o Section 1
Write a findings/results section for EITHER a qualitative study OR quantitative data set that
is provided
o Section 2
Complete an ethics approval document and attachments for EITHER the qualitative OR
quantitative study idea that is provided
o Section 3
Write a proposal for a study of your own design including:
A) Title
B) Introduction
C) Aims of the study
D) Research question OR hypothesis (or hypotheses)
Detailed information on each Section is presented below.
Section One
Choose to either answer the qualitative question (involving a thematic analysis) or the quantitative
question (involving a hierarchical regression).
Qualitative option
The task:
Your task is to undertake a thematic analysis using the interview data provided. The research
question you are trying to answer is: How do people with limb deficiency experience and negotiate
intimacy with a partner?
The task:
Undertake a multiple regression on the provided data set to assess the degree to which stroke patients’
ability to carry out everyday activities can be predicted from a number of potentially relevant variables.
These variables represent factors that can influence recovery, including motor, perceptual and cognitive
factors, as well as more general factors such as the severity and location of the stroke and the age of the
person.
Write up your analyses as Overview and Results sections. This must contain:
Overview
You do NOT have to create materials for your study (e.g. questionnaires, stimuli materials or
interview schedules. However, you should describe any such necessary materials within the ethics
form as needed.
Support for this section can be found in the Departmental Ethics Guidelines and the associated
templates included there.
There are no word limits for this section, except where specified on the form itself.
Qualitative option:
Complete the ethics form and attachments as above, for the following scenario:
A researcher wants to explore the experiences of 10 young women (18-30) who have had a sister
with an eating disorder. She wants to explore their experiences of the diagnosis, the impact on them
as a sibling and family member, and their current thoughts and feelings about the experience. She
plans to qualitatively analyse the data.
Develop this idea as you think appropriate, in order to complete the documents, including identifying
an appropriate research question, method of data collection, and method of data analysis.
NB: All research studies have potential risks – think these through carefully.
Quantitative option:
Complete the ethics form and attachments as above, for the following scenario:
A researcher wants to explore the relationship between anxiety, perfectionism and restricted eating
behaviour (i.e. limiting what you eat). He plans to use standardised questionnaires to measure these
variables, and to use quantitative methods to analyse the data.
Develop this idea as you think appropriate, in order to complete the documents, including identifying
an appropriate hypothesis/hypotheses, research design and data analysis method.
NB: All research studies have potential risks – think these through carefully.
Section 3
Develop an idea for your own piece of research. This could be based on your final year project ideas,
or could be something else.
Hint: If you are struggling to develop an idea independently, you could think of how you could extend
or develop one of the scenarios used in part one of this assessment (i.e. a quantitative study may
look at variables that relate to stroke rehabilitation, or a qualitative study may explore intimacy and
health or disability).