OBU Business School / Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University
Research Methodology Summer School
Dalyan, Turkey, September 2nd - 9th 2011
We are now three months or so away from the ‘Turkey Summer School’ in Dalyan. This
provides a short, intensive period for doctoral students, or academic researchers who are
developing their research profile, to learn more about research methodology and design and to interact with each other and the ‘Turkey Summer School’ tutors in a supportive
and friendly environment. The week is designed to help equip you with some of the key
research skills that you need as a doctoral student/researcher. By the end of the week
we hope you will have:
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Moved forward in your thinking about your own research.
Practiced and developed skills in presenting and explaining your work - and also
giving and receiving feedback on your work and that of others.
Gained more knowledge and understanding of relevant research methodologies
and techniques and evaluated their appropriate application to your own research.
Gained an appreciation of standards of good research practice.
Learned from others about undertaking doctoral research through networking with
student and staff colleagues and ‘Turkey Summer School’ tutors.
The Summer School will be taught through a series of workshops, tutorials and other
informal sessions. This year, all being well, we will have a range of tutors – Dr David
Bowen, Professor Phil James and Professor Levent Altinay (all OBU), Dr Sandra Corlett
and Dr Ike-Elechi Ogba (both Northumbria); and Dr Sophie Reboud (Burgundy Business
School, Dijon, France).
The information below will give you more of an idea about the outline programme and the
preparation you need to do before leaving for Turkey.
Outline List of Sessions
Workshops sessions will take place all day on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and
also Thursday morning. We will begin work at 09.00 (0830 on Saturday 3rd) and normally
finish formal sessions at 18.00. However, it is normal for informal discussions regarding
research to continue after these sessions - long into the evening. Here is an outline
schedule of activities – although please note that there may be some need for flexibility
as circumstance demands! :
Friday 2nd September
.
1800
Orientation in Dalyan (OBU)
2200
Welcome to Newcastle participants, poolside drinks
Saturday 3rd September
0830 - 0900
Overview of programme
09.00 - 10.00 Research speed dating or similar
10.00 - 13.00 Presentations by students/researchers outlining their doctoral research
[see #1 below].
13.00 - 13.45 Lunch
14.00 - 17.00 Presentations by students/researchers outlining their doctoral research
[see #1 below].
Each student/researcher will be allocated a 30/35-minute slot for the presentations. This
will comprise 20 minutes for the presentation and the remaining 10-15 minutes for open
discussion.
20.00
Welcome Dinner in Dalyan
Sunday 4th September
09.00 -10.00
Tutorials
10.00 - 13.00
Presentations by students/researchers outlining the
epistemological and methodological underpinnings to their doctoral
research [see #2 and #3 below].
13.00 -13.45
Lunch
14.00 - 16.30
Presentations by PhD students/researchers outlining the
epistemological and methodological underpinnings to their doctoral
research [see #2 and #3 below].
16.30 -18.00
Poster Fair [see #4 below]
Each student/researcher will be allocated a 30-minute slot for the presentations. This will
comprise 15 minutes for the presentation and the remaining 15 minutes for open
discussion.
Monday 5th September:
9.00 - 10.00
Tutorials
10.00 -13.00
Workshops led by tutors [see #5 below]
13.00 -13.45
Lunch
14.00 - 16.00
Workshops led by students [see #6 below]
16.00 - 17.00
Book review discussion [see #7 below)
17.00 -18.00
Tutorials
Tuesday 6th September:
9.00 - 10.00
Tutorials
10.00 – 11.00
Book review discussion [see #7 below]
11.00 - 13.00
Workshops led by tutors[see #5 below]
13.00 -13.45
Lunch
14.00 - 16.00
Workshops led by students [see #6 below] and/or ‘favourite gigs’ –
eclectic research presentations from tutors
17.00
Riverboat/Beach B-B-Q
Wednesday 7th September
Free day (see below)
Thursday 8th September:
09.00 - 10.00
Article review and swap - theory [ #8 below]
10.00 - 10.45
Article review and swap - methodology [ #8 below]
11.15 -12.00
Reflective stories
Students will offer a voluntary, verbal 5 minute reflection, either in pairs or alone on the
academic journey that they have made during the week and the likely future direction.
12.15 -13.00
Ask the tutors – ‘Any Questions’ panel
Note: tutorial sessions allow you to discuss your work on a one-to-one basis with tutors.
On Wednesday 7th all day and also Thursday 8th in the afternoon there will be free time.
In the past students have used the free time to arrange day and half-trips to local areas –
or stayed around the villas discussing their research and having additional informal
tutorials.
In order for you to benefit most from the programme it is really essential that you
carry out the preparation activities below…
Preparation Activities
You will need to undertake the following tasks before you attend the Summer School:
#1. Prepare a 20-minute presentation outlining:
(i) Your research question or aim and research objectives (5 minutes duration)
(ii) The theoretical underpinning to your research (5 minutes duration)
(iii) The data collection method(s) you are, or hope to be, employing (10 minutes
duration)
You should bring 25 copies of an accompanying handout - one for each of the
participants.
Please note that there are only expensive photocopying facilities in the nearby town.
There are no photocopying facilities on site. Summer School staff will not be taking laptops and projection facilities because the successful format in the past has relied on face-
to-face presentations and conversations in small groups. But, of course, if you want to
carry your own lap-top for things other than your presentations, please do!
#2. Write an essay which is no more than four-A4 sides in length (single line spacing,
including references) on:
‘The development of the epistemological1 and methodological2 framework for my
research’.
You should bring 25 copies of this essay with you to the Summer School. It should also
be emailed to David Bowen dbowen@brookes.ac.uk by Monday August 22nd, 12 noon
- so that the tutors can read your work before the Summer School starts. A formal written
critique/feedback on your work will not be given – but you will be challenged, of course,
in the Q&A that follows your presentation.
#3 Prepare a 15-minute presentation based upon the essay above. Prepare, too, and
bring 25 copies of an accompanying handout that gives an outline structure of your
presentation.
#4 Prepare an A3 poster that clearly and excitingly summarizes your work. This will be
introduced in a Poster Fair and then placed in a prominent place. Your fellow participants
can then browse at their leisure and either decorate it with constructive ‘post-it’
comments or pass on informal verbal comment to you.
#5 Provide an indication of workshop topics that you would like the tutors to facilitate.
This might involve a topic such as writing for publication, preparing data for
qualitative/quantitative analysis, gaining access, reviewing the literature - or anything
else that you would find useful.
This information should be emailed to David Bowen dbowen@brookes.ac.uk by Friday
July 8th.
#6 Provide an indication of workshop topics that you would like to offer for other
participants on the Summer School (also by Friday July 8th). This could involve you
outlining a questionnaire, interview checklist or observation schedule that you have
designed or discussing a paper you are writing - or anything else that you are doing. This
is compulsory for those students who have progressed more than three months beyond
1
The relationship between you the researcher and what is being researched.
The theory that lies behind how your research is undertaken, including the philosophical assumptions upon
which your research is based and the implications for the method or methods adopted.
2
the registration stage - and voluntary (although very welcome indeed) for those who have
just registered.
#7 Read (or re-read) – critically, ready for discussion – the following two books:
Silverman, D. (2007) A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about
qualitative research Sage
Blastland, M. and Dilnot, A. (2007) The tiger that isn’t: seeing through a world of numbers
Profile Books
#8
i) On one side of A4, give the Harvard reference for the single most influential
methodological article that has informed your work. Outline in numbered form (e.g.1-10)
the reasons why you have made that judgement. On the flip side of your A4 sheet, give
the references for the 2nd and 3rd most influential articles that you have read so far. You
should bring 25 copies of your A4 thoughts - one for each of the participants.
ii) On one side of A4, give the Harvard reference for the single most influential theoretical
article that has informed your work. Outline in numbered form (e.g.1-10) the reasons why
you have made that judgement. On the flip side of your A4 sheet, give the references for
the 2nd and 3rd most influential articles that you have read so far. You should bring 25
copies of your A4 thoughts - one for each of the participants.
Finally, you should also think carefully about what you aim to get out of the week. What
do you hope to achieve by coming on this Summer School?
We look forward to receiving your ideas for workshop topics by you and for you (Friday
July 8th); and your epistemological/methodological essay (Monday August 22nd). We
also look forward to working with you at the Summer School.
Flight Details (for Oxford Brookes University) – but please keep an eye on email for
any changes that the operator forwards between now and September 1st, and the flight
number:
Out London Gatwick / Dalaman - Friday 02 September Gatwick South 07.40
Arrive Dalaman - Friday 02 September 14.45
Return Dalaman / London Gatwick Friday 09 September 17.40
Arrive Gatwick South Terminal Friday 09 September 19.55
Flight Details (for Northumbria University) – but please keep an eye on email for any
changes that the operator forwards between now and September 1st, and the flight
number:
Out Newcastle / Dalaman – Friday 02 September 13.55 (flight no. TCX6566)
Arrive Dalaman – Friday 02 September 20.10
Return Dalaman / Newcastle Friday 09 September 21.10 (flight no. TCX6567)
Arrive Newcastle Friday 09 September 23.35
About the accommodation and Dalyan:
We will be based in two or three sets of villas with their own garden, pool and washing
line, etc. We will work in one villa complex. We will post notices about the work
programme and the social programme in suitable places within the villa complex. The
base villa will probably be Manzara and we will most probably also spread to Killara villa.
You can get an idea of what the villas look like from the website below:
http://www.manzara.co.uk/villas.asp
You can also see the Turkey address on the website – useful if you are a non-UK
national and need to get a visa before departure. But please do not contact the villa
owner direct either before we go or, except in emergency, when we are there (as she
may not be in Turkey in any case when we are there). Just ask David Bowen or Sandra
Corlett (UNN) if you have any pre-departure questions. We will work out mobile contacts
in Turkey closer to the departure time.
Dalyan is a picturesque village. It is located in a river estuary between the Iztuzu beach
and Koycegiz Lake. You can find detailed information on Dalyan at
http://www.dalyan.co.uk/.
Dalyan is a safe and friendly environment. The town centre is fifteen minutes walking
distance from our accommodation. However, the route back is not well lit and you may
wish to bring a torch with you. The riverside in Dalyan is lined with restaurants, which
offer a good range of meat and vegetable dishes and mezes at reasonable prices.
There is a bi-weekly bazaar with local produce, fruit and vegetables, spices and textiles.
Please talk with Summer School academics from your own university who have run the
Summer School before - Sandra Corlett (Northumbria) or David Bowen (OBU) - if you
have any academic or logistic queries.
Kind regards,
David Bowen and Sandra Corlett
June 10, 2011