Part I Concepts
7.3 Activities to Perform While Developing the Aim
7.3.2 Develop the Arguments Behind the Aim
The project aim needs to be supported by proper arguments which explain why it is important to investigate the topic.
Figure 7.2 shows that your aim can be supported by a number of arguments that either directly (argument 3 and 4) or indirectly (argument 1 and 2) contribute to
Argument 1
Argument 2
Argument 3
Argument 4
Aim
Why?
Fig. 7.3 How to identify supporting literature
explaining why you are doing the study that is outlined in the aim. The arguments should relate to relevant theory and should have clear links to the aim. For example, consider one of our previous example aims:
Investigate the usage of electronic commerce in for product marketing by small and medium sized companies in Sweden and U.S.A.
In order to convince the reader that it is worthwhile to pursue this aim, you need to outline the motivation underpinning the aim. First, you need to outline the rea- sons for why you have chosen electronic commerce. You could do this by explain- ing that electronic commerce is an interesting area that most companies need to consider, and that lessons can be learned from early attempts to implement such systems. Second, you need to explain why you are focusing on small and medium sized companies. Perhaps it is interesting to focus on these companies since most of them do not have the in-house knowledge on how to implement electronic com- merce. Finally, why is it important to study attempts made in Sweden and U.S.A.?
One reason may be that you have read reports that from the 1990s that concluded that companies in both countires were at the same level. You could then argue that it would be interesting to investigate whether that situation has changed.
You can add weight to the significance of your aim if you include citations to appropriate3 references supporting your arguments. For example, if you find a well- argued supporting claim in a scientific journal article or conference paper, then use it. You can then show in your text that somebody else also believes that it is, for example, important to investigate the usage of early electronic commerce systems (provided, of course, that the cited paper provides good arguments for this claim).
Be cautious of motives that rely only upon statements of requirements from com- panies, oral sources, or statements that are not based on sound arguments. As we discussed earlier, the quality of these sources may be questioned.
Using literature to support the aim is an efficient way of strengthening your argu- ments. Figure 7.3 describes one approach to how to start identifying the literature that may support your aim. First, find important concepts or factors in the aim or in the arguments. Then, find the appropriate literature for these concepts and factors.
Arguments
Concepts,
Factors Supporting
literature Aim
3 See Chapter 6.1 for an explanation of what is meant by “appropriate” references.
Get to the bones of your chosen subject area, read background material, and the latest research reports in order to establish your own understanding of the core concepts and interpretation of what the state of the art is. For example, a project on the overlap between visualisation and database systems is likely to require a proper explanation of what is meant by “visualisation” and “database systems”. Then ask yourself, is there any related work, i.e. has someone else done work similar to that which you are planning? If yes, then it should be described, and the differences between that work and your own project should be pointed out.
You should try to go beyond the textbooks that you have used in your previous courses. Try to read other textbooks or research papers. It is not a good idea to sim- ply use lecture material, e.g. hand-written notes or slides as the main literature source since these contain very limited information.
Figure 7.4 illustrates the literature you might use when developing your aim, and shows how the work described in that literature relates to your project. The chequered box represents the project you are planning to do (or, more precisely, the report you will write as the outcome of your project). The boxes b, c, and e repre- sent literature that describes work that you are directly using in your project. This may be because, for instance, b presents an incomplete but promising solution to the problem you are addressing, and you are extending the incomplete solution from b with additional features in your solution. Perhaps c and e contain additional ideas that are directly useful in your work, and they can therefore be considered as giving direct input to your work. These references can be considered as related work, or previous work, which must be cited in your report. When developing the motivations for the aim of your project, you should in this example include a description of why you consider b to be an incomplete solution, and why your idea for how to extend b is promising.
Literature such as a and d in Fig. 7.4 may contain necessary background for your aim. Perhaps a was the first work to address the particular problem, so that much of your problem description can be based on a. The author of b may also have
a
c b
e d
f g
i j
h k
l
Fig. 7.4 Overview of how your project (chequered box) relates to literature on previous work (a–g) and future work (h–l)
7.3 Activities to Perform While Developing the Aim 51
omitted or misinterpreted something from a, which you may then point out in your report. The authors of d and g may have, independently of a, addressed the same problem at a slightly later stage, and would therefore contain additional background to the problem you are addressing.
Although this is the subject of later chapters in this book, it is useful at the beginning of your project to think about how it may relate to future developments in the subject area. Authors of future literature, represented by i–l in Fig. 7.4, may cite your work, as well as alternative work that may be taking place simultaneously (such as h). Just as you depended on the citations in b, c and e to identify a and d, it is your duty to provide clear citations and references in your report, which can be used by the future authors of h–l. In other words, you should think of your work as being part of the general progression of the area, and keep in mind that for this pro- gression to continue, it is necessary to be able to trace all sources on which a par- ticular piece of work is based.
As you develop the motivations behind the aim, you may find that you need to adjust the wording of the aim. This is a normal process as your knowledge of the details of your chosen problem and subject area increases. Bear in mind that you should always discuss suggestions for refinements of the aim with your supervisor.
When developing the motivations it is important that there should be a clear link between the motivations and the aim. Having read your motivations, the reader should see that there is an obvious need to perform what is specified in the aim. The reader should not have to guess how to link the motivations and the aim. If the motivations are clearly articulated and lead smoothly to the aim, the reader will not be forced to guess how to establish a connection.