how to change

1. Key information

ASSIGNMENT TYPE: Research Project WORD LIMIT: 12,000 words +/- 10% (excluding references and appendices)

2. The aims of the project module

The overall aim of this module is to develop and test your ability to undertake a substantial piece of

independent, desk-based research. Specifically, this module will give you an opportunity to develop:

• Your critical awareness of the problems associated with undertaking a piece of research.

• Knowledge of how a piece of research is formulated, organised, structured and written.

• Your ability to synthesise and critically analyse the current and advanced academic literature relevant to the topic chosen.

• Your ability to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and through this choose an appropriate approach to your own research.

• Your ability to develop a set of conclusions relating to theoretical, conceptual and empirical research.

• Your ability to apply knowledge and methodologies to identify and test a set of research questions or hypotheses on a particular topic.

• Your ability to apply research methods, and your practical understanding of how established techniques are used to create and interpret knowledge.

• Your ability to communicate ideas, principles and theories effectively by written and oral means.

• Your ability to exercise initiative, self-reliance and time management skills.

3. What a project is it and what it should look like?

To demonstrate you have met the Project Module’s learning outcomes you need to produce a written

document that is 12,000 words long (+/- 10%, excluding references and appendices). The length of the

project you have to produce this year is slightly shorter than normal. Documents written prior to the

COVID-19 pandemic specify other word counts, but just to be clear, your project needs to be 12,000

words long. In very general terms your project needs to:

• Set out the aims and objectives of your study.

• Critically engage with and review the relevant academic literature.

• Describe clearly and concisely the methods that you used.

• Explain why you used a particular methodology.

• Describe what you found and explain its implications.

• Indicate how your research findings connect with the findings of others.

• Explain the limitations of your study and show where further research could be useful.

To deliver on these requirements your project should include the following sections:

• Title/Cover page • Declaration • Abstract • List of contents • Introduction • Literature review • Methods • Findings • Discussion • Conclusion and recommendations • References • Appendix – include a copy of the signed ethics

Exactly what goes into each of these sections depends on what you are doing your project on, and is

something you should discuss in detail with your supervisors. You should also refer to the books on

the Project Module’s reading list, as well as to the information contained on the Microsoft Teams

Publicly Available Research Support Site.

I would also like you to refer to a book that was also on your reading list for the Academic Skills and

Research Methods Module: ‘Succeeding with your Master’s dissertation: A step by step handbook’. Chapters 1 to 4 guide you through the concept of a project and how to put together a research proposal, while chapter 5 onward provides a guide to each of the different sections that

normally comprise a project.

Please keep in mind when you are reading this book that there are many ways of undertaking and

writing a project. This is a basic guide that you should supplement with wider reading and guidance

from your supervisor.

When you come to physically write your project, be aware that the University has very specific

regulations concerning the presentation of project. You need to submit your project digitally (via

Turnitin), and the document you submit should comply with the following requirements:

• A4 paper must be used.

• All type should be in black.

• Use double line spacing or one and a half (1.5.) line spacing.

• Indented quotations should be single line spaced.

• The left hand margin should not be less than 3.8cm.

• The right hand margin should not be less then 2cm.

• All tables should be numbered sequentially and be given a suitable heading.

• All drawings, graphs and charts should be given a figure number, together with a suitable heading.

• On opening the report, the first page should contain the title, your name, the name of the University and a declaration (see Appendix 1).

• Next should be the abstract, followed by acknowledgements, a contents page, a list of appendices together with lists of tables and figures.

• Page one is the first page of chapter one. All pages before should be numbered.

• You are responsible for proof reading your completed report. Do check carefully that every reference in the text is present in the bibliography and vice versa

(and that the spelling is correct in all cases).

• You must adhere to the word limit of 12,000 (excluding appendices and bibliography). You may be penalised for word counts outside the 10% range of the official word limit.

Your project will be assessed using a formal assessment criteria, which you will find in Appendix 2.