Since dealing with blog posts and the master thesis preparation course has been far and inbetween this post is meant more for myself to get me a little further back on track and to collect my thoughts and findings up until now.
Preliminary title: “Effects of virtual reality training environments for large scale emergency operations in comparison to real life training”
Here the exposé I created for class:
Although to me it did feel like I narrowed down my scope quite a bit during the creation of my exposé, I realise that it is still very broad and my topic will need to be defined more clearly until I can send the topic assignment / approval form. I know which general direction I am taking, though I am lacking in understanding of what actually constitutes a masters thesis and how deep I can and should go, and consequently how much I am able to cover.
Next Steps:
1. Search through current literature and find what the latest status on research in my relevant area is and organise my findings in a sorted collection for later use.
I have already set up something like my own personal blog and resource collection space in form of a Notion page, which I plan on using as a guide throughout the process. I hope that I will be able to expand on it and properly organise everything to speed up my workflow. On this page I will collect thoughts, links, images, contacts and whatever else I might need.
2. Engage in conversation with other professionals from my field who deal with the topic or something similar on a daily basis.
I do already have a few connections from previous projects at work in mind, which I will contact in order to find out more about the topic but also gain new perspectives and maybe input on different aspects I can cover in my thesis.
3. Contact research partners and institutions to interview them about the topic.
As an extension of the previous points I will, once I have a better idea of what exactly I will be tackling, interviewing research partners and asking for permission to reference their work during my own.
4. Find possible cooperation partners for projects through step 3.
If the opportunity arises during step 3, I could possibly find a project which I can analyse and work towards during and for my thesis specifically.
5. Define a temporary structure of my work.
Self explanatory, once all the previous steps are done I would like to come back to my Notion and organise everything into a preliminary structure for me to follow.
6. Define a timeline based on all my collected information.
Once that structure is defined I will lay out more concrete plans on how to move forward from that point.
Interesting literature:
Here are some sources I found that I will further investigate for a solid foundation.
https://ieeexplore-1ieee-1org-18gcrmwtl00a2.perm.fh-joanneum.at/xpl/conhome/1000791/all-proceedings
https://ieeexplore-1ieee-1org-18gcrmwtl00a2.perm.fh-joanneum.at/document/10108413
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096599781300166X
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379711212000136
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00530-023-01102-0
