Arnaldo Manuel Pinto Santos
Isabel Maria Loureiro de Roboredo Seara
José Manuel Emiliano Bidarra de Almeida
Leonel Caseiro Morgado
Luís Cavique
Pedro Duarte Pestana
Vítor Jorge Ramos Rocio
Vítor José Crespo Cardoso

Doctoral Thesis
Doctorate Work
Web Science and Technology

Upon completion of this learning unit, the student should be able to:

• Critically analyse research contexts in Web Science and Technology;
• Design, implement, and assess research projects in Web Science and Technology;
• Develop conceptual and methodological instruments that are adjusted to the development of research projects.

The diversity of the intervention contexts where the work supporting the thesis is expected to take place recommends the opening of the syllabus, allowing its definition as the student progresses in his/her PhD. There are, however, some topics that should be included:

1. Observation and analysis of research contexts, target audiences, and intervention domains in Web Science and Technology;
2. Development of research projects (design, implementation, and assessment);
3. Development of methodologies and strategies for requirement analysis, design and implementation of solutions in Web Science and Technology, in the thesis contexts of intervention;
4. Operationalization of methodologies and strategies for research in Web Science and Technology (project design, data collection and analysis, assessment, critical reflection).

• Turabian, K. (2013). A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 8^th edition. Chicago, USA: University Of Chicago Press.
• Creswell, J.W. (2008). Research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches, 3^rd edition. London: Sage Publications.
• Pickering, C.M.; & Byrne, J. (2014). The benefits of publishing systematic quantitative literature reviews for PhD candidates and other early career researchers. Higher Education Research and Development, 33, 534-548.

Philips, E. (2000). How to Get a PhD: A Handbook for Students and Their Supervisors. London, UK: Open University Press.

The methodological referential for the practices of teaching and learning is based on research supported by critical reflection. The thesis project involves students in a process of identification and analysis of situations with potential for intervention as researchers, followed by construction of research strategies and their development, continuous assessment, and conclusion. This process of reflection-action promotes the gradual build-up of his/her critical autonomy, to the extent that it deepens, in a progressive and spiralled manner, his/her learning, both conceptually and experientially, which results in the doctoral thesis to be publicly defended before a jury.
The contact with the advisor(s) is done through online tutoring and face-to-face sessions. The final evaluation results from the evaluation of the public defence, with a component of continuous assessment in a proportion not exceeding 10%.

Na construção e implementação de um projeto de investigação específico em Ciência e Tecnologia Web cujo produto final se materializa na tese de doutoramento, propõem-se, por conseguinte, como metodologias de ensino uma abordagem da aprendizagem do tipo colaborativa online, em turma virtual, fortemente baseada na discussão de tópicos de cariz teórico (para assimilar as várias técnicas e metodologias de investigação) e ainda uma abordagem da aprendizagem da prática da investigação que se materializa na execução de um projeto concreto de investigação.