Assignment Brief 2022/2023

Word Limit: 1,500 words

Coursework type:
Project Proposal
% of Module Mark: Pass or Fail (CORE
assessment)
Submission arrangement: online via CUMoodle:

PLEASE READ and UNDERSTAND THE REQUIREMENTS UNDER THIS WHOLE DOCUMENT AND MORE
UNDER TASK ON THIS PAGE and RESEARCH MAKING SCHEME ON THE LAST TwO PAGES

Tasks A MUST READ BTN THE LINE AND UNDERSTAND PLEASE

The coursework is designed to assess your ability to develop a clear and succinct research
proposal based on the guidance provided during the 7074EXQ module lectures / sessions. This
proposal will provide a vital foundation for your research project. You will need to think of a
subject area that is of interest to you, research the literature on this topic and identify a
particular research gap, problem or issue that you can investigate in more detail for your
Masters project.

1. Part A: Formal Project Proposal (Summative assessment – pass or fail)

The following headings and prompts provide a guide to the structure and content of your
project proposal.

Title
Provide a succinct title (not more than 20 words in length). Try to give the reader a clear picture
of the project topic, what the research will do (e.g., evaluate or test something) and where (i.e.,
give it a geographic context if appropriate).

Context/introduction
Provide the background (context) to your research topic. Outline the main published research
that has been undertaken to date in your area of interest and highlight the perceived research
‘gap’ or problem/issue that your research intends to address. Make sure you provide a good
range of current academic and/or technical references to support your research context.

NOTE:
Do not provide separate background and literature review sections – the review of the
literature provides the background/context of the project

Research Question(s) or Hypothesis A MUST READ BTN THE LINE AND UNDERSTAND PLEASE

Based on the research gap or problem statement, provide the key research questions (or
hypothesis) that you will attempt to address in your work. This should come before the aim and
objectives.
Aim and Objectives A MUST READ BTN THE LINE AND UNDERSTAND PLEASE

Provide an overall aim for your research and a set of clear objectives (at least 3 to 4 are
suggested), for how you intend to achieve your overall aim and address your research
questions. Your objectives should provide a platform for the subsequent methods section by
enabling you to break your research down into discrete parcels. Your objectives should be
measurable and achievable within the time frame of the project. The objectives should be
numbered and you should use appropriate action verbs (see Bloom’s taxonomy) in your
objectives.

Methodology A MUST READ BTN THE LINE AND UNDERSTAND PLEASE

You should state and justify the rationale for your project design. Set out your methods as
clearly as you can and try to map them towards achieving your objectives (for some projects it
may also be useful to provide a flow chart). Your methods need to state how you intend to
collect the data and/or information (including secondary data) and how you intend to analyse
it. You must justify your choice of data collection and data analysis by reference to the
literature. It is not appropriate to include a significant section on research philosophy in your
proposal; you should concentrate on providing details on what you intend to do and why.

NOTES:

Data collection: A MUST READ BTN THE LINE AND UNDERSTAND PLEASE

You must specifically state what you intend to do, e.g., what specific sources of information
and/or data will be used (and why), which technologies will be evaluated (and why), etc.

For primary data collection, you need to state which sampling techniques will be used, how
samples will be collected or questionnaires issued (and where), how many samples will be
taken or questionnaires issued (and why), etc.

For fieldwork, provide maps and/or simple diagrams to explain where and how you will
undertake any proposed field sampling.

For laboratory work, you need to state which methods will be used (and why), which
parameters will be analysed (and why), how many replicates will be used, and the overall
experimental design (and the rationale for this).

If you intend to use secondary data, you need to specify the particular data sets that will be
accessed, the sources of this data and justify their use.

Data analysis: - A MUST READ BTN THE LINE AND UNDERSTAND PLEASE
You must indicate what you intend to do with the data and/or information.
 Provide details on how you will analyse and evaluate the collected information and/or data
(both primary and secondary)

Analysis will depend on the type of data collected. For content analysis or similar, the
evaluation criteria to be used should be specified. For development of a theoretical framework,
the process to be used should be specified. For numerical data, the appropriate statistical
analysis should be specified, e.g. ranking, ANOVA, correlation, etc.

It is NOT sufficient just to mention use of SPSS or Excel, or plotting graphs.

You may wish to include Gantt chart in your proposal; however, this will not be assessed.

Ethics & Risk Assessment

Your proposal must highlight any potential ethical and/or health and safety issues associated
with your data/information collection and how these will be addressed. Risk assessment forms
(where required) should be attached to you online ethics submission.

As part of this module, you are required to submit an online ethics application and to obtain
ethical approval for the research project that you are proposing to undertake. At Coventry
University, formal ethical approval must be obtained before any data is collected for a research
project.

Failure to submit your ethics application and to gain appropriate ethical approval for the
research you will undertake by the relevant deadlines (and before any data is collected) may
result in disciplinary action and will be subject to the Ethics Misconduct process which is outlined
in the General Regulations,

Appendix 1. Penalties can include zero for your work and possible exclusion from the University
for Noncompliance with the ethics process.

References
Provide references for all the sources you have cited in your proposal, following the Coventry
University APA referencing. Sufficient good quality, up-to-date, academic and/or technical
sources should be used.

Project proposal marking criteria

The proposal will be marked by your assigned project supervisor. See the criteria and marking
scheme at the end of these guidelines. Note that this is only for a guide as you can either pass
or fail this component of 7165EXQ. If you fail the proposal, you will get one more attempt this
semester.
Information sources
Guidance on aspects of proposal development, e.g., identifying research gaps, constructing
clear aim and objectives, etc., will be provided in the Semester 2 workshops and in the
supporting materials online. It may also be worth looking through previous MSc theses stored
in the Map Library (JL ground floor) for examples of how to set out aim and objectives. Several
good books (800 classmark in the library) and websites are also available to help you. Useful
texts on project design include:

Creswell, J. W. and Creswell, J.D. (2018) Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed
methods
approaches. 5th edn. London: Sage

Davies, M.B. and Hughes, N. (2014) Doing a successful research project: using qualitative or
quantitative
methods. 2ndedn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Graziano, A.M. and Raulin, M.L. (2004) Research Methods: A Process of Enquiry. 5thedn.
Harlow:
Pearson

Leong, E-C., Heah, C.L-H. and Ong, K.K.W. (2016) Guide to research projects for engineering
students:
planning, writing and presenting. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press

Luck, M. (1999) Your student research project. Farnham: Gower Publishing

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2016) Research Methods for Business Students.
7thedn. Harlow:
Pearson

Sharp, J.A., Peters, J. and Howard, K. (2002) The management of a student research project.
3rdedn.
Farnham: Gower Publishing
2. Part B: Online Ethics Application (required but not assessed)
All students are required to read the E-learning material on ethical issues before planning their project.
It is a University requirement that anyone undertaking a research project (both staff and students), have
an understanding of the potential ethical issues associated with their intended research. This applies to
both primary and secondary data research.

Failure to submit your ethics application and to gain appropriate ethical approval for the research you
will undertake by the relevant deadlines (and before any data is collected) may result in disciplinary
action and will be subject to the Ethics Misconduct process which is outlined in the General Regulations,
Appendix 1.
Penalties can include zero for your work and possible exclusion from the University for Non-compliance
with the ethics process.

ONLINE ETHICS APPLICATION

Regardless of the level of risk, all research proposals must undergo online ethical evaluation. You must
complete the appropriate sections of the online ethics application form and submit an initial application
by the stated deadline. At this stage, you will not have been assigned a project supervisor, so you will
need to use the name of the module leader (i.e., Dr…) as your ‘acting supervisor’ for the purposes of
submitting the ethics application. Once you have been allocated to a specific project supervisor, your
ethics application will be transferred to them.

Online ethics application form requirements:

Provide details of your project aim, objectives, and methodology.
Evaluate the ethical issues and health and safety aspects of your work by completing the appropriate
risk assessment sections.
Health and safety issues that must be addressed include travel to overseas countries, undertaking
fieldwork, undertaking interviews and handing-out questionnaires, or using workshop equipment, or
working with chemicals in laboratory environments.
Any fieldwork will require completion of a field work risk assessment form, which must be attached to
your online application.
Use of hazardous workshop equipment will require completion of a general risk assessment form.
Use of hazardous chemicals will require completion of one or more COSHH forms; these must be
signed by your supervisor and then scanned so that you can attach the signed forms to your online
ethics application.

NOTE: Your ethics application and risk assessment will need to consider and conform to any relevant
University and Government guidelines or regulations that relate to COVID-19.
Notes on ethics application
For most students, this initial application should be treated as a ‘draft’, as most students are unlikely to
provide all the required information in their initial online application. If there are issues with your initial
ethics application, the application will be rejected and the required improvements will be discussed at
your first meeting with your supervisor.

Your ethics application will require approval by your supervisor and finalisation by a reviewer before you
will have the authorisation to start your project. You cannot gather any primary data until you have
been given ethical clearance to do so. Your ethics submission should be approved and finalised by 14
February 2023.
Any student whose ethics submission is not authorised by this deadline will only be allowed to use
secondary data in their project, i.e. a low risk project. You are therefore advised to complete your ethics
application as soon as possible, and as fully and as accurately as possible.

Changes to project methodology

No student will be allowed to change from secondary data collection to primary data collection after the
14 February 2023 deadline. However, if you find you are unable to collect primary data and need to
change your methodology to secondary data collection only, this will be permitted but a new ethics
application must be submitted and approved by no later than 21 February 2023.

Note that if you need to revise your ethics form after it has been approved, then the Ethics
Administrator will need to be contacted so that your form can be reset and returned to you for editing
and you will then need to go through the approval process again.

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

1. Research Project Learning Contract
Each student is required to complete a learning contract at the start of their project (see the separate
file on the module web). You need to read this document, fill in your details on page 1 and take this to
your supervisor at your first or second project meeting, so that they can also sign this contract (they
should also provide you with a photocopy of the signed document). The signed form should be uploaded
to the relevant link on the module web.

IMPORTANT: Students intending to conduct laboratory work MUST read note 2 below and MUST comply
with the stated deadline for uploading their research project learning contract.

2. Students undertaking laboratory work:

NOTE: No student is allowed to conduct laboratory analysis for their project unless they successfully
complete the laboratory practical sessions in 7148EXQ (or its equivalent). Any student intending to do
laboratory work will also need to complete Annex 2 of the research project learning contract. Full
details of all laboratory methods and requirements for equipment and chemicals must be provided.
Appropriateness of methods and availability of equipment and chemicals will need to be discussed with
the relevant laboratory technician(s) and they will need to sign Annex 2 before you will be allowed to
work in the laboratory. NB: if equipment or chemicals need to be ordered for your project, this could
take a few weeks, so you will need to provide this information for the technicians well in advance.

UPLOAD DEADLINE: Any student undertaking laboratory work must have met with their project
supervisor and the relevant laboratory technician, completed Annex 2 of the project learning contract
and uploaded the signed form to the relevant link on the 7165EXQ module web by no later than the
date to be specified on Aula.
Any student who fails to meet this deadline will not be allowed to conduct laboratory work for their
project

3. Engineering Workshop requirements

If your project requires use of material in the Engineering workshops, you will need to complete Annex 3
of the research project learning contract. This form must be signed by your supervisor and by the
relevant technicians.

3. Remote study
During the project period, you are required to meet with your supervisor every 2 weeks (especially Tier
4 students).

If you intend to collect any information or data for your project overseas, you will need to complete an
application form for ‘Remote Study’. On the form you must provide good justification for being away
from the University for the dates specified, and the written support and approval from your supervisor
must be included. The completed and signed form must be submitted to the JL Faculty Registry Office
for approval by the EEC Faculty Registrar or their representative.

Applications for remote study will only be approved if they are directly relevant to your project. For
example, an application for remote study to do an internship that is not directly relevant to your project
will not be supported. Similarly, an application to ‘work at home’ (i.e. overseas) on your project would
not get approved, unless it was not possible to do your project work in Coventry.

If you are given the opportunity to work away from Coventry for an organisation on particular project
which you then intend to write up for your MSc project, this would be classed as a ‘placement’ or an
‘internship’.
In this case, we will need to carry out a ‘risk assessment’ of this ‘placement’ and the organisation before
you start on the project. You would also need to apply for remote study and provide a supporting letter
from the organisation. Your application would have to be approved before you could start this
‘placement’.

Notes:
1. You are expected to use the Coventry University APA. For support and advice on this, students can
contact Centre for Academic Writing (CAW).
2. Please notify your registry course support team and module leader for disability support.
3. Any student requiring an extension or deferral should follow the university process as outlined here.
4. The University cannot take responsibility for any coursework lost or corrupted on disks, laptops or
personal computers. Students should therefore regularly back-up any work and are advised to save
it on the University system.
5. If there are technical or performance issues that prevent students submitting coursework through
the online coursework submission system on the day of a coursework deadline, an appropriate
extension to the coursework submission deadline will be agreed. This extension will normally be 24
hours or the next working day if the deadline falls on a Friday or over the weekend period. This will
be communicated via your Module Leader.
6. Assignments that are more than 10% over the word limit will result in a deduction of 10% of the
mark, i.e. a mark of 60% will lead to a reduction of 6% to 54%. The word limit includes quotations,
but excludes the reference list and tables.
The word count for the main body of text (excluding the reference list and any appendices) must be
indicated at the end of the proposal.
7. You are encouraged to check the originality of your work by using the draft Turnitin links on Aula.
8. Collusion between students (where sections of your work are similar to the work submitted by other
students in this or previous module cohorts) is taken extremely seriously and will be reported to the
academic conduct panel. This applies to both coursework and exam answers.
9. A marked difference between your writing style, knowledge and skill level demonstrated in class
discussion, any test conditions and that demonstrated in a coursework assignment may result in you
having to undertake a Viva Voce in order to prove the coursework assignment is entirely your own
work.
10. If you make use of the services of a proof reader in your work you must keep your original version
and make it available as a demonstration of your written efforts.
11. You must not submit work for assessment that you have already submitted (partially or in full),
either for your current course or for another qualification of this university, unless this is specifically
provided for in your assignment brief or specific course or module information. Where earlier work
by you is citable, i.e. it has already been published/submitted, you must reference it clearly. Identical
pieces of work submitted concurrently will also be considered to be self-plagiarism

PLEASE READ/ GO THROUGH RESEARCH PROPOSAL MARKING SCHEME BELOW – A MUST READ PLEASE