These slides were prepared for a workshop for Massey University doctoral students. It focuses on writing the report for confirmation.

1. Writing the report for
confirmation
National Centre for Teaching & Learning
See these slides online at: tinyurl.com/masseyconfirmation2018
See a related video at: tinyurl.com/tinyurl.com/researchproposalvideo
The recording should be available soon at the Doctoral Community Stream site

2. Discussion: Your developing research question
Contents
Interactive Quiz: The Massey Confirmation Process
Massey Confirmation Resources
Confirmation Report Structure and style
Discussion: Participants’ questions and examples
Acknowledgements
Resources & workshops

3. Resources

4. Advice, resources, and information
about events are available on Stream

5. April 11: Setting and achieving PhD writing goals
• setting SMART writing goals
• strategies for evaluating and maintaining progress
May 9: Presenting your PhD research
• maximising the impact of slides
• using voice and gesture effectively
UPCOMING DOCTORAL WRITING WORKSHOPS
Second Wednesday of each month from Mar - Dec
Albany AT4 | Palmerston North GLB1.14 | Wellington 5C17
12.00 – 1.30 pm

6. June 13: Setting up and managing your own PhD
writing groups
• using face-to-face & online channels
• strategies for sustaining productive & supportive groups
July 11th: Improving your PhD writing style
• clarity, conciseness & coherence
• understanding & responding to supervisor feedback
August 8th: Responses to student queries
September 12th: Results & discussion chapters for quantitative research
October 10th: Results & discussion chapters for qualitative research
November 14th: Editing your thesis
December 12th: Responses to student queries
To register and / or see videos of past sessions, go to the Doctoral
Community Stream page (or email: doctoral.office@massey.ac.nz)

7. ACADEMIC Q & A
(see under Academic Support on Stream)

8. VIDEOS tinyurl.com/nctlvideos

9. SEE tinyurl.com/nctlworkshops
NCTL ONLINE WORKSHOPS FOR POSTGRAD STUDENTS

10. NCTL consultants can provide feedback on selected
excerpts from your drafts in hour-long sessions from the
perspective of a critical reader from outside of your
discipline.
For more details, see tinyurl.com/masseynctlhome
Request an appointment at ctlalb@massey.ac.nz
ctlman@massey.ac.nz
ctlwel@massey.ac.nz
PERSONAL CONSULTATIONS (in person, by phone or
via weblink)

11. Attend a library workshop: tinyurl.com/masseylibraryworkshops
Contact a subject librarian: tinyurl.com/masseylibrarian
APA referencing guide: tinyurl.com/masseyapainteractive
Endnote guide & download: tinyurl.com/masseyendnote
Health & Counselling: tinyurl.com/masseywellness
Counselling self-help resources: tinyurl.com/masseycounsellingselfhelp
OTHER USEFUL MASSEY LINKS

12. The thesis whisperer: thesiswhisperer.com
Doctoral writing SIG: doctoralwriting.wordpress.com
PhD life: phdlife.warwick.ac.uk
The stylish academic blog: stylishacademic.com
Patter (blog on thesis writing etc): patthomson.net
OTHER USEFUL NON-MASSEY LINKS

13. Acknowledgements
Time optimisation for navigation of an autonomous robot
in a dynamic environment. Changjuan (Krystal) Jing
Corporate approach to human sustainability: Workforce
wellbeing in Japanese companies. Kazunori Kobayashi
A sociopragmatic study on Vietnamese ritual invitations
as mediated discourse. Duyen Dang
Developing tertiary learning advisor practice through a
collaborative approach to writing in a disciplinary
context. Martin McMorrow
This presentation refers to four Massey doctoral
confirmation reports:

14. Your developing research
question
Your field
Management
Robotics

15. Your topic of interest
Human sustainability
Robot navigation

16. Your issue / context
Human sustainability in Japanese companies
Navigation of an autonomous robot in
a dynamic environment

17. How do Japanese companies integrate human
sustainability initiatives into their corporate social
responsibility strategies?
Your research
question(s) / focus
Develop a time optimisation method of
navigation for a robot in a dynamic environment.

18. Discuss in pairs or groups of three: What’s your …..

19. Interactive Quiz
You’ll see questions on the screen – e.g.
After a few seconds, you’ll be given four
possible answers – e.g.

20. You need to select the correct answer
by pressing the appropriate square on your
device.
You’ll receive points not only for correct answers
but also according to the speed of your selection.

21. • Open kahoot.it
in your browser
• Enter the game pin
which I will show you
in a minute
• Enter your nickname
(and you will see it
appear on the public
screen)
To join the quiz you need to:

22. Click on current doctoral students
Click on Higher research degrees under the
research tab on the Massey website
Massey Confirmation
Resources

23. The doctoral web book has information about
each stage of the process

24. Under the confirmation
tab, you’ll see the
basic requirements
and a hyperlink to
the application form for
provisional registration

25. You can find more details about confirmation
under doctoral forms and guidelines

26. The Confirmation of Registration Process Guidelines
document explains the purpose of the process …

27. … and the requirements of each part

28. Confirmation report
structure
Report A Report B Report C
Pages (excl. refs)
33 35 38
Introduction
4 2 3
Lit review
16 15 17
Methodology
9 10 8
Risk analysis /
budget / ethics
2 2 1
Progress so far
1 3 2
Research schedule
1 1 7
References
130 60 180
Analysis of selected Massey confirmation reports

29. Introduction
Rationale
Importance
Objectives and / or hypothesis/es
Requirements
Typical structure

30. Example
The term "sustainability" ….
In spite of growing interest in sustainability and human wellbeing,
human sustainability has been relatively neglected in sustainability
research …
In Japan ….
However, workforce wellbeing initiatives ….. The management
literature does not fully explore ….. There is only limited research
focusing on how companies are addressing the issues. This study
is particularly designed to fill these gaps.
This study examines ….. Accordingly the following questions will
be addressed ….
The potential contributions of this study are two-fold …

31. Literature Review
Critical
Includes a summary of research gaps
Requirements
Typical structure
“Build an argument, not a library”
(Rudestam & Newton, as cited in Punch, 2006)
Punch, K.F. (2006). Developing Effective Research Proposals. London: Sage Publications.

32. Example Lit review sections
Sustainability
Human sustainability
Corporate social
responsibility (CSR)
CSR in Japan
Human sustainability
issues in Japan
VEX robotics
Robot navigation
Dynamic environment
mapping
Robot control systems
Image processing

33. Research methodology
Methodology
Techniques / methods of data collection and
analysis
Experimental plan (if appropriate)
Requirements
Timetable, budget, ethics ….
Structure depends on approach, type of
data and design
Conceptual framework (if appropriate)

34. Example of methodology sub-sections (Management)
Research philosophy and strategy
Research method
Sampling and participants
Data collection and data analysis
Validation
Ethical considerations
Risk analysis
Budget
Work progress
Time line

35. Methodology section style (Management)
This research is conducted from the perspective of …
Interpretivist philosophy plays an essential role in this research in two ways.
….
Given ….. , a qualitative approach is deemed appropriate for the study.
There are several reasons why XXX is particularly appropriate as a
framework for research by practitioners in YYY contexts …
Data will also be collected through interviews with XXX with whom I am
collaborating on the project … . Focus groups are preferred with YYY
because …
Interviewing is an appropriate choice to facilitate …. In particular, semi-
structured interviews ….
XXX analysis and the XXXX method will be employed … The main strength
of XXX analysis is … The method corresponds well with the nature of this
study ….
For data validation, member checking will be used, as advised by …
Not only
describing,
but
justifying
Mostly
impersonal

36. Example of methodology subsections (Robotics)
A time optimization method of
navigation for an autonomous robot
in a dynamic environment
A decision-making method for VEX
robot navigation
A SLAM-O method for autonomous
robot navigation
A navigation method for a robot in a
dynamic environment
Experiments to evaluate a VEX
robot’s time balancing ability
Conclusion and discussion

37. Example of methodology style (Robotics)
Another novelty of this study is …
The architecture of the proposed optimization method is shown
in …
To analyze the environment, we adopt a XXX method, as
shown in …
In our SLAM-O method, we use XXX to localize positions …
and adopt XXX techniques to detect ….
To construct …. , a time factor is integrated into …
We can rewrite equation X by substituting B by C:
The algorithm for grid construction is presented in Figure 4.8
To find XXX, we select …. We propose a XXX method to
determine whether …
In this section, experimental methods are presented to
evaluate …
Frequent
use of
figures
Mix of
impersonal
and
personal

38. Explanations of equations
Flow charts used to illustrate processes

39. Example time line

40. Discussion: Participants’
examples & questions
Discuss these questions in your groups
What is the gap in the literature which your study will fill?
And why is it worth filling?
In what ways is your methodology appropriate to the topic,
context and / or research question(s)?
What risks are there to a successful completion of your
project and how could they be mitigated?

41. THANKS FOR COMING ALONG!
SLIDES FROM THIS PRESENTATION CAN BE VIEWED AT:
tinyurl.com/masseyconfirmation2018