Requirements for the final essay
2500 words.
Research is an iterative process and any plan for an architectural research project is, at best, an informed guess that will be subject to change as you progress through the research process. Changes can occur relative to what can be found in (or is missing from) an archive; what participants are able to be recruited, and whether what they tell you changes your outlook on the project; or if you discover literature that has already sought to address the question you had in mind. All of these, and more, can prompt you to identify more pressing (or interesting) questions to be answered than the one you’d originally anticipated. Nonetheless, for assessment 2, you are asked to propose a research plan to investigate your topic of interest. This task asks you to further develop the thinking advanced in assessment 1, however, you are welcome to propose different research methods to those discussed in that first assessment.
In order to complete this task, you will need to narrow down a specific research question from within your broader topic of interest; and propose a plan to undertake that research. The plan should take the form of a 2500-word essay (this can include diagrams where relevant), and should detail the following:
· your research question and justification for it. To position your research question, you will need to reference a minimum of 5 peer-reviewed academic sources related to your topic of interest (note, you may choose to include the 2 sources already discussed under assessment 1)
· your research approach
· method and/or sources (e.g. archival data, participant interviews, spatial mapping data etc)
· the likely audience for your research (e.g. who will read and use your research)
· the potential benefit of your research (spoiler, this is linked to who will read and use your research)
· nominate a suitable publication outlet (this effectively positions the sub-discipline in which you would be aiming to write, but also think strategically about whether this outlet will help you reach the audience you’ve identified above)
What’s important for this assessment is a critical and well-developed plan regarding your approach, method and/or sources (this should be the main body of the text). You may want to consider some of the following:
· if using archives, which archives; how do you know if the information you seek is available, and do you have a back-up strategy if you cannot locate that material?
· if using architectural theory and criticism, who are your key sources / who are the key voices in the field? What do you intend to position your work against? What framework will you use for reading those key sources?
· if engaging end users, who and why? How will you identify and recruit participants; are you sure the selected participants have the requisite experience to provide the knowledge that you seek? What will you ask them? What approach will you take to analysing that data?
· if using building data, what kinds of data do you need access to? How will you obtain access to that data? How will you analyse that data? Will it tell you everything you need to know or will you need to supplement your understanding using other method/s?
· if using precedents, spatial mapping, or space syntax analysis, how many sites will you need and how will these be identified? Can you visit the sites and/or obtain sufficient information online (or from archives, books, or magazines) to understand how these buildings/ sites are configured and occupied? What can you learn from this analysis and what would the limitations of it be? Will you need to supplement your understanding using other method/s?
Finally, here’s what we’ll be looking for when marking:
· Convincing justification regarding the significance and/or benefit of the area of the research question relative to the literature selected
· Judicious selection of high quality, peer-reviewed academic literature
· Quality of consideration of the selected method/s relative to the research question; and attention to detail in planning for the implementation of that method (e.g. recruitment, sample size, key authors in the field, nominated archives as relevant to the selected method/s), including acknowledgement of the strengths and limitations of the selected method/s
· Clear identification of a suitable audience and nomination of a publication outlet/s to support successfully reaching that audience
· Clarity of written communication
^ NOTE: the criteria above are worth a total of 45%, while the criteria below is worth 15%
· Participation & contribution throughout semester. This includes evidence that weekly readings were completed ahead of scheduled classes either by active engagement with Q&A sessions with guests and/or tutorial discussions OR that engagement with these readings is clearly reflected in the quality of the research plan proposed.
*Please note, this criterion accepts that some students may not feel comfortable contributing verbally in class settings but may still engage deeply with the weekly readings, and evidence this engagement through the work produced.