CET351 Assignment 1

CET351 Assignment 1: Research Plan

This assignment is worth 50% of the module mark

Please read all of these instructions carefully!

You are to write a detailed description of the processes and steps you take to conduct a systematic literature survey for a research project you have chosen for this assignment. The research project should be relevant to your degree but is otherwise of your own choice to demonstrate your ability to propose and plan a well justified and scientifically rigorous research project that includes detailed plans to evaluate the research outcomes. You are required to justify this work with reference to scientific theory and produce a viable schedule for this proposed work.

Essential Information

The following learning outcomes are assessed by this assignment:-

Knowledge

• An understanding of current research, scientific principles and research methodology within an area appropriate to the students named degree.

• An understanding of legal, ethical, social and professional issues that relate to research.

Skills

• the ability to plan and schedule a research project taking into account legal, ethical, social and professional issues.

Write a Project Proposal

Use the template provided in this assignment to write research proposal. You should include the following sections in the final report. See the assignment template for information on the type of content for each section.

1)Justification of the Research Proposed

2)The Project Aim

3)The Project Objectives

4)Contribution

5)The Proposed Research Framework/Methodology

6)Research Materials Selection Process

7)References

8)Schedule

9)Gantt Chart

See the template provided below for this assignment, replacing the comments and placeholders with the appropriate information, as a guide to help you complete each of the above sections.

The word limit for this part of the assignment is about 3000 words (with 10% more or fewer than 3000 words allowance). The word limit excludes the references, the schedule and Gantt chart as described later) and you must put the word count on your assignment cover sheet (see template below).

Write a Project Schedule and matching Gantt chart.

Having written the project proposal you are to produce a viable schedule and Gantt chart for this project and in doing so the whole thing will become a detailed viable project plan. For this you should assume that this project will be undertaken by one person, over a period of 10 weeks (working between 35 and 40 hours per week). Assume you start the project from September 2024.

Use the templates provided below for the schedule and Gantt chart.

In order to produce a good schedule, you should take the project proposal, looking in particular at the objectives and the proposed methodology, and break these down into a detailed set of tasks with appropriate timing and resource (hours) allocation to generate a proposed schedule. Then generate a Gantt chart to visualise the order and timing of these tasks.

Please pay attention to the following considerations:

• Each task should be clearly worded and be as specific to this project as possible. Vague wording that could apply to many projects such as ‘design system’ should be avoided.

• Assume this project will be undertaken by one person spending a period of 10 weeks (working between 35 and 40 hours per week).

• Break down larger tasks into several appropriately smaller more manageable tasks (most of these tasks should be no more than 20 hours each and none of the weeks should have more than 40 hours).

• Make sure there is a clear mapping between the project objectives and the tasks on the schedule.

• Consider the deliverables. These should be clearly defined products that come naturally from completing each task (e.g. a list of research papers or a set of design diagrams).

• Consider which tasks can be done in parallel and which are logically building one on the other

The Project plan should occupy the last two sections of the template provided below:

At the end of this document a detailed marking scheme is provided. Familiarising yourself with it and using it to for guidance should help you gain maximum marks for this assignment. Excellent sample assignments are also provided for guidance with the module materials.

Use this section of this document as a template for your assignment deleting the section descriptions and replacing them with your assignment text

CET351 Research – Project Plan

<Student’s Name>

<Student’s Registration Number>

<The name of the degree you are studying>

< Centre (if off campus)>

<Title of Proposed Project>

Word count <number of words>

1. Justification of the Research Proposed

Introduce the project and explain the context. What is the background to your chosen research topic? Consult the literature papers you have identified and read about the topic to describe the research topic. Citing journal and / or conference papers as evidence to support your description.

Keep in mind that this research project is not about developing a new system, or solving one client’s problems but should aim to extend one aspect of our knowledge. For example, identifying a limitation(s) in the current methodologies published so far.

Cite your sources and provide details of these in your reference list in the Harvard referencing format. Ensure your citations are in the correct format i.e. the name should be outside of the ( )’s if part of the sentence. The format of the name should be the same format as used in the reference list. Use the following online resource for correct literature citation and referencing (https://www.citethemrightonline.com/).

2. The Project Aim

Based on the introduction, state clearly the proposed aim of the investigation from a scientific perspective i.e. what new knowledge/information will come from undertaking this investigation?

This statement on the project aim should be very short (no more than 50 words) and clear. One or two sentences are enough. This should not need a long explanation.

This is a research project and thus the main aim should have a knowledge outcome. An unacceptable aim would be to ‘develop a system for a client’ – this would be a practical outcome not an expression of knowledge that would help the wider computing community.

3. The Project Objectives

The objectives should follow a sound scientific and logical order and focus on the main steps or milestones to be completed to execute the project from initial investigation to the writing up of a report. Aim for about 5-8 objectives. Each objective should have a tangible result such as a report on the academic literature / the results of comparative analyses of published work / the result of systematic evaluation of published methods on xyz.

The objectives should be as specific as possible to your project. Thus, instead of ‘Perform a literature search’ you may wish to write ‘Search for research papers on methods xyz for web interaction for visually impaired users.

A numbered list should be used for this section of your project proposal.

4. Contributions

State in bullet points what contribution(s) your project is going to make to the scientific community. Since this is research topic investigating a specific area, the contribution is likely to be around identifying gaps/limitations from published work. It could also be an extensive systematic comparative analyses/evaluation of your chosen topic. You should identify 2-4 contributions.

5. Scientific Justification

Justify the evaluation plans, described in section 6, with reference to the scientific theory to show that these plans adhere to sound scientific principles i.e. write a short but critical reflection of these evaluation plans to identify any potential limitations or problems (e.g. the possibility of data error or bias) and state what steps you may take in your experimental design to overcome these potential problems.

You may wish to refer to the following list of scientific terms when writing this justification :- Basic research, Applied research, Quantitative research, Qualitative research, Knowledge, A hypothesis, Testability, Reproducibility, Precision, Objectivity, Validity, Reliability and Significance.

While you may refer to appropriate scientific theory here a description of this theory is not appropriate. Instead you should focus your discussion the justification of your specific evaluation plans.

6. Ethical Justification

Briefly justify the methodology and evaluation plans, described in section 5 and 6, from an ethical, legal and professional perspective i.e. make specific reference to the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Framework for Research Ethics, Legal acts and Codes of Conduct and Ethics to show that this proposed project does not breach any of these guidelines.

State briefly any social implications this research may have.

7. The Proposed Research Framework/Methodology

Describe the proposed methodology for this project. Describe the chosen research framework in sufficient detail so that the reader can see how this specific research/investigation is expected to be undertaken.

Detailed justification of the chosen research framework, i.e., why did you choose the specific research framework?

8. Research Materials Selection Process

Describe in detail the processes and steps you have followed in identifying the research papers State all the keywords and phrases you have used for identifying the research papers. For example, list and justify the list of keywords/phrases you have compiled. Describe the initial steps in identifying list of papers via searching certain publication databases, list and justify selection the publication databases you have used for identifying papers, describe the processes/steps you have used keep/discard certain papers, etc.

9. References

List here any research papers used in this document – other sources (e.g., websites) used must also be cited and placed in the reference list though you should keep other sources to a minimum!

Ensure this list is in the Harvard format and references to journal and conference papers are formatted as in the module materials and thus highlight.

All authors names, publication year, the title of the research paper, the title of the journal or conference (in italics), the volume and page numbers should be provided.

References should not be numbered but should be in alphabetical order using the author’s name. Any text taken from these sources must be in quotes and the sources cited.

If journal or conference papers are obtained via the web, providing the web address is not appropriate or sufficient.

Raad the following online resource for correct literature citation and referencing https://www.citethemrightonline.com/.

10. Schedule

Show how each of the numbered objectives are broken down into individual tasks and their expected deliverables as well as the allocation of effort to each task (in hours) and planned start and end date using the template provided below. A full and detailed list of tasks is expected covering the entire project.

The wording of each task should be clear, detailed, and specific to your project. The workload and timing of tasks should be appropriate.

11. Gantt Chart

Based on the schedule the Gantt chart needs to show the tasks and their timings diagrammatically using the template provided here. This should also show the total working hours planned each week.

While Gantt charts can be produced using Microsoft Project this is designed for larger multi person projects scheduled in days not hours. Furthermore Microsoft Project files cannot be uploaded to TurnItIn and so for this assignment these are not allowed. You must therefore use the template provided below.

Schedule Template

ID	Task Title	Effort (hours)	Planned Start Date	Planned End Date	Actual Start Date	Actual End Date	Deliverable
1	Identify published papers	32
1.1	Compile list of keywords/phrases	2	01/9/24	01/09/24			List of keywords and phrases
1.2	Search database for paperers	5	01/9/24	01/09/24			List of references and papers
1.3	Identify and store papers for further analyses (abstract reading)	20	02/09/24	05/09/24			Selection of papers for further reading
1.4	Filter papers for further details reading and reading	5	05/09/24	06/09/24			List of stored papers for reading
2	Detailed paper reading and writing	72	07/09/24	28/09/24
2.1	Reading 5 papers	7	07/09/24	08/09/24			Writing critical analyses of 5 papers
2.2	Reading 5 papers	7	08/09/24	09/09/24			Writing critical analyses of 5 papers

GANTT Chart Template

Task ID	Task Title	Effort (hours)	W 1	W 2	W 3	W 4	W 5	W 6	W 7	W 8	W 9	W 10
1	Identify published papers	32
1.1	Compile list of keywords/phrases		2
1.2	Search database for paperers		5
1.3	Identify and store papers for further analyses (abstract reading)		20
1.4	Filter papers for further details reading and reading		5
2	Detailed paper reading	35
2.1	Reading 5 papers			7
…	…	…		…
…	…	…		…
…	…	…		…
3	Writing critical analyses on papers	37
3.1	Writing critical analyses on 5 papers				7
	Total Hours Per Week		32	35	…

This template ends here

Detailed Marking Scheme

Criterion	Perfect 100%	Outstanding 90%	Excellent 75%	Very Good 65%	Good 55%	Acceptable 40%	Insufficient 30%	Very Poor 15%	Irrelevant	Missing 0%	Total

Project background and Justification 10pts	10pts A perfect project background justification

Project Focus 15pts	15pts A perfect aim, objectives, and contribution

9pts An outstanding justification of project, their problems and an outstanding explanation of the need for research citing appropriate research papers that assesses the potential impact of this research.

13.5pts An outstanding and focussed scientific aim is specified with very detailed and entirely appropriate objectives and very clearly specified appropriate contribution

7.5pts An excellent justification of project, their problems and an excellent explanation of the need for research citing appropriate research papers that assesses the potential impact of this research.

11.25pts An excellent scientific aim is specified with very detailed and entirely appropriate objectives and very clearly specified appropriate contribution

6.5pts Very good justification of project with, their problems and a very good explanation of the need for research citing appropriate research papers.

9.75pts A scientific aim is specified along with detailed objectives and clear contribution though the aim is a too ambitious or the objectives slightly lacking.

5.5pts Good justification of project, their problems and a good explanation of the need for research citing appropriate research papers.

8.25pts A scientific aim is specified along with detailed objectives and contribution though this work needs some revision.

4pts Acceptable justification of project, their problems or justified from a research perspective.	3pts Insufficient justification of the project

6pts A project aim is specified along with objectives though either the aim is not scientific or the objectives need significant revision.	4.5pts The project aim and objectives are both in need of significant revision or poor contribution

1.5pts The justification of the project is very poor, very unclear or substantially lacks detail.

2.25pts The aim of the project and objectives are inappropriate or poor contribution

Poor content, largely plagiarised

Poor content, largely plagiarised

0pts Missing

0pts Missing

10 15

Research Materials Selection Process 15pts	15pts A perfect research Materials Selection Process is provided

13.5pts An outstanding research Materials Selection Process is provided that the reader completely convinced about the merits of this specific project.

11.25pts An very good research Materials Selection Process is provided leaving the reader convinced about the merits of this specific project.

9.75pts A very good and detailed research Materials Selection Process is provided of merits of this specific project.

8.25pts A good research Materials Selection Process is provided of merits of this specific project.

6pts The research Materials Selection Process of this specific project need significant clarification or revision.	4.5pts The research Materials Selection Process of this project need significant clarification or revision.

2.25pts The research Materials Selection Process are both very poor.

Poor content, largely plagiarised

0pts Missing

15

Scientific & Ethical Justification 10pts	10pts A perfect scientific and ethical justification is provided

Referencing 10pts	10pts Perfect referencing / citations and use of the academic literature

9pts An outstanding scientific and ethical justification is provided that leaves the reader completely convinced about the merits of this specific project.

9pts Outstanding use is made of 10 or 15 journal or conference papers, perfectly cited, with a detailed and correctly formatted reference list, to justify this research.

7.5pts An excellent scientific and ethical justification is provided leaving the reader convinced about the merits of this specific project.

7.5pts Excellent use is made of 10 or 15 journal or conference papers, perfectly cited, with a detailed and correctly formatted reference list, to justify this research.

6.5pts A very good and detailed scientific and ethical justification is provided of merits of this specific project.

6.5pts Good use is made of 10 or more correctly cited journal or conference papers and a reference list is provided with all important details (though the formatting may need some revision) to justify this research.

5.5pts A good scientific and ethical justification is provided of merits of this specific project.

5.5pts 7 or more journal or conference papers are correctly cited, and a reference list is provided though this may lack a few important details and the formatting may need work.

4pts The scientific or ethical justification of this specific project need significant clarification or revision.	3pts Both the scientific and ethical justification of this project need significant clarification or revision.

4pts All sources are cited but the reference list only includes 5 journal or conference paper and the references and citations may need some revision.	3pts Most sources are cited correctly, and a reference list is provided though research papers have not been used and some revision may be required.

1.5pts The scientific and ethical justification are both very poor.

1.5pts Some of your sources are not cited or text taken from sources, while cited, is not in quotes (this is plagiarised).

Poor content, largely plagiarised

Poor content, largely plagiarised

0pts Missing

0pts Missing or clearly plagiarised .

10 10

Task Breakdown 15pts	15pts Perfect task breakdown

13.5pts A professional breakdown of tasks is provided that is clear, complete, deliverable oriented and specific to this project.

11.25pts An excellent breakdown of tasks is provided that is clear, complete, deliverable oriented and specific to this project.

9.75pts A very good breakdown of tasks is provided that is logical, largely complete and specific to this project.

8.25pts A generally good breakdown of tasks is provided that is mostly specific to this project though some revision is required.

6pts The task breakdown is in principle acceptable though it needs significant improvement e.g. some significant tasks are missing or need clarification.	4.5pts The task breakdown is clearly inadequate e.g. huge tasks have not been broken down.

2.25pts The objectives have not been broken down into smaller tasks or fundamentally this does not match the project.

Poor content, largely plagiarised

0pts Missing

15

Effort Allocation 15pts	15pts Perfect effort allocation

Sequence & Timing of Tasks 10pts	10pts Perfect task sequencing and timing

Total

13.5pts The effort allocated to each task provides an outstanding match to the requirements of the task and the needs of the project.

9pts An outstanding integrated approach that exploits parallelism where possible and even spreading of effort over course of project.

11.25pts The effort allocated to each task provides an excellent match to the requirements of the task and the needs of the project.

7.5pts An excellent integrated approach that exploits parallelism where possible and even spreading of effort over course of project.

9.75pts The effort allocated to each task is very good, proportionate and appropriate on the whole.

6.5pts A very good concept including parallelism, elapsed time and effort spreading even if it could be improved in places.

8.25pts A reasonable effort has been made to allocate hours to tasks on the whole though some could clearly be improved.

5.5pts Effort is spread evenly over the project though more thought could be given to elapsed time and / or parallelism.

6pts An acceptable effort has been made to allocate hours to tasks but significant revision is needed.	4.5pts The effort allocation is poor and often does not match the nature of the task in question.

4pts Timing of tasks is acceptable though significant improvement is possible.	3pts Timing of tasks is poor and needs significant improvement.

2.25.5pts There are significant flaws in the allocation of hours to the tasks e.g. does not reflect the 600 hours specified.

1.5pts The timing of tasks is very poor and puts the project success at risk

Poor content, largely plagiarised

Poor content, largely plagiarised

0pts Missing

0 pts Missing

15

10

100