SHN7136 - Dissertation

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Create an approved research proposal and detailed specific research methodology.
Negotiate the successful collection of original research data from specific source/s.
Conduct and write up an original and relevant research project.
Critically evaluate within academic writing the success of the individual research project.

Content:

Completion of an individual and original research project within an approved ethical framework. Data collection. Data analysis. Appraisal and critique of research project (verbal and academic writing).

Learning and Teaching Information:

Introductory lecture sessions are followed up by individual tutorials with an allocated tutor and on line distance learning support.

Lectures/workshops
Hours: 3
Intended Group size: 20

On line distance learning tasks
Hours: 5
Intended Group size: 1/15

Tutorials
Hours: 5
Intended Group size: 5

Guided Independent study
Hours: 587

Further details relating to assessment

Students will submit a dissertation proposal. This will be initially considered by the tutor supervising the dissertation and a recommendation will go forward to the departmental Ethics Committee. The departmental Ethics Committee will issue one of three possible outcomes:

1. Letter A - accept the proposal; students can then begin their empirical work.

2. Letter B - conditional acceptance; the Committee requires some further clarification of the proposal. Students can begin background research but cannot commence any empirical work until the responses to the conditions are approved by the next Ethics Committee meeting.

3. Letter C - the proposal is not allowed to proceed on the recommendation of the Supervisor and the Ethics Committee. No work can begin until a new proposal is submitted to the Supervisor and the ethical remediation required by the Ethics Committee is approved.

There will be a second Ethics Committee that will consider all the letter B and C proposals. At this stage, all the B (conditional acceptance) amendments should be completed and students can begin their empirical work. Any proposals not allowed to proceed (letter C), which have progressed to conditional acceptance (letter B), will be considered at a third meeting of the Ethics Committee.

Proposals that are still not allowed to proceed (letter C) in the opinion of the Supervisor and the Ethics Committee are now refused the opportunity to conduct primary empirical data collection. Rather, they are required to conduct a desk-based dissertation only, using secondary and publicly available data.

Assessment:

001 Dissertation 10,000 - 12,000 words end of term 3 100%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Kostas Zervas
Level - 7
Credit Value - 60
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 7T1

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