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The Honours Research Project

1. Formulating an honours research question
   Students often express anxiety at coming up with an appropriate research question.  Guiding them through this process allows them to clarify what it is they want to achieve and begin considering how they might go about it.
2. Possible sources of questions:
   

   Personal experience an issue that has stimulated interest during undergraduate study an issue that has arisen in personal life that is connected to the field of study Journal articles/Research literature challenging the assumptions in an article/research report pursuing suggestions for further research from a research report pursuing questions which arise from reading an article/research report taking up an issue or controversy that features in the discussion area of a journal Oddities, controversies or issues of interest that have arisen during undergraduate study

3. Defining the project
   Since this is an initial research undertaking for honours students they will be unfamiliar with designing a project that is feasible given the amount of time and resources available. The role of the supervisor is to guide the student in delimiting their project. A well-designed, small project is going to be far easier for a student to manage and for you to supervise than a sprawling project with too many avenues to explore.
   
   • Size!
     Is the chosen topic realistic and manageable? Use your experience to judge the scope and assess whether it is manageable within the year. Consider assessing the student as to whether he/she can manage the task in the short time available.
   • Budget
     Consider the cost or budget of a project, including resources (equipment, consumables, transport etc.). Check for any hidden costs that might arise. While some schools have a project budget, some projects might be too expensive for a student to complete.
   • Time
     Scale the time by working through a work/study/family commitments calendar to apportion reasonable amounts of time to each. This ratifies expectations and contains stress.
4. Ethics Approval
   Before any research can be undertaken an application for ethics clearance must be submitted and approved by the relevant ethics committees. Flinders has four ethics committees that oversee all research done at the University. The Office of Research website contains links to each committee or you can access them from here:
   • Animal Welfare Committee
   • Biohazards Advisory Committee
   • Flinders Clinical Research Ethics Committee
   • Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee

Writing an ethics application can be an important step for the student because it helps them further articulate what they intend to do and how. It can also take time to prepare and the submission, have it considered by the committee(s) and be approved. Therefore, encourage your honours student to begin writing the ethics application as soon as possible.

Be aware that ethics applications to external bodies might also be required for certain investigations e.g. for any education research conducted in schools approval must be obtained from the relevant body (e.g. Department of Education, Training and Employment for government schools).