An awareness of research governance

Aims of the Module
To enable students to carry out either a critical review of the current literature, or a piece of empirical research, on an issue related to medical imaging/practice.

Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion, you will be able to:

1. Write a research proposal with a clear rationale and a good analytical research question or questions, demonstrating an awareness of research governance
2. Undertake the research or review, using an appropriate methodology, in an unbiased way, critically evaluating each step in the research process
3. Analyse the findings/review with comprehensive justification of methodology and interpretation of the findings/review.
4. Synthesise the findings/review within the body of knowledge relevant to the research question.
5. Draw sound conclusions from the research, demonstrating the ability to make complex judgments and recommend areas for further research.

Indicative Module Content
• The theoretical, methodological and practical foundation for the typical tasks a researcher would have to undertake.
• The sources and the nature of evidence; research theories and approaches; design options; methodologies; project planning; fieldwork preparation; and data analysis.
• A range of research methodologies will be covered and students encouraged to link this with problem appraisal and appropriate design choices.

Indicative Student Workload (hours)
Project Supervision 10

Guided independent study 590

Formative Assessment –
Formative assessment provides an opportunity for you to receive feedback on work as part of your learning for the module. Formative work does not have marks awarded that contribute to the final module mark.
Students must submit a proposal directly linked to their proposed MSc dissertation.
From this work, constructive feedback will be offered and an appropriate dissertation supervisor will be assigned to each student. Feedback will be provided during supervision as directed between the supervisor and student.

Summative Assessment –
Summative assessment provides the opportunity for you to demonstrate that you have met the learning outcomes for the module.
Size of the assessment ILOs assessed Weighting Is anonymous marking possible? Core element?*
Dissertation
15,000 words
1-5
100%
Yes
Yes

Brief description of set exercise (if appropriate)

• By default, your final module grade will be an aggregated mark. However, if this box is marked ‘yes,’ then you must successfully pass this item of assessment regardless of the overall aggregated mark.

Reassessment
Reassessment in the failed component(s) will be undertaken as stated in the Academic Regulations.

Indicative Core Bibliography
Set text: No set texts for this module.
Essential reading:
Boslaugh, S. (2012) Statistics in a Nutshell. (2nd edn.) Cambridge: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Bowling, A. (2014) Research methods in health: investigating health and health services (4th edn.) Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Open University Press.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research Design. Quantitative, Qualitative & Mixed Methods Approaches. (4th edn). London: Sage.
Davies, M. B. (2014) Doing a successful research project: using qualitative or quantitative methods. (2nd edn.) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Department of Health (2005) Research Governance Framework for Health and Social Care. (2nd edn.) London: Department of Health.
Dickson-Swift, V.L., Liamputtang, P. and James, E. (2008) Undertaking Sensitive Research in the Health and Social Sciences: Managing Boundaries, Emotions and Risks. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.
Finlay, L. and Ballinger, C. (2006) Qualitative Research for Allied Health Professionals: Challenging Choices Chichester: Wiley & Sons.
Green, J. and Thorogood, N. (2009) Qualitative Methods for Health Research. (2nd edn.) London: SAGE.
Long, T. and Johnson, M. (2007) Research Ethics in the Real World: Issues and Solutions for Health and Social Care. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier.
Pallant, J. (2013) The SPSS Survival Guide. (5th edn.)Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Polit, D.F. and Beck, C.T. (2012) Nursing research: generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice. (9th edn.). Philadelphia; London: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Saks, M. and Allsop, J. (2013) Researching Health: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods. (2nd edn.) London: Sage.
Salkind, N., (2014) Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics. (4th edn.) Los Angeles: Sage.
Silverman, D. (2013) Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook. (4th edn.) London: Sage.
Teddlie, C. and Tashakkori, A. (2009) Foundations of Mixed Methods Research: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches in the Social and Behavioural Sciences. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Additional Notes
1) The overall pass mark for the academic component of this module is 50%.
2) The students will receive supervisory support throughout the research project; this will be concentrated at the design and writing up stages.
3) A pre-requisite for this module is successful completion of HMSU7074, or equivalent APL.

Stand-Alone Study
This module may only be studied on a stand-alone basis with satisfactory APL of a 120 of underpinning study which maps satisfactorily to one of our named MSc Medical Imaging target awards.

Sample Solution