Your Honours project will act as the "cap-stone" that completes the experience that is built up throughout your programme. It will be an important and substantial individual piece of work in which you create a computer-based solution to a real-world problem. In order to do the Honours project you will need to apply a range of skills and knowledge. While there is some time to go before you start the project, it is important to start preparing now, which is why you are now studying the Research Skills & Professional Issues module.

Skills that you need for the Honours Project

You will need to apply some specific skills that you have learned, or will learn, from modules on, for example, programming, or web development, and others, depending on the topic of your project.

You will also need to apply research skills. For example, you will need to be able to define what your project aims to achieve, and decide what methods are appropriate in order to do so. You will need to be able to research the problem area, the approaches that others have taken before to solve related problems and the technologies and approaches that you might take in your project. You will also need to reflect and report on the knowledge that has been gained in doing the project.

Your project will be based on a real-world topic, and so you will need to understand the expectations and constraints that apply to Computing professionals in the real world. These are the professional issues that will influence the conduct of your project and, probably more importantly, will influence your professional career.

This module provides detailed coverage of the research and project skills required to underpin the final honours project and to prepare for professional practice, and includes the review of a variety of research methods and their applicability to a range of contexts. It further develops scholarly study skills, analytical writing skills, and presentation skills. The final coursework for this module will be an individual project proposal.

Professional Issues and Professional Practice

This module also addresses major issues relevant to the modern computing professional.

These include social, legal and ethical issues, such as:

Uses/issues with new technology and its application

Freedom and privacy

Intellectual property

Computer related Legislation

Professional Ethics and Professional Bodies

Management of risk

And many more ….

Professional Issues are considered by the British Computer Society (BCS) to be a requirement for an overall (Honours) degree level treatment of the subject discipline.

Of course, another crucial aspect of professionalism in Computing is the practices that are followed by professionals in developing information systems, including:

The software development lifecycle

Verification and validation of systems

The use of tools to support the development process

You are learning, and will continue to learn, about professional practice in the modules throughout your programme, and this knowledge will play an important part in your Honours project.

In the UK, research in universities is reviewed periodically in a process called the Research Excellence Framework (REF). For the most recent REF, research was defined as:

There are many similar definitions of research, for example (Dictionary.com):

Whatever your project, it will require you to do research to "source and critically review academic, technical & professional literature". This is called the literature review. This is not just a matter of "reading lots of material" – it is really an investigation, through sourcing and reading, that will help you understand the nature of your project and the approaches and technologies that you might adopt. You will need to learn how to do a literature review, and we will return to this later in the module.

You should also note that it is the same process at Honours, Masters and PhD, just at different levels of insight

Another way of looking at research is to consider that your project, as a whole, is a research project. From this point of view, everything you do on the project contributes to your research.

Research Methods

A research method is the manner in which a research project is undertaken. The purpose of the research determines the method to use. There is no single research method that is appropriate for all projects, and some projects may require a combination of methods.

Research methods fall into a number of categories, for example:

Exploratory research – improves basic knowledge identifies new problems

Constructive research - develops solutions to specific problems, by constructing or developing artefacts that provide solutions

Empirical research - tests the feasibility of a solution by means of observation and experience that allows researchers to answer research questions. The word "empirical" comes from the Greek word for "experience"

Research in Computing

The nature of research, and the methods used, very much depends on the specific discipline that it relates to. For you, the discipline is Computing.

In Computing, constructive research and empirical research are both common. For example:

Constructive:

Research involving creation of new useful information-processing systems

Involves the conception, design, creation (or ’prototyping’) and testing of an artefact and/or technique.

Increases knowledge about how to specify, design, build, test or evaluate information-processing systems

Can be driven by problem statements

Empirical:

Research on social and economic issues

Studies of the social and economic impact of computing, ethical issues, changing views of humanity, etc.

Can be driven by research questions

A project generally starts with an idea. The idea could be your own, or could be suggested by a lecturer. You may already have an idea (or ideas) for a project you want to tackle, a problem you want to solve.

Idea

Intention

Interest

Curiosity

It is important that you start with an idea that interests you and motivates you.

There is, however, a big difference between an idea and a project. No matter how good your idea is, that's not enough to solve the problem.

Project

A complete process

From start to finish

To accomplish a purpose

The Practice-Based Capstone Project

On your Computing programme, you are expected to undertake a specific type of project which we call a Practice-Based Capstone project.

A practice-based capstone is a project in which the student develops a solution to a specific, and challenging, problem using an approach based on professional practice related to developing information systems

The term ‘capstone’ comes from the final decorative ‘cap-stone’ used to complete a building or monument: a capstone project is the culmination of a programme and requires application in a “real-world” setting of knowledge and theory learned during the programme.

It is expected that the project should involve the creation of an artefact of some kind that implements a solution to a specified problem. The artefact may be a software application but other types of artefact are possible depending on the nature of the problem.

The nature of that artefact will depend on the nature of the specific problem addressed

The main research methods used in this type of project come from constructive research, as described previously. However, some methods from empirical research may also be useful. For example, your artefact, once created, may allow insights to be gained into the impact of its use, and this may be investigated with the use of a research question. Nevertheless, the focus in this type of project should be primarily on the process of developing the solution.

You will learn more about a useful range of research methods throughout the module.

Stages of a Capstone project

1. Starts with an embryonic (generally “verbalised”) idea

2. Undertake some initial literature search/review

3. Select/identify a specific element/aspect of the topic idea and frame a statement of the problem to be solved

4. Develop a well-scoped, well-bounded project proposal, based on:

the problem statement, and research question if appropriate

an outline of the process to be followed from inception all the way to the completion of the solution to the problem

the way the outcome will be evaluated

5. Then undertake the project itself!

Stages 1-4 takes approx. 20% of the time. Those are the stages you will do formally in this module. When you reach the point in your programme where you are starting your Honours Project you will have a wealth of knowledge that you don't yet have and will want to update your proposal, or develop a proposal for a new project idea.

Stage 5 takes approx. 80% of the time (which you do in your Honours Project)