Questions:
Description
This assignment comprises:
project title + abstract/summary (~100 words) + annotated bibliography (minimum 7 works) + precedent/primary source analysis (3 x ~50 words or graphic equivalent) + preliminary literature review (500-600 words)
Aim
To develop skills in systematically surveying and reading into a particular area or topic of research interest relevant to your professional discipline. The specific objective of this assignment is to make a critical assessment of the state of the existing knowledge in that area, and to identify a particular ‘gap’, or unanswered question, that could indicate where further research is needed
Tasks
1. Refine your project abstract and title summarising the anticipated focus, aims, approach and outcomes of a research project that you could (hypothetically) undertake and complete between now and the end of semester 2. (NOTE: students who will be undertaking an actual research Dissertation could use this opportunity to develop your preliminary research proposal.)
2. Make a methodical and thorough survey of literature and design precedents (which could be designed, planned or built works) relevant to your chosen research topic. Be sure to explore a range of possible different literatures pertinent to the research focus as well as relevant research methods.
3. Prepare a list or annotated bibliography of at least 7 key text-based publications (e.g. journal articles, book chapters, government publications, research reports) of significance for your research topic. These must be scholarly sources carefully selected for their critical substance and quality – review THESE SLIDES to understand what counts as a scholarly resource.
a. Choose a referencing system to organise the list of texts and be consistent
b. List the texts alphabetically
c. Your annotation for each text can be a brief sentence or two explaining why the piece is important to your topic. Perhaps it is the most well-known or most recent or most controversial. Perhaps it is very focused or a good overview. Why did you select it? What view does it have?
4. Identify and critically analyse at least 3 design precedents, historical or contemporary, which are clearly relevant to your research topic, typology or approach. (NOTE: MArch, MLArch and MPlanning/Urban Design students are welcome and expected to employ graphic analyses as well as text in their discussion of these design precedents. The Elements of Modern Architecture: Understanding Contemporary Buildings (Thames and Hudson, 2014), by SABE-based researchers Emeritus Professor Anthony Radford, Selen Morkoc, and Amit Srivastava, offers excellent examples of critical graphic analyses of contemporary architectural precedents that your analyses may be modelled upon).
5. Review your annotated bibliography and design precedents. Compose a short preliminary literature review of around 500 words as a statement of what these references say about the status of your topic. Consider how they describe or represent recent trends of argument and/or debate in the field of research about your topic. Do they reveal or confirm the specific ‘gap’ in knowledge that your research project will try to fill? (i.e.These references talk about X, Y, and Z but they have neglected or missed the importance of A and B!)
