Getting started: summary

If you have been through all lessons of the module Getting started you hopefully have a good overview of each step of the iterative process of designing your research project.

The first steps:

The explorative search
– gives you ideas for your thesis topic and helps you determine what knowledge already exists in the field. It enables you to articulate your rationale and to refine your problem formulation.

The rationale
– describes the scientific background for your research project.

The problem formulation
– summarizes the specific problem you are going to investigate.

The objectives
– overall and specific – state the exact actions you will take to address your specific problem.

The next steps:

The synopsis provides an outline of your proposed thesis and forms the basis of your discussions with your supervisor. It contains:

Background
– addresses existing knowledge and the scientific background

• Rationale
• Problem formulation
• Overall and specific objectives

Method outline
– What type of study will you conduct and which methods will you use to meet your objectives?

Time plan
– Preliminary overview of deadlines for each research activity

References
– Short list of references cited in the rationale section

Before you continue to the next modules, you can test your knowledge by going through all the exercises of this module.