Research Paper

This course will introduce you to the experience of working with an academic supervisor. You will also develop skills in assimilating academic peer review of your work.  You will develop your research proposal, undertake literature review and apply an appropriate methodology to analyse and evaluate and communicate your research findings in an essay, report, or other format agreed upon by the supervisor in conjunction with the Degree Leader. You will also critically evaluate your research experience of the research process as part of your learning.

Admission requirements

For your enrolment to be approved:

• you must have successfully completed at least 60 credits at Level 6.
• you also need to get your research topic approved by the Degree Leader before the course begins

Research topic approval

To get your research topic approved you need to contact the Degree Leader to discuss your proposed research topic at least one month before the course officially begins. Once your research topic is approved by the Degree Leader, they will appoint an academic supervisor from your major subject area.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with the course leader.

Contact us

What you will learn

When you successfully complete this  course you will be able to:

• identify key issues within the area of the major subject, and formulate research questions capable of addressing those issues
• select and justify appropriate and ethically sound methodologies for undertaking research
• analyse and evaluate relevant literature and data
• demonstrate personal reflection on and evaluation of the learning process.

You will also present research findings in an appropriate format that demonstrates:

• critical thinking
• logical development of argument
• independent judgement
• clear conclusions
• mastery of referencing and bibliographic conventions appropriate to their research material.

The course encompasses:

• identifying an area of interest for investigation
• ethical, methodological and theoretical issues relating to research
• formulating a research question and hypothesis
• research planning and writing to a timeline
• searching the literature for relevant materials
• gathering, analysing and evaluating data
• using appropriate methodologies
• presenting findings, analysis and conclusions
• reflecting on the research experience.

The course materials will give you instruction in research skills and methods to help guide you through the research process.  

Assessment

This course is 100% internally assessed.

Textbooks

No textbooks are needed for this course.

Computer and internet requirements

This course is delivered online, so you will access your course material and submit assessments online. Our online courses may include reading, videos, quizzes or activities, and you may need to download content.

For online learning you need:

• Access to a laptop or desktop computer
• Reliable internet and data plan.  

If you are unsure if your current computer, Windows or internet access will allow you to study online, please contact us before applying to enrol. 

Find out more about online learning 

How to enrol

Before enrolling in this course you need to:

• choose the qualification you will study the course under
• check the order that courses in the qualification should be studied in the Qualification Structure table. This is in the Choose courses and apply tab on the qualification page.