Task details
and
instructions:
This assignment is a critical exploration of research techniques/
methods/ procedures in the context of your professional field of
practice. You should:
Choose a topic of relevance to your profession that interests
you. Create a simple search strategy to locate contemporary
literature on your area of enquiry. Run the search in a database
that is relevant to your profession. Select two primary research
studies from the literature as the focus of your essay.
Identify the research techniques/ methods/ procedures used in
the studies before providing a critical exploration of these in the
context of the two papers. NB. You are NOT expected to
complete a critical appraisal of each paper. Throughout your
discussion consider any ethical issues that are relevant to the
studies and the clinical nature of the participants.
NB Your essay should include details of all the points mentioned
above. The hyperlinks in the text below take you to useful
explanations and/or supplementary information.
Possible broad topic areas
You are NOT conducting a piece of research therefore you do
NOT need to create a research question. You do, however need
to identify a focused topic area to use to demonstrate your
understanding of the way research techniques/ methods/
procedures apply within your field of practice.
The following list of broad topic areas are examples. They should
be considered indicative rather than definitive and you are
encouraged to choose a topic of interest to you.
• A specific health condition and aspects of its
management.
• An aspect of professional practice and its application
within the context of health and social care provision.
• An organisational aspect of health and social care
provision.
• The impact of a piece of specific health or social care
legislation.
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Remember, the topic is NOT the focus of your assignment, it is
purely a vehicle to demonstrate your knowledge of the research
methods used to investigate it.
Database searching
You should conduct your search on a discipline-appropriate
electronic database accessed via the A-Z list of databases on the
Library Gateway. Suitable databases include: Medline,
Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature
(CINAHL), Assia and Psychinfo
N.B The Library Gateway itself is NOT a suitable database, nor is
Google Scholar.
You are advised to use a structured search (e.g., PEO, PICO,
PICOS, SPIDER etc.) however you can still demonstrate your
competence by using a range of search techniques such as
Boolean Operators (to combine key words); truncation; wild
cards.
To ensure currency of evidence, the two main articles you select
should have been published in the past five years.
The two articles should also be primary research NOT literature
reviews or other forms of secondary research. They should both
be investigating the same broad topic area but may have
different aims / questions. They can employ the same research
techniques/ methods/ procedures of use different ones.
You should use screen capture (e.g., Ctrl + Prtscn) to evidence
your search and include this image as an appendix to your
assignment which you should signpost readers to from the
account of your search (see example).
Research techniques/ methods/ procedures.
Although this module covers the whole research process, your
assignment should not. Instead, it should focus on the inner
‘segment’ of Saunders et al’s (2007) Research Onion i.e., the
actual techniques/ methods/ procedures used in the studies,
rather than their broader designs, methodologies, or
underpinning philosophy.
The terms techniques/methods/ procedures are often used
interchangeably however, be aware that the method sections of
your chosen articles are likely to contain details of more than
just the techniques/ procedures. For the purposes of this
assignment, you should focus on one or more of the topics
covered in sessions K-M of the module i.e. recruitment, data
collection, and / or data analysis.
You can select papers that have used different techniques/
methods/ procedures (for example, you could explore the use of
individual interviews versus focus group discussions, or the use
of surveys versus individual interviews, for data collection).
Alternatively, you could select papers that have used the same
technique/ method/ procedure (for example, you could focus on
surveys and explore the ways in which they are administered in
your two studies, or you could focus on a particular statistical
analysis approach used in both papers.
In all cases, you should critically discuss the principles of your
chosen techniques/ methods/ procedures, with reference to a
range of authoritative literature regarding the research process.
You should also consider how they have been applied in your
selected studies.
Ethical Issues
You should also consider the ethical aspects of the research (see
module session J) and how those have been applied in the
studies you focus on. This should be reflected throughout your
discussion. For example, if you focus on an aspect of
recruitment, you should consider the ethical issues related to
selection and recruitment of the study population.
Presentation format
• Your work MUST be presented electronically
• Use a clear font such as Arial, Verdana or Times New Roman
using font size 12 and black text colour.
• Your work should be submitted in Microsoft Word format for
example .doc or .docx file type. All SHU computers have
Microsoft Word installed. If you are using your home
computer and you don’t have Word installed or use a Mac
you can either use your free SHU Office 365 account to
create your assignments in Word online, download and then
upload the document to grade centre OR to create the
assignment in Pages and export to Word then upload.
• Text should be presented using double line spacing except
for quotes over two lines long which should be indented and
single spaced as per SHU referencing Guidelines.
• Pages must be clearly numbered.
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• Avoid using bullet points. It is preferable to express your
ideas using complete and structured sentences.
• Leave yourself time to proof read for errors and omissions.
Marks will be lost if assignments contain numerous errors of
grammar, spelling and style, or, if cited references and the
reference list do not match or the source material is not
properly incorporated in the text.
• Use the front page provided with the following information
detailed in the example at the end of this document.
• If you have a Learning Contract, please ensure that you copy
the wording of the sticker given to you by the disabled
student support team onto the front page of your
assignment
Referencing style/requirements
• All work must be accurately referenced using the APA.
method. It is vital that you familiarise yourself with the
system and apply it correctly. Please see Referencing
guidelines for more detail.
• It is advised that you aim to submit by the submission date
as the submission link will close after the grace period has
lapsed.
Please remember:
• Check your hand-in date and time carefully; late assignments
will not be accepted, unless there is an approved extension.
Late submissions after the 1 working day grace period will be
recorded as a fail.
• Keep a copy of all your work and back-up with a USB stick.
You should also keep a hard copy of all your submitted work.
• Do not lend your work to another student and do not leave
your work (USB stick) where it can be accessed by others.
• Ensure that you are familiar with the Cheating and Plagiarism
Regulations
• Ensure that you have accurately referenced all quotations
within the assignment and that all references used in the
text are accurately identified in the reference list.
• Ensure that you have included a full reference list at the end
of your assignment and that you have followed the
University guidelines for referencing.
• Any reference to workplaces, patients, clients, carers and
their family must maintain anonymity and confidentiality.
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Failure to maintain confidentiality will result in academic
misconduct proceedings.
• If you have any problems which may result in you not being
able to meet your deadline contact Hallam Help at the
earliest opportunity. Please do not wait until the day of
submission to raise a problem or ask for help.
Module
learning
outcomes:
On successful completion of this assessment, you will be able to:
1. Objectively appraise the literature using effective electronic
search strategies related to a contemporary issue relevant to your
area of practice
2. Explore the selected topic and organise your findings to
summarise what is known and how collectively this has advanced
your understanding of the topic.
3. Evaluate how the skills of critical enquiry might positively
contribute to your area of practice.
4. Critically discuss the professional, ethical and practical factors
that are relevant to the topic area
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