ADV715 Project Design for Research Module handbook 2026 | UoP

Welcome to Project Design for Research

Welcome to the Master’s level Project Design for Research modules. Whether you are aiming to become an advanced level practitioner or a leader in clinical research or health sciences, this module will help equip you with the tools you need to push forward research-based practice. 

This module is also a core preparatory module for your dissertation, [ADV716 or MCR703 or SOHP710]. To proceed to your dissertation submission, you must undertake this module and pass the summative assignment.

This module will provide you with the opportunity to develop a project proposal for a piece of research that is relevant to you. You will need to follow a series of steps to develop your research question, inform decisions about the most appropriate research design and methods used to identify and analyse the data. The structured taught component of the module will help you to increase your research knowledge and skills, including consideration of philosophical, methodological, and ethical issues. You will need to supplement this with independent study and wider reading as well. You will also be allocated an individual supervisor who is there to support and guide you to develop and refine your research ideas. 

I hope you will enjoy this module and I encourage you to keep in regular contact with your supervisor, contact me with questions and make use of the Moodle site as a resource to support your learning. 

Your Supervisor

This module involves supervision by an allocated academic in a relevant area of professional expertise. They will supervise you during your research project. It is important that you begin supervision early in this module - if you have not already identified a supervisor, please contact the module lead.

Administrative support

All learners can access administrative support for issues such as sickness/absence, Tier 4 issues, and extenuating circumstances via our Professional Development Unit.

All the module content (module handbook, module tasks, taught content etc.) will be held on this central metasite. You will also find a central forum to get to know each other and questions about the module. 

Learners will also have access to specific learning site in which you will submit your final summative assignment.

Module aims and learning outcomes

The aim of this module is to provide you with the knowledge and skills required to design a research project. At the end of the module, you will be expected to be able to:
1.    Develop and refine a research question with an accompanying clear overall aim and a concise but complete set of feasible objectives. 
2.    This above question, aim and objectives will be justified by a topical review of the literature and critical appraisal of methodological issues of previous research in order to justify your own methods (i.e., a methodology).
3.    Identify and provide a clear account of appropriate research design, methods, and analytic techniques for your proposed research.
4.    Formulate a complete research proposal considerate of ethics, cost, resources, risk management and timescales.
 
(Please see the Definitive Module Record, DMR, in the Appendix for further details)

Module Activity Overview

This is a 20-credit module which entails a notional 200 hours of study. As a general guide, the assignment accounts for approximately one third of your study time. The study blocks account for approximately 30 hours and approximately about 12/13 hours per week, over the 8 week module, for self-managed learning.

Self-Managed Learning (SML)

Self-Managed Learning gives you the opportunity to carry out personal enquiry relevant to your area of practice. 

As level 7 Master's student, self-managed learning is both expected and necessary for successful completion of this module. This will involve a large element of independent study outside the timetabled hours of the module, as well as reading around your topic area and proposed research methods. You are expected to be enterprising to find our own material and to read around the subject using a wide variety of different resources and literature.

You will need to read widely around the subject but also to focus on evidence applicable to your own area of practice. The potential range of sources available is large therefore you will need to be selective in your reading and be able to justify your selection. It is useful to keep a reflective log during your studies, where you can record your thoughts and ideas and keep track of your progress, including your literature search trail.

Taught Learning and Attendance

The module involves five taught days at the university, delivered as a block of 2 days, and 3 days. If you enrol as ‘an attendance student’ (synchronous face-to-face or remote) you will see the module code ADV715 in your Moodle DLE dashboard. There is also a formal option for this module to be studied by remote asynchronous online learning methods. You can register for this option as ‘a distance student’, in which case you will see the module code ADV715Z in your Moodle DLE dashboard. 

Attendance days will consist of a mixture of lectures, workshops, and seminars and one formative assessment presentation day embedded in day 3. Many of these sessions are delivered through blended learning, allowing great flexibility to meet the needs of our learners.

Self-Managed Learning and development of academic writing skills

If you have not recently undertaken a literature search or systematic critical appraisal of evidence base, please choose any of the below options to help:

A.    Contact learning support
B.    Explore library resources
C.    Contact our faculty Information Specialist, Kerri Daymond or visit them at Library and Digital Support, Library (Plymouth), Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, +44 1752 587146. 

Research Proposal Feasibility and Ethics

When deciding on the topic for your research it is important to bear in mind the scale and ambition of the topic. This is essential for students with commissioned places. Please discuss the feasibility and scope of your project with your supervisor at your earliest convenience. 

If you are conducting evidence synthesis (a systematic review, scoping review, literature review) you do not require ethical approval. 

If you are not conducting ‘research’ but instead proposing a service evaluation or audit, please notify your supervisor and the module lead. We also advise that you discuss this with your workplace manager and the relevant department for governance approvals at your earliest convenience. 

If you intend to undertake primary research involving the NHS (e.g., through recruitment of patients or staff, data collection etc), please contact the module lead. This will require an application through the Faculty Research Ethics and Integrity Committee (FREIC): Faculty of Health taught masters committee, sponsorship from the University of Plymouth and further application to the Heath Research Authority Approval (HRA). HRA approval is obtained via the online Integrated Research Application System (IRAS). This is a single system for applying for the permissions and approvals for health and social care / community care research in the UK.

International students may also need to obtain research clearance from a research committee in their own country if recruiting/collecting data from their home country. 

Once you have successfully completed Project Design for Research, your supervisor will continue to support you whilst you apply for ethics, and while you write your dissertation.

Supervision 

The role of the supervisor in this module will be to guide, review and comment upon your outlined research proposal. You will be allocated a supervisor in the first block of teaching. Please notify the module lead on Day 1 of teaching if you have not been allocated one. Once a supervisor has been identified, we strongly recommend that you contact your supervisor well ahead of time to book your supervisory meetings. It remains the student's responsibility to ensure that supervisory meetings are booked well in advance. This will increase the likelihood that supervisors will be available to attend and maximise the support provided before the submission deadline.

It is recommended that supervisors and students keep a record of all supervisory meetings, and it is the student's responsibility to minute the meetings accordingly. Meetings may be audio recorded if all parties consent. 

On successful completion of this module students are be expected to continue to work with their supervisor across ADV716 or MCR703 or SOHP703 or DAPOD716 to develop their proposal into a precise research protocol and, if appropriate, obtain relevant ethical approvals. A sound and well-constructed proposal will facilitate a publishable research project.

To help kick-start your effective working relationship with your supervisor, we have compiled a checklist to go through together on your first meeting.

What you can expect from your supervisor

• 5 hours of time inclusive of: meetings and providing formative feedback on assignment work.
• Annotated comments on 500 words of written text and a bullet-ed structure (1 A4 only)
• To either attend or watch a video-recording of the formative presentation 
• Timely return of feedback - there is not a working deadline for this, but the deadline should be a priori agreed by student and supervisor before the formative feedback documentation is submitted. Students need to communicate with the supervisor to negotiate and establish a deadline, bearing in mind that staff teaching / research duties and scheduled leave could affect turn around.

What your supervisor can expect from you

• To contact your supervisor to negotiate supervisor meetings, with adequate notice. Ideally, supervision will support discussion during the idea formation stage, mid-development, and project design refinement.
• To completed minutes of all meetings and share where possible (via email or a shared folder) with the supervisor and any other significant stakeholder involved in the proposed project.
• To contact your supervisor to negotiate dates for return of feedback and comments (formative). You may request annotated comments on 500 words of written text and a bullet-ed structure (no more than 1 A4). The use of headings and subheadings plus brief 1-2 sentence descriptions of each section in this bullet-ed structure will help your supervisor to contextualise the piece and provide meaningful feedback. Formative feedback requests to supervisors should be agreed in advance and ultimately submitted at least one week ahead of the summative submission date.
• Notice if there is any non-attendance 
• Notice if factors may affect assignment submission and if extenuating circumstances have been applied for.
• Acknowledged co-authorship on all project outputs/dissemination, with the University of Plymouth acknowledged as the institution.

Formative Assignment: Your presentation

The first module assignment is a formative presentation of your research proposal. This will be a relatively formal (but not intimidating) presentation to a mixed audience of academics and your peers (other students enrolled on the module). 

The purpose of this activity is three-fold.  

1.    It will enable you to talk through and justify your project idea in a relatively short space of time (10 mins) and in doing so consolidate your own understanding of the proposal and start the practice of succinctly communicating your ideas.

2.    It will generate feedback from multiple minds; You will receive constructive comments from your peers and experts in the clinical/methodological field to suggest where improvements could be made to access a wider readership.

3.    You yourself will become a reviewer; by critiquing other project designs you will become more critical and discerning with regards to your own! If you pursue a career as a clinical researcher you will need to continue this life-long skill (e.g., reviewing other's manuscripts, grant applications).

Formative presentations are 10 minutes in duration with 5 minutes of follow-up questions /feedback. Video recordings will be undertaken and made available for supervisors who are unable to attend the day. 

Presentation slots are bookable for Day 3 on the shared metasite. Please upload your presentations to the DLE Moodle site under ‘Formative submissions’ 24 hours in advance. If urgent changes to your presentation have been made, please bring a USB that can facilitate fast upload of the file to the computer in use.

Presentation materials available are PowerPoint.  Flip charts. White boards and pens. The use of hand-outs is acceptable but not necessary. This list is not exhaustive. To request presentation materials other than PowerPoint, please contact the module lead one week ahead of the presentation date.

In addition to formative feedback gained during the formative presentation on attendance day 3, you may request formative feedback from your supervisor. Please refer to 'Supervision’ for details.

Summative Assignment

3000-word research proposal +/- 10% 
The word count is not inclusive of abstract (~250 words) references, tables, and text within figures.

Assignments due (summative date): Thursday 27th March 2025 at 4pm

Feedback and provisional grades anticipated: 1st May 2025

Please note that it is conventional for students to begin preparing an application to ethics before the receipt of feedback. It is anticipated that this will be fine tweaked following receipt of feedback and not submitted until feedback is released and acted upon.

If you wish to submit extenuating circumstances, refer to the University of Plymouth webpages for advice and alert the programme and module leads.

Please note that only those who have submitted their ADV715 proposal may progress onto the next January start date of ADV716/MCR703 or the start date of SOHP703/DAPOD716 (depending on your programme enrolment).

To progress onto your research dissertation module, you need to submit for ADV715. It is worth noting that non-submission (even with supporting and validated extenuating circumstances) will prevent immediate progression. For those on part time courses, this may not be an issue but if you are on a full-time year long course, this is worth remembering.

To pass ADV715, the submission must be passed with a grade of 50% or above. Resubmissions following initial referrals will be capped at 50%. Those with approved valid extenuating circumstances will not be capped (if on first attempt). Please let the module lead, your supervisor and your programme lead aware of any non-submission, withdrawal from the module or non-submission with submission of extenuating circumstances.

Please note that only those who have submitted their ADV715 proposal may progress onto the next start date of the research dissertation module.

Summative Assignment details

Summative Assignment: A research proposal [Word count = 3,000 ±10%]

The purpose of this assignment is to aid development of a well-reasoned research proposal.

Essential Components of a Proposal

Please also see the feedback form with mapping to the generic M-level marking rubric criteria in appendix 4

• An ‘executive Summary’ or ‘abstract’ (~250 words), written for a lay audience. This will not be included in the 3000-word count.
• An Introduction (or Background) section to describe the research area and begin to justify both the need for the research topic and the methodological approach.

1.)    A brief introduction to the topic

2.)    A literature review of the topic (if you are exploring a research question that has been tested before but with a new / novel methodological approach, you may also choose to bring your methodology up into this section)

• Aims and Objectives – a summary of what you intend to achieve (your overall aim), how you will achieve the aim (objectives). If you are adopting a quantitative design and intend to test true and null hypotheses, add this into this section.
  
  
• Methods (e.g., participants, recruitment, data collection, analysis)

• Statement of research approach
• Justification of research approach and decisions regarding the details of the research design. A ‘methodology’: Describes the broad philosophical underpinning to your chosen research methods, examining other past methodological approaches to asking the same (or similar) research question(s) and critically appraising these in order to synthesise justification for your own proposed methods.
• A clear proposed recruitment and sampling procedure
• A clear proposed data collection procedure

• Additional project specific information

• Anticipated findings and their relevance including a clear proposed and justified analysis procedure
• Timelines and milestones, think all the way from now through to dissemination
• Budget/costings (think these through and detail even if they are hidden costs)
• Feasibility, ethical issues and any other issues of note

If you are unsure of what is required the sections, please refer to appendix 4 for some helpful prompt questions regarding this and ask your supervisor if you require any further explanation.

Academic Writing

As this is a level 7 module, you are expected to be critical, analytical, and evaluative rather than purely descriptive. Although some description will be necessary, try to weave in critical tones wherever possible. 

If you are unsure about academic writing style, please contact learning support, attend the writing cafe or submit a formative sample of text for your supervisor to review (up to 500 words). Pay attention to accurate and coherent English, and to grammar and spelling. 

Referencing

You need to accurately reference in the text and reference list. The School of Health Professions at Plymouth University uses the Harvard style of referencing (Pears, R. & Shields, G. (2019) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide.

Copies of this book can be found in the library or you can purchase a copy from most bookshops. Resources on referencing are also available online from the university.

You may wish to use the Endnote, Endnote Web or Mendeley reference management system which helps to store your references and to create bibliographies in a chosen style. The Cite Them Right style can be found as a style choice. Training sessions on using Endnote are offered throughout the academic year and details are available online. You should contact your subject librarian for more details.

Summative feedback

Marking with feedback will normally be returned within four weeks. You will be notified of any circumstances that result in a delay/later release date. The staff team appreciate that students want a speedy response and are eager to have their marks. Marking is a thorough, fair, and structured process that involves first marking of all work, second marking of a sample of work, as well as internal and external moderation. This is not a process that can be hurried and requires due care and attention. So, students should appreciate that to turn around all the marking in four weeks is a very quick response rate.
 
Following release of marks, students may make an appointment by email to further discuss their feedback with the module tutors. This support is available to all students. No mark is final until it has been ratified by the external examiner and the Assessment Panel and Board.

Failing an assignment

If you fail an assignment, you will be notified as having a ‘referral’. The date for re-submission is set at the assessment panel and board meeting (meeting dates vary but this is typically three times per year in the autumn, spring, and summer terms). You will be notified by the professional development unit with dates to resubmit – this can vary but is typically 6-8 weeks after the board meets.

If you are in the position of having a ‘referral’ for an assessment, meaning that you need to give in a re-submission or a delayed submission (agreed under the extenuating circumstances policy for example), you are advised to note carefully the dates indicated for the referral process supplied by the professional development unit.  Students are advised not to book holidays or other events that will prevent them participating in any referred assessment that will require them to attend the university. Holidays are not considered an Extenuating Circumstance. Students with multiple referrals across more than one module are advised to seek the advice of their programme lead as soon as possible.