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Literature review
Literature review
A literature review can be a very useful process to get an overview of the topic and provides good evidence against the performance standards for the Folio. Start by locating 5-10 quality sources connected to your topic. Read through each source and write a short evaluation that:
Highlights useful sources and what has already been written about the topic
Summarises key points
Points out connections to your topic
Identifies any areas of controversy within the topic
Identifies areas of agreement and disagreement between the sources
Critically analyses the credibility and reliability of the information
Demonstrates your own understanding of the key ideas connected to your question
Further resources:
Surveys
Surveys
The aim of a survey is to collect exactly the same information about every case in the sample. Surveys/questionnaires can gather data such as preference (favourite food), behaviour (how much you eat), facts (gender), attitudes (about obesity), an index (socio-economic group).
Surveys will provide breadth of information but lack depth. Approach with caution. If you do want to survey it is imperative that you construct and trial the survey before administering it on a wider scale to pick up any problems. Be aware of question construction and wording.
Further resources:
Google Forms: very easy to use, unlimited questions, various question types to choose from. The results are automatically graphed for you or can be downloaded into a spreadsheet.
Steps in running a survey - advice from the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Interviews
Interviews
Qualitative research such as interviews provides the depth that is sometimes missing from quantitative research. Interviews provide a flexible research approach. You can draft some questions but as the interview progresses you have the opportunity to change direction, add new questions or leave others out.
Avoid relying heavily on an interview to complete your project. Make sure that you have other research processes and sources in case the interview doesn't work out.
Further resources:
Conducting an interview - The Open University
Case studies
Case studies
The case study researcher typically observes the characteristics of an individual unit eg. a class, a child, a community, a family, a clique to establish generalisations about the wider population to which that unit belongs.
Be careful about making generalisations from case studies and choose the unit to study carefully. Case studies are well-suited to small-scale research because they don’t require many resources and usually only focus on one or perhaps two or three cases at the most.
Further resources:
How to conduct a case study - SACE document
Experiments
Experiments
In experiments an independent variable is manipulated under tightly defined and controlled conditions.
The experimental method is often associated with the physical sciences. Involves formulating and testing hypotheses.
There are always ethical issues around experiments involving people. Check with your teacher before proceeding.
Further resources:
SACE tips on writing and structuring a practical science investigation report
Are guys with guitars more attractive? - experiment example, Catalyst
Google Sites
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