ADVICE ON COMPLETING THE RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT FOR THE

DIAGNOSTIC EVALUATION

Research is a process! A successful piece of research needs careful structure and management. Never research
without first describing the process!

You are asked to complete a short piece of research (between 2 and 3 pages in length) for the Diagnostic
Evaluation at the start of the APES course. The research question, the content and the 'thesis' will be up to you.
All I will provide is this guide on the process and a very brief guide on the structure.

You will deliver the work as a short research 'paper', written in a Word file, and supported by evidence of all the
steps of the process. Whatever is highlighted in green below needs to be delivered.

Look carefully at the rubric for the research assignment to see what is required and how it will be scored.

THE RESEARCH PROCESS

1. DECIDE YOUR RESEARCH TOPIC. In this case, you should choose any one of the media articles or
reports amongst those on the APESLCV Blog and develop this for your research. Write down the media
article and topic, referencing the Blog Page.

2. DECIDE THE TIMELINE. How much time do you have and can you devote to the research? Decide on
the delivery date and then write down a timeline which includes all of the following:
i. Finding resources
ii. Collecting notes
iii. Making a draft
iv. Revising the draft
v. Preparing final text and file

3. DECIDE THE RESEARCH QUESTION. The research question is what drives the research. It is
fundamental! (NB You are not being asked to complete a piece of Primary research, with your own, new
data and information. This is Secondary research - of other people's work.) Write down the Research
Question, (which is the title of your work.)

4. DECIDE THE SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH. What do you want to cover? How broad or narrow? How
focussed? Write down - maybe visually as a mind map rather than as text - the scope of your research.
(Advice: Be very, very focussed! Remember that you have maximum 3 pages for the assignment.)

5. RESEARCH SOURCES. Stay tied closely to the research question and the scope of the research! You
need to show evidence of:
i. Searching for sources - internet, libraries, personal observation or contacts
ii. Collecting and listing sources
iii. Reading sources
iv. Notes made from the sources (maybe using the Cornell template)

Make sure that your sources are authentic, credible and reliable.

Don't forget the clear obligation you have to reference and make citations of other people's work.

6. WHAT NOW IS YOUR THESIS or POINT OF VIEW or CONCLUSION? Decide on your thesis or
viewpoint or conclusion and write it down. You should do this before writing the draft.
7. WRITE A FIRST DRAFT. Make this as near to what you want the final research paper to be like,
including citations, footnotes, quotes, etc. Save this draft, with its revisions (see 8., below)

8. REVISE THE DRAFT. Maybe here, you get someone to help you revise the draft. Assuming that you are
using either Word or Google Docs, the revisions can be marked up and shown - So, I want to see your draft
plus the revisions!

9. MAKE A FINAL VERSION of between 2 and 3 pages in length, and .....

10. .... DELIVER BY THE DEADLINE DATE.

STRUCTURE
In this diagnostic evaluation, I am not so interested in a formal structure for the research assignment. It is the
process and your commitment to the process which are the priority. Nevertheless, here is the probable structure
of the research 'paper':

i. TITLE - THE RESEARCH QUESTION

ii. INTRODUCTION - some background about the original media article and your interest. Also here,
place the research in context - you should provide some background about each of the components of
the research question.
iii. YOUR RESEARCH. What have you found out and how does it relate to the research question and
topic? Remember that this is Secondary Research and from it you will come to some conclusions
iv. YOUR THESIS or POINT OF VIEW or CONCLUSION(S). Where do you now stand on this issue?
What is your opinion? How do you answer the research question which you set yourself?
v. BIBLIOGRAPHY or REFERENCES or CITATIONS.

For this first piece of research and the citations, you do NOT need to follow a specific format such as APA. I am
not requiring specific font or line spacing or footnoting or even page numbering. You may do any of this in any
way you wish.

You may add any visual information, such as images or graphs, but make sure they are referenced properly.
Visuals will not be included in counting pages.