This module offers you the opportunity to carry out a research project on a topic agreed in consultation with a supervisor. Supervisory sessions with an academic supervisor will help guide you to conduct a literature review, formulate a research question, design a research study, collect data and present findings.
This module will be delivered via interactive lectures and tutorial meetings with your supervisor. The module will begin with eleven lectures relating to research methods in the social and Behavioural sciences. These will include an emphasis on experimental methods, using specialist topics in psychology to illustrate specific experimental designs, how to conduct a search of the literature using online resources, research ethics and the ethics proposal submission process (if required), the supervisory allocation process, how to write the research proposal and how to prepare for the poster presentation. Individual/group meetings will take place with the allocated supervisor throughout the year to help develop your research question and to oversee the entire research project (ie., from design to data analysis).
| Definitive UNISTATS Category | Indicative Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | Interactive lectures | 22 |
| Scheduled learning and teaching | Supervision | 8 |
| Guided independent study | Independent study | 278 |
| Total (number of credits x 10) | 300 | |
Students will be required to write a research proposal and this will be worth 50% of the final module mark. This will assess their knowledge and critical understanding of the literature, their research question and hypotheses, and proposed methodology. These comments will feed forward to improve the final project. There will also be an academic poster (50%) that will be submitted and presented at the end of the module. This will assess their understanding of the literature, methodology, data analysis, reporting and interpretations of key findings. The poster will be assessed on content and visual appearance, as well as the ability of the student to answer questions about their project at the poster event, thus assessing the students' ability to communicate their project findings to a wider audience of peers and academics. Students will receive formative feedback from their supervisor to inform the research proposal and students will be able to submit a draft of their poster for formative feedback.
| Learning Outcome | Assessment Strategy |
|---|---|
| 1) Conduct a literature review with critical evaluation of an area of research | Summatively through research proposal and poster |
| 2) Understand how to plan, design, and conduct a research study | Summatively through research proposal and poster |
| 3) Present the findings in both written and oral format with appropriate commentary to a wider audience | Summatively through poster |
| Description of Assessment | Definitive UNISTATS Categories | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Research proposal | Coursework | 50 |
| Poster | Coursework | 50 |
| Total (to equal 100%) | 100% | |
It IS NOT a requirement that any element of assessment is passed separately in order to achieve an overall pass for the module.
Ball, S. (2014). The complete guide to writing your dissertation. Oxford: Deer Park Productions.
Newsome, B. (2015). An introduction to research, analysis, and writing: practical skills for socials cience students. Los Angeles, California: Sage Publications.
Burnham, P. (2008). Research Methods in Politics, 2nd edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Cone, J. D., & Foster, S. L. (2006). Dissertations and theses from start to finish: psychology and related fields (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Harrison, L. (2001). Political Research: an introduction. London: Routledge.