BM631 Research Methods Assignment
Assignment Brief Academic Year 2021-22
| Module code and title: | BM631 Research Methods | Module leader: | Festus Louis |
| Assignment No. and type: | CW2: Critical reflections on ethical issues & Ethics checklist submission | Assessment weighting: | 30% |
| Submission time and date: | 09/06/2022 before 2 pm | Target feedback time and date: | 3 weeks after the submission deadline |
| Assignment task |
| Produce a 1,000-word written report on the ethical considerations of the research proposal submitted for coursework 1 of the module. |
| This assignment has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your achievement of the following module learning outcomes: |
| LO 4: Critically engage in the ethical considerations of conducting research projects and the associated difficulties associated with the ethics involved in research decision-making. |
| LO 5: Demonstrate transferable skills including time management, project management, listening, negotiation, written communication skills, independent learning and advanced research skills. |
| Task requirements |
| The report should contain: Aim of your research – In one sentence explain what you intend to find out. Objectives of your research. Methodology. Briefly reiterate the Approach, Design, Methods and Participants. Ethical considerations. This is the main section of your assignment and you are expected to identify and discuss ethical issues relevant to your research. Respect for the autonomy, privacy and dignity of individuals and communities. Explain what procedures you are going to put in place for valid consent, confidentiality, anonymity and fair treatment. These could include the Participant information form; Participant Consent form; |
| Scientific integrity. Explain what measures you will be taking to ensure that your research is based on authentic data that you have collected from the participants described in your “methods” section. Social responsibility. Explain how your research supports and reflects respect for the dignity and integrity of persons and organisations involved. Explain how your research contributes to the “common good”. Maximising benefit and minimising harm. Explain what you will be doing to avoid potential risk to the personal values, invasion of privacy and risk to psychological well-being of your participants and organisations. Explain who could benefit from your findings and how. References – Please reference your work according to the Harvard style as defined in Cite Them Right Online (http://www.citethemrightonline.com). Ethics checklist. The template document for this will be provided for you to complete and submit using a separate submission point on BB. There will be a separate submission point on BB for submitting this document (BNU students). Further guidance: Follow the course guidelines regarding submitting work, as below (e.g. electronic or paper copies). Pages should be numbered. All work to be submitted as Arial 11 font with line and a half spacing. All writing should be in the third person passive. Written work must be word-processed. The module title and code number must be clearly marked on the front cover. Work you submit for assessment must be properly referenced – a guide to the Harvard system of referencing can be found on the Bucks website at bucks.ac.uk/referencing and on the BNU Harvard Referencing Quick Guide on LSST Connect. You may seek clarification from the module tutor at any time. There is no excuse for failing to submit your work in accordance with the guidance, work that does not meet the necessary standards in that respect will be marked accordingly. No collaboration is allowed. Points 5 & 6 above are NOT included in the word count of this assignment. Assessment Criteria Research aim, objectives and methodology: 20% Ethical considerations: 40% Ethics checklist completion: 30% Written presentation: 10% Please see the detailed assessment grid at the end of this document. |
| Referencing and research requirements |
| Please reference your work according to the Harvard style as defined in Cite Them Right Online (http://www.citethemrightonline.com). This information is also available in book form: Pears, R. and |
| Shields, G. (2019) Cite them right: the essential reference guide. 11th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Copies are available via the University library. |
| How your work will be assessed |
| Your work will be assessed against the assessment criteria which have been provided at the end of this brief. These criteria have been designed specifically for this assignment and are intended to measure the extent to which you have demonstrated your achievement of its associated learning outcomes (see above). They have been aligned with the institutional grade descriptor appropriate for your level. The assessment criteria provide a basis for fair and consistent marking and indicate what is expected of you in this assignment. It is strongly recommended that you engage with them while you are working on the assignment and use them in combination with any feedback you receive once your work has been marked to help you plan for future learning and development. |
| Submission details |
| This assignment should be submitted electronically. Please use the relevant Turnitin submission point in the Upload My Assignment section on LSST Connect. Please ensure that your work has been saved in an appropriate file format. Turnitin will only accept the following file types: Microsoft Word and PDF. Your file must also contain at least 20 words of text, consist of fewer than 400 pages and be less than 40MB in size. You can submit your work as many times as you like before the submission date. If you do submit your work more than once, your earlier submission will be replaced by the most recent version. Once you have submitted your work, you will receive a digital receipt as proof of submission, which will be sent to your LSST email address. Please keep this receipt for future reference, along with the original electronic copy of your assignment. You are reminded of the University’s regulations on academic misconduct, which can be viewed on the University website: https://bucks.ac.uk/ data/assets/pdf_file/0024/9546/Academic-Misconduct- Policy.pdf. In submitting your assignment, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood these regulations Please also note that work that is submitted up to 10 working days beyond the submission date will be considered a late submission. Late submissions will be marked, and the actual mark recorded but will be capped at the pass mark (typically 40%), provided that the work is of a passing standard. Work submitted after this period will not be marked and will be treated as a non-submission. |
| Before you submit |
| Please use the provided checklist below to make sure you are ‘fit to submit’ your work We recommend you use this checklist as soon as you get this assignment brief to help you plan your work |
| Fit to Submit: Assignment Checklist |
| This brief assignment checklist is designed to help you avoid some of the most common mistakes students make in their coursework. Have you read the assignment brief? If not, do so now! In it you will find details of the assessment task, word count, the assessment criteria your work is marked against, and the learning outcomes – the basis for the assessment strategy in each module. Students often lose marks by forgetting some of the more straightforward elements of their assignments. We recommend that you “tick off” each of the points below as you prepare your work for submission. If you need any help, ask your tutor and/or visit https://bucks.ac.uk/students/academicadvice/assessment-and-examination Have you read and understood the assessment criteria? Have you met the learning outcomes? You will lose marks and your work may even be failed if you have not. Have you demonstrated you can think and write critically in the completed work? This means you have supported your arguments/explanations appropriately e.g. using relevant academic sources and you have offered discussion points which extends your own or others’ viewpoints to make reasoned conclusions/judgements. Have you maintained an appropriate tone throughout your work? Is your work formal, focused, developed and clear? Have you checked that the referencing in your assignment is in line with your programme requirements? Have you proof-read your work and used spellcheck software to check your spelling and grammar? Have you checked the presentation of your work is as specified by your tutor, for example, are font size, colour, style, line spacing and margins as the tutor specified? Have you kept to the word count (or equivalent)? If you are not sure, check with your tutor. Can you confirm that the work submitted is your own and maintains academic integrity? |