Course Resources Archive

The module aims to equip students with key skills in designing and conducting a research project of relevance to practice. After completing a satisfactory proposal, students will conduct an extensive research project, demonstrating knowledge and skills in the chosen subject area. The research project will be underpinned by an extensive review of the literature.

The knowledge and skills necessary to arrive at an appropriate research question will be developed in the first part of the module. In particular, students will be familiarised with previous research questions of relevance to their interests, and explore the literature underpinning the research question. As far as possible, research questions will be developed in association with local practitioners. Students will conduct a thorough literature review to consider how the research question might be refined and addressed. In particular, students will develop their knowledge of a range of research approaches and study designs, but they will quickly focus on the approach and design of relevance to their proposed study. The supervisor support in the development of a proposal and extensive literature review should enable students to effectively conduct their research. Supervisors will provide support for the data analysis and presentation of findings, drawing on examples of previously published work in a similar subject area. Students will use an example published research paper to provide a template for their own research paper. The research findings will also be presented orally, to allow an opportunity to discuss the findings and clarify points. Specific areas covered in the module include: Literature searching, Research Ethics, Study design approaches, Quantitative techniques, Qualitative techniques, Developing a research proposal, Reviewing the literature, Presenting research findings, Writing a research paper

A student passing this module should be able to:...

1) Develop an analytical research proposal to address a question of importance to practitioners in the subject area

2) Identify and clearly articulate a research question

3) Critically review the literature of relevance to the identified research question

4) Apply conventional study design, data collection and data analysis techniques to address a research question

5) Be able to reflect critically on ethical issues, and deal with those issues appropriately

The Library Catalogue contains full details of the current reading list for this module. Further details may also be found in the Module Guide.