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Tag: Research

Getting organised

Published 29th January 2024 by Gillian

Starting a project like this is a daunting task. It’s my first time doing funded research and I want to make sure I do it well and I do justice to the topic. So, a key starting point for me was getting organised. I’m a fan of lists, tables and excel spreadsheets. If I’m going to do this project well, I need to have everything organised and this was a lovely justification to try out Microsoft Project and create a Gantt chart.

Image by Richard Park from Pixabay

I’ve done various versions of planners and Gantt charts with other projects, but due to the scale and moving parts within this project I thought a Gantt chart would help me keep on top of everything. At the university we have full access to Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Project – so I have access to the tools. We also have access to LinkedIn Learning – so I have access to the teaching and support. So there was no reason not to go ahead with it.

Watching various videos on LinkedIn Learning there was guidance on project management, planning and identifying the critical path of jobs that you need to successfully complete the project. Sitting down and pulling together all the things I thought I needed to do, alongside the elements that I’d already identified in my project proposal seemed like a lot. I gathered all the dates I could. As I’m going to be working with the MSc Public Health students, I need to know what modules they will be studying and what deadlines they’ll be working towards. I don’t want to add any additional pressure to the students or set up research events that conflict with key dates in their academic calendar. I also wanted to build in the bank holidays and any personal dates I would be taking as annual leave.

All of this came together in a massive excel spreadsheet. However, there was duplication and overlap. As I went through the various tasks, I also saw elements that were missing, that if I included them in my plan would help ease the pathway of the project. To break it down and make it more manageable I tagged each item as to whether they were to do with the fellowship, course dates, dissemination or personal dates. This way I could see what the essential tasks were and what elements would influence how and when I do specific parts of the project. There is no point booking in focus groups when students are working on submitting their assignments – I wouldn’t get any engagement.

So, once I had the dates, I populated the calendar in the Gantt chart (this would block off weekends and holidays). I added my tasks, allowing Project to auto-schedule them. Following guidance from the LinkedIn Learning courses, I estimated the time it would take to complete the tasks and added in summary tasks. Initially everything came together as starting on the same date as my project started. However, I’ve generally been amending and updating the timeline so that the tasks will build on one another and flow into the next part of the project. The dates aren’t set (yet) but they will be soon. Once they are, I’ll have a much clearer plan of what needs to be done, when. Fundamentally, I want to get things organised so that I can get ahead with what I can.

Lessons Learnt:

  • Gather your data. Pull together all the information you have and that you think you will need. Once you’ve got it, you can begin to put it in some sort of order.
  • Book in the deadlines. This is key – make sure you know when your potential collaborators and participants will be busy. When are the holidays, when are participants likely to be unavailable?
  • Try something new. This was a great opportunity to learn Microsoft Project and allow it to do what it was designed to do – manage projects. Using the software I’ll be able to keep track of what I’m doing and if anything is slipping and needs more time.

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The Ethics Process

Published 22nd January 2024 by Gillian 

Gather all the information you can!

A fundamental part of any research project is the ethics that underpin it. For the research project funded by the AHRC-RLUK fellowship ethical approval was essential. In order to get the project up and running as soon as my fellowship started in January, I had to get ethical approval by December.

Applying for ethical approval is something I have done for a few different projects over the years. However, it feels a lot more serious when you know without it you’re stuck. When it’s a project you’re doing alongside the day job, you can work on it as you go and if you don’t meet the deadline, you know there’s still time and you can plug away at it. The same is not true when there is funding riding on it and there are external deadlines you have to meet. That’s why one of my biggest bits of advice is to do your research and READ! Getting to know the language of the ethical process, understanding the paperwork you need to complete, and the expectations of the organisation are essential.

In my case I had to make sure I was meeting the ethical requirements of my funders and my institution. I also wanted to make sure I was adhering to the ethical principles of my professional organisation – CILIP. I wanted to do it properly first time. So, it was time to do what they told me to do when revising for exams – read the whole paper through before you start. For the Library and Learning Services ethical committee at UON, they have a digital copy of the online ethical application form. This meant I can read through it fully before I start filling it in online. There were also useful statements and guidance in the form to make sure I included the information they needed to assess the application. Any time they referred to any specific institutional policies or paperwork, I looked them up.

Therefore, it was key that I read them thoroughly and understood them. What was my deadline – when did I have to submit the paperwork? Generally, how long did it take to get ethical approval? (I needed to start in January, I had to allow for any amendments or updates, so I had to submit my form for the 1st November deadline). As I read the policies and procedures, I began making notes – what language were they using, what procedures did I need to take into account. There’s no point reading something and then forgetting what you’ve read. Ever the librarian, I typed up my notes, so I know exactly what I read and where it came from!

I used the draft ethics form to begin writing my responses. Some questions were easy to answer, but for others I’d draft an outline and need time to think about what I needed to include. Then there are all the additional bits you need to include – it’s not just the form, you have to include all the elements that you’re going to use in your project:

  • Participant information sheets and consent forms
  • Publication information (publicity / marketing / recruitment information)
  • Prompts for any focus groups / interviews (what are you asking your participants to do?)
  • Data management plan
  • Risk assessment form

In participatory photography you use focus groups to agree the main themes and photographs you’re going to use. So, I had to think about this too.

Therefore, I had to draft these as I went along. I had been thinking there would be time in January to get this done, but I’m glad I got these planned for the ethics process. A great way of getting ahead.

For anything that your participants are going to read and need to sign – keep it simple. Plain English is key, make sure there is no confusion about what the project is about and what you’re asking them to do.

Publicity information is similar, you want your potential participants to want to get involved and to understand the project quickly. I don’t want them to have to look up what I’m talking about, I want them to read it and know what I’m asking them to do.

Creating prompts, questions and ideas for the focus groups and interviews was interesting. I was thinking I would have time to think these through alongside reading more about participatory photography. However, time was of the essence here, so I had to keep focused. What did I really want to find out? How could I use the prompts to do that? Time focused meant less procrastination and more action. Sometimes deadlines are your friend!

I am grateful that I’ve engaged with regular continuing professional development (CPD) through my career. One session I attended related to data management, ostensibly this was to support colleagues doing research, but it paid dividends when drafting my own data management plan. Here it was important to read the questions carefully and focus on exactly what they were asking:

  • What data are you collecting?
  • How are you storing it?
  • Why and how long for?

On the first few read throughs the form seemed repetitive, but when you read it again you could see the questions were different and it was important to look at the specifics. Put yourself in the mindset of the reviewer – keep it simple and answer the question. Clarity wins out!

The Risk Assessment Form was a challenging one. In my day-to-day work, this is integral to the workload of my colleagues and not something I would see. However, taking the time to think through the questions and consider the risks was important in helping to plan to mitigate them. Talking to colleagues was really useful as they could help me understand the questions and consider the risks involved in my project.

The ethics application can seem like quite a long and drawn-out process. This can be really frustrating when you think you’re doing an ‘easy’ project that doesn’t risk harm to others. It’s not like you’re doing experiments or tests on people… However, we are all individuals, and you never really know what’s happening behind the façade. Taking the time to think through all the implications of the project and identify any potential risks means you can avoid them. Taking the time to do the ethics application properly will mean it is easier for people to get involved with your project and you can feel confident that you are prepared for the project to start!

Lessons learnt:

  • Take time to read through everything.
  • Write down all the parts that contribute to the ethics application. Work through them step-by-step.
  • Ask questions about things you don’t understand. Make sure you understand before you try filling in the forms!
  • Check and re-check to make sure you’re answering the questions they’ve asked (not the ones you think they’re asking)!

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Why this project?

Published 16th January 2024 by Gillian

Why this project?Sunshine on the trees of the forest with a grassy path in the foreground

The fellowship is an amazing opportunity to explore things in depth. When I first thought of applying, I knew I needed something that would have enough within it to keep me interested and be relevant to the wider LIS sector.

As an Academic Librarian, one of the best things about my job is teaching and working with students. Every day I get the chance to learn something new, if I’m open to it. Working in a university also means I have access to incredible resources for research and continuing professional development. Whilst I’ve been at the University, I’ve tried to make the most of these opportunities. My first research project came out of my job and was facilitated by a CPD opportunity.

I work with students from foundation level, all the way through to post-doctoral research. Every student has their own experiences that help shape the way they interact with the university. I support the health programmes here and our MSc Public Health programme was growing in popularity and had increasing student numbers. These students come from all over the world and have studied a range of different courses and qualifications before coming here. There’s no ‘one’ student profile. This really interested me, where are the students coming from and what are they experiencing when they arrive at UON?

It can be quite a steep learning curve coming from undergraduate to postgraduate study. The emphasis on independent study becomes even more pronounced. Plus, you have to adjust to a new institution with different processes. If you’re coming from another country there’s even more adjustment and knowledge to take on board. I wanted to find out what it was like for our international students, what they found when they arrived and look at how I can adapt and change what I teach to better support them. It’s easy to make assumptions based on anecdotal information, but I wanted to find out what it’s really like.

Therefore, I knew who I wanted to work with (MSc Public Health international students) and I knew what I wanted to find out (what’s it like coming to UON and how do they find the information they need to support their study). Now I needed to think about the best way of exploring what I wanted to find out.

Photo by Marc Pell on Unsplash

I didn’t want to do surveys – I wanted to learn about the experiences they had. So, I wanted to use a qualitative methodology. I could have used interviews or focus groups, but I wanted something that would really showcase their experience and catch people’s eyes. Research papers tend to be quite dry; they get published and then they sit in databases. The individuals involved rarely get to see what they contributed to and it doesn’t necessarily attract the attention of the key stakeholders involved: the students, their colleagues, the programme team, the wider library, and the institution.

As part of the fellowship, I get the benefit of working with a mentor (an expert in the field that can guide me through the research). When talking through my initial ideas, they suggested thinking about a visual research method, such as photovoice. I’d never heard of it before, but it was something I was really interested in finding out about. I love photographs and they are definitely eye catching. Exploring the literature around photovoice it really gave me a feel for how it has been used (initially in public health research) and then in library and information science. I could see how this would give the participants a chance to show their experience from their perspective (not ‘translated’ through my interpretation). The photographs would also be a great way of encouraging discussion between participants, seeing if there is common ground between their experiences. In participatory photography or photovoice, the participants define the main findings from the research. I would be facilitating it, but it would be the student’s voice. This was a great way of me exploring the topic.

So, I now knew how I was going to investigate – participatory photography. Taking the time to think things through, ask questions, listen to other people’s thoughts, to explore and read around ideas all helped me to choose my topic and the methods I’m going to use.

Lessons learnt:

  • Keep interested, keep listening, keep learning. There is so much going on, see if there is something that can catch your attention and inspire you.
  • Try something new. I’ve never done a project with a visual research method before, but it’s very exciting and I think I’m going to get a lot out of it.

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