Design Research Methodology / Research Proposal / Critical review / Primary Data / Reflection report and presentation

7.9.2023 - 30.11.2023 / Week 2 - Week 14
Tan Jian Xin / 0350784 
Design Research Methodology / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media 
Research Proposal / Critical review / Primary Data / Reflection report and presentation

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INSTRUCTIONS

We were required to select a topic of interest that is related to their BDCM specializations (UI/UX, Entertainment Design, Graphic Design, Digital Animation, and Immersive Design). Next, we will focus on a specific research area (research problem) within that topic. The selection should be based not only on interest but also on adequate and substantial research from reading relevant research articles.

Topic chosen:

Figure 1.1: first tutorial (slides)

After receiving the feedbacks, I started doing more research on the topics chosen shown below.
Topic chosen: 
- Interactive sound design for animation - Sound effects and visual storytelling (effects of sound on narrative)

- Narrative impact

- The Emotional Impact of Sound Effects in Animation

Research Proposal Then, I started to personalize my slides and do my proposal.

 

Figure 2.1: Proposal (First draft)

After receiving feedbacks from Ms Hayati, I created a copy and saved it in google drive as draft 2.

Figure 2.2: Proposal (Second draft)

Critical review

After completing 2 of my critical reviews, Ms Hayati revealed that my articles are actually thesis, which is not required. 

Figure 3.1: Critical review (draft 1)

After receiving feedbacks from Ms Hayati, I created a copy and saved it in google drive as critical review draft 2.

Figure 3.2: Critical review (draft 2)

Primary Data

In Week 9, I continued to work on my primary data (draft 1) as Ms Hayati consults other students.

Figure 4.1: Primary data (draft 1)

In Week 10, after receiving specific feedbacks from Ms Hayati, I then started to revise my research proposal shown below.

Figure 4.2: Research proposal (revised)

And also my critical review.

Figure 4.3: Critical review (revised)

As I could only find iconic characters through google browser instead of believable human characters in animation due to sound, I asked AI the 50 best believable human characters in animation due to sound and counted the number of times a character is in the list.

Figure 4.4: Number of times a character in animation is in the list

And thus, I created my second draft for primary data.

 

Figure 4.5: Primary data (draft 2)


Figure 4.6: Primary data (draft 3)

At the end, I decided to exclude the email interview as Ms. Hayati told me not to decide for them. For instance, give them the choice to meet me online face-to-face or online.

Figure 4.7: Primary data analysis (slides)

Reflection report and presentation
I have started to compile all of my findings in a new google slide which has the full detail of what I've done from the start of this module until now. Besides, I've also updated my primary data in a new google slide shown below.

Figure 5.1: Research Reflection Report (full)

Then, I started to summarize the major findings in my research by creating a new simplified version of google slides.

Figure 5.2: Research Reflection Report (simplified)

Then, I recorded the presentation after creating a script. As the file size is too large, I'll provide a google drive link to my presentation.
Google Drive link: Research presentation 

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FEEDBACKS
Week 14

General feedback:

Try to apply what I’ve learnt in previous modules like Typography and Digital Photography and Imaging to make our slides interesting. Ensure the video presentation recording is eye-level view. If there is not enough data for the questionnaire, reflect back on the study (research topic, objectives and questions) and figure out other qualitative data such as observation or focus groups. 

Specific feedback: 

Create a new google form during the semester holiday and include non-dialogue animation to compare it with animation with sounds to ensure there is no bias. Besides, the question should ask the feelings of the respondents whether they feel the character or they feel that the character is believable despite there being no dialogues. Compare my interpretation to other individual’s opinion after creating the new google form next semester.

Week 13

General feedback:

You should leverage on the slides and update the primary data. No perfect research in the world, it’s your take away is shown in the reflection even though it’s a miniature research. Look at the marking rubric to see how much is allocated to video and audio. The way to present will reflect the understanding on the topic. Create a script to present your slide so you don’t stumble and waste time when you edit your presentation. Try not to look at the slides too much and try to maintain eye contact throughout the presentation. Utilize your holiday to enhance your primary finding.

Specific feedback: 

Observe and compare 4 other animations without sound as my research objective is to discover if sound plays a role in creating a believable human character performance in animation. By doing so, my findings will be more objective as I’ve compared both animations with and without sound.

Week 12

General feedback:

Refer to marking rubric to exploit the marks to the maximum. Make sure the research title is on the first slide. Update TES.

Specific feedback: 

Try to distribute the questionnaire further to others on reddit. Find what is weak in my instrument (questionnaire) to enhance outcomes

Week 11

General feedback:

Update weekly progression sheet weekly. External examiner will refer to this as a reflective practice tool. 

Specific feedback: 

Refine questions in the questionnaire to be more structured, and search for 2 male and 2 female instead of 3 female and 1 male to make it balanced. Add Ms Hayati as a collaborator in google forms. Short clips should not exceed 10-20 seconds. For the third method, I should not choose an email interview, instead provide them some choices for them to choose.

Week 10

General feedback:
Reflect the connection between the design instrument to the way you actually want to achieve.
All the questions you’re gonna design have to be justified on why you choose the instrument. Utilize AI to search for the right article with the right keywords. As you chose a quantitative method (survey), you want the respondents to know your research well. Thus, you could do so by specifying a particular genre or animation.

Specific feedback:

Define whether it's an anime or animation, and search for relative usage of content material. Find top 3-5 characters as some of the respondents may watch it and some may not. Add an instrument of approval.

Week 9
General feedback: Download marking rubric. Use APA referencing.

Week 8
No feedbacks (ILW - submission on google classroom)

Week 7

General feedback:
Update weekly progression sheet. Try not to look at the topic in mass communication angle, but animation. Anything with 2 authors can be put as it is. Anything more than 3 names put et al. Direct quotations have to include page number. Every pdf downloaded has to be in critical review.

Specific feedback:
Topic and research problems are fine. However, references are not fine as they are thesis. Specify the type of character design as there are many classifications of animation type such as human, animal, or insect.

Week 6
No feedbacks (lecturer is on MC leave)

Week 5
No feedbacks (public holiday)

Week 4
General feedback:
Samples are provided in Google Classroom. Library and citation activity: Research 101 and Mendeley is held. When you find an article, look at the title, read the abstract, then jump to the findings. Don’t look into something that has nothing to do with BDCM.

Week 3
General feedback: Use google scholar and research gate to do further research.

Specific feedback: Read more articles before finalizing the topic. Find weakness in other research papers.

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REFLECTIONS

Reflection: 

Explanation of module information booklet, MIB, on assignment due dates, and introduction on specialization. Instructions to access class materials on Microsoft Teams. I thought of a topic related to sound effects of animation without any further reading of articles and research papers. Thus, the research problem is not really accurate. Then, I did some further readings on animation and sound effects and discovered the topic of emotional impact of viewers through sound in animation. Besides, I started personalizing my slides in google slides. I did not have specific feedback as Ms Hayati wanted to prioritize those who did not have a chance to consult her last week. Besides, there is also a library and citation activity from 1pm-3pm. After doing some research, I chose the topic of achieving realism in character animation through sound effects. Then, I completed my proposal (rationale, problem statement, research objective and research questions). After completing my research proposal in Week 5, I continued with my critical review on the articles I have found on academia. The topic should not be too broad. Use proper APA referencing. Download articles and upload them to google drive. As I’m going on a trip this week, I find it a little difficult to find the articles related to my research topic. Continue working on primary data as Ms Hayati continues to consult other students. Reflect the connection between the design instrument to the research objectives and research questions. Besides, I have to include the justification on the instrument chosen and might have to include more than 1 method as I may not be able to collect 80 responses in a short time. In addition, the responses have to come from very observant viewers that immerse in the character and sound design much more than other viewers in order to create a believable character in animation. Other than that, identify whether it’s an anime or animation and do more research on articles in order to add the instruments. As I have not fully recovered from my illness, I found it difficult to focus at the beginning of the class and I felt a little drowsy. However, I found my focus mid way through consultation in the tutorial session. Ms Hayati states that my question 9 is VERY biased, and thus, I should structure it in a different way or remove this question. I have to include justification for chosen characters in the observation research. Consider other qualitative methods such as observation or focus groups to enhance my findings. Prepare a compressed slide with major findings and try to prepare a script before recording the presentation. I also found out that the suggested words for the reflection report in the slides could be around 500 all together. Figure out other ways to cover the lack of primary research. We could be creative with our presentation. It’s a shame that the questionnaire did not include the animations without dialogues. However, I could enhance it in the design dissertation module in the next long semester.

Observations:

I already decided to study animation before enrolling, thus, I filled in my specialization in the form quite quickly. I realized that I have to take account of the reliability of resources. I learnt how to cite articles for my rationale and problem statement in my research proposal through the library and citation activity. Find articles instead of thesis. I started to search for top 10 believable human characters in animation online. However, as I could only find iconic characters through google browser, I asked AI the best believable human character in animation due to sound and counted the number of times a character is in the list. I found that I have to first structure my question in google forms and include Ms Hayati as a collaborator to let her check my question structure and appropriateness of asking questions. I distributed my questionnaire to my social media and reddit. While waiting for responses, I decided to do an observation and chose 4 characters which are Elsa (Frozen), Aladdin (Aladdin), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), and Hiccup (How to Train Your Dragon). I tried to distribute my questionnaire at Facebook’s Malaysia University Student Survey Group, however, it’s still pending on admin’s review. While waiting for the responses for the questionnaire, I tried to do the observations for the silent animations. There are 10% of marks allocated to the visuals of our slides. Look at how appealing the design of the slides are. 10% is audio, therefore, we should ensure there are no interruptions on the sound. 20% is the evaluation as we have no control of it.

Findings: I found out that other specializations seemed quite interesting to me as well. I did not think deeply about the topics and the reliability of resources. I will use google scholar, research gate, and Academia to find articles so that it’s reliable. I continued with my research and my slides (on research topic and research problem). I found out that my articles are thesis, which is not required. I should find articles related to my topic. Besides, I should narrow down my topic further by defining the type of character design. For instance, frozen and snow white are human types, kungfu panda and zootopia are animal types, ants and grasshoppers are insect types. After deciding on my topic of character sound effects, I started to read more articles related to my research. I found out that we can still make amendments to our proposal and critical review as it is a continuous process. It’s not like we can’t make changes to it after submitting it to Google Classroom. Justify the reasons on the instrument chosen. Utilize AI to search for the right article as there is not enough time. Choose and reflect on sound. It is important to have a flow in my questionnaire that leads one question to another. The short clip should not be too long, could be around 10-20 seconds. We have to record a 5-8 minute presentation on zoom. I found out that I could enhance my findings more by observing short films or movies without sound and comparing it with the animations with sound. Reflect the whole journey throughout the three assignments we have completed during these 14 weeks. I should improve the design of the slides.