RESEARCH PROJECT

HOW TO WRITE THE

EVALUATION
Remember an evaluation is not a recount of what you have done. It is not just a description
of what you did in your Research Project. Sure, we need to see some retelling of the
process, but then we want to see you look back and EVALUATE how you went in the various
aspects of the research process.

(1) SUMMARY (Maximum 150 words)

What was your research topic and why it was chosen?

What were the main RESEARCH PROCESSES you used to research this topic?
o Secondary web search, books articles et
o Primary Interviews or Data-qualitative v. quantitative
What form did your OUTCOME take? Was it an essay? An object with accompanying
explanation? A Documentary? A booklet or investigation?
What was the KEY FINDING/S from your research.

(2) EVALUATION (Maximum 1500 words)

(A)E1. EVALUATION OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS (750-800 words approx.)
(NOTE: Talk about your RESEARCH PROCESSES. See over for more on this important
point)

o
o
o
o

Did your topic or original proposal change as a result of your research process?must justify with examples of your research process
Make judgments about the different RESEARCH PROCESSES you used to obtain information for
your research.
i.e how suitable were the processes to answer your research question
Remember to
how valid were they?
use examples
Did you have any issues with managing your research process
of your
Was your research ethical or what were the ethical issues that arose?
research
Which sources or methods provided more reliable, accurate and useful information?
this
Which research methods did you find the most useful? Why? Give specificthroughout
details.
explanation.
Which research methods were the least useful? Why? Give specific details
What were the obstacles during your research? Discuss the significance of the decisions you
made to overcome them and give examples of these successes or failures
What were the limitations you confronted during your research? i.e limitations of using
qualitative v. quantitative data collection methods
Discuss any bias that emerged during the research and how did you overcome/minimize it
Could you have followed any alternative research processes to improve your research
outcome? Justify with examples
Which of these research process /methods had/influenced the greatest impact on your final
outcome and how.
What new ideas or understandings did you develop about the process of researching a
complex investigation
How did these new ideas/understandings support the development of your chosen
capability/ies and how did this then impact on the quality of your outcome? Give examples

(B) E2: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES DURING YOUR RESEARCH (350 words
approx.)

What challenges did you have in your research? How did you overcome these? Eg. Digital
recorder fails so use phone in interview
How did you take advantage of unexpected or new research opportunities? Eg. Breaking
media stories, a good lead, good luck?

(C) E3: REFLECTION ON THE QUALITY OF YOUR OUTCOME (350 words approx.)

Give an overall honest opinion on the quality of your Outcome.

o i.e what was your aim and what did you really achieve? How good was the quality of your
data/info collection and interpretation process?

o Discuss the subjectivity versus the objectivity of your outcome findings.

o Were your findings substantiated adequately by valid and appropriate research?
Which part of your Outcome are you most proud of and what worked really well? What did not
work well and you feel it needs improvement? What would you do differently if you could
rewrite your Outcome?
Was your Outcome complete? Were there other possible research areas to be further
explored?
Does your Outcome accurately reflect your research effort?

INCLUDE YOUR OUTCOME BIBLIOGRAPHY AT THE END

EVALUATION OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS - GUIDE

THIS SCAFFOLD WILL HELP YOU IDENTIFY THE RESEARCH PROCESSES YOU USED
AND THE INDIVIDUAL SOURCES WITHIN THOSE PROCESSES.

THEN COMPARE THE SOURCES YOU USED FOR MANAGABILITY, RELIABILITY, AND
USEFULNESS etc.

RESEARC
H
PROCESS

SOURCES I USED
FOR EACH
PROCESS

(How realistic is this

process in terms of time,
accessibility etc)

THEIR
RELIABILITY AND
LIMITATIONS
Eg Bias

USEFEUL TO MY
OUTCOME OR
NOT?

I found extreme
bias in many of
my digital
research using
the web and I
had to be
careful to
validate what I
found by cross
referencing and
comparing to
other reliable
sources. Blah
Blah Blah Blah
Blah Blah
Give Specific
Examples.

Internet sources
were helpful but
I tended to only
use them
infrequently as
examples of the
extreme views
that can be
found in public
opinion. Blah
Blah Blah Blah
Blah Blah
Give Specific
Examples.

ETHICAL ISSUES:
(What are the
ethical issues
related to this
research process?)

Websites
Official Gov
Sites
Blogs

DIGITAL

Books
Brochures

TEXT

MANAGEABLE:

The use of
digital
resources is a
very effective
use of my
research time
Blah Blah Blah
Blah Blah Blah
The main
ethical issues I
needed to be
aware of here
were Blah
Blah Blah Blah
Blah Blah

PRIMARY

SECONDA
RY

Interviews
Original images
Survey
QUALITATIV
E DATA
QUANTITATI
VE DATA

I tended to use
more secondary
sources as
primary sources
for my topic
were