Research Report 1 2 3

You are to choose 6 research journal articles which relate to any built environment topic(s) that are of interest to you, or that are relevant to your dissertation. There is no penalty for choosing six articles on the same topic. You must choose 2 qualitative, 2 quantitative and 2 mixed methods articles for this coursework. You are to write a 3000 word report (excluding references and appendices) on research methodology based around the reading done from your chosen articles and other sources (i.e. statistics/research methods textbooks) in order to illustrate the points you make. This module is concerned with research methods and practice. The coursework will not be marked on which journals you have chosen your articles from. Instead, it will be important to demonstrate an understanding of appropriate research knowledge and techniques to support the reasoned arguments you have made about your chosen articles (i.e. critically appraise the literature covered in each article, consider whether would you have used the same methodological approach, critically evaluate the way in which data was analysed and whether the conclusions the authors’ made are valid based on their chosen method and data collected). There are also some marks available for the general presentation of your report and effective use of referencing.

The coursework is a written individual assignment. You are expected to fully reference all your sources using Harvard referencing style.

If there are any doubts that the work you have submitted is not yours, a viva voce will be held in which you have to demonstrate that it is your work.

It is necessary to use a readable font (i.e. Times New Roman, Calibri or Arial), size 11 or 12, and a line spacing of 1.5 lines; a template for the layout of the report is included at the end of this document. The word limit for the report is 2500-3000 excluding references and appendices.

Marking criteria

 The marking scheme is laid out in the following table. A clear introduction and conclusion (20)

 A critical appraisal of the literature reviewed in each article as well as identifying the justification for the current study (20)

 Clearly state the research methodology techniques that have been used and critically evaluate the rationale of the research design (25)

 Critically evaluate the different ways of collecting and analysing data as well as the conclusions which have been drawn from the research; critically assess the way in which this has been explained in the articles( 25 )

Layout, grammar, writing style References in Harvard style Include 6 chosen articles in appendix Identify which articles are quantitative/qualitative/mixed methods (10)

General advice

 It is strongly suggested that the piece of work submitted here form part of your final dissertation. There are a number of reasons for this:

 · It will help you get the most from the module as understanding the basics of conducting research will enable you to ‘hit the ground running’ when it comes to writing your proposal and dissertation later on (i.e. you will have had the chance to critically assess the research methods of other researchers which will make it easier for you to find good quality references to use in your dissertation).

 · It saves time; study time is at a premium for many students, so this offers an opportunity to “kill two birds with one stone”

Report structure

 Introduction In this section, you should identify your six articles and state which ones belong to each of the three methodologies.

 Appraisal of Literature Review

 Look closely at the marking criteria. This section should only deal with critically appraising the literature reviewed (Introduction and Literature Review sections only) in each article and highlighting the why the current study is being conducted.

 Appraise the literature for the relevant two articles in separate sub-sections (i.e. Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods).

End this section with an overall assessment on your thoughts on the quality of the literature reviewed in each article relating it to what you know about conducting literature reviews of your own.

Overall Strategy (Methodology)

In this section you should discuss and critically evaluate the various methodologies that have been adopted in each article. Focus on emphasising the rationale of the research design in every article and consider why the authors have chosen this particular method or whether you think another technique would have been more appropriate (justify your claims with appropriate references from statistics or research method textbooks).

Evaluate the methods used in each article in separate sub-sections (i.e. Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods). Liverpool John Moores University Page 10 Data collection, analysis and conclusions drawn This section should critically evaluate the way in which data was collected and analysed as well as whether the conclusions that authors’ have drawn from their findings are valid.

Evaluate these three aspects under the appropriate sub-sections (i.e. Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods).