Studying at York
MEnv Dissertation - ENV00056M
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Autumn Term 2022-23 to Summer Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
The MEnv dissertation module provides students with the opportunity to undertake an in-depth individual research project in an area of interest within their specialist stream. It will enable them to develop a suite of independent study skills. Following on from the Advanced Literature Review in year 3, the students will construct and follow a research plan that enables them to undertake a novel piece of research over the course of year 4. They will then present this research in the form of a research paper in summer week 5.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a deep and systematic understanding of a specific research topic
- Critically evaluate research, advanced scholarship and methodologies and argue alternative approaches
- Collect and analyse data
- Manage their time
- Engage confidently in academic and professional communication (both orally and written) with others, reporting on action clearly, autonomously and competently
- Identify continuing profession al study needs, adapt and develop new skills for new situations, network with others and manage their own learning
- Formulate a suitable research question and be able to identify appropriate methods for addressing the question with minimum guidance
- Present data clearly in figures, diagrams and tables
- Utilise information technology and bibliographic search techniques appropriately to create and/or present data and analysis clearly
- Integrate source material and evidence coherently into their writing and reference it accurately
- Engage in appropriate writing processes, such as planning, drafting and proof-reading to produce a polished piece of writing
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
None
Module feedback
Feedback is provided through departmental standard feedback forms.
Indicative reading
You may find the following textbooks and papers helpful:
Bryman, A (2012) Social Research Methods. Oxford.
Champ, P.A., Boyle, K.J. & Brown, T.C. (Eds.) 'A primer on nonmarket valuation', Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
Chapter 3 describes sound methods for designing a survey for data collection.
Field, A & Hole, G. (2003) 'How to design and report experiments', Sage publications, London.
Excellent, lucid explanation of how to design experiments, analyse data and then write up a report.
Field, A (2005) 'Discovering Statistics: using SPSS for Windows', Sage publications, London.
Clear, explicit descriptions of how to perform data analysis in SPSS.
Punch, K (2005) Introduction to social research. SAGE, London.
Verzani, J. (2005) 'Using R for Introductory Statistics', Chapman & Hall/CRC, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Clear, explicit descriptions of how to perform data analysis in R.
White P.C.L., Vaughan Jennings N., Renwick A.R. & Barker N.H.L. (2005) 'Questionnaires in ecology: a review of past use and recommendations for best practice' Journal of Applied Ecology, 42, 421 - 430. 'Best practice' methods for survey design and data collection.