Introductory questions andneeds analysis

John Morgan

Aberystwyth University

Establishing a focus1: Topic interests

Topic interests

What subject are you interested in?

Is it a new topic?

What do you have to say about it that could be considered ‘new’?

2: Information and opinion

How much information do you have about the topic?

Have you formed a critical opinion on the subject that can be compared with other research in the same field?

Have you discussed this with a tutor or supervisor? Have you discussed it with your peers?

3: Controversy

What controversies (if any) surround this topic?

Are they avoidable? If not, how do these issues compare with the questions on critical opinion?

If you are working from a new, specific, or controversial angle, have you considered other approaches to the issue?

4: From resources to focus

Do you have enough sources?

Are they readily available?n.b. Do not create too much work for yourself at this stage.

Have you narrowed the focus adequately?

Identify one current writing assignment (compare with needs analysis timeline)

Essay (M) Report (M) Book review (M) Case study (M) Proposal (PhD) Aspects of literature review (PhD) End of year 1 methodological report (PhD) Journal article Conference paper Other

Identify either the question or describe the requirements of the assignment

Safe areas (the things you are comfortable with)  Variables (the flexibilities allowed by the

assignment)  Uncertainties (things you would seek advice on in

relation to variables and other concerns about your writing)

Action (how you will work with the three above points)

Further support

Individual writing consultations are available in Welsh or English with RLF Writing Fellows

Elin ap Hywel eea@aber.ac.uk David Brodie dqb@aber.ac.uk

You can also access the RLF @ Aber web-site at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/language+learning/rlf/

For more information about the Royal Literary Fund: http://www.rlf.org.uk/

To find out how many UK universities work with the RLF: http://www.rlf1to1.net/

iWrite

As it very time consuming to manually register all course participants for Blackboard, all notes from the Postgraduate Writing Development Programme are available on iWrite (Interactive Writing Environment) at

http://users.aber.ac.uk/jpm/iwrite/units/

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