Research Methods Assignments - Guidance

·         Your literature review is the real test of your understanding of the subject and needs to be a critique,

i.e. for each statement you will need to justify how it impacts the rigour of the research design and research question.

 

·         Try explain what the impact of your statements are on the rigour of the research process

 

·         Be careful also of excess word count. About 1,200. Attention is needed to writing style.

 

·         Writing style is something that needs to be practised, suggest revisiting how each paragraph is constructed and the impact each sentence has. Focus on Conciseness. Examine how you can tighten the language to reduce word count. Writing style is an art form.

 

·         Try justify your statements in terms of how it impacts the validity and reliability of the data for the research question.

 

·         In your proposed methodology, you will need to clarify why you are using the stated research approach.

 

·         Would suggest you need to stick to the questions and question structure asked in assignment.

 

·         The two papers need to be critiqued and not a summary of them.

 

·         It is taken as given that both papers address the research question, so a synopsis of them is not necessary.

 

·         Need to show how the research methodology / research process in each paper addresses the research question.

 

·         How does each paper do a ‘good job’ in terms of the answering the research question – rigour, validity, reliability.

 

·         Need to show how the research methodology in each paper addresses the research question.

 

·         Need to justify statements in terms of how it impacts the research question - the reliability and validity of the research process.

 

·         Would look at reducing word count through developing your academic writing style.

 

·         Some easy marks would be to qualify the delimitations of scope - 5 marks, need to explain rather than list for Masters level.

 

·         The purpose of a research project is to address a research question trying to ensure the validity and reliability of the process. Would include critique in the lit. review.

 

·         Methodology should demonstrate framework of rigour.

Rational (10)

·         Description of why you wish to undertake the project, why the subject area is of interest to you. Title (5)

·         You should include wording that describe for example the purpose, context, theory research design, methodology adopted and population studied

Organisation (5)

·         You must name and describe relevancy of company: this narrows the scope, forms a basis for primary data collection and grounds the project in context.

Question (10)

·         State the primary and secondary research questions – what problem or opportunity are you trying to address

Literature Critique (40)

 

·         For the two papers, is there good justification for the research approach, is the methodology accurate, is the evidence presented well, are the theoretical assumptions strongly defended, why is the research effective (or not)? Does one paper address the research question better than the other (in your opinion) and why? Is it possible to do the research a different way? How is validity & reliability managed? Can a framework for rigour be used to undertake the critical analysis of the two papers. How will is reliability, validity, transferability and subjectivity addressed in each paper? Where is the evidence provided?

Methodology (20)

 

·         What methodology do you propose, how will you present a framework of rigour. How will your research be conducted? How has your epistemological and ontological position influenced your research design?

Outcomes (5)

·         Describe what you expect your findings to be and the impact they will have. Delimitations (5)

·         What factors constrict your research that define the boundaries e.g. timeframe, resources, funding, etc.