Hi All, I'm working on a research topic outline for application to a postgrad course next year. The outline is a general 6 pages write up on your general research area, with how one is going to conduct the research. Basically I tried a year ago and the interview part did not went ideally and I did not get a candidature. So I'm basically trying again next year, The gist part of the failure was that: 1. Lack of academic sources of research mentioned in my outline. 2. Not sure what questions I am trying to ask and get answered. Or another way to look at it, the questions, I'm trying to ask did not fit the criteria of an academic research.. I am writing on Information Security Concerns. Eg cyber terrorisms, privacy issues>> identity theft, copyrights violations, cyberlaws etc. Im trying to find out more about both points. Anyone can give any insights. Thanks
Suggestion: Is there any correlation between increased attempts to track terrorism threats against the information systems of public utilities infrastructure and the decline in civil liberties?
You might want to get a student membership ($30) in ISSA. Its journal is peer reviewed – a key to acceptance of literature in academic circles. You might also get some good ideas for your research topic and subsequently for your research. https://www.issa.org/ Without a bit more knowledge of your intended course of study it is difficult provide suggestions for question 2. Quite often topic outlines are to demonstrate that you have conducted some preliminary research, you know what information sources are acceptable (peer reviewed) or non acceptable (magazines), you can write at an acceptable standard, and that perhaps you have some background in the area of research or plan to work in that field. There are plenty of resources on the internet; here is one http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/mscresearch/outline.asp
Stevenson University Stevenson University offers a Master of Science in Forensic Studies degree via online delivery with five specializations: Accounting, Information Technology, Interdisciplinary, Investigations, and Legal. Stevenson University offers a Master of Science in Business and Technology Management degree via online delivery.
Hi all, My plan is to apply for a Doctor of B.A. As a Information Security professional, naturally my research topic will lean towards the I.S. Genre. Basically I applied on 2007 and did not get accepted. The comments were a lack of academic sources for research purposes. During the interview with the Director of Doctoral Studies, she asked me about what I am trying to get answered from my Doctoral Thesis and the ones I mentioned according to her did not fit the scope or criteria of a actual Doctoral Research. From there I determined my 2 points of weaknesses. First weakness point: Academic sources for research>> Which I've found: Public Sources Google Scholar Google Books Search Newspaper Articles Books Personal experiences Internet News Articles Wikipedia Publications obtained from Informations Security Organisations and forums - FIRST - SANS - ISC - ISACA - Security Focus - CERT Security Managazines - Computer World - SC Magazines Private Sources ACM Digital Library Proquest Harvard Business Case Studies My last proposal focused on real world case studies, as I researched that a DBA Programme focused on real- world problems. As opposed to a PHD, which focused on academic issues. My sources came from news report of major security Incidents happening. E.g The one in Britain whereby a govt board lost 2 cds which contained the Personal information of a few million people. Hence I was caught off guard when she asked for examples of academic literature review. Second Weakness point: The director asked what my proposed research hopes to answer. Off the top of my mind , i gave a few. Her comments were that those I mentioned were not of a DBA Research scope. Up till now , I still wasnt able to really understand this weakness. I had an MBA, and have a strong desire to go into a DBA programme. My outline is discuss on how Advancing Information Technology leads to Escalation Information Threats. Issues like phishing, online Identity theft, copy violations [downloading of movies online], cyber terrorism [spreading of online terrorism via the internet], privacy issues etc etc. I was also hoping to looking cyber laws. As you can see, my thoughts are still pretty dispersed and I trying to consolidate them to put into my outline.
Many of the public information sources you cite are not generally regarded as academic sources (such as Newspaper Articles, Personal experiences, Internet News Articles, Wikipedia). Peer reviewed sources are the gold standard. Perhaps you can find ideas for a topic and for peer reviewed sources by reviewing dissertations. A Google search using key words dissertation information security brings up responses including this dissertation from Carnegie Mellon University http://www.cert.org/research/JHThesis/ (I'm surprised at the quantity of "non-academic" references). It also brings up this site which lists dissertations: http://www.qual.auckland.ac.nz/doctoral.htm Using ProQuest I found a long list of dissertations http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb Type information security in the title box. Included are dissertations submitted to both Walden and Northcentral Universities – both often discussed on this site. I hope this helps you. Best of luck with your application
When the university replied on my failure of my application, the comments were to include more academic research sources ?? I am just wondering given that a DBA deals with real world problems as opposed to the PHD. At least that's my impression when I research on DBA programmes. Anyway, as suggested in this thread, the academic sources I shortlisted are: 1. Proquest 2. ACM Digital Library 3. Harvard Case Studies 4. Google Scholar. Perhaps, some real life security incidents reported on the news can act as corroborative data in my outline ..
I am trying to sift through links using google search with the following keywords :Information Security, Academic Journals" :Academic Research Anyone have any recommendations on books, I should read on composing my research outline ?
Hi All, Here's the format of the outline I was thinking of . Appreciate any comments Executive Summary Introduction Information Technology advancements and Risks Copyright issues Privacy Issues and Cyber Laws Literature Review [2 peer reviewed journals] Business Cases [1 latest publicized security incident] How Research will be conducted - Research Sources - Research Methodology - Information Gathering Conclusion
I agree with Kizmet. I would also say, "a whole lot more." I would also include a "Significance" section in the Intro to explain why the research is important. This section would also suggest how the research would contribute to the field. It may also help to read a few dissertations -- and a few books on writing dissertations -- to get a better sense of what's required. Roscoe
If you plan to use this for your proposal, you can also include a preliminary Table of Contents for the dissertation. The TOC should be annotated, indicating what the chapters will contain. Some proposals also include a timetable or completion schedule that shows when you hope to finish. Also, if you plan to work with a theory in the field, you can note the theoretical framework in the "Methodology" section. Roscoe
its just an outline solely for the purpose of applying for the course. Plus there's a limit of 5 pages. AS mentioned before its not a proposal, it part of the DBA Program application package which helps to define your area of interests and perhaps evaluate the applicant's capability and suitability for the course.
