Studying at York
Research Project - ENV00011H
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Autumn Term 2022-23 to Summer Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
The Research Project module provides students with the opportunity to undertake individual research in an area of environmental economics, environmental management, environmental science or environmental geography.
Module learning outcomes
Learning outcomes
1. Knowledge and understanding
Successful students will be able to:
- demonstrate knowledge and understanding of recent research within their chosen topic
- demonstrate an understanding of how their specific research complements other research in the relevant area.
2. Skills and attributes
Successful students will be able to:
- identify and define a research topic and related hypothesis
- undertake research work in their own time
- plan and keep to a timetable for the work
- devise appropriate methods for addressing key questions or testing hypotheses in this area including experimental design, field data collection, the construction and testing of models and/or laboratory techniques
- use appropriate statistical techniques to analyse the results of their investigations
- present their research results in the form of a scientific paper
Generic / Employability Skills:
A number of skills are explicitly assessed in this module (see learning outcomes). Most of these skills are of direct relevance to a student's employability.
In completing the project, students will be practicing all of the below skills to a greater or lesser extent depending on their choice of project:
Multi-tasking; Presenting written material; Presenting material orally; Keeping records; computer literacy/Utilization of specialist computer software; Problem Solving/Analytical Skills; Initiative/Self-Starting; adaptability &Flexibility; Creativity; Planning and organisation; Numeracy; Time management
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Formative feedback is offered during the supervisor sessions with individual supervisors. Comments on project proposals and a draft are given by the supervisor.
Feedback on the dissertation is provided on a feedback from that amalgamates comments from both 1st and 2nd markers..
Indicative reading
Field, A & Hole, G. (2003) â How to design and report experimentsâ Sage publications, London.
Excellent, lucid explanation of how to design experiments, analyse data and then write up a report.
Field, A (2005) â Discovering Statistics: using SPSS for Windowsâ Sage publications, London.
Clear, explicit descriptions of how to perform data analysis in SPSS.
Verzani, J. (2005) â Using R for Introductory Statisticsâ Chapman & Hall/CRC, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Clear, explicit descriptions of how to perform data analysis in R.
Champ, P.A., Boyle, K.J. & Brown, T.C. (Eds.) â A primer on nonmarket valuationâ Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
Chapter 3 describes sound methods for designing a survey for data collection.
White P.C.L., Vaughan Jennings N., Renwick A.R. & Barker N.H.L. (2005) â Questionnaires in ecology: a review of past use and recommendations for best practiceâ t;em> Journal of Applied Ecology, 42, 421-430.
â Best practiceâ methods for survey design and data collection
Punch, K (2005) Introduction to social research. SAGE, London.
Bryman, A (2012) Social Research Methods. Oxford.