Category / PG research

This part of the blog features news and information for postgraduate research students and supervisors

PG research

HSC PhD student Colleen Deane has recently been very successful in winning an internal grant of £1000 on behalf of Santander to support her PhD research activities. These funds will support accommodation costs allowing Colleen to collaborate with the University of Nottingham on her PhD topic which will be investigating mechanisms regulating muscle mass decline in the elderly. Colleen will be working with world leading researchers in the field of human molecular and metabolic physiology based at the recently awarded MRC/ARUK Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing. Colleen will also have the opportunity to learn state-of-the-art data analysis techniques which will be sure to equip her for a very successful research career. In addition to developing collaborative links and learning techniques, the results will contribute towards Colleen’s thesis, future publications and conference presentations. Thus the personal and academic outputs are extremely promising with potentially high ramifications for the prevention of age-related muscle loss. For any further information regarding Colleen’s research, please contact her: cdeane@bournemouth.ac.uk

PGR Development Framework Programme – new workshops for May and June 2013

PG research

Finding information and Using Researcher Tools (Repeat workshop)
Outline: The session will include an introduction to advanced searching skills, using citations smartly and analytical tools
Date: Wednesday 1 May 2013
Time: 1.30 pm – 2.45 pm
Room: S102 – Studland House – Lansdowne Campus
Facilitator: Emma Crowley
Booking: gsbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Managing your citations using Endnote and Endnote Web (Repeat workshop)
Outline: The session will include an introduction to Endnote and Endnote Web, exporting from databases, Cite While You Write tool
Date: Wednesday 1 May 2013
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Room: S102 – Studland House – Lansdowne Campus
Facilitator: Emma Crowley
Booking: gsbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk

The Transfer Process
Outline: The aim of the workshop is to prepare students for the process of the transfer from MPhil/PhD to PhD. All students who register for a research degree have the choice to proceed in their studies towards an MPhil award or to transfer onto a doctoral route that leads to a PhD.
Date: Wednesday 8 May 2013
Time: 10 am – 12 pm
Room: EB202 – Executive Business Centre – Lansdowne Campus
Facilitator: Professor Anthea Innes
Booking: gsbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk

Academic Writing – LIMITED PLACES AVAILABLE
Outline: This workshop covers essential good practice in writing, editing techniques and methods of improving organisation. 
Date: Wednesday 12 June 2013
Time: 09:30 – 17:00
Room: S219 – Studland House – Lansdowne Campus

OR

Date: Thursday 13 June 2013
Time: 09:30 – 17:00
Room: PG142 – Thomas Hardy Suite – Talbot Campus
Facilitator:  Sue Mitchell (external consultant)
NUMBERS ARE LIMITED FOR THE ACADEMIC WRITING WORKSHOPS – so book early to avoid disappointment!
Booking: gsbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk

Imposter Syndrome – Sources and Solutions – LIMITED PLACES AVAILABLE
Outline: Are you as good as they think you are? This secret fear that we’re not really good enough is surprisingly widespread.  In the face of tangible evidence of their success, many women, some men, people who are genuine high-achievers are often racked by self-doubt and the fear of being found out.
During this workshop “Imposters” will:
•               come to understand how this is affecting their life
•               examine the “rule book” they are living by and choose – if they want – to re write the rules
•               benefit from understanding how men and women put different values on the art of “winging it”
•               see how their interpretation of past success has been making things more difficult
•               notice that being incompetent and feeling incompetent are two totally different things
•               learn practical strategies to set free their Imposter and be themselves!
There can be great benefit in recognising you are not alone and learning new strategies for success in a safe and supportive environment.
Date: Monday 17th June 2013
Time: 2 pm – 5 pm
Room: P405 – Poole House – Talbot Campus
Facilitator: Margaret Collins (external consultant)
Booking: gsbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk
Numbers are restricted, so book early to avoid disappointment

Back by popular demand:
Presentation Skills – This workshop is now full.  On registration your name will be put on the reserve list
Outline: This workshop will outline the principles of confident speaking whether for meetings, seminars or research conferences.  You will deliver a short presentation and receive coaching and feedback within the supportive workshop environment
Date: Tuesday 18th June 2013
Time: 9.30 am – 4.30 pm
Room: EB202 – Executive Business Centre
Facilitator: Margaret Collins (external consultant)
Booking: gsbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk 
Numbers are restricted, so book early to avoid disappointment

Research Discussion Forum – Thursday 28th March

PG research

The next Research Discussion Forum* will take place as usual in EB205 on Thursday, March 28th, 4 pm.

This week’s talk will be given by Dr. Allan Webster (BU) and is titled: “Wages in US Tourism“.

As usual everyone is invited, no need to book in.  Just come around on Thursday.

 

*organised by Dr Fabian Homberg from the Business School

 

Realities of fieldwork: Sheetal Sharma, HSC PhD student on fieldwork in rural Nepal.

PG research

(c) Sheetal Sharma

Open air focus group in rural Nepal, (c) Sheetal Sharma 2013.


Roosters crowing, cows mooing, bleating goats, birds chirping, mobile phones ringing, children screaming, laughing and running around while women, breastfeeding, talk over one another excitedly in the sun as they need to leave us soon to drop the children off to school and/or head to the field to cultivate the season’s crop this spring it is wheat, last summer, rice. Women do this work as most of their husbands are away in the capital, Kathmandu or in the Arab Gulf. This is the reality of conducting focus groups in rural Nepal.

Although we, as researchers, spend considerable time to perfect the ideal ‘tool’ of the interview schedule and imagine the transcription clear and the background; a researcher must be prepared for every eventuality. Noise, din and interruptions: Today a dog nibbled on a nearby goat and a few men kept creeping to listen in why was this videshi (foreigner) recording conversations and making notes. The women shooed them away as today was a discussion on contraception; also that the discussion of the focus groups should be in ‘controlled environment’, safe, quiet; and in Nepal where women are not the main decision-maker for their reproductive health, it should mean a lieu women should be able to discuss freely these issues. In this Green Tara’s (www.greentaratrust.com) intervention area, which my PhD, supervised at HSC BU by Catherine Angell, Vanora Hundley, Edwin van Teijlingen and University of Sheffield’s Padam Simkhada, aims to evaluate both quantitatively and qualitatively, shows one the decision-making outcomes improved: increased the use of contraception in the Pharping area from 4.3% (2008) to 24.6% (2012) after 5 years of health promotion conducted by two auxiliary nurse-midwives.
40 minutes later recording (with 2 digital recorders) and once the demographic data and recording is double-checked and any last questions answered we set off walking 2 hours downhill visiting a tea-shop on the way for a cup of chai.

Edwin van Teijlingen and Emma Pitchforth, Qualitative Research: Focus group research in family planning and reproductive health care J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 2006;32:1 30-32doi:10.1783/147118906775275299
http://jfprhc.bmj.com/content/32/1/30.citation

Open Access journals: Remember to check for changes!

PG research

BUI Research BlogThe BU Research blog has seen various pieces on Open Accessing Publishing, including http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/bu-internal-funding-opportunities/open-access-publication-fund/  or http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/files/2011/08/Open-Access-Fund-policy-180711.pdf).  Moreover, Bournemouth University professors are actively involved in Open Access journals.  For example  Prof. Vanora Hundley and I are both Associate Editors of a major Open Access journal (see:  http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2012/10/23/prof-hundley-associate-editor-bmc-pregnancy-childbirth/ .

This blog highlights that journals can change and that some become Open Access that were not before.  This happened to some of my methods papers in the scientific journal of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).  Their journal the Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care used to be published in house as one of the RCOG journals.  The journal had a fairly closely defined readership and a very traditional way of paper-based publishing.  This meant very few academics, practitioners or students had access to my papers published over the years in the Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care. Then, a year or two ago, the journal became part of the BMJ Group (http://group.bmj.com/), which publishes over 40 journals in the health and health care field.

 

The deal between the Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care and the BMJ Group must include some arrangement to make previous issues available through Open Access.  All of a sudden seven of my research methods papers are freely available on the web through Open Access [1-7].   One of the key messages here is that it is worthwhile to see which journals offer Open Access, and to check regularly for changes in journals’ policies and publishers.

 

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, School of Health & Social Care, Bournemouth University

 

References:

  1. van Teijlingen, E.R., Forrest, K. (2004) The range of qualitative research methods in family planning and reproductive health care, Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care 30(3): 171-73.
  2. Forrest Keenan, K., van Teijlingen, E.R. (2004) The quality of qualitative research in family planning and reproductive health care, Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care 30 (4): 257-59.
  3. Forrest Keenan, K., van Teijlingen, E.R., Pitchforth, E. (2005) The analysis of qualitative research data in family planning and reproductive health care, Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care 31(1): 40-43.
  4. Pitchforth, E., Porter, M., van Teijlingen, E.R., Forrest Keenan, K. (2005) Writing up and presenting qualitative research in family planning and reproductive health care, Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care 31 (2): 132-135.
  5. van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V. (2005) Pilot studies in family planning and reproductive health care, Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care 31 (3): 219-221.
  6. van Teijlingen, E.R., Pitchforth, E. (2006) Focus Group Research in Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care, Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care 32 (1): 30-32.
  7. van Teijlingen, E.R., Pitchforth, E., Bishop, C., Russell, E.M. (2006) Delphi method and nominal group techniques in family planning and reproductive health research, Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care 32 (4): 249-252.

School of Health and Social Care – PhD/Open Research Seminar on Wednesday 27th March @ 1 pm

PG research

You are cordially invited to the lunch time seminar below which is one of a regular series of HSC PhD seminars which are open to all. Please feel free to bring your lunch.

‘A Method to My Madness’ – Michele Board

Michele is coming towards the end of her PhD studies. She has been researching the meaning of home for the Baby Boomers (i.e. those born between 1945-1965), using an innovative approach. She has used a combination of methods to help unpack the significance of home for six participants. The participants have taken photographs of their home and then once these have been printed they have discussed their meaning in a recorded interview. The photographs were then shown to a review panel to see if the meaning of home could be interpreted by the photographs alone. The final interpretation was made by looking at the transcript of the interview, the photographs and the review panel comments together, to form a story of the meaning of home for each participant. At this presentation one of the participants stories will be shared as well as the challenges posed when writing this qualitative approach up for the thesis.

Date: Wednesday 27 March 2013; Time: 1-1.50 pm, R207, Royal London House

5th Annual PGR Conference @ BU – REMINDER

PG research

A Celebration of BU PGR Research

Our annual conference is designed to showcase the best of BU’s postgraduate research and to provide a unique opportunity for you as PGRs to present your work within a safe learning environment. Our multi-disciplinary conference will allow for cross-school interaction as well as opportunities for collaboration, where appropriate.

The 2013 conference will build on the great success of the previous PGR Conferences held in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012.

Call for Abstracts

We are inviting abstracts for oral, poster presentations AND new for 2013, a photography presentation – no matter at what stage you are in your Research Project. Presentations may focus on:

  • Research area
  • Specific methodological approach
  • Initial findings
  • Experience of your research journey e.g. transfer

There will be prizes for the best poster, oral and photography presentations. Please be aware that there are limited number of oral presentation slots.

We are also looking for volunteers to help chair sessions, so if you are interested please email the Graduate School.

Guidelines

Please see

How to Register

You will all need to register, whether you are contributing or just attending.  Please complete the booking form (conference booking form) and send via email to: graduateschool@bournemouth.ac.uk

Deadlines

For submitting abstracts: Monday 25 March 2013
For attending the conference: Friday 12th April 2013

A Conference for South West Postgraduate Students – Representations of Modernity 1850-1960

PG research

When and Where: Saturday 2nd November 2013  – Plymouth University

Keynote Speaker Dr Daniel Katz , University of Warwick

A one-day all-inclusive interdisciplinary conference inviting postgraduate students studying in the South West to present ideas on and discuss the significance and impact of Modernity. We welcome anyone studying or researching within the fields of Literature, History, Art History, Architecture and Cultural Studies.

Call for Papers deadline: 1st July 2013 | 250 word abstracts

Email abstracts to: RoMPUenquiries@gmail.com

Possible topics could include but are not limited to:

  • New City, New Tourism
  • Warfare
  • Industry and Industrialization
  • Trauma and Narration
  • Urbanization and Suburbanization
  • Modernism
  • Conceptualisations of Space
  • The Avant-garde
  • Material and Visual Cultures
  • Marginality; the Periphery
  • Nature; the Rural
  • Revivalism
  • Technology
  • Gender and Sexuality
  • The Body and Machine
  • Cinema

For further information check out the Conference Flyer – Nov 2013

Vice-Chancellor Doctoral (Fee Waive) Scholarships 2013 – now available

Funding opportunities, PG research

We are delighted to announce the launch of the 2013 Vice-Chancellor Doctoral (Fee Waive) Scholarships which will offer support to up to 25 outstanding postgraduate research students.  The VC PhD Scholarships will provide a full fee waive for up to 36 months in the case of full-time students and exceptionally 48 months in the case of part-time students.  Stipends (to cover living expenses) are not included in the scholarships and these must be provided by the student themselves or by a sponsor. 

This Scholarship programme will open on 4 March 2013 and will roll until 31 July 2013.  There are up to 25 scholarships available, which are nominally split between the 6 Academic Schools and Schools can take up more or less than their allotted share.  There is no requirement for a School to accept candidates.

The focus of the VC PhD Scholarships is on the outstanding nature of the candidate who must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • All candidates must demonstrate truly outstanding qualities and be motivated to complete a PhD in 3 years full-time or 4 years part-time.
  • All candidates must satisfy the University’s minimum doctoral entry criteria for studentships of an honors degree at Upper Second Class (2:1) and/or an appropriate Masters degree or equivalent.
  • An IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 minimum (or equivalent) is essential for candidates for whom English is not their first language.

In addition to satisfying basic entry criteria, BU will look closely at the qualities, skills and background of each candidate and what they can bring to their chosen research project in order to ensure successful and timely completion.  It is important to consider that in most cases the interpretation of ‘truly outstanding’ is likely to be those candidates with a First Class (Hons) degrees and/or a distinction at Masters, with clear documented evidence of drive, commitment and relevant skills.

Only the most outstanding candidates will be supported.  Full details and criteria are set out in the BU VC Scholarship 2013 Policy. Staff are asked to check the eligibility criteria carefully before nominating. 

The VC PhD Scholarship process will be managed and overseen by the Graduate School but administered through the Academic Schools.

The VC PhD Scholarships applications (available on the Graduate School website from Monday 4 March 2013) should be submitted to the relevant School Research Administrator at any time but no later than 31 July 2013.

Erasmus Mundus mobility to South Caucasus region and Ukraine for students and staff available now! -Deadline 28th February-

Funding opportunities, PG research, Training

BU students and staff have been invited by Georg-August Universität Göttingen to apply for mobility at ALRAKIS II.

ALRAKIS II is one of the awarded Erasmus Mundus action 2 projects that promotes exchange mobility in the South Caucasus region and Ukraine. The beneficiary countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine. Our students and staff would be looking at applying at Target Group 2.

For more information please visit the project website and if you have any queries please contact Eva Papadopoulou at epapadopoulou@bournemouth.ac.uk and 01202 968252

Please note that the deadline for this is 28th February 2013.

FREE workshop for researchers (PGRs and Researchers): Charting an entrepreneurial career: how researchers can control their professional destiny

PG research, Training

Vitae and the Entrepreneurial Institution are pleased to announce two new enterprise workshops on the 5th March in Bristol and on the 7th March in London.

Wherever you are in your research career, whether you are applying for research funding, moving into a new career or starting your own business (commercial or social) this day will enable you to understand your enterprising potential to create impact through research and take your ideas into a business.

During the day, you will:

  • explore your own skills in relation to entrepreneurship
  • explore research impact in relation to grant applications and REF
  • explore different types of enterprise
  • hear from successful entrepreneurs
  • hear about social enterprise, commercialisation and knowledge exchange
  • network and plan next steps

To book your place on the workhops, please visit:

Tuesday 5th March 2013 – www.vitae.ac.uk/enterprise_Bristol
Thursday 7th March 2013 – www.vitae.ac.uk/enterprise_London

PGR Mentoring Skills Workshops – new dates announced

PG research

Are you involved in mentoring within your School – or would you like to be?

Many people find themselves with this role and sometimes feel unprepared as if they are “making it up” as they go along. Being involved as a Mentor can be one of the more satisfying aspects being a PGR and also provide you with valuable skills and insights to apply to your own career development.

Mentoring can provide practical tools enabling you to get the best out of people – starting with yourself – and this experience can contribute to building your CV.

At the end of this session participants will

  • Be clear about the roles and responsibilities of being a mentor
  • Be clear about the support available to you as Mentor
  • Have verbal and non-verbal skills to build rapport

You have a choice of two dates:

Monday 4th March 2013 – 2 pm – 5 pm – PG146 – Thomas Hardy Suite – Poole House, Talbot OR
Tuesday 5th March 2013 – 9.30 am – 12.30 pm – EB202 – Executive Business Centre – Lansdowne

Numbers are restricted, so book early to avoid disappointment!  Email your preferred date to: gsbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

 

 

Transfer viva? Only 10 000 words(!)

PG research

"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com

 

Preparing for your transfer viva – a mere 10 000 words and a separate 500 abstract.

After a bit of nudging from a few staff @HSC-BU, I thought to write a short on how to prepare for the transfer viva. I had mine in Dec 2012 and these are few things at the time that helped and a few I got the hang of post-viva. By now you should have done an RD6 and 1 Annual Review. These forms, available from your school administrator, help you put down what you are going to do for the next few years (sigh) and how you will ‘physically’ do it (double sigh). When I started my transfer viva, I took (i.e. copy and pasted) a lot of what was in my RD6 research plan and used it as the skeleton in order to write the 10000 words. I then looked at the BU PhD bible  – Code of Practice for Resarch Degrees booklet and borrowed a transfer viva from the school admins. The older ones  helped me for structure and format. And the same rules apply, be concise and write you abstract last.

The timeline for transfer from MPhil to PhD is usually a  year/and a half after you start (or submit your RD6, 24-36months for PT), once you hand it in, after your supervisors are ‘happy’, you will have a month before your viva. Have a chat with your school admin (for HSC, it is Paula Cooper and Sara Glithro), and your supervisors as they will read it, then look for examiners (2), an independent chair and a supervisor (if you wish; I asked mine, you don’t have to, so as to gain feedback, as he also took notes and could comment on my ‘performance’; all towards the final viva). There is a one page form that you and your supervisors need to fill in, hand in duplicates of form and of bound thesis and done. Not quite.

Take it very ‘seriously’, I took it for granted once written and discussed you would carry on the PhD (this is not always the case read the BU PhD bible), the quality of the document and performance in the viva voce matters. It should ressemble as much as possible the ‘final product’. Once you hand in your 10 000 words, read it the week before or the night before. I was really nervous but the best piece of advice I got was ‘go in and talk’ – you know your work the ‘best’: so pretend like you want your best friend to understand your work. A few things I could have done better? Better writing, made sure I did not repeat myself and written it more as a ‘story’. Using power point where each slide helps you plan what you will write. For me the viva was the best time to say this is my work and to gain (brutal) feedback from people from a similar field as it gives you time to plan your final product. One major thing I realised I needed to put my study in context and what it means to ‘science’.

Essentially it looked something like this:

  • Title page (Name, Title, Supervisors, School, University)
  • Acknowledgements (Thank you to your supervisors, school, funders…)
  • Abstract (500 words)
  • Table of contents (in a table with invisible borders)
  • List of Abbreviations (in a table with invisible borders)
  • Introduction (which is your literature review)
  • Research Plan: Methodology and justification of method(s) used (your literature review will help here)
  • Aim and Objectives – which are drawn from your research question
  • Progress to date: Research contribution to the field (a PhD means a new contribution to the field or new tools); Findings (Here – I only included the findings that I had ‘cleaned’ for the final table and I was sure I would be able to discuss if asked) and a discussion of your findings.
  • Ethical considerations (Ethics body and in the appendix letter of ethics body);
  • Conclusion & future work (what I infer from what is done so far and how it will lead to the next stage).
  • Reference list
  • Appendix (Tables, survey questionnaire, letters…)

Start with the ‘niggly’ bits, making sure your endnoteTM lets you insert during cite and write (the librarian can help you with this if you haven’t done the course, Emma Crowly for graduate school). So that it should only take a click to insert your bibliography as BU Harvard. I chose headings in the layout so that when I write my final thesis it will be a matter of adding heading and sub-heading titles. So for the table of contents: Use a table from excel or use Home>Headings, e.g. Heading 5. Abbreviations can be sorted with the function ‘sort’ in WordTM.

A few useful resources for writing:

Good luck!

PhD student at HSC? BEACON needs you

PG research

Ref: (http://www.sterlingtimes.org/kitchener.jpg)

Wondered if you had thought of writing a few lines for this years Beacon on your PhD study.

Just a short summary.  It could be as little as 150 words, nothing to big.  Just to raise the awareness of your work internally.

Please email <ssharma@bournemouth.ac.uk> Thanks Sheetal!

MASTERCLASS: INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDED THEORY

PG research

MASTERCLASS:  INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDED THEORY

14-15 February 2013

This two day Masterclass will be an introduction to Grounded Theory – theory developed from the data.  The masterclass has been designed to suit postgraduate students, academics and professionals who may wish to use grounded theory (GT) in their research but do not yet have full knowledge of the approach.  The masterclass can also be taken as a stand-alone Master’s level unit of study – Contact Dr Caroline Ellis-Hill for details: cehill@bournemouth.ac.uk

Facilitators:

Immy Holloway, Professor Emeritus in the School of Health & Social Care at BU.  Immy is a sociologist and has taught and supervised qualitative research for several decades.  She still actively pursues her interest in qualitative research by supervising PhD students and writing articles and books.  Immy used GT in her PhD before the proliferation of books and articles on GT.

Liz Norton is a Senior Lecturer at BU.  Her professional background is in education and nursing and her current academic interest and work is in public health.  Liz has a particular interest in Glaserian GT and her experience of using GT in practice includes completion of environment and health-related grounded theory studies for MPhil and PhD qualifications.

 Quotes from previous masterclass attendees:

“Their knowledge and expertise felt like a valuable resource open to all”

“Presenters were very experienced . . . particularly high quality and effective teaching methods”

Full details of the Masterclass and the online booking form can be found at: www.bournemouth.ac.uk/masterclass

5th Annual PGR Conference @ BU – REMINDER

PG research

A Celebration of BU PGR Research

Our annual conference is designed to showcase the best of BU’s postgraduate research and to provide a unique opportunity for you as PGRs to present your work within a safe learning environment. Our multi-disciplinary conference will allow for cross-school interaction as well as opportunities for collaboration, where appropriate.

The 2013 conference will build on the great success of the previous PGR Conferences held in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012.

Call for Abstracts

We are inviting abstracts for oral, poster presentations AND new for 2013, a photography presentation – no matter at what stage you are in your Research Project. Presentations may focus on:

  • Research area
  • Specific methodological approach
  • Initial findings
  • Experience of your research journey e.g. transfer

There will be prizes for the best poster, oral and photography presentations. Please be aware that there are limited number of oral presentation slots.

We are also looking for volunteers to help chair sessions, so if you are interested please email the Graduate School.

Guidelines

Please see

How to Register

You will all need to register, whether you are contributing or just attending.  Please complete the booking form (conference booking form) and send via email to: graduateschool@bournemouth.ac.uk

Deadlines

For submitting abstracts: Monday 25 March 2013
For attending the conference: Friday 12th April 2013

PGR Development Programme – February workshops

PG research

I just wanted to remind you about what’s on offer in February!  I’m still taking bookings for the following workshops, so please email gsbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk if you would like to attend:

  • Action Research
    The aim of the workshop is to provide an overview of Action Research and its origins.  You will look at the introduction to the concept of “communicative spaces” and discuss the use of Action Research for a dissertation
  • Preparing for your Viva
    The aim of the workshop is to familiarise students with the purpose and the format of the oral examination of their thesis. The workshop will familiarise participants with the role of the internal and external examiner and the judgements they will be making in the course of the viva. The session will also include input from the subject Librarians on copyright procedures
  • Introduction to Focus Groups
    The session will briefly outline the origin of Focus Group Research, its underlying philosophy, and its place among qualitative methods.  The session will also address some more practical issues and the strengths and weaknesses of this particular qualitative method.
  • Practice- Led Research
    This workshop will provide an overview of what makes practice-led research different from other academic research, looking at some case studies.  This will be followed by a discussion around the issues and rewarding events that participants have encountered as practice-led researchers.

A full programme including dates and times can be found here: PGR Development Framework Prog _Feb workshops