CMI3416 EFFECTIVE RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

COURSEWORK 2

You are reminded about plagiarism.

If any part of the assignment is plagiarised, you will be awarded 0%.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: 2.1 and 2.2

Specification
You should write a research proposal of approximately 1500 words. This will allow you to
help with your research project that may be undertaken during the dissertation phase of the
degree, and will also help you to achieve the Learning Outcomes (2.1 and 2.2 (also partly 1.1-1.3))
of this module. Use the headings given on the MSc project page in Blackboard to structure your
proposal.

General Idea
Your Masters project has to be founded in some research area of informatics. The academic
content of your future project is very important as it sets the proposed solution to the problem you
are tackling in a wider context. To complete the project, you have to solve “a self-selected
problem”.
During this coursework you should examine an area of research that underlies (or may
underlie) the problem you intend to solve for your Master’s project. Your research proposal should
include an overview and context of this area, together with a description of the appropriate
methodologies or methods of enquiry you expect to use during the research, and a plan for
evaluating the research you carry out. Your proposal should reference the bodies of knowledge,
sources of information, and standards and professional organizations that you may have to draw
on to complete the research part of your project. Note:
• Your proposal’s overview and context should contain an introductory analysis of relevant
research material. It should contain a significant number of references to appropriate
material (conference papers, journal publications, books, design guides). All source
material must be referenced according to good report writing style (Harvard Referencing).
• You should make clear how the research you are proposing provides assistance in the
design and implementation of a solution to your Master’s project.
• It is recommended that you read the document on research techniques by Alan Dix which is
linked from this module’s website. It's informative, entertaining and will hopefully give you
some inspiration in the quest for knowledge.

Please refer to the marking criteria on the next page.

Assessment Weighting: Coursework 2 - Research Proposal 40%

Hand – out dates:

31st January 2011

Hand – in dates:
20th February 2011

1
 Assessment Criteria:
Pass level for the Research Proposal: the student will
- demonstrate understanding of, and the ability to choose, some appropriate methodologies
for a given problem/ research domain
- write a sound exposition of the wider context of the project.
- Higher marks will, additionally, demonstrate a thorough understanding and interpretation of
the issues in selecting methodologies, consideration of alternatives, and a high level of
synthesis, even original thinking, in the proposed research.

< 40 40 - 49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80+

Research Proposal

the research
design includes
the research
the research the research a well argued
the research design is
design includes design includes an indication of
design is scholarly,
Fails to sufficient attention informed level of focus,
scholarly and rigorous and
Designing processes construct a to focus, focus, objectives, objectives,
rigorously tested innovative and
of enquiry (40%) visible process objectives, method method and theory method and
and argued with indicates
of enquiry and theory to to construct a theory to
reference to potential for
construct a viable viable process of construct a
alternatives contribution to
process of enquiry enquiry confident
knowledge
process of
enquiry