Lecture Notes 2: Methodologies and Critical Analysis

• Every CoP3 project submitted has to have a methodology and critical analysis.
• Evidence to use logic, reasoning and critical judgement to analyse ideas from a range of primary and secondary sources, and critical and theoretical methodologies to evaluate examples from the relevant subject discipline. -- 20%
• Evidence the capacity for undertaking a wide range of independent practical and theoretical research that demonstrates an informed critical, testable, logical form of research taking. (Self planning and independent management, and critical decision making) -- 20%
• Every Research Project needs to have a methodology.
• Will have some sort of methodology, even if it is still ill thought out, or you don't recognise it as such.
• Some plan of attack to get through this module.

Methodology pretty much means:

1. A logical, systematic, and structured way of organising a research project and gathering necessary information.
2. Evidence that you have reflected critically on various research methods and chosen the ones that are most appropriate for your particular research project.
3. Strategy and what is the best strategy in terms of research gathering.

• Therefore, a methodology is unique to each project.
• Refer to Palgrave Study Skills.

1. What kind of research methods are you going to use? Quantitative, or qualitative, or a mixture of both?
2. What will the method enable you to discover?
3. What might they prevent you from discovering?
4. What sort of problems do you envisage in setting up these methods?
5. What are their benefits?
6. Refer to Chapter 13-15 of The Postgraduate Research Handbook by Gina Wisker

Methodology may include

1. Literature Review - Libraries, Journals, Internet (May not have the most reliable sources)
2. Questionnaires
3. Interviews
4. Sketchbooks/Critical Diaries/Reflective Logs

• Outline your methodology at the start of your dissertation.
• Set out your way of approaching the investigation to this question (An introduction should be 500 words max.), the strategy to going about this project.
• Try not to use quotes for your introduction.
• Focus on flashing out on one issue than attempting to focus on all of them.
• You get more marks for attempting to outline your methodology.
• Reasoned Thinking: Using evidence and logic to come to your conclusions
• Think about the bias of those sources
• Where was the author/artist/designer/photographer situated?
• Try to consider the different point of views, where the creator was coming from intellectually; emotionally; philosophically, politically
• Where am I coming from?
• Consider the influence of one or more of the following: the time; place; society; politics; economics; technology; philosophy; scientific thought...
• Marxist, neoliberal, sociological, psychological, postmodernist, technological, fundamentalist, positivist

Argument

1. What do I want to say? (Never lose sight of your central argument)
2. Have i got the evidence to back it up?
3. Could you find more evidence to support your conclusions?
4. Where else do I need to look in order to find more evidence?
5. Am I expressing myself clearly and logically?

Triangulation

1. Pitting alternative theories against the same body of data

Bad Argument

1. Contradict themselves
2. Have no relationship with precious statements
3. Do not have logical sequence
4. Are based on assumptions that were never questioned
5. Appeal to authorities that are known to be limited or suspect (Dictionaries, historical traditions long since discredited, research now challenge, famous people, writers of fiction)
6. Present opinion as argument unsupported by evidence
7. Take no account of exceptions of counter claims
8. Try to claim absolute instead of qualified truths.

A clear logical plan:

1. Keep it simple-refine what you want to say and focus on a few key issues
2. Look into your key issues in depth and bring in the maximum evidence in to support your views
3. Discuss your issues and the evidence you have found in a clear and logical manner.
4. Move from the general to the specific.

Evaluation

1. You need to show the reader that you are evaluating the evidence for its relevance and reliability
2. Looking at and coming to conclusions about the value of your evidence.

Critical Analysis of a text: Step by Step

1. Identify an aspect of your specialist subject that you would like to explore
2. Select a writer or theorist and a particular piece of writing about your specialist subject
3. Make notes that identify the key points in the writing
4. What evidence is used to support or prove the key points
5. Is it convincing? What else needs to be said in order to prove the key points?
6. Write a response to the piece of writing and comment on: the implications for your work: do you agree/disagree with what has been said? Does it help to support your views/argument? The thoughts you have had as the result of reading this piece; on the evidence used by the writer.

Visual Analysis: Step by Step

1. The following prompts could be used when analysing a piece of visual work:
   Comment on the usage of: Line, Colour, Tone, Texture, Form, Composition
2. How are these related to the function of, or message communicated by the piece?
3. How are they related to context, media and materials available; technology prevalent at the time the work was made?
4. What evidence do you have to support your conclusions?