DISSERTATION DRAFT

on

15.04.20 - 15.07.20 (Week 1 - Week 6)
Piyaphon Inthavong (0337589)
Design Research Dissertation
Draft Dissertation

INSTRUCTIONS

LECTURES

Week 1 | April 15th, 2020

On the first day of the Design Research Dissertation class, Dr. Hayati discussed through the MIB (Module Information Booklet) and the expectations from the subject. We had an overview of what Dissertations are and learned that the module is a continuous exposure to Research and Academic Writing discussed earlier in the previous module, Design Research Methodology. 

 Design Research Dissertation is about completing the research and picking up from what we left in the previous research module. We ended up with a problem statement and data analysis (primary research data), and now we are to complete the remaining. We have to identify the themes within our collected data for the discussion section of the dissertation.

 Our first project is to prepare a draft dissertation in the upcoming 6 weeks. We’re to put together relevant primary and secondary data to form analysis, discussion, and conclusion revolving our research problems. The draft dissertation must be written with no lesser than 7000 words.

Week 2 | April 22nd, 2020

Today's lectures started with a recap from the last week. Dr. Hayati found out that many are lost in the tracks so we ran over through the discussion of the Draft Dissertation structure which was the main task of the week.

 Literature reviews are a cross-comparison study of different research papers. Themes will be identified when critical thinking is applied to the reviews. These practices are done during the Design Research Methodology module where we summarized and analyzed research papers related to our field of research (critical reviews). Now, the most important to form in literature is a discussion according to the themes that were identified. Themes are usually not easily identified when the researchers are new to it. To identify an effective theme to discuss, a literature matrix can be filled solely for the purpose of guiding the researchers to synthesize information correctly. A literature review matrix can be created according to the preference of the researcher. There are no exact rules for it. Examples of the columns may include:
  • Article name
  • Year
  • Authors name
  • Methodology adopted

Week 3 | April 29th, 2020

During this lecture, Dr. Hayati showed the class slides on Literature reviews and a sample dissertation from the previous batch to explain how it's written and laid out. We were reminded to identify the research gap of each of the research papers we'll be using for the literature review. It's important to make a declaration in the literature review as the perspective of the researcher (us). Do you agree or disagree with the process in which the experiment or study was implemented? Why so?


Week 4 | May 6th, 2020

In today's session, Ms. Hayati presented a slide on the methodology section of the draft dissertation. She mentioned periodically about writing a piece in which leads the readers through our own experiences and perspective so that they understand the research more thoroughly. Each introductory paragraph starts with a link to the previous section, the purpose, and the road map of the section. The concluding paragraph has to summarise key or main points of the section while linking to the next section.

Week 5 | May 13th, 2020

This week, we learned about the discussion section. Here are a few notes on the lecture we had today:

4 purposes of the discussion section
  • Interpret and explain ur results 
  • Answer ur research question 
  • Justify everything 
  • Critical evaluation of the study
“There is no perfect research, not even in PhD.” That's why we have to clearly describe the limitation and constraints of your research. Indicate the findings that u may anticipate that it may need to be covered.

Preparing the discussion section
  • Prep an outline, setting a broad idea of the argument, and how your results support it.
  • Mind maps (refer back to the research questions)
The discussion section is one of the longest sections of the dissertation so it's important to break it down into chunks of subtopics.

Week 6 | May 20th, 2020

The themes this week were the conclusion, the abstract, and the introduction.

DISSERTATION DRAFT

Week 1 | April 15th, 2020

The main objective of this week was to revisit our final report on Design Research Methodology, revise it, and study through the resources which were provided as the class material in Microsoft Teams.

Figure 1.1. Class materials provided in Microsoft Teams.

 I went back and worked through my previous compilation slides and research methodology final report and revised all information and made a major in the way the information was organized as well as the design to refamiliarize myself with the study paper.
Figure 1.2. Revisiting my compilation slides.

Week 2 | April 22nd, 2020

We worked on the literature review matrix this week. It was mainly studying and understanding how to form a proper matrix for an effective future reference when writing a cross-review for the literature.
Figure 2.1. Literature review matrix progress on Google Sheets.

Connecting & planning conceptual framework (part 1).
Figure 2.2. Literature Review framework cross-comparison.

Connecting & planning conceptual framework (part 2).
Figure 2.3. Literature Review framework cross-comparison 2.

Literature Review Matrix:

Week 3 | April 29th, 2020

This week we worked on creating the first draft of the literature review. In the meantime, I finished identifying my themes and began organizing my thoughts for cross comparing the research journals. As a result of analytical thoughts, I decided to connect all the points from all the findings of the literature reviews, additional studies related to the research, and my own data collection in a mind map form. The multiple connections made quickly turned into a UX conceptual framework so I decided to spend most of my time into the by the week (reference provided below in the caption section).

Figure 3.1. Further data analysis & compilation of my previous findings.

Figure 3.2. Website UX Conceptual Framework mind map (full preview mind map).

Week 4 | May 6th, 2020

I caught up on my literature reviews and continued to work on the methodology section of the draft dissertation. As advised by Dr. Hayati, the outline of the methodology section was mapped out on a sketchbook for me to keep track of all the sections and to carefully organize my thoughts for writing.

Methodology writing plan
Figure 4.1 Methodology writing plan.

Week 5 | May 13th, 2020

I worked on the data findings and analysis for quite some time. This week I proofread most parts of my draft dissertation. 
  • A huge thought was put into the research questions and objectives and it was rewritten to clarify the purpose of the research.
  • The problem statements were rewritten.
  • The methodology section was outlined with information ready to be written in paragraph format.
  • The data findings are reassessed, some parts were discarded as it does not address either research objectives.

Week 6 | May 13th, 2020

I completed the data findings and analysis this week. The data modification unexpectedly took longer than expected. Nevertheless, every piece has been connected to the main puzzle now as I have carefully compiled and designed the data appropriately for presentation. The discussion parts were fully outlined as I'm aiming to finish writing it on it as soon as possible.

Survey data findings design
Figure 6.1. Survey data findings design.

Upon sketching, I followed up with the quick visual design for it in Adobe Illustrator:

Figure 6.2. Survey data findings and analysis compilation design (set A).

Figure 6.3. Survey data findings and analysis compilation design (set B).

Figure 6.4. Survey data findings and analysis compilation design (set C).

Dissertation Draft Document

Embedded PDF Dissertation Draft on Google Document.


Final embedded PDF Dissertation Draft.

FEEDBACK

Week 2 | April 26th, 2020

Week 2 feedback notes.

Week 3 | May 3rd, 2020

Dr. Hayati didn't get to see much progress from the week as I spent most of the time on the website UX conceptual framework, but she quickly understood and informed me to work on the literature reviews.

Week 4 | May 10th, 2020

There no were feedback this week

Week 5 | May 17th, 2020

Dr. Hayati checked my findings and suggested that I work on the section along with the topics from the methodology section. She is still reading my literature review, so there was not too much to say. She was aware that I'm under schedule but understood as I'm working through my progress of writing each section carefully.

Week 6 | May 24th, 2020

It was late hours during the tutorial session so it took place shortly. Dr. Hayati explained a few mistakes on the way I structured the data findings and methodology section.

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