Module Title
Research Methods
Keywords
Social, ethical and legal issues, intellectual property, data management, literature review, project planning, project management, project documentation, collaborative work, evaluation of research, experimental design. |
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Prerequisites for Module
None except for course entry requirements.
Corequisite Modules
None.
Precluded Modules
None.
Aims of Module
To develop skills needed to undertake independent research in a rapidly evolving technological discipline with awareness of the legal, ethical, social and professional context.
To enhance and develop transferable skills.
Learning Outcomes for Module
On completion of this module, students are expected to be able to:
| 1. |
Undertake a literature search, identifying various information resources (online and offline) and access these in order to obtain relevant and up-to-date information on a topic of specialist interest.
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| 2. |
Participate within the professional, legal and ethical framework within which they would be expected to operate as professionals within the IT industry.
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| 3. |
Plan a programme of independent research using appropriate software tools to deliver solutions in a professional manner.
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| 4. |
Critically appraise research evaluation methodologies and be able to apply them to a given research problem.
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Indicative Module Content
Library skills: literature searches; information sources (online and offline).
Legal Issues: Social and ethical implications of IT; copyright; patents; intellectual property rights; contracts; product liability; data protection.
Data Management: requirements for data management, confidentiality, archiving and shared access.
Project management: tools and techniques; configuration management, frameworks and the role of the project manager, team building soft skills, planning and requirements gathering.
| Report writing: citation styles; practical skills in formatting, building contents and indices; report writing style. Evaluation: experimental design; reproducible research; evaluation of research outcomes.
Indicative Student Workload
Contact Hours
| Part Time | Lectures/ Workshop
| 24 | Tutorials/ Labs
| 12 |
Directed Study
| | Coursework Preparartion
| 24 | Directed reading
| 44 |
Private Study
| | Private Study
| 46 |
Mode of Delivery
The course content is delivered by a combination of workshops; lectures and is based on extensive use of case studies; and by interactive lab sessions.
Assessment Plan
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Learning Outcomes Assessed
| | Component 1 | 1,2,3,4
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The assessment of Component 1 consists of:
(i) a group work presentation to detail the pertinent professional, social and legal issues given a project brief. This will contribute 25% towards the module outcome.
(ii) a written report worth 75% of the total module assessment detailing a project plan and data management plan, an appropriate research methdology to carry out an evaluation on a given case study.
Indicative Bibliography
| 1. | BELL, J., 2010. Doing Your research Project. Open University Press.
| | 2. | COHEN, L., MANION, L. AND MORRISON, K., 2011.
Research Methods in Education. Routlegde.
| | 3. | BOTT, F., 2014. Professional Issues in Information Technology, 2nd Ed., BCS
| | 4. | GASH, S., 2000. Effective Literature Searching for Research. Gower.
| | 5. | BOWDEN, J., 2011. Writing a report: How to prepare, write and present really effective reports. How To Books Ltd.
| | 6. | PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE, 2013. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). 5th ed. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc
| | 7. | KERZNER, H., 2013. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, 11th Edition. Wiley
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