Faculty of Educational Studies (FES)

Research Methods and Experimental

Design

RESE1001

Student Assessment Guide

January 2023

Prior to beginning your assessment, it is vital to read this document in detail.

Failure to do so will significantly disadvantage you and may affect levels of
attainment.

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 General Guideline
Research methods and experimental design are the backbone of the study of psychology, and
are what classify psychology as a scientific discipline. This module is designed to introduce
students to the basics of conducting research into questions of human behaviour and judgment.

Please check that you understand the requirements of the assessments; this module has a very
strong emphasis on the use of academic literature. If you remain unclear on what is expected,
you must clarify that from the lecturer.

• Failure to engage in significant research and wider reading of suitable academic sources
will have a significant impact on your marks. If you are unclear on the suitability of a
resource you have found, please ask; do not assume.
• It is vital you put effort into each element of the module.
• All assessment tasks must be uploaded to Moodle before 23:55 on the due date.

OVERVIEW OF THE MODULE

On successful completion of this module students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how to design, carry out, analyze, and
communicate the results of research in the field of psychology.
2. Measure the reliability and validity of the methods used and results obtained in a psy-
chological study.
3. Identify measures that can be taken to conduct research responsibly, accurately, and
ethically.
4. Demonstrate a basic understanding of how to write up scientific research and present
findings.

Assessment of the Module

This module will be assessed through three individual assignments and one group presen-
tation. The percentage marks allocated for each assessment component is tabulated below.

Assessment Weightage
Due Date
Percent-
Assessment Component
age
Assignment 1 Article Critical Review 10% 22nd Feb 2023
Assignment 2 Literature Review 20% 29th March 2023
Assignment 3 Designing your Research 15% 19th April 2023
Research Proposal 60% 10th May 2023

The front page of written assignments should include details given below:

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 FACULTY OF EDUCATIONAL STUDIES

RESE1001

Research Methods and Experimental Design

Semester: January 2023

Full Name:
Student ID Number:
Phone Number:
Email Address:
Campus:

Lecturer’s Name: Aishath Shahama

Due Date:

Submitted Date:

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 Assignment 1: Article Critique 15%

Task: Students are to make groups of 2-3 students and present a peer reviewed research article
(qualitative, quantitative or experimental). 15 Minutes presentation

Each student/group will be required to confirm with lecturer, of the article they decide to do their
presentation.

It is advised to do your PowerPoint presentation regarding a topic your group have a common
interest in researching on.

This should include a summary of the research (including context of the research topic, research
questions, aims, objectives, methods, results, conclusions) and a critically commenting the meth-
ods and conclusions of the research based on limitations, recommendation and future research.

Assignment 2: Literature Review 20 %

The purpose of this assignment is to facilitate your abilities to research a topic of study so
you can apply your knowledge on reading research that you've learned in class, analyze infor-
mation found in psychology journal articles, and synthesize new knowledge into a written
small-scale literature review.

Task: For this assignment you are asked to complete a small-scale literature review on the
topic that was chosen for Assignment 1. You are asked to locate 5-10 journal articles that were
published on your topic and write a literature review of 1500-2000 words.

Guidelines for writing your literature review

1. Introduction (5%)
The introduction is used to establish the context of your review to the reader. To estab-
lish the context, it is important to do the following in this opening paragraph:
• Define the topic of your study and provide some background information that helps
your reader to understand the topic.
• Describe the purpose for reviewing the literature on this topic.
• Outline how your literature review is organized/structured.

2. Body (7%)

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 This section of your paper describes findings from articles that you have reviewed. Be-
fore you begin this section, be sure that you have sorted your articles into different
themes based on the articles' findings (sometimes called results). After you sort your arti-
cles, it is important to give your sorted groups a descriptive name. The names of the
sorted articles will become your headings for each of the paragraphs that you write in the
body of your review. Critically analyze the findings of these articles. Do not discuss each
article separately. Instead try and synthesize common findings then write your analysis if
your literature review

3. Summary (3%)
This is the last paragraph of your literature review. In this paragraph, it is important to
summarize the assignment providing brief gist of the literature.

4. References (5%)
This is the last page of your review. It serves as a listing of all references that you
mentioned in your paper. Please use APA referencing style when completing this list.
Make sure that you have included all cited work in your reference list. Ensure that you
have paraphrased and cited according to APA 7th edition.

Designing Your Research 15%

The objective of this assignment is to provide an understanding of the processes in the designing
a research on the topic of interest.

Task: Design how you would carry out your research based on your proposed idea for assignment

1 and 2. You are to further develop the idea into a research design. In this assignment write your

proposed research methodology including, research design, population and sampling, research

instrument (if you were able to identify) Pilot testing, Reliability and Validity/ Trustworthiness,
ethical consideration and proposed data analysis

Final Proposal 50%

Guidelines for writing the research proposal

1. Introduction (5%)

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 • Does the title clearly indicate the research area and the important variables under study?
• Does the background information provide a clear lead-in to the research problem?
• Is the problem statement clearly identified and focused?
• Is the problem statement well supported by theory and/or past research?
2. Research objectives and questions/ hypotheses (4%)
• Are the research objectives & questions/hypotheses highly focused?
• Do the research objectives & questions/hypotheses provide clear direction for measur-
ing relationship between variables?
• Are the research questions/hypotheses aligned to the objectives and problem statement?
3. Significance of the study (5%)
• Does the research contribute towards the area of study in terms of THEORY and
PRACTICE?
4. Operational definitions of terms (4%)
• Are all the key terms identified and operationally defined clearly?
5 Literature review (15%)
• Is the literature cited appropriate and relevant to the research agenda?
• Have you cited adequate current literature to support your study?
• Is there ample evidence of critical analyses of theory and past research?
• Does the review demonstrate that you have a very good understanding of the research
topic?
6. Methodology (20%)
a. Is the research design appropriate to address the research objectives?
b. Are the sampling technique(s) and research instrument(s) appropriate for the study?
c. Are the data collection procedures clearly described and appropriate for the research
design used?
d. Are the data analysis techniques appropriate for the research design?
e. Are justifications for the methodology used presented and adequately discussed?

7. Writing Style (7%) – correct use of grammar, and sentence structure

8. APA (10%)

Late Penalty

Late submissions will only be accepted within a 24-hour window following the due date.

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 Within this 24-hour window:

• A mark of more than 50% for the element will be reduced to 50%.
• A mark lower than 50% will stand and will be used in the calculation of the overall
module outcome.

Code of Practice in Plagiarism

Poor scholarship (incomplete / inaccurate citations) will be recorded in written feedback, and
work must be rectified.

For offences with regard to plagiarism: formal written warnings would be issued, and recorded
until graduation. All work must be rectified.

For multiple, and serious offences with regard to plagiarism: submitted material would be re-
dacted, and student may be required to withdraw.

Please refer to the policy ‘Procedure on Academic Integrity’ for further details.

REFERENCING

It is essential that you fully reference all ideas, theories, quotes and statistics you have cited in
your submitted assignment. Failure to do so will result in a deduction of marks, possible failure
and/or accusations of plagiarism (the act of presenting the ideas or discoveries of another as
one's own). The method students MUST use is the APA referencing, “A Guide to APA
Referencing Style: 7th Edition” will be available on Moodle. Please ensure that you refer to
this for guidance on referencing in the main text and references at the end of your essay.

What is APA referencing?

APA is one of many referencing styles used in academic writing. APA stands for American
Psychological Association. The Association outlines the style in the Publication manual of the
American Psychological Association [APA] (7th ed.)

Basically, a reference is a description of the document from which you have obtained your
information. When writing essays, you are expected to read around your subject and referenc-
ing is a way of demonstrating that you have completed that reading. Each time you use someone
else’s ideas or words it is essential that you acknowledge this in your work. You should provide

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references to substantiate your arguments and to enable your reader to follow up your source
material.

You should reference whenever you use any source of information for particular facts, theories,
findings or ideas in an author's work; a direct quotation; paraphrasing an author's words.

Remember, references should be correct, complete and consistent, with the individual
elements clearly differentiated.

Why do I have to reference?

There are several reasons for referencing. In the course of your studies you will be expected to
acknowledge books, journal articles, etc, used in preparation for assignments, projects, essays,
and dissertations, by producing a list of references with each one.

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