FIT6021 - Advanced research methods - 2018

The aim of the unit is to prepare PhD candidates from the Faculty of IT to conduct research across the range of the disciplines that cover Information and Communication Technology (ICT) research, including computer science, software engineering, at the technical end, and organisational and social informatics, which address societal needs in ICT. This unit is compulsory for all students enrolled in the FIT PhD program.

The unit comprises five workshops, which address the broad philosophical, methodological and ethical underpinnings of conducting research in ICT, as well as classical and modern approaches to designing data collection and analysis for rigorous and sophisticated ICT research studies. Students have the option to choose from a list of available workshops.

Upon successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. design rigorous and ethical research studies;
2. conduct high quality independent ICT research;
3. assess research design across a range of research strategies and paradigms;
4. consider and evaluate appropriate data collection instruments, and sampling strategies to fit the research purpose;
5. understand the key principles of ethical and professional research conduct;
6. understand the key principles of research presentation.

In semester assessment: 100%

Each workshop will include an associated assessable task, which will comprise a portfolio of results to contribute 20% to the final assessment. These will comprise written and oral presentations to be performed individually and/or in groups. To pass this unit, students must achieve at least a total mark of 70% from five workshops, and must achieve at least 50% in each workshop.

Each workshop has seven hours of face-to-face contact plus 24 hours of individual study time per semester.

See also Unit timetable information

http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/units/