Research Skills Project
Unit code: HES4701
| Credit points | 12.5 Credit Points |
| Duration | 1 Semester |
| Contact hours | 3 Hours per Week |
| Campus | Hawthorn |
| Prerequisites | Completion of 100 credit points of major. |
| Corequisites | Nil |
Related course(s)
A unit of study in the Bachelor of Health Science (Public and Environmental Health), Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry and Chemistry) , Bachelor of Science (Biotechnology) , and Chemistry and Environmental Sustainability Majors.Aims and objectives
- To develop the skills necessary to undertake a research project.
- To assist the student in identifying appropriate research topics and methodologies.
At the completion of this unit, students should be able to;
- Independently gain the necessary knowledge to undertake meaningful research
- Identify appropriate research topics and methodologies
- Perform basic data management tasks and analyses using a computer
- Apply tools of research preparation including problem formulation, undertaking a literature review, research designs, developing a hypothesis, ethical implications, time management, and assessing resourcing implications
- Articulate the contributions of qualitative and quantitative methods to a specific discipline such as environmental health research
- Carry out initial critical appraisals of academic literature
- Draft an academic paper appropriately structured for publication
Generic skills outcomes
Students are expected to enhance all their graduate attributes during this subject and should
consult with their lecturer if they are not clear as to how this subject achieves this. Specifically
graduates will be:
consult with their lecturer if they are not clear as to how this subject achieves this. Specifically
graduates will be:
- Capable in their chosen professional, vocational or study areas
- Entrepreneurial in contributing to innovation and development within their business,
workplace, or community - Aware of their ecological and economic environments
- Effective and ethical in work and community situations
- Adaptable and manage change
- Aware of local and international environments in which they will be contributing
Content
- Identification of proposed research topic, methodology and hypotheses.
- Research preparation: Problem formulation, research design, objectives and scope, ethics.
- Planning strategies, information sources, time management and team work.
- Research methodologies appropriate to the sciences.
- Literature review: abstracting and paraphrasing, citations and bibliographies.
- Research presentation and follow up: layout, style, press release and follow-up strategies.
Reading materials
Leedy, P, Practical Research: Planning and Design, Macmillan, 1993.Bouma, GD ( 2004) The research process, 5th edn, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne
Neuman, WL (2006) Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, 6th
edn, Allen and Bacon, Boston.
Betts, K, Hayward, D & Garnham, N, (2001) Introduction to Quantitative Analysis in the Social
Science, Tertiary Press, Melbourne.
