10.3 What would you do differently? 148
10.4 What have you learned about yourself? 150
10.5 How have your skills developed? 152
Case study – A fresh pair of eyes 155
Part 2 My research project 157
Top tip – A strong structure 161
Top tip – Using annotated bibliographies 163
Top tip – ‘Put yourself in my shoes’ 167
Case study – Selecting the most significant data 169
Case study – From data description to data analysis 171
Case study – Time to celebrate together 173
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincere thanks to my family and friends for all
their support in the process of bringing The Research Journal to fruition.
In particular I would like to thank Martin Bassot for his careful work on
the diagrams and Marc Bassot for his proofreading and constructive
comments. I would also like to thank the reviewers of the proposal and
typescript whose positive and helpful comments helped me to develop
the work into the book it has become. I would especially like to thank
my Commissioning Editor, Catherine Gray, for her belief in the project
and for her support, and to the publisher for being prepared to take a
risk with a new kind of publication.
1
Introduction
Welcome to The Research Journal. You are
probably reading this because you are about
to start or have recently started your first piece
of independent research. You might well be
studying at undergraduate level. However,
if you are doing a Master’s programme and
you didn’t undertake a research element
at undergraduate level, you may well find
this book useful too. Whatever your current
situation, The Research Journal is designed
as a practical tool to help you to succeed in
each aspect of your research project through
the process of critical reflection. Any first
piece of independent research is a very big
and challenging undertaking; this journal will
help you to see the whole picture (often very
difficult to visualise in the early stages) and
the individual parts that make up the whole.
This means you will be able to manage your
research project well; no one else will be
able to do this for you, and it will ensure your
success. The journal will also help you to reflect
on your learning and progress throughout your
research project and will enable you to write a
dissertation you can be proud of.
Who this journal is for
The Research Journal is designed for all students
who are doing their first piece of independent
research. This is often a key piece of assessed
work that needs to be submitted towards the
end of a programme of study. Because of
its size and the number of credits it carries, it
can have a significant impact on your overall
grade or degree classification. Because of
this, many students recognise its importance
and want to do well in it. Independent
research often gives you the opportunity to
focus on a subject or topic you are interested
in and enables you to delve deeper and
learn more about it. A discussion of your
dissertation is common at interviews for
jobs and graduate schemes because of
the variety of skills you develop during the
process. Critical reflection lies at the heart of
a high-quality dissertation and this book’s
journal format enables you to engage with
the necessary metaprocesses (thinking about
thinking) to critically evaluate your growing
knowledge and understanding. As a result, it
puts