Project study Case Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Project - Case Study Example Plagiarism is an illegal, punishable act that constitutes fines between $100 and $50000, one year imprisonment, or both (â€Å"Plagiarism FAQs†). If a writer copies even one sentence from another piece of work, it falls under the category of plagiarism. On the other hand, originality refers to one’s own words, ideas, thoughts, and expressions. In order to avoid plagiarism, the writer must be vigilant to change the 5 W’s and H (who, what, where, when, why, and how), but most significantly the writer must use his own words. In total, Plagiarism is illegal and immoral while originality is legal and moral. 2. Process of research question development Choosing an appropriate topic/issue is the first phase in developing a research question as it gives a ‘specific focus’ for the writing (â€Å"The relationship between†). The major topic may be subdivided into smaller pieces but the writer must stick to one major issue per research paper so as to have a coherent piece of work. While breaking down the major topic into its components, a series of questions may be listed. Once the listing of questions is completed, the researcher must review the listed questions in order to select the most appropriate one that is â€Å"neither too broad nor too narrow† (Bryman & Bell, 87). ... Difference between description and analysis As Egger and Carpi point out, the term description can be defined as a detailed presentation of certain aspects, features, or characteristics of a subject matter, something experienced, seen, heard, or known; in contrast, analysis refers to the interpretation of the described information and it includes lots of lists, data, and graphs (â€Å"research methods†). The difference between description and analysis is similar as that of data vs. information. For instance, an organization may compile ranges of data (description), but this description is of no use unless it is interpreted in a meaningful context (analysis). The reader gets lots of facts and data while going through the description part, but he would not understand why it is important and how it should be applied unless an effective analysis of the data is given. Therefore, description is only the factual representation whereas analysis makes this representation meaningful. 4. Data selection criteria Data selection is an important and complex process that determines â€Å"the appropriate data type and source as well as suitable methods† to gather data (â€Å"The Ohio State University†). The process of data selection is entirely different from selective data supporting and interactive data selection. The method of data selection would be often discipline-specific and is determined by the nature of research, existing academic literature, and accessibility to relevant data sources. While choosing data, first priority must be given on ability of data for effectively answering the research questions rather than cost and convenience of data accessibility. Similarly, researcher must be aware of fixing proper procedures in order for getting a representative sample while