Research Skills CE2201 Coursework Assignment 2007/2008 Assessment of this module will be by means of a coursework which will require you to develop a plan for a research project. Your work is to be summarized in a coursework report which is to be submitted at SCOT Reception by ------ and which is to comprise the following elements: 1. A statement of your proposed general area of research [5 Marks] This will include a brief summary (approx 100 words) of why and how you decided to research this particular area. 2. A definition of a specific problem within tour general research area which is to form the basis of your research project [10 Marks] The problem should be described concisely (maximum of approx 100 words) and should also say why you think it is worth researching this problem. 3. A definition of the aim and objectives of your proposed research project [20 Marks] Your aims should comprise a general description of what you are trying to achieve through carrying out your research. Your objective should comprise a summary of the main tasks that you are going to carry out in order to allow you to achieve your aims. You would typically be expected to include 3 or 4 objectives in your plan and these should be MEASURABLE. 4. A brief literature review examining the background to the problem you have defined [40 Marks] This will typically be 2000 worlds in length and fully reference (including all relevant citations) in accordance with the Harvard system The purpose of the literature review should be SUMMARISE existing knowledge relating to your subject area. Consequently, any literature reviews which substantially exceed the suggested word count are likely to be subject to penalties when being marked. 5. An explanation of how you are going to investigate the problem defined in item 2, above. The methods used here may typically include one or more of the following: a. Laboratory Experiments b. A Case Study of Studies c. Questionnaires or Interviews d. Other specific methods as relevant For each method(s) used you should give an indication of how you are going to use the method and how much effort you are going to make in your data collection. For example: If you are going to carry out experiments, you should describe the tests you are going to do and say how many of them you intent to carry out. If you are going to use case studies, you should say how many you will find and how are going to find these and what level of detail you intend to obtain If you are carrying out a survey, you should say how you are going to develop any questionnaires used, how you are going to get these to the people you intend to question and how many responses you are intending to obtain The suggested length for this section is 250 words. In each case the final marking will include an assessment of how REALISTIC the proposals are likely to be assuming that this work is to be carried out as a final year project and considering the time and resource constrains that this will impose. 6. A timetable for completing the proposed work which is to include a realistic allowance for obtaining the required data [10 Marks] The timetable for the research project is to produced by assessing the proposed project plan and breaking this down into an appropriate number of research activities The activities identified should cover all necessary aspects of the project including; planning, design of any equipment or research materials; carrying out a literature review; data collection; data analysis and writing a final research report. It is suggested that the final project programme be presented as a bar chart showing all activities and proposed durations. The suggested maximum word count for this section is 200 words and the final assessment will be carried out on a similar basis as for item 6, i.e. by assessing how realistic the proposed timetable is assuming that this work is to be carried out as a final project Submission of Coursework 1. All the work must be the students own 2. Work is to be word processed and this should be in 12 point Arial font at one and a half line spacing. It should be single sided and all pages should be clearly numbered. 3. Submissions must be properly structured. Note that this will involve pre-planning the work. 4. Work which is badly presented and/or difficult to read will be penalized by appropriate loss of marks.