What is a research paper?

The Chair of Ergonomics can supervise various student projects within the different degree programs: semester projects, Bachelor's theses, Master's theses, IDP (Integrated Development Program), or project studies. While the Master's and Bachelor's theses mark the culmination of your studies, semester projects, project studies, the IDP, or reports in project seminars are more like intermediate steps on the way there. Therefore, they also differ in their requirements and the goals associated with the research project. For final theses, you are expected to demonstrate that you can work on the assigned topic largely independently and solve the associated task. For projects undertaken alongside your studies, you are meant to learn, under guidance, how to write such qualification papers – including the formal criteria and the correct "academic" language. The academic nature of these projects is also evident in the fact that they typically begin with a thorough literature review, followed by a description of independent academic work, which is then summarized and evaluated. Although the content of a research paper is the responsibility of the individual author, close communication between the author and supervisor is extremely important. Experience shows that good communication contributes positively to the final grade. It is the rule, not the exception, that students need support when writing their first academic paper. Students are responsible for meeting deadlines and time limits for their research papers! It should be noted that research papers are often put on hold or pursued with less effort during examination periods. The written thesis typically requires at least one month of intensive writing. It is strongly recommended to keep thorough and well-documented records throughout the (practical) work. Generally, a research paper is written in German. However, it is possible to write in English in consultation with the supervisors. In some cases, this may even be required by the supervisors.

*Study programs: [MW] Mechanical Engineering, [HFE] Human Factors Engineering, [TUM-BWL] Technology and Management-Oriented Business Administration, [SP] Sports Science, [LA] Teacher Training, [NCP] Neuro-Cognitive Psychology, [PSY] Psychology, [MI] Media Informatics, [IN] Computer Science

What distinguishes a term paper from a thesis?

Assignments accompanying studies (term papers, project studies, integrated learning projects, and even bachelor's theses) generally focus on practical or less theoretical aspects of a scientific process, where creating an original scientific contribution is not usually required. Originality in an assignment accompanying studies is particularly valued; however, its absence is not grounds for deduction. In contrast, theses (diploma, qualifying, or master's theses) require an original scientific contribution.

Beyond this, there are no significant differences between assignments accompanying studies and theses. The scope and scientific depth of a thesis are greater, the content is usually more theoretical, and it qualifies the student to begin a doctoral program.

Finding topics

The advertised research projects of the Chair of Ergonomics can be found in the display cases in the courtyard of Building 3 and on the student council's research project database.

Of course, you can also browse our projects and research areas for interesting topics in the fields of human modeling, workplace design, biomechanical modeling, human-machine interaction concepts, multimodal user interface design, evaluation metrics, or sports equipment and materials, and then contact the relevant staff members.

Generally, semester projects can also be completed as Bachelor's theses, and diploma theses can also be completed as Master's theses. If you have any questions about the projects, please contact the respective supervisors.

External coursework

It is generally possible to conduct research projects at the Chair of Ergonomics in cooperation with companies or other institutions, provided a research collaboration already exists with the company or institution.

The necessary conditions for this can be found on the External Research Projects page. Before you begin working on an external research project or enter into any commitments with third parties such as companies, you should prepare a proposal and schedule a personal meeting with your external supervisor, Prof. Bengler, to present the research topic and discuss its relevance and feasibility. To assess the likelihood of success in such a meeting beforehand, you can ask staff members who work in the relevant field.

Exposé

Before beginning a research project, an exposé must be written after an initial meeting between the supervisor and student. In this exposé, the student describes their project and situates it within the academic context based on an initial literature review. The initial situation, the planned methodology, the expected results, and a realistic timeline must be explicitly stated. Depending on the topic, the exposé should include initial hypotheses, the methods to be used or a procedural outline, as well as a preliminary outline. The exposé will be between two and four pages long, depending on the project, and will contain approximately the following points:

• Research Idea, Project Proposal
• Scientific Relevance within the Current State of Research
• Aim of the Study
• Several Research Questions and Central Hypotheses
• Brief Description of the Proposed Methodology
• Outline
• Draft Timeline
• References to be Used

You can use this exposé template (de) or exposé template (en) as a guide.

Registration of the course work

In order to formally begin a research project in the next step, the following documents must be submitted to the respective supervisor at the chair:

• Bachelor's Thesis (MW): Confirmation of admission from the BA Examination Board, no more than 4 weeks old
• Master's Thesis (MW): Proof of academic achievement from TUMonline demonstrating at least 80 ECTS credits
• Diploma Thesis (MW): Admission to the diploma thesis from the Examinations Office
• Semester Project (MW): No proof required
• Bachelor's Thesis (PSY LMU): Submission of a declaration to the Examinations Office stating that the thesis will be conducted at TUM. Approval by the Chair of the Examination Board.
• Bachelor's Thesis (TUM School of Management): Inquiry with the relevant Examination Board by the supervisor
• Bachelor's/Master's Theses (LMU Media Informatics): First step: The BA/MA application form, signed by Prof. Bengler, is submitted to the Examinations Office (MI). Second step: The supervisor receives countersigned approval for the thesis from the Examinations Office (MI, Prof. Hußmann). Details on theses can be found on the LMU Media Informatics website (http://www.medien.ifi.lmu.de/studierende/abschlussarbeiten/)

Good scientific practice and dealing with scientific misconduct

Please note the TUM guidelines for ensuring good scientific practice and dealing with scientific misconduct. You commit to adhering to these guidelines by signing the "Student Declaration for the Preparation of Term Papers and Theses," which you will receive from your supervisor at the start of your work. Your term paper will be checked by the Turnitin software after submission. A violation of the guidelines will result in the paper being marked as a fail.

Literature research

The first step in any academic research project is a literature review, the length of which varies depending on the task. Those venturing into a new and unfamiliar topic can use Google (www.google.de), Google Scholar (scholar.google.de), handbooks, and possibly Wikipedia to gain an initial overview and familiarize themselves with the terminology.

Following this, research in books and standard works is necessary to gain a solid foundation. The TUM University Library (http://www.ub.tum.de) offers suitable search engines and portals for this purpose. OPAC (http://opac.ub.tum.de) is the internal TUM book collection, while the Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog (http://www.ubka.uni-karlsruhe.de/kvk.html) maps the holdings of many German and international library networks. However, books (monographs) often do not contain the most up-to-date scientific findings. Therefore, the third step of research involves consulting current scientific articles to determine the current state of research. These can be accessed via the Electronic Journals Library (https://eaccess.ub.tum.de/menu). Dissertations written at TUM are published electronically on the mediaTUM media server.

A selection of suitable journals (eJournals) on ergonomic topics can be found at the bottom of this page. A selection of recent conference papers can be viewed directly at the chair.

You should proceed as follows in your research:

Here you can download the Word and LaTeX templates for your academic paper.

Title

The work must include a German and an English title (except in the case of a completely English text). English titles are always capitalized, except for prepositions, conjunctions, and articles!

Scope of coursework

There is no clear answer to this question. While students often initially fear that their academic papers will be too short, the opposite is usually true shortly before completion. The aforementioned exposé offers some protection against this. Generally speaking, papers by individuals typically range from 40 to 70 pages, depending on the type of work and the specific requirements. The key is to express oneself concisely, clearly, and precisely. Therefore, a shorter paper is clearly preferable, assuming equal content quality.

What should be included in a research paper?

The focus is on providing a meaningful description of the scientific content:

• Motivation: Why are we doing this?
• Method: How are we doing this?
• Results: What did we do, and how do we evaluate the results?
• Discussion:
  • Critique: What wasn't so good about our approach?
  • Comparisons: What did others do, and how do our results compare?

Structure of a research paper

Introduction and state of science and technology

The paper begins by introducing the topic and outlining the current state of science and technology. This requires a literature review, as described above.

Research question and hypotheses

Based on the current state of science and technology, the research question and the objective of the work are precisely formulated. This section should explain why the work is relevant. If hypotheses are to be formulated and tested within the scope of the work, they and their derivation are also described.

Experimental or design part

Scientific work typically consists of a practical component (experiment, construction, research, programming, etc.) and the corresponding written report. The practical component must be described precisely in the written report. This includes not only the solution finding and implementation, but also the thought processes that led to the solution, as well as alternative solutions that were subsequently rejected. Explain why alternative solutions were rejected. The process of arriving at a solution must be comprehensible, based on objective criteria, usually derived from a literature review. The practical component must be adequately documented in the written report, for example, through graphs, tables, diagrams, or images. In some cases, detailed descriptions of the experimental procedures may also be helpful.

Method

The methods section describes how the experiment was conducted, which materials were used, and which participants were involved. The experimental procedure is also described here. The methods section must be written in such a way that an independent reader can replicate the experiment exactly based on the text. This must include a detailed description of the experimental setup, including photos or diagrams. If you show participants during the experiment (which is desirable), ensure that you have their written consent or make them unrecognizable.

Regarding the sample, you should include the following information in your text:

• Number of participants
• Number and proportion of female and male participants
• Mean age and standard deviation
• Age range
• How were the participants recruited?
• How were they rewarded for participating?
• Explanation for the homogeneity of the sample (e.g., all male mechanical engineering students between 20 and 25 because recruitment was only in Garching)

All further details are study-specific. Generally, you should report all characteristics relevant to the results or the study. For example, driving experience for simulator driving. If you exclude participants from the data analysis, you must briefly explain why.

Results

The results of your work should be presented objectively and clearly. This could include, for example, summaries of literature reviews, developed ideas, diagrams or prototypes, construction drawings, photos of constructions, calculations, experimental data, or statistical analyses of data. Often, a specific interpretation or commentary on certain parts of the data is helpful when presenting the results; however, objective data and interpretation/commentary must be clearly distinguishable. The overall interpretation of the results will only occur during the discussion. You can gain an initial overview of statistics and experimental design in the document "Basic Knowledge of Statistics and Experimental Design." Recommendations for the presentation of statistical analyses can be found in the style guide.

Discussion

The work concludes with a discussion in which the results are interpreted and evaluated based on the literature. In a constructive project, the discussion can describe the testing of the design. Suggestions for improvements for future experiments or designs should also be listed here.

Attachment

Important information that can be presented concisely and clearly belongs directly in the written document. However, if this information is too extensive, it should be included in the appendix (e.g., a multi-page, important source code for a program or a large engineering drawing). References to the data in the appendix should be made at the appropriate points in the text. Data that cannot be included in the written document should be submitted as a digital copy. The contents and folder structure of the data carrier should be described in the written appendix.

Example of a typical structure of a paper

Citation

A TU Munich guide to citing sources can also be found on Mediatum. Sources used must be identified in the text and correctly listed in the bibliography. It is standard academic practice to use external sources. However, these must be clearly identified as such. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism. This applies not only to the copying of phrases but also to the copying of content from others. TUM departments are obligated to grade plagiarized student work as a fail.

Further tips on academic writing are also provided in the course "Introduction to Academic Writing" by Prof. Senner.

In the text, literature sources should be identified by the author's name and a year of publication, usually in parentheses. If the source is a book or a similarly long text, the page number of the quoted statement should also be mentioned. Examples:

• It was established at that time (Billings, 1991) that…
• Bubb (1992) had already established that…
• Head-up displays reduce drivers' ability to look away from the road (Bubb, 1975, p. 55).

In the last example, note that the citation precedes the period. Generally, every statement you take from sources should cite the source in the same sentence. If you need to describe a more complex relationship from a source over several sentences, you can also cite the source at the end of the paragraph. In this case, the citation is placed in parentheses after the period of the last sentence. Within the paragraph, only statements from this source should appear, and no further citations. Example:

• Participants can be influenced by the experimenter. Changing the experimenter between participants is an unwanted independent variable in the experiment and should therefore be avoided. Discussions between the experimenter and participants about the quality and difficulty of the tasks during the experiment can also distort the results. (Bortz & Schuster, 2010)

Statements that cannot be supported by sources must either be generally accepted facts or be supported by experimental or argumentative evidence within the text. Assumptions must be identified as such and not presented as facts. Sources can also be quoted verbatim. The direct quote must be enclosed in quotation marks. Example:

• “It is not enough that we build products that function, that are understandable and usable, we also need to build products that bring joy and excitement, pleasure and fun, and, yes, beauty to people's lives.” (Norman, 2004)

Longer direct quotations should not be placed in the running text, but in a separate, fully indented paragraph.

In the bibliography, sources in German-language works should be indicated as follows. Examples:

• Billings, C. E. (1991). Toward a Human-Centered Aircraft Automation Philosophy. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 1(4), 267–270.
• Bortz, J., & Weber, R. (2005). Statistics for Human and Social Scientists (Springer Textbook, 6th ed.). Heidelberg: Springer Medizin.
• Bubb, H. (1992). Human Reliability: Definitions, Relationships, Evaluation (1st ed.). Landsberg/Lech: ecomed.

For formally correct citations, it is recommended that you copy the citation styles used at the chair from your supervisor and use them in Citavi (http://www.ub.tum.de/citavi), which is available free of charge to students. This program allows you to conveniently manage literature sources and create bibliographies in the desired citation style at the touch of a button. The citation style used at the chair is based on APA 7th.

Submission of the coursework

Students are responsible for submitting their final thesis electronically to the relevant examination board. To submit, please send the final version of your thesis as a PDF file to the examination board within the submission deadline, including your name and student ID number. Please ensure that the email is sent from your TUM email address and that the thesis is actually attached.

Printed copies of the thesis are no longer accepted at the Chair of Ergonomics.

The submission of the thesis includes not only the written document but also the digital appendix. The digital appendix contains all data generated or used in the course of the research, organized in a logical folder structure. The folder structure and an overview of the required data can be found under "Downloads". Students must submit the digital appendix within the submission deadline, in consultation with their supervisor, via a secure platform (LRZ Sync&Share).

The completeness of the submitted data is an evaluation criterion, as otherwise the work results will be insufficiently documented upon later review.

How is a research paper graded?

When evaluating student projects, the focus is on the execution and the quality of the work. The subject-specific skills acquired by the student during the project are also taken into account. If a presentation is to be assessed (diploma thesis, qualifying thesis), it is also included in the grade. There are also theses where a presentation is given, but this is not part of the final grade (Bachelor's and Master's theses).

The following table lists the criteria used by the Chair of Ergonomics for evaluating student projects. The descriptions reflect the expectations placed on students, the fulfillment of which leads to a very good grade.

Technically

Implementation

Elaboration

Scientific rigor and accuracy are decisive criteria, meaning that a research paper deemed insufficient in either its scientific rigor or accuracy will always receive an overall failing grade. The relevance and weighting of these criteria depend on the specific assignment. Consult your supervisor to learn more about their expectations and the weighting of each criterion in relation to your assignment.

Selection of relevant scientific journals (eJournals)

• Ergonomics
  • Ergonomics
  • Applied Ergonomics
  • Human factors
  • Cognition, Technology & Work
• Security & Risk
  • Reliability Engineering & System Science
  • Safety Science
  • Journal of Risk Research
• Usability
  • Journal of Usability Studies
• Transportation
  • Journal of Transportation Safety & Security
  • Transportation Research Part A - F
• Anthropometry and Biomechanics
  • Journal of Biomechanics
  • Journal of Applied Physiology
• Psychology
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Journal of Experimental Psychology
• Sport
  • International Journal of Sports Medicine
  • Sports medicine
  • American Journal of Sports Medicine
  • Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
  • Sports Biomechanics
  • Sports engineering

Final lecture

The examination component of a Bachelor's or Master's thesis includes a written paper and a presentation. This presentation must be given as part of our Master's colloquium. After consulting with your supervisor, you must officially register your final presentation several weeks in advance. Registration is done online via the following link: https://survey.lfe.mw.tum.de/index.php/722748?lang=de. If you have any problems, please contact M.Sc. Yuchen Liu.

The Master's colloquium also serves as an opportunity for exchange among students. Interested parties and Master's students can register via the following link: https://lists.lrz.de/mailman/listinfo/dmk-termine