LD7028 Research Methods and Project Management

Solution.pdf

AssignmentBrief

LearningOutcomes:

Knowledge&Understanding:

• Deploycomprehensiveknowledge andunderstandingofappropriatetechniques and toolstoplan,research andmanagea computing technicalproject

Intellectual/ Professionalskills &abilities:

• Systematically identifyand analyse acomplexcomputingproblemand produce a projectproposalto solve it,considering professional,ethical,socialand legal issues

• Appreciateandapplyappropriatetechniques,toolsandknowledgeto support effective projectmanagement,research andadvanced scholarship

• PersonalValuesAttributes (Global/Culturalawareness,Ethics,Curiosity)(PVA):

• Demonstrate independentresearchandenquiryskillsatanappropriately advanced level in the construction ofacomputing projectproposal

Instructionstostudents:

Thisisan individualpiece ofworkand youmustnotworkwith otherstoconstructyour report.  During thesemesterthere are numerousopportunitiestoseekandgetadvice and supportonyourwork, fromtutorsand peersbutyou mustensureyou do notdo workforothersorcopy workfromothers.

ReferencingStyle:

You mustusethereference style ofthejournal you have identified asrelevantto your area ofwork,see page 4,“Sourcesand Knowledge”

Expected size ofthesubmission:

Be succinct -maximum2500-3000 words,excludingappendices, title page, contentslist,abstract,references andappendices

Academic Conduct:

You mustadheretotheuniversityregulations onacademicconduct.Formalinquiry proceedingswillbe instigatedifthereisanysuspicion ofmisconductor plagiarismin yourwork.RefertotheUniversity’sregulations onassessmentifyou areunclearasto themeaningoftheseterms.The latestcopyisavailable on the universitywebsite.

Word Limit

A wordlimitissetoutinthisassignmentof2500–3000 word,anyworkpresented overthisnumberofwordsmaynotbeconsidered.Wordlimitdoes notincludethe appendices.

Introduction

Forthe LD7028assignmentyou mustproducea proposalforashortresearchproject. Thisisthe60 creditprojectthatyou will studyaspartofyourpostgraduate programme on themodule,LD7029 MScComputerScience&DigitalTechnologies Project.

Thisassignmentisthereforedoubly important:

• Itaccountsfor80%ofthe marksforLD7028

• Itisessentialpreparationforyourresearch project.

Asstated,theresearchprojectwill accountfor60credits(one-third)ofyourprogrammeofstudy.Typically,you will spend600 hoursonthisproject.

Yourresearchproposalwill be approximately 2500 – 3000wordsand specifythe project background,motivationand relevance toyourprogrammeofstudy;itsscope,aimsand objectives;aplan ofthemajoractivities.Yourproposalshould drawon currentand recentresearchand otherappropriatesources ofinformation andcitethese sources usingaconsistent standardreferencing system.Theproposal will be assessed byyour supervisorand secondmarkerin ashortmeeting,during which theywillgive feedback and provide suggestionsand commentsonhowto improvethe project.

Thisproposal shouldbebased onthe outcome ofthemeetingsyoumusthave with your potentialresearchprojectsupervisor.Yoursupervisorwillprovide individual supportand formativefeedbackduring thepreparation ofyourresearch proposal.

The ProposalStructure

You areadvisedtofollowing the structureoutlined below. Atemplate isavailableon Blackboardunderthe Assessmenttab.

ProjectDetails

• Module:LD7028 – ResearchandProjectManagement

• Module tutor:ProfessorHamid Jahankhani

• Assignmenttitle:MScResearchProposal'

• Studentname+universityidentifier(alwaysunderline the surname/familyname bywhich you arerecorded intheuniversitysystems)

• Programmeorcourse ofstudy

• Thenameofyourpotentialsupervisor

• Word Count

Aim

Produce asummaryofwhatyourprojectwill achieve in one ortwo sentences,ideally constructaresearchquestion.

Background,Motivation andRelevance – literaturereview

• Setoutandjustify,using supporting literature,where yourworkwill fitin the computing bodyofknowledge.

• Outline andcriticallydiscusswhatrelevantresearch has beenundertaken,in the past,in yourarea ofinterestandwhythisprojectisnecessary.

• Outline andcriticallydiscusswhythe research willbe ofvalue,inthefuture,and whatthe anticipated impactofthe outcomes will be.

• Outline whyyouwanttoundertakethiswork,some areastoconsiderare, personalmotivation,skillssetand careerchoices.

Scope,Objectives and Risk

• Outline andjustify thescope ofyourproject–whatyou intendtodo,whatyou will notinclude butmightbe expectedbyothersto be incorporated.

• Outline numberedsteps(SMARTObjectives)you will have to complete inorder to achieve theaims.  Aftereachobjective outlinethe deliverable oroutcomethat will be produced.Outline how youwillassessand or measurethequalityforthat objective.  Outline whatresearchmethod/designyou will adoptforeach objective and howeach method will supportone another.

• Produce atasklistforall objectives,thatdefines,task,deliverable,resources (all types)required,skillsrequired,timerequired.

• Produce arisklog (seeexample on yourBlackboardAssessmenttab)foryou project.

Sources and useofKnowledge

• Identifyandjustifyajournal where yourworkwould be relevantforpublication.

• Identifyaspectsofthestandardsforpublication in thetargetjournalthatyou can incorporate into yourprojectproposal,soforexample thereferencing system, fontstyle and pitch etc.

• Identify, justify and criticallydiscussanyauthors,journalswhere previous relevantresearch hasbeen published within the last5years.There isnofix number,itisyourjudgementtoscopethis listing.

Ethics,Legal, Social, Securityand ProfessionalIssues

Writeouta sectionthatdiscusses,exploresand definesall oftheethical,legal,social and professionalissuesassociated with yourproject, includinghow you will consider security issues.Ifyou thinkanareaofthissection isnotapplicable toyourproject,you should justifywhythisisthe case.

ScheduleofActivities

Usingyourtasklist,constructaGanttChartandaMonitoringand Controltable(see examples given yourBlackboard Assessmenttab.

References:theseshould be primarilyusedto support yourbackground section and include the latestrelevantresearch in yourchosen topicarea. All references in the reference listmustalso appearwithin the bodyofthereport. There isno idealnumber ofreferencesrecommended butaguidemightbeno lessthan10–15sourcesshould be used.

Ethics Form:you should include acompletedonline ethicsformandupload acopyon tothe assessmentsection/ethicsSubmission section ofBB. You shouldtakea hard copyofthisformto yourprojectreviewmeeting,afterdiscussions itmayneed changes.

Ethicalapprovalmustbeobtainedforall MScresearch projectspriorto the commencementofyourdissertation research.Inthe caseofyourLD7028,Research Methods and ProjectManagement,TheETHICSapprovalisrequired aspart the assignment1(researchProposal 80%).Withoutthe Ethicsapprovalyourassignment1 submission isnotcomplete.

Online ResearchEthicsform can befound onthe"ethics andgovernance

Northumbria"website orjustsimplyfollowthe stepsbelow:

• Accessthesystemathttps://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/ethics-and-governance/

• Thengotothe Ethics Online-researchethicsapprovalsystem

• ThengototheOnline ResearchEthics andGovernanceApproval:Access thesystemat EthicsOnline,wherethis linkwill takeyou tothe pageto signin with yourNorthumbriaUniversityusername and password.

• Atthewelcomepage,please start with"Createa NewSubmission"

• Onthe submissionpage, please completeall sections,fornote,

• Faculty isEngineeringand Environment,

• Department isComputer andInformationSciences

• SubmittingasPGT.

• Modulecode isLD7028.

• Module TutorisProfessorHamidJahankhani

• Namedco-ordinatorisProfessor HamidJahankhani

• PleasemakesurethatyourEthicsrisklevel isonlyGREEN (LOW).

You needtoconsultyourtutorandpotentialsupervisorforadvice before submittingethicsapprovalform. Ifyourethics is AMBER orRED, itwill notbeapproved and as aresultyouwillnotbeallowedtocarryonyour dissertationuntil you makesurethatyourresearchmethodologyand datacollectioniswithin GREEN risk.

• ThenCreateandSave to move tothe nextpage whereyou inputall the requirednecessarydetails. Thisiswhere you need tomakesurethatyour data collectioniswithin theGREEN(LOW)risk.

• Oncecompletepleasesubmit.

PresentationGuidelines

Thefrontsheetmustinclude:

Notes on presentation& submission:

Theresearchreportmustbewritten andpresented toan appropriateacademic standard fora postgraduate programmeofstudy.

• Theproposalwill be assessed intermsofstyle,meaning,andthe accuracyof spelling,grammar,punctuation and syntax.

• Correctandthoroughreferencing ofyoursourcesofinformation isrequired.You shouldfollowa consistentreferencing system,and provide afullreference list and briefreferencesinthe textofyouranswer. ‘Cite themRight’advises direct quotationsshould be indicated byquotationmarksorindentation,and referenced.  Failuretoacknowledge yoursourcesorto indicatewhen you are quoting constitutesplagiarism.You areencouragedtoworkwith each othertodiscuss thechallengesencountered,butyoumustnotworkwith each otherto constructyouranswers.Action will be taken in accordance with the University regulations ifplagiarismorcollusion issuspected.Thismayresultin alossof marksfortheassignmentormodule.

Furtheradviceonthese issues,can be foundon:

• NorthumbriaUniversity(2016)SkillsPlushelpguides,Online.Availableat:

http://nuweb2.northumbria.ac.uk/library/skillsplus/index.html.

• Pears,R.&Shields,G.(2013)CiteThemRight:the essentialreferencing guide, 9thedn.Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Online.Available at:http://www.citethemrightonline.com/available fromtheuniversitysearchfacilities:-http://librarysearch.northumbria.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=northumbria.

Ingeneral:

• Yourproposalwrittentoaprofessionalstandardusing MSWord andshow appropriateand consistentuseoftype,fontsandline spacing(forthisassignmentuse Arial12 and singlespacing)and pagelayouts.

• Give each page afooterthatincludes yourname,themodulecode,and apage number.

Academic Integrity Statement

You must adhere to the university regulations on academic conduct. Formal inquiry proceedings will be instigated if there is any suspicion of plagiarism or any other form of misconduct in your work. Refer to the University’s Assessment Regulations for Northumbria Awards if you are unclear as to the meaning of these terms. The latest copy is available on the University website.

https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/university-services/academic-registry/quality-and-teaching-excellence/assessment/guidance-for-students/

Formative Feedback

There will be an opportunity for formative feedback during the semester. You are advised to start working on this assignment as early as possible so that you can seek clarification from the module tutor regarding any questions you might have during the semester. Note that tutors will not predict your grade, and you should not take the lack of comment on any aspect of your work as indicating that it is correct. You should make every effort to take advantage of formative feedback as tutors will not comment on draft work at other times. Remember that you will get more useful feedback from us by asking specific questions.

Penalties for Exceeding Word Limits:

The actual word count is to be declared on the front of the assessment submission. If a given task has a word limit, the following penalties will be applied after any reductions in mark due to late submission have been made, Penalties will be applied as defined in the University Policy on Word Limits Policy. 

https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/university-services/academic-registry/quality-and-teaching-excellence/assessment/guidance-for-students/

Late Submission Policy: 

For coursework submitted up to 1 working day (24 hours) after the published hand-in deadline without approval, 10% of the total marks available for the assessment (i.e.100%) shall be deducted from the assessment mark. Penalties will be applied as defined in the University Policy on the Late submission work. 

https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/university-services/academic-registry/quality-and-teaching-excellence/assessment/guidance-for-students/

For clarity: a late piece of work that would have scored 65%, 55% or 45% had it been handed in on time will be awarded 55%, 45% or 35% respectively as 10% of the total available marks will have been deducted. 

Failure to submit: The University requires all students to submit assessed coursework by the deadline stated in the assessment brief.  Where coursework is submitted without approval after the published hand-in deadline, penalties will be applied as defined in the University Policy on the Late Submission of Work.

https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/university-services/academic-registry/quality-and-teaching-excellence/assessment/guidance-for-students/

LD7028Project Proposal-Feedbackand Marks(80%formodule)