Overview

Indicative content includes:

• Research theory basics: paradigms, domains and approaches.
• Contextualisation of Research Methods in relation to BSc project scope.
• Research process: design, planning, and implementation.
• Coping with information overload, selection of secondary sources, their critical evaluation and role in independent research. Structuring literature review to inform theoretical framework and justify selection of methodology.
• Research rationale; setting research objectives and developing hypotheses.
• Primary data collection methods.
• Statistical principles of data analysis.
• Summarising results and arriving to meaningful conclusions.
• Preparing research proposals.
• Professional, legal, social, cultural and ethical issues related to computing/engineering and an awareness of societal and environmental impact of research projects.

Learning Outcomes

• Distinguish the relative worth of different sources of research/information and construct an ordered review of these sources.

• Employ methodologies for planning, conducting and reporting scientific experiments.

• Recognise and employ all appropriate techniques, rules and conventions to communicate with a scientifically literate audience.