Rob's Graduate Research Study and Report Resources
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The following is a list of resources that I have curated and created for my graduate students who are working on either data-driven research study proposals, or applied research projects. They may be helpful to both students and instructors in research methods courses, or who are working on graduate theses projects.
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Some General Advice for Graduate Students
Useful advice on managing course readings and discussions, as well as working with groups for course projects.
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Power, R. (2019, January 13). Optimizing Your Time with Online Courses. [Web log post]. Power Learning Solutions. https://www.powerlearningsolutions.com/blog/optimizing-your-time-with-online-courses
Power, R. (2020, September 17). Group Work in Online Learning: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly -- and the Realities. [Web log post]. Power Learning Solutions. https://www.powerlearningsolutions.com/blog/group-work-in-online-learning-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-realities
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Getting Started with Research Projects
The first thing that I typically ask my students to do is to prepare a "conceptual framework" for their proposed research project. This is a sketch, mind map, or thought web illustrating where their questions are coming from, what we already know about the issue, the actual question(s) to be explored, and the proposed methodology (how they will try to find the answers they are seeking). Of course, the conceptual framework may change as the project progresses. But, it is helpful to visualize the "big picture" right from the start!
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Power, R. (2025, February 28). A Guide to Conceptual Frameworks. [Web log post]. Power Learning Solutions. https://www.powerlearningsolutions.com/blog/a-guide-to-conceptual-frameworks
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Choosing a Data Analysis Research Topic
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How do you determine what is a good data analysis research topic proposal? In this video, Rob Power describes the difference between an experimental research design and one that draws on existing data sources. He outlines decision trees to determine if your research topic idea needs to be revised because it involves an experimental design, or if you can proceed with your data analysis research proposal because it draws on sources of data that you can already access, or that you will already be collecting anyway.
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General Structure of a Research Proposal, Report, or Thesis
Robin Kay's (n.d.) Thesis Handbook site provides some very useful resources for graduate students at any institution.
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Kay, R. (n.d.). Ontario Tech - MA Thesis Handbook. [Web page]. https://thesis-uoitmed.weebly.com/
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A Real-World Research Proposal
This is a research project proposal that Dr. Rima Al-Tiwal and I recently put through the CBU REB. I've reworked it a bit, so that it mirrors the format that students in my Data-Driven Research course follow for their research proposal assignments.
An Example of the Structure for a Literature Review Research Project
I had a good question from someone doing an Option B (Literature Review) project in my Applied Research Project course. I figured I'd share some advice regarding how to structure your report/paper (with an exemplar).
I know it sounds counter-intuitive... but a final project paper for a systematic literature review paper would still follow the same structure as a research project report. There are some aspects of the background information about your topic that you would need to read up on (and then summarize in a literature review) BEFORE conducting your systematic literature review (i.e., they would give the background knowledge to understand what the general topic is, and how and what you will be looking for in a systematic literature review). Here is a really good example of one done by a colleague of mine for her doctoral dissertation (exploring 14 years worth of literature -- several thousand articles! -- connected to the Community of Inquiry model). You don't need to read the whole thing... but take a look at the structure, and the scope of her literature review chapter, and what she focused on in subsequent chapters.
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Kineshanko, M. (2016). A thematic synthesis of Community of Inquiry research 2000 to 2014. (Doctoral dissertation, Athabasca University). http://hdl.handle.net/10791/190
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Writing a Data Analysis Chapter
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Inspired by a conversation with a couple of students in a previous term, I put together this quick video with some tips on how to get started with your Data Analysis chapter (typically Chapter 4 in a research report or thesis). One thing to note... in this video, I have separated out the Results/Data Analysis into one chapter (Chapter 4), and the Discussions into another (Chapter 5) -- as is typical with a full dissertation. The instructions and exemplars for the final report for the Applied Research Project course include both of these as part of Chapter 4. The same tips apply... just that you would start another major section (Level 1 heading) in Chapter 4 for your Discussions section (rather than having it as a separate chapter).
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General Formatting Resources for Preparing Your Paper, Report, or Thesis
The following blog post demonstrates how to properly format a paper, report, or thesis for full compliance with both APA version 7 conventions and document accessibility standards. It also provides important information (with exemplars) about properly citing digital tools and resources within your document and in your References section (including a curated list of tool citations from my recent research papers!).
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Power, R. (2026, April 14). Before You Submit That Assignment, Read This... [Web log post]. Power Learning Solutions. https://www.powerlearningsolutions.com/blog/before-you-submit-that-assignment-read-this
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Ethically Using AI
Over the past couple of years, I have begun asking my students to submit an AI Usage Declaration as an Appendix (or a separate attachment) with ALL of their written course assignments. Feel free to adapt and adopt this form for your own purposes!
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I have also begun sharing the following blog post with my students as an example of an ethical application of AI tools to generate presentations for their research projects.
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Power, R. (2026, January 21). Ethical AI: Student Research Presentations. [Web log post]. Power Learning Solutions. https://www.powerlearningsolutions.com/blog/ethical-ai-student-research-presentations
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