Coversheet
Title of your research project, student number and name
Acknowledgements (if you want them, this bit is optional)
- Is there anyone you want to recognise? This is one of your final ever pieces of undergraduate work, and you’ve worked so hard to get to here, so this can be a nice place to acknowledge those who have helped you along the way. These are completely optional, but some people choose to include them, and they don’t count in your word count.
Contents page (if you want one, this bit is optional)
- Make sure the contents page numbers match the actual page numbers. Microsoft Word will create a contents page for you, if you use the pre-formatted headings at the top of your document. Please see this YouTube video for information on how to do that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh7OgpwNgg0
- You can follow this short YouTube video if you want Microsoft Word to create a contents page for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfAdcbOUc0Q
Abstract (100 words, does not count in your word count)
This is your spoiler alert for your project, to give your reader a summary of what is to come.
- This will be the last thing you write and acts as an overall summary of your research project.
- You will need to include:
- What your research was aiming to do
- What methods you employed in your project
- How you recruited participants
- A general overview of your findings and conclusions.
Introduction (500 words)
This section is where you set the context for your study and help your reader to understand why you have chosen this project to research.
- This provides the context for your study – what are you doing and why are you doing it?
- Outlines any background issues or things that it is important that your reader understands about the context of your study (for example, has there been a recent development in your area that means this is an ideal time to study it?)
- Clearly state the research question and aims of your study
- Give a brief overview of the rest of the layout of your project
- Establish key definitions and terms that you will use throughout your project.
- Think about why this study, why you, and why now?
Literature Review (1600 words)
This section is where you tell us what we already know in the established literature about the topic you are going to be discussing in your project.
- You will provide a brief introduction to your literature review, which will offer an overview of what you are covering
- The literature review is usually separated into themes – three is a good number, but there is flexibility here (approx. 500 words per theme, with an additional 100 for the introduction to the literature review, but again, there is flexibility here in how you use the suggested word count)
- Make sure you start with the most broad, and then get narrower and narrower until you get more specifically towards your topic for your project
- You will cover the key literature that is already published in the area of your study – what is already known?
- You may include older literature if it is important, but remember we are looking for you to set the context for your study, which you are conducting now, in 2025. Therefore, the literature should reflect what we know now and should be recent.
- Make sure you identify any key writers in the field that you are looking at (a good way of identifying key writers is noting any authors who are mentioned repeatedly in things you are reading)
- Make sure you evaluate any competing views – when you do this, try and come to conclusions about which research findings are more relevant for your study, and why.
- Use this literature review to justify your research question – based on what you have presented in the literature review, how does this inform the ‘gap’ that your research is aiming to address?
Methodology, methods and ethics (1600 words)
This section is where you tell us what philosophical ideas informed your approach to research, and practically, how you actually obtained the data you are going to show us later.
(This section is written in past tense – please check this carefully before submission)
Methodology:
All of your discussions in this section should be supported by a range of research methods literature.
- Ontology: What ontological views have informed your work? (This is about your world views, and how you consider truth can be understood. Revisit the week on Methodology for more information)
- Epistemology: What epistemological viewpoint has informed your thinking? (This is about what knowledge is and how you think knowledge should be formed for your project. Revisit the week on Methodology for more information)
- Which methodological paradigm did you choose? – usually qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods research
- For everything above, it is really important that you explain why you have made these choices, for the context of your project.
Methods:
All of your discussions in this section should be supported by a range of research methods literature.
- Methods:What research methods did you choose to use to use in your project? (Questionnaires, Structured Interviews, Semi-Structured Interviews, Observations, Document Analysis, Policy Analysis, Statistical Analysis etc.)
- Were they primary methods or secondary methods?
- What are the strengths and limitations of these methods, and how did they apply to your project? How did you overcome any limitations?
- Why were these methods the most appropriate methods for you to use in your project? (A good thing to think about here is any key studies in the area you’re looking at – what methods did they use, and did you draw inspiration from them?)
- Triangulation: If you used more than one method, you would want to talk about triangulation – how your methods work together to overcome limitations.
- Sampling: How did you sample your participants? (This means how you chose them – most people will use a convenience sample, but many other sampling methods are available and it’s important that you outline how you recruited participants here, and what the inclusion or exclusion criteria was for them taking part in your study).
- Piloting: How did you pilot your methods before use? As a result of piloting, what changes did you make before you used your methods?
- Methods of analysis: What process will you use to analyse your data? (Many people will use thematic analysis, but it depends on your research type).
- Theoretical Model: If you are using a theoretical model to analyse your data or help you make sense of it, explain what model you are using here and why it is relevant.
Ethics:
At a minimum, this section needs to reference the BERA (2024) guidelines. Other research methods literature should also be used.
- If you did primary research, you should be including information here on:
- Informed Consent
- Right to Withdraw
- Anonymity
- Confidentiality
- Data protection
- Potential for Harm
- If you did secondary research, you should be including information here on:
- Research integrity
- Confidentiality and Anonymity
- Data Protection
For all of these, you will be explaining why that ethical principle is important, including the context for your study, and exactly what you did in your study to maintain an ethical approach to research.
All of your letters/consent forms will be included in the appendices at the end, not in this section.
Findings (1200 words)
This section is where you present your data to us and help us start to make sense of why it is important.
- Themes are helpful here and broadly should mirror the themes you presented in your literature review.
- Within these themes, you tell us/show us what data you found. Depending on how you collected data will determine how you do this, but you might use:
- Text boxes with direct quotes from your participants, or direct quotes from your documents or policy
- Tables or graphs with the number of people who answered questions in a specific way, or statistics or information you are using from other sources
- Word clouds to identify the most common responses
- For each piece of data you present, you will offer a brief commentary on what this data is showing you, or why you have selected it as important, or how it shows how people agree or disagree with each other. Do not assume that the reader will interpret the data in the same way, so tell us why you have selected it as important.
Analysis (1600 words)
This section is where you start to make links between the data you have presented, and the information from your literature review, so you can understand where your research sits in relation to what we already know.
- You can choose to organise this by theme, or you could choose to combine all of your themes together and discuss them as one.
- You make links between what you have found, and how this is reflected in the literature (for example, a piece of data you presented in the findings section might agree or disagree with a piece of literature you discussed in the literature review – tell us about this and why it is important, and if they did disagree, are there some reasons for why this might be?)
- If you are using a theoretical model, it’s important that you make links to this here so that we can understand how that model has affected how you are viewing the data you have presented.
- Note any surprises that came out of your data, or unexpected results.
Conclusion (500 words)
This section is where you summarise your research project and process.
Your most important task in this section is to answer your research question.
In addition, you should include:
- Implications for future research or practice – how could your research be taken forwards into a more in-depth research project or how could your findings be used in practice?
- Identify any limitations of your study, and in future research, how those limitations could be overcome
References (do not count in your word count)
Please make sure that you have checked they are formatted in the Harvard style, and ordered alphabetically, by author’s surname.
Your references play a key part in your grading, so take the time to get this right. Seek support from ADD/CAS resources if you need help with this.
Appendices (do not count in your word count)
This is where you put supporting information that you want us to see but doesn’t form part of the actual body of the project. We would expect to see here:
- A blank copy of your questionnaire
- A list of your interview questions
- A consent letter without anyone’s details on it
- A participant information sheet
- Your access letter (if you used one)
- An example of a coded interview or document