RESEARCH METHODS - 2019/0

Module Overview

The Research Methods module aims to help students to develop an understanding of the research process and to undertake research leading to successful completion of their dissertation. It enables students to conduct research independently and also provides them with the knowledge, skills and understanding required to develop their proposal for their dissertation. The student identifies their area of research and develops research questions to be answered or hypotheses to be tested in the industry context relevant to their course of study. The module covers ideas, techniques, and methods relevant to different stages of the research process, stressing the interdependence of each stage in conducting effective, coherent and rigorous research. By covering the fundamentals of research methods and research methodologies, this module will enable students to conduct research independently and provide them with the knowledge and understanding needed to do a dissertation.

Module provider

Hospitality, Tourism & Events Management

Module Leader

THOMOPOULOS Nikolas (Hosp & Tour)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• Introduction to research


• Formulating research aims and objectives


• Developing a conceptual framework


• Developing a research proposal


• Writing and presenting the research project


• Critically reviewing the literature


• Sampling strategies


• Data collection methods


• Measurement and scaling (questionnaires)


• Analysing quantitative data


• Obtaining secondary data


• Data collection instruments (interviews and observation)


• Analysing qualitative data


• Negotiating access and ethical issues in research

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

None

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to give the students the opportunity to demonstrate their breadth and depth of understanding of both the theory of research methods and its application to research problems. The assessment consists of formative and summative activities. Only the summative assessment counts towards the student’s final grade for the module:

Formative assessment:

1. A series of formative exercises with immediate explanatory feedback for selected answers

Through the strategy outlined above students will already be familiar with the Requirements for producing a Dissertation Proposal

Summative assessment:

Dissertation Proposal 2500 words

In order to get started on the dissertation students need to write a detailed research proposal that states what they wish to do.

There are a number of reasons for requiring a proposal:

• 
  It gives impetus to get going and start planning research!
  


• 
  Reading around the subject area helps to ensure that there is enough literature to enable a student to complete a critical literature review.
  


• 
  If there is not sufficient literature then there is a need widen the topic area or change it.
  


• 
  With a lot of literature there will be a need to narrow thetopic area.
  


• 
  This planning process involved is vital in clarifying ideas and setting the framework for a methodical piece of research and will ensure a better end result.
  
   
  
  Why 100% weighting?
  
   
  
  The proposal is major piece or work and thus we have reflected that with the weighting. We have found in the past that the proposal was not taken seriously when there was a reduced weighting or even no mark attached to it. This meant that students were substantially delayed in giving serious thought to the dissertation.
  
   
  

Module aims

• • Introduce the fundamentals of the research process
• • Enable students to effectively define their research problem
• • Compose a detailed research proposal on a topic relevant to your Programme
• • Identify your research approach within the general framework of research methodology
• • Locate information from a variety of secondary sources
• • Write a critical literature review that deals effectively with relevant concepts/theories/models
• • Provide students with an introduction to qualitative and quantitative research methods
• • Explain the differences between quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques and analysis procedures
• • Provide students with hands-on experience with basic data collection and data analysis
• • Stress the ethical aspects of research and how to embed them into research practice.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The teaching and learning strategy for this module is designed to encourage students to think critically about the different stages of the research process and to engage in evaluating the different research methods and techniques.

 A. The principal teaching and learning method is a 2 hour weekly session with 1 hour seminar including several elements that achieve to module learning outcomes: 

• Lectures delivered by the module tutors designed to develop an understanding of theory. 


• Student-led class discussions of mini case studies and research scenarios to put theory into application and transform the acquired knowledge into practice.  


• 
  B. Students are expected to support the work undertaken during each lecture by undertaking a number of independent learning activities: 
  

• Preparatory reading with questions to guide their note taking. 


• Follow up exercises to consolidate their learning, where appropriate applying this to new situations. 


• 
  Guided further reading to enable them to extend their knowledge and understanding.
  

 

B.The University’s virtual learning environment (SurreyLearn) will be used to support student learning by providing them with additional resources and links to useful websites. SurreyLearn will also be used for further discussion of the module topics between the students and the lecturers as well as the students and their colleagues. Additionally, PowerPoint presentations and case studies used by the lecturers will be placed on SurreyLearn before the lecture so that students may print off copies in time for the lecture.

The ethos of this module is that students will learn best when they become active participants in the learning process and this is reflected in all elements of the module design. For example: 

• Students will be expected to participate in lectures and undertaking a range of other tasks.


• Students will be expected to actively engage in any statistics practical classes held in the computer labs.


• Not all elements of the curricula will be covered in detail in the lecture programme, students will be expected to find things out for themselves.


• Students will be expected to prepare for all lectures by undertaking the pre-reading.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MANM386

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2019/0 academic year.