CS957 Research Methods RESIT Assessment Brief 2024-25 | UoS

CS957 Learning Outcomes

On completion of the summative assessment in this module, you will have experience of:

• Defining a research problem based on reading relevant literature.
• Identifying and defining research questions that address the research problem.
• Setting objectives and defining deliverables that address the research questions, and producing a project plan.
• Selecting appropriate research method(s) for undertaking the research.
• Identifying risks and associated contingencies for the successful delivery of a research project.

CS957 Assessment Overview

If you received a FAIL mark at first submission for CS957 Research Methods, you are required to RESIT the module.

For the CS957 Research Methods RESIT, you have one summative assessment to complete.

Resit Summative Assessment:

You are required to resubmit an improved version of your first submission of your CS957 Research Proposal.

You ARE NOT required to choose a new research topic for the resit submission. You must work with the project idea/topic already allocated to you.

You must work with the marking criteria feedback and markers' comments that you received for your first submission attempt to guide your improved effort for this resit.

You ARE NOT permitted to request a meeting with your allocated supervisor during the resit period to guide your resit research proposal preparation, and they ARE NOT permitted to review or comment on your revised proposal draft before submission.

The proposal resit assessment is marked on a PASS / FAIL basis. You must pass this resit assessment to pass the module. More information on this and your requirements is detailed in this document. Please read all the information in this resource carefully.

Module Expectations: Use of Gen-AI tools is unacceptable

The intent of this module is for students to develop an understanding of key research concepts and a critical understanding of their research proposal. Students are expected to critically apply key concepts of research both within their proposal writing and throughout their actual dissertation.

As such, all assessments for CS957 Research Methods should be completed by students themselves and must not make use of material generated through ChatGPT or other generative AI tools. Students who make use of ChatGPT or other generative AI tools will be reported and investigated for suspected academic misconduct, and this may impact not only their marks for CS957 Research Methods but could also have wider implications on their degree progress.

Research Proposal (Summative Assessment)

For the resit summative assessment for CS957 Research Methods, you are required to prepare a structured proposal for a three-month research project.

Your proposal must follow the layout and structure of the provided template described under section 4d Research Proposal Template and Content Expectations.
 
The marking criteria are based on your ability to demonstrate the expected competencies in each required proposal section.

The marking criteria have been specified according to the proposal template, so if you follow the template and address the specified assessed competencies, the greater your chances of achieving an overall pass for this assessment.

Word count

Your proposal must be 3000 words long +/- 10% and you must provide the word count on the assessment front cover.

Your assessment front cover, contents page, figures, tables, diagram and reference list do not count within these 3000 words +/- 10%.

If your proposal is over 3300 words, you will not receive any marks for content beyond this limit, as it will not be assessed by the markers.
If your proposal is under 2700 words, you will receive marking penalties as it will be challenging for you to address the assessed competencies effectively in less than 2700 words.

References

You must use a referencing style fully and consistently for both in-text citations and your reference list. Please review the helpful and detailed information on the Library website about referencing, including details and examples of different referencing styles and formats.

The most common referencing styles you are likely to use in CIS disciplines are ACM, Harvard, Vancouver, IEEE or Chicago. Regardless of which style you adopt, you must use it consistently and correctly throughout your proposal for both in-text citations and your provided reference list at the end of your proposal.

Submission Process

This is an individual assignment.

Assessments will only be accepted electronically via Myplace as a single Word file on the CS957 Module Myplace RESIT submission link. All assessments will go through Turnitin.

You can submit a draft copy to Myplace before submitting the final version.

However, it is your responsibility to press SUBMIT on Myplace to send the final version of your proposal document for marking (i.e. do not leave at DRAFT status). You must do this.
 
The assessment will be subject to the University’s plagiarism and academic dishonesty policies.

Please familiarise yourself with the student information booklet on plagiarism from the University of Strathclyde.

Please familiarise yourself with the academic dishonesty guidance from the University of Strathclyde.

Research Proposal Template and Content Expectations:

Your proposal content must be presented in the specified order, as outlined below under headings 1 - 6. Sections and pages must be numbered. You can use subheadings to help organise your material under each section if required.

Introduction and Literature Review

In this section, you are expected to do the following:

• Clearly articulate the topic for your specific project. 
• Demonstrate a thorough and critical understanding of literature relevant to your specific project.
• Effectively identify research gaps from the literature review that your specific project will address.

Research aim, objectives and research questions

In this section, you are expected to do the following:

• Clearly articulate a research aim appropriate for your specific project.
• Articulate research objectives appropriate for your specific project.
• Articulate research questions relevant to and appropriate for your specific project.

Research Methods

In this section, you are expected to do the following:

• Select an appropriate research methodology to address the research objectives and research questions for your specific project.
• Explain what methods are appropriate for you to use and why to undertake your specific project.
• Justify why the methods you have selected to undertake your research project are appropriate for your specific project.
• Describe and justify why the data analysis approaches you have selected are appropriate for your specific project.

Research plan and deliverables

In this section, you are expected to do the following:

• Provide an appropriate timeline of activities via a tabled time plan or Gantt chart for your specific project.
•  Provide a risk analysis for the successful completion of your specific project and describe appropriate contingency plans.
• Appropriately specify and address any ethical issues relating to your specific project.
• Identify deliverables appropriate for your specific project.

Referencing

In this section, you are expected to do the following:

• Demonstrate an ability to adhere to in-text citation reference best practices consistently for your chosen recognised referencing style.
• Include an appropriately organised and structured reference list relevant to your chosen recognised referencing style.
• Include DOI numbers for each of the cited published journal papers/books/book chapters in your proposal in your reference list.

Overall presentation

• Submit a well-organised proposal with a logical progression of ideas for your specific project.
• Submit a cover sheet that includes your information as appropriate to these headings: Research Project Title, Student Name, Student Registration Number, Degree Programme Name, Date of Submission, Word Count.
• Submit a proposal that meets the specified brief of 3000 words +/- 10% (Excluding assessment front cover, contents page, figures, tables, diagrams and reference list)

To pass each proposal section (headings 1 - 6 above), you are required to demonstrate at least two of its expected competencies to achieve an overall pass for that section of the proposal.

To achieve an overall PASS mark for this assessment and therefore gain the 10 credits for this module, you are required to pass a minimum of 5 out of the 6 sections specified in this template and associated marking criteria.

Resit Submission Deadline

You must submit your RESIT submission to the correct link on Myplace no later than Tuesday, 29th July 2025, 4 pm.

Marking Criteria

Please note, allocated markers will use this set of specified marking criteria to mark your proposal assessment. The marking criteria align to the specified template requirements outlined in your assessment brief.
 
Important: You are required to demonstrate at least two of the expected competencies in each proposal section outlined below to achieve an overall pass for that section of the proposal.

Important: You need to pass at least five of the six proposal sections to pass the CS957 Research Methods proposal assessment overall