Planning Research Project A

Course aim

To develop a research proposal in three components that includes scoping of the research topic, a critical appraisal of relevant literature to develop a research aim and questions, and an appropriate research methodology to provide resolution to the identified planning issues.

Course content

Students commence development of an individual research project. Students will learn to identify a relevant research question and articulate its significance for planning scholarship and professional practice, by critically reviewing and evaluate selected literature on their topic, evaluating and adopting an appropriate methodological framework and research methods of specific relevance to their project area. Students will advance their knowledge in contemporary planning scholarship and demonstrate the articulation of this with professional planning practice through the completion of an individual research proposal, that includes a literature review, a methodology and research ethics. Students are guided in selecting an appropriate research topic aligned with their research interests, an aspect of this program’s content and academic staff supervisory expertise. The first component of coursework in this course is to develop a précis of the research proposed, which then leads to the second component of coursework, a critical review of literature relevant to the field, and this is then subsequently used to develop the third component of coursework, in which an appropriate project methodology is developed, together with project ethics (if applicable). Where an ethics application is required for the proposed research, then this will be completed under the supervision guidance of the nominated thesis supervisor.

Textbook(s)

Matthews, B. and Ross, L., 2010, Research Methods: A practical guide for the social sciences, 1st edition, Longman/Pearson Education

Prerequisite(s)

Common to all relevant programs
Subject Area & Catalogue Number	Course Name
VSAR 4003	AAD Research Methods

Corequisite(s)

Nil

Teaching method

Component	Duration
INTERNAL, CITY WEST
Seminar	2 hours x 3 weeks
Directed Study	N/A x 10 weeks

Note: These components may or may not be scheduled in every study period. Please refer to the timetable for further details.

Assessment

Research proposal, Review

Note: This is a non-graded course and your result will be a pass or fail.

Fees

EFTSL*: 0.125
Commonwealth Supported program (Band 2)
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Fee-paying program for domestic and international students
International students and students undertaking this course as part of a postgraduate fee paying program must refer to the relevant program home page to determine the cost for undertaking this course.

Non-award enrolment
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* Equivalent Full Time Study Load. Please note: all EFTSL values are published and calculated at ten decimal places. Values are displayed to three decimal places for ease of interpretation.