Research Methods

Completed

Research design, academic writing, literature review methods, and methodology planning for computing research projects.

What I Learned

I learned how to move from a broad topic idea to a clear and researchable question, how to review academic literature critically, and how to justify a methodology based on the type of problem being investigated.

Key Concepts

Framing a research problem and defining scope
Selecting appropriate research methods
Validity, reliability, and limitations

Key Topics

Research questions and objectives
Literature review strategy
Qualitative vs quantitative methods
Experimental design
Ethics in computing research
Academic writing and referencing

Practical Takeaways

Improved ability to read papers critically rather than only summarising them
Confidence structuring literature review and methodology sections
Stronger justification of research choices for dissertation work

Tools & Technologies

Google Scholar
IEEE Xplore
ACM Digital Library
Zotero / Mendeley
Word / LaTeX

References & Resources

University of York module materials (COM00146M)
University library research databases
Research methods guidance for computing projects

Notes

This module laid the foundation for my proposal and capstone project, especially in literature review, methodology design, and academic writing discipline.