ATS3222 Chap.2 Core Concepts and the Shape of a Research Design
Core Concepts and the Shape of a Research Design
Week 2 builds on the Week 1 discussion and asks how foundations become a design. The workshop questions are which building blocks research and analysis rest on, how a view of knowledge steers an investigation, and how those foundations become a workable plan.
The slides cover thesis structure, research design and conceptual frameworks, types of analysis, and methodology, ethics and bias together.
This chapter defines concept, analysis and theory and shows how they connect.
A design chain links a problem to concepts, participants, a framework, a method and an analysis, with assumptions about knowledge underneath every link; the test of a sound design is whether the analysis can answer the problem you began with.
The chapter then works the Week 2 activity, the skeleton thesis plan, on a study of international students' volunteering, naming each element, the bias it risks and the assumption it rests on.
Practice tasks focus on diagnosing a broken link, such as a question about parents answered with data from teachers, and on stating the epistemological assumption behind your own plan.
The chapter also points to the literature-mapping tool shown in the workshop.
The chapter is the bridge between the philosophy of Week 1 and the practical weeks that follow. Every later chapter fills in one link of the design chain in more detail, so returning to this one later in the semester is a good way to see how the parts of your own project fit together.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Concept, analysis and theory
- 02
Components of a research design
- 03
Methodology, ethics and bias
- 04
Bridging theory and lived experience
- 05
The skeleton thesis plan
- 06
Keeping research manageable
- 07
Mapping literature visually
Worked example · free
Repair a design whose method misses its question
- +1Name the mismatch: the question is about decisions and reasons, while visit counts only show behaviour.
- +1Keep the question and change the data: interviews with first-generation students about times they did or did not seek help.
- +1Adjust participants and recruitment: first-generation students across faculties, invited through a general student notice.
- +1Keep counts as context only: visit data can describe the setting but cannot explain choices.
Key terms
- Concept
- An abstract idea, such as trust or belonging, that a study names and defines before examining it.
- Analysis
- The work of breaking evidence into parts and explaining how those parts relate to the research question.
- Theory
- A broader explanation that suggests which relationships a study should look for and how to interpret them.
- Research bias
- Systematic distortion that enters through recruitment, questioning or reporting choices and must be planned for in the design.
- Thesis plan
- A skeleton outline of problem, design elements, data, assumptions and ethical concerns, refined across the semester.
Core Concepts and the Shape of a Research Design FAQ
What are the main parts of a research design?
The Week 2 prompts list concepts, population or participants, theory or conceptual framework, method and analysis, together with the data you will collect, how it is gathered, and the biases and assumptions involved.
Why are ethics and bias discussed with methodology?
Because both are created by design choices. Who you recruit, how you ask and which voices you quote all shape bias and ethical risk, so they are planned alongside the method rather than afterwards.
How detailed should a skeleton thesis plan be?
Short enough to fit on a page: one line per element. Its value is in exposing gaps early, and the unit asks you to keep building it because it feeds all three assessments.
What does making research manageable involve?
Choosing a population you can reach, data you can collect in the time available, and an analysis you can carry out. A small study that can be finished is stronger than an ambitious one that cannot.
How do I know if my design is too ambitious?
List what each component needs: how many participants, how long collection takes, and what skills the analysis demands. If any item exceeds the time or skills you have, narrow the population or the question before writing more.
Assessment move
Draft your own thesis plan in five lines using the workshop prompts, then test every link: could this method reach these participants, and could this analysis answer this problem? Rewrite any link that fails. Spend twenty minutes with a literature-mapping tool around one paper you trust, and note the clusters your topic sits between, ready for the debates the mapping task asks you to name.
Repeat the link test whenever your topic changes, because one altered element often breaks a link you had already checked.
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