Tips on Thesis, Dissertation, Final Year Project & Research Writing / 論文 學術研究策略提示

Primary Research in Brief (Quantitative, Generic Qualitative*, or Mixed-methods)

• Pinpoint what is missing or what must be added
• Define a research aim
• Review the literature to compare theories and findings
• Develop a theoretical framework and hypotheses based on the review or define a research question
• Rationalize from philosophy, methodology to methods as to how data were collected and analyzed
• Data analysis statistically or thematically
• Compare own findings with the literature
• Draw a conclusion and make recommendations

* Grounded Theory, Ethnography, or Phenomenology has a bottom-up approach that generally does not start on a theoretical basis

Secondary Research in Brief (Critical or Meta Analysis)

• Pinpoint what is missing or what must be added
• Define a SMART or PICOT question
• Rationalize the research design
• Define a search strategy
• Appraise evidence using an appraisal framework
• Construct a table of evidence 
• Combine findings using a forest plot or themes
• Assess findings based on levels of evidence
• Compare own findings with the literature
• Draw a conclusion and make recommendations

Data Collection & Analysis in Primary Research in

• Determine types of research methods before ethical approval (A research design is largely justified by the knowledge gap)
• Explain the methods in the ethical application form and apply for ethical approval as early as possible, it takes time to get approved
• Conduct data collection as planned
• Extend the sampling window (if allowed) to reach the size or until it has reached the saturation point
• Data entry or transcription
• Data analysis
• Present findings in the report

Data Collection & Analysis in Secondary Research

• Determine types of research methods before ethical approval
• Explain the methods in the ethical application form and apply for ethical approval as early as possible, it takes time for approval
• Literature searches, the scale depends on a meta or critical analysis
• Data synthesis and analysis
• Present findings in the report