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Independent Research Project: Research Question (C1)

An introduction to the independent research project process.

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  • Duration

    1 week

  • Weekly study

    3 hours
Overview
Requirements
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Practical suggestions and activities to help develop a good research question

This course will help you to develop your research project title and scope in addition to guidance from your supervisor and your own independent research. It is not a taught course but a series of short courses which supports your research within a community of researchers. It introduces the research process and then focuses on practical activities to help you frame an appropriate research question.

What topics will you cover?

During this course you will cover the following topics:

  • How to work through the short course, interact with the short courses and the study groups
  • The process of identifying, refining and a potential independent research project topic
  • The importance of checking that your topic fulfills the necessary criteria
  • How to write a precise aim and objectives, and use them to define the scope of your research question

This is supported through the following activities:

  • Brainstorming potential topic ideas
  • Systematically narrowing down your ideas to ensure your favoured one is within the scope of an independent research project and your degree’s specific guidance
  • Exploring the literature search capabilities of Locate
  • Identifying one or more key initial sources for your independent research project and the key words that are relevant
  • Formulating draft aims and objectives for your project
  • Producing a concise statement summarising your research question, research aim and research objectives

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

Who is the course for?

Postgraduate students undertaking their final project.

Who developed the course?

Coventry University

Coventry secured 5 QS Stars for Teaching and Online Learning in the QS World University Ranking 2020 and has received No. 1 in the world for Massive Open Online Courses in MoocLab’s World University Ranking 2021.

  • Established

    1992

  • Location

    Coventry

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