• Structure and coherence not required
• Explore many angles, do open writing

5
Academic Writing

• Complexity
• Formality
• Objectivity
• Explicitness
• Hedging
• Responsibility

5
6
Writing to Prompts (Murray, 2005)

• Joining the conversation
• Broad and narrow conversations
• An area of project management that I would like
  to research is
• Keep writing non-stop for 5 minutes.
• Write in sentences.
• Do not edit or censor your writing.
• Discuss what you have written in pairs.

7
Reflection and Discussion

• What impact did the previous exercise have on
  you?
• How might this type of writing activity be
  useful?
• How do you now move from this broad area to
  selecting a topic that is manageable/ doable
  within the scope of the dissertation?

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Choosing Your Topic Scope

• The time / space continuum what can I
  meaningfully talk about in 80 to 100 pages, or 20
  to 25 thousand words, after 15 months of reading,
  research, analysis?
• EPM2
• Try to do what can be done in this much space and
  time.

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Selecting a topic

• Your starting point for finding a topic may be to
  try to answer some of the questions below (Unit
  2)
• Is there a managerial problem or issue relating
  to your job or organisation that you would find
  interesting to investigate?
• Is there a subject area that, if you were to
  become more of an expert in it, would enhance
  your career?
• Did you come across any theory or model during
  your programme of studies that you found
  intriguing, challenging or feel is highly
  appropriate or relevant to your own business
  area?
• Is there an area of business practice that you
  feel is currently under-researched and there is
  scope for further investigation?

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Reinventing the Wheel

• What has been done before? (See Appendix A in
  Unit 6).
• What are some of the topics?
• Case studies
• Risk management
• The Application of a tool to achieve a desired
  outcome
• Statistical evaluation
• Etc.
• Value Engineering as a method of Professional
  Stress Reduction

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While Reading

• Read broadly and deeply, but do not be afraid to
  concentrate on areas that interest you.
• Come to a good understanding of how the aspects
  of Project Management that interest you fit into
  the bigger picture. How will additional knowledge
  in this area benefit the field as a whole?

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While Reading

• Look for the literature that attempts to answer
  questions that you want answered. What are they
  saying and what questions are not being addressed
  or definitively answered.
• Look for gaps in the knowledge or debates about
  the reliability or applicability of what is known.

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Narrowing the Topic

• Google Project Management
• Google Project Management time
• Google Project Management time tracking
• Google Project Management time tracking
  software

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Gaps in the Literature

• Read, read, read.
• What seems to go unexplained or what seems to be
  based on less than absolutely reliable evidence?
• What question seems to go unanswered or not
  answered to your satisfaction?

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Gaps in the Literature

• Why is that? Has no one done the research? Or is
  the research so old that the confirmation of the
  knowledge has led to it being a given assumption
  in this area of research?
• Do a search. Confirm your hunches.

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Developing and Refining the Research Question

• How do you now refine this topic into a question
  that is answerable within the scope of the
  dissertation?
• Ask yourself what questions need to be answered
  in order to fill the gaps in the literature.

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Developing and Refining the Research Question

• These are your tentative research questions.
• What questions need to be answered in order to
  answer the research question?

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Developing and Refining the Research Question

• The research question/problem is at the heart of
  every research project
• To see the problem with unwavering clarity and
  to state it in precise and unmistakable terms is
  the first requirement in the research process
  (Leedy and Ormrod, 200543).

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Developing and Refining the Research Question

• The research question must be
• carefully phrased
• stated clearly, completely and precisely
• representative of the goal(s) of the research
  project.

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Developing and Refining the Research Question

• Important considerations
• Feasibility
• Validity (see Unit 2)
• Refining and fine-tuning the research question
• Delimiting the research
• Defining the terms
• Questioning the question

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Developing and Refining the Research Question

• Does senior executives perception of
  environmental uncertainty affect the strategic
  functions of construction firms? (Phua,
  2007753-761)
• Analyse and evaluate this research question?
• What questions need to be answered in order to
  answer the research question?
• Map out the article outline.

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The Actual Article Outline

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Why perceived environmental uncertainty?
• 3. The link between perceived environmental
  uncertainty and firm strategy
• 4. Present study and hypotheses development
• 5. Study approach and method
• 5.1. Sample and procedure
• 5.2. Measurement instruments perceived
  environmental uncertainty 5.3. Firm
  activities/strategic functions
• 5.4. Extent of firm change
• 5.5. Firm variables
• 6. Analysis and results
• 7. Discussion and conclusion

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Thesis Statement

• companies that deal in projects on an ongoing
  basis
• thus must learn to deal with crises on a regular
  basis. It is
• these crises that are the concern of this paper.
  Its specific
• purpose therefore is to review the nature of
  critical
• interruptions that have interfered with project
  progress of
• an international construction company and reflect
  upon
• their remedies. It is thought that this exposure
  will add to
• the projects-as-practice material for academics
  and the
• normative literature that assists managers in
  dealing with
• crises, especially within construction
  organisations
• (Hällgren and Wilson, 2007 1-2).
• Hällgren, M. and Wilson, T.L. (2007) The nature
  and management of crises in construction
  projects Projects-as-practice observations,
  International Journal of Project Management
  online, available http//www.sciencedirect.com/
  science?_obMImg_imagekeyB6V9V-4RWC546-1-3_cdi
  5908_user103702_origsearch_coverDate022F20
  2F2008_sk999999999viewcwchpdGLbVzz-zSkzkmd5
  bf38af4cd9256c2e5be16be81c52157bie/sdarticle.pd
  f accessed 15 May 2008.

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Difficulties Associated with Writing

• What do you worry about or struggle with when
  faced with this writing task?
• Freewrite on this topic for five minutes

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Difficulties Associated with Writing

• Anxiety and fear of writing
• Lack of confidence and motivation
• Getting started
• Cracking the codes of academic writing
• Lack of guidance, practice and feedback
• Misconceptions of writing
• Good writing skills are innate X
• Think first, then write X

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Strategies to Develop Academic Writing Skills

• Writing is a process
• Create time and space for writing
• Freewriting
• Writing to prompts
• The next thing I want to write about is
• The reason I am writing this is
• The objectives of my essay are
• Create your own writing prompts
• Experiment with different types of writing

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Strategies to Develop Academic Writing Skills

• Keep a learning diary (Moore and Murphy, 200561)
  / writing diary / process journal (Elbow and
  Belanoff, 200319).
• When do you feel most/least motivated to write?
• What strategies have/have not worked in the past?

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Strategies to Develop Academic Writing Skills

• Write a little bit every day (Moore and Murphy,
  2005117).
• Keep a notebook with you to record ideas when
  they come to mind (Moore and Murphy, 2005).

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Cracking the Codes

• Analysing the genre/text and modelling
• Generate a list of
• The most important features of academic writing
• Criteria to make your writing more effective
• The important conventions in your discipline
• What is/is not acceptable in your discipline

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Cracking the Codes

• Develop a writing charter Murray and Moore
  (2006135) that you can consult for guidance.
• Journal guidelines for contributors

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Discipline-specific Conventions

• What organisational features/patterns are in
  evidence?
• How are arguments and counterarguments presented
  and structured?
• What types of evidence are important in this
  discipline?

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Discipline-specific Conventions

• What stylistic features are prominent?
• Is the text cohesive? How does the author achieve
  such cohesion?
• What kind(s) of persuasive devises does the
  author employ?

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Wrapping Up

• Writing ProcessPlanning, Drafting, (Discussing /
  Consulting), Revising, Editing and Proofreading.
• Rhetorical SituationOccasion for writing,
  writer, topic, audience and purpose.
• Writing Strategiescognitive, metacognitive,
  affective and social.

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References

• Elbow, P. and Belanoff, P. (2003) Being a Writer
  A Community of Writers Revisited. New York
  McGraw-Hill.
• Leedy, P. and Ormrod, E. (2005) Practical
  research Planning and Design (8th edition). New
  Jersey Pearson Education International.
• Moore, S. and Murphy, M. (2005) How to be a
  Student 100 Great Ideas and Practical Hints for
  Students Everywhere. UK Open University Press.
• Murray, R. (2005) Writing for Academic Journals.
  UK Open University Press.
• Murray, R. and Moore, S. (2006) The Handbook of
  Academic Writing A Fresh Approach. UK Open
  University Press.
• Phua, F. (2007) Does senior executives
  perception of environmental uncertainty affect
  the strategic functions of construction firms?,
  International Journal of Project Management,
  25(8) 753-761.