Research Projects

• Every proposal needs to have a problem statement or research question. This should be a short, concise statement of one or two sentences showing what you are going to do. An example of a research question is:

What are the socio-economic effects of second home ownership on the local inhabitants of Kenton-On-Sea, Ndlambe Municipality, Eastern Cape?

• • A good proposal usually has ONE clear aim.

  • The literature review will show us that you have already collected the key references and that you are critically aware of the contribution your research will make to the literature. A longer review will form part of your final research report.

  • The description of the study area will, where applicable, give us the spatial context for your research and enable you to describe the relevant geographical features or phenomena in your study area.

  • In order to meet the aim of the research, you will need to have at least one, usually several, objectives or hypotheses. For example, these are two of the objectives which had to be accomplished in order to meet the research question quoted above:

    • To identify, collate and synthesise literature relating to trends in second home ownership in South Africa to provide a theoretical context and a base from which to test the applicability of the relevant theory.

    • To identify and interview relevant local stakeholders and government officials on the socio-economic impacts of second home ownership on Kenton-On-Sea.

  • Methods of data collection will need to be specified for both primary and secondary data to show that you have established how you will collect the information you require. This section also needs a description of where you will source the spatial information from which you will construct your maps.

  • Quantitative and qualitative techniques of analysis have to be detailed showing how you intend to examine and analyse the information you have collected. Tell us which GIS, mapping or graphics programmes will be used to produce your maps.

  • Next, we need to see your proposed work programme so that we can establish whether the research is achievable in the time available.

  • Both a Research Proposal and a Progress Report must acknowledge that you are familiar with the provisions of the following:

    • Rhodes University's Field Worker Safety Guidelines

http://www.ru.ac.za/research/research/policiesandpractices/fieldworkersafetyguidelines/

• • • Rhodes University's Ethical Standards for Research on Human & Animal Subjects

http://www.ru.ac.za/research/research/ethics/

• • A progress report enables you to show us what has been done so far.

  • Lastly, the reference list has to be drawn up in accordance with departmental guidelines.

  • The length of an Honours proposal should not normally exceed 3 500 words, which is approximately six to nine pages of text. Masters and PhD proposals are comprehensive and between 6 000 and 8 000 words.

  • The text should be in Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Times New Roman or Times Roman 11-point with 1½ line spacing.

  • The following should be in the font of your choice (see above):

    • TITLE, 12-point bold (ALL CAPS).

    • Headings, 12-point bold.

    • Sub-headings, 11-point bold & italics.

    • Sub, sub-headings, 11-point italics.

  • A Reference List must appear at the end of the document using conventions detailed below.

  • Captions for Tables should be above each table as defined in the writing guidelines.

  • Captions for Figures should be below each figure as in the writing guidelines.

• Front cover and front page: Title of the project. The title should be brief and capture the academic topic of the research, often including its geographic location. Your name and a statement that this dissertation is submitted as part of your degree requirements also appear on this page.

• Front page: As above and statement to declare that you have read and understood the University's plagiarism policy, that you have not plagiarised the work of others, and that all work herein is your own except where acknowledged otherwise. NB. It is imperative that you abide by this statement as penalties for plagiarism are severe.

• Contents Page/s:

  • Chapter headings, sub-headings and page numbers.

  • Figure captions and page numbers.

  • Table headings and page numbers.

• Acknowledgements: Acknowledge all those who have had an input to your research in terms of advice, assistance with data collection or making data available, financial support, personal support and any other significant help.

• Abstract: The purpose of an abstract is to tell us what specific information your research contains. After reading the abstract we usually decide whether to read the work or not! It needs to include your purpose, methods and the scope of your work. Most importantly, it needs to provide us with a summary of your results, conclusions or recommendations. The length should not exceed 250 words.

• Introduction: This chapter should provide the background to your project, motivate as to the importance of the research, provide supporting reference material and present the aims, key research questions, research hypotheses and objectives (tasks). The introduction can also include a summary of the whole report.

• Literature Review: This chapter should present a critical appraisal of (mainly academic) literature relevant to your research topic. It should provide a summary of the present knowledge base and point to gaps in the literature that your research attempts to fill. You can include references to methods here, or keep them for the methods chapter. Literature that describes the study area should normally be included in the relevant section on the study area, but literature relating to our knowledge of the area, that provides the framework for your research, should be included here. For example, in a water quality study, you could cite work that points to a health problem that has been identified in the area, but you do not describe the general catchment geography at this point. Information that you extract from the 'grey' literature (e.g. municipal reports) should probably be included in the results section, where searching for this information was one of your objectives.

• Study Area (Setting): The study area is normally described in a separate chapter, or could be a sub-section of methods. This section must include a location map produced to cartographic norms (and NOT simply a cut-and-pasted Google Earth Image). Provide a summary of relevant geographical features, remembering to acknowledge sources of information. Where the research includes a more in-depth collation of material relating to the study area, this material should be presented as part of the results.

  • Remember that your readership/examiners are not necessarily acquainted with the local area or even South Africa. Make sure that they can locate your study area within South Africa and are made aware of its relevance and research context.

• Methods: You may want to start the methods chapter by reviewing the aims, objectives and research hypotheses. Methods should relate to each objective that you set out to achieve. Describe the methods used to collect data in sufficient detail so that another researcher could repeat your study. Remember to include details of your sampling design: where, when and how many samples did you collect? For standard methods of data collection refer to standard references and summarise. Indicate which instruments you used if relevant. Analytical approaches can also be described in the methods chapter. Methods must be presented in the past tense.

• Results: Present your information or data in the form of text, tables, graphs, maps, etc., with a brief description of what you have found. As rule use the past tense to describe what you found. Raw data can be included as an Appendix. Do not attempt a discussion of your findings at this point. The results present new information.

• Discussion: The discussion should draw together your results in relation to the aim, objectives and research questions set out in the introduction. This is where you add to our geographical knowledge base. For this reason, you should also relate your findings to the literature that you reviewed earlier.

In the discussion, you should also draw attention to the limitations of the research and make suggestions for further research. Limitations should be discussed in terms of the accuracy of the data collection, the size of the data set, spatial and temporal limitations of the sample design, and the degree to which the results are location-specific or could be extrapolated to other areas. These are all factors that impinge on the level of confidence with which you can make your knowledge claims.

• Conclusions: The conclusions should provide a summary of the whole project and should point the way forward. Do not introduce new material into the conclusions.

• References: Give a full set of references used. Do not include references not cited in the body of the report. Refer to the referencing guidelines below as to how to present a reference list.

• Appendices: Include raw data or material that you think should be archived. The reader should not have to refer to material in the appendices in order to understand your written document.

• Style: Honours research reports should normally be between 6 000 and 12 000 words in length. This includes the reference list but excludes the appendices and preliminaries (contents pages and acknowledgements). Masters and PhD students should read the University's Higher Degrees Guide for length stipulations.

• The text should be in Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri 11 point, fully justified, generally with 1½ spacing.

• The following should be in the font of your choice (see above):

  • TITLE, 12-point bold (ALL CAPS).

  • Headings, 12-point bold.

  • Sub-headings, 11-point bold & italics.

  • Sub, sub-headings, 11-point italics.

• Tables and Figures: These must be numbered consecutively and may be original or appropriately adapted. They must be well integrated with the text and referred to by number. The acknowledgement of sources for Tables and Figures should come after the caption and presented as in 10.3 above. Maps must be neatly and accurately presented with border, scale, orientation and a key containing information about symbols, shading and other thematic information on the map. The following document spells out cartographic standards to be followed:

http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/cartocom/cartocom_f.html

• • Captions for Tables are above the table as described and presented in the general writing guidelines.

  • Captions for Figures are below the figure and presented in the general writing guidelines.

• Two bound hard copies of Honours projects must be handed-in. One copy will be returned to you once the examination process has been completed.

• An electronic copy in .pdf format must also be handed in.

• Allow plenty of time for writing up the research; it often takes at least twice as long as you expect: so, does printing the hard copy. Maps and diagrams can also be very time consuming when they are produced to cartographic

Poster presentations at scientific conferences (physical or virtual) can provide early-career researchers with valuable opportunities. 'Science Careers' asked researchers to share their tips for making the most out of a poster presentation. (Taken from the NRF Facebook Page).

https://www.science.org/content/article/how-prepare-scientific-poster

All research within the Department (Honours, Masters, PhD) and the University needs to consider the Rhodes University Ethics Policy and needs ethical clearance. As a researcher, you have the responsibility to acquaint yourself with the Ethics policies and determine how it may apply to your research. You will then need to make an application for ethical approval before you begin data collection. This application cannot be considered retrospectively. The application will need to go through the Science Faculty Ethics Committee and, if required, the Rhodes University Ethical Standards Committee. To apply for approval, you will need to complete the Ethical Approval Application Form and submit this with a brief proposal (specifically outlining your methodology), a copy of your data collection tools (e.g. interview schedule), and consent forms for landowners and interviewees to sign. You can find information about the application process and the documentation needed on the Geography Department – Ethical Approval page on RUConnected. Further information can be found on the Rhodes University Ethical Standards Committee RUConnected page.