MITS6011 & MITS6012 Advanced Research Topics in IT/ IS Assignment Help

Advanced Research Topics in IT/ IS

Assessment Document

Please Read Carefully

Important Note:

This Unit does not have a Final Exam but is based on your semester work and a final presentation at a subject symposium to be arranged at the end of the semester. The assessments will be based on a research question that you will develop throughout the semester. There will be several checkpoints throughout the semester, and each one of these will form a deliverable related to the research question and contribute towards your final grade. Because of the nature of the subject, there are several deliverables (assignments) outlined in Table 1 below. While this may seem a lot, please remember there is no exam, and the assessments are designed to keep you working consistently throughout the semester. Again, this is necessary given the nature of the Unit of Study.

*** As this is an introduction to a research subject there will be zero tolerance for plagiarism The overall marks are to be allocated as follows (as per the Unit Descriptor)

Assessment Component

Weighting

Hurdle

Research Proposal 20%

Research Report 60% Yes

Presentation 20% Yes

The breakdown of the above components into deliverables and weeks are given in Table 1:

Table 1 Unit of Study Deliverables

Component	Weight	Deliverable	Deliverable Weight	Week
Research Proposal

Research Paper

Presentation 20 20 13

INSTRUCTIONS

Students will need to consider a research problem in Information Technology or Information Systems. The problem could arise from many different fields, for example, medical, business, science, engineering, hospitality, banking etc. … The selection of the research problem will need to take place early, in session 1 or 2 as the first deliverable is in session 3. This is necessary given the nature of the subject. All the remaining work throughout the semester will stem from the basic research problem. The idea is that this Unit of Study will mimic the research process and provide you with the understanding and tools to undertake future research. In the first session, we will extensively discuss finding research problems and from there formulating research questions. This then gives us the foundation for proceeding with the remainder of the unit.

Deliverables

Below is a brief explanation of each of the deliverables including submission guidelines and deadlines, though the deadlines have already been given in Table 1 above.

Topic Selection/Initial Literature Review/Research Question (10 Marks – Due session 3)

The research question lies at the heart of your research project. After considering a research problem (whatever the field of study) from there you will develop the research question. We will discuss formulating research questions in sessions one and two, but within the research problem, the research question focuses specifically on one aspect of the problem that you will undertake as part of the research programme.

Even if you have a good idea of your topic, you still need to read the existing literature to build background knowledge and narrow down your ideas. In sessions 1 and 2 we will discuss how to find research papers and identify the gaps in your selected area. You need to narrow down a broad topic to specific questions. There are many ways to present the research question, and these will be discussed during the sessions.

Submit your assignment in one document file by the due date and time to the assignment drop box.

Full Proposal ( 10 Marks – Due session 5)

The full proposal is a document that contains your entire proposal for the research to be undertaken. These documents are normally required by academic departments before students are admitted to undertaking research degrees such as a master’s research degree or a PhD. This document will contain your research question from the previous submission but integrated into a coherent document along with other components that will be discussed in class. A selection of references that you will use in developing your research paper will also be included at this stage.

The format of the full proposal can be found in the example document (Proposal.doc). Use this document as a starting point to develop your full proposal and submit it by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.

Introduction (10 Marks – Due session 9)

The Introduction of the research report contains a full introduction to the research you have undertaken. The Introduction normally contains a statement of the problem (including the initial research question, the Significance of the problem, some historical background. The purpose, or goal to be gained from a better understanding of the research question, statement of hypothesis, any assumptions, and limitations as well as any possible ethical considerations. Perhaps also a brief overview of the methodology.

The format of the Introduction can be found in the example document (Report Introduction.doc). Use this document as a starting point to develop your Introduction (add and delete sections as appropriate).

Submit this chapter by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.

Literature Review (20 Marks – Due session 9)

The literature review gives the reader (and the examiner) the necessary background to understand the study by citing the investigations and findings of previous researchers and documents the researcher’s knowledge and preparation to investigate the problem.

Studying the existing literature is one of the essential preliminary tasks when you undertake a research study. This enables you to acquaint yourself with the available body of knowledge in your specific area of research. “The literature review is an integral part of the research process and makes a valuable contribution to almost every operational step” (Kumar, R. Research Methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners, 3rded, Sage 2011).

The literature review will be discussed in class and examples are given, the literature review would normally constitute Chapter 2 in a research report, see suggested guidelines in (report.doc, chapter 2)

The submission for the Literature Review has been divided into several sections so the Unit lecturer can gauge the student’s progression on this important topic early.

Session 8 In-class Discussion – Concept Map

This will not be submitted online but checked in class only during the individual discussions with each of the students. The concept map is a graphical representation of your intended structure of the literature review. From the concept map, we should be able to discern the structure of the literature review and how you intend to proceed, including any thematic partitioning of the references.

Session 9 In-class Discussion – First Page

This will not be submitted online but checked in class only during the individual discussions with each of the students. This will be the first page of the Literature Review including any references cited on the first page.

Session 10 Submission – Full Literature Review

Submit this chapter by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.

Methodology (15 Marks Due session 11)

In this section, you clearly outline what methodology you used in your research i.e. what you intend to do and how you intend to do it. It must be written clearly so that it would be easy for another researcher to duplicate your research if they wished. Most researchers will use one or more of many well documented and acceptable methods understood by the research community. We will discuss several research methodologies in different sessions, but there will be many others you can choose from. You will choose a type of research design (e.g. experimental, correlational, descriptive etc.) and the methods to conduct the research (experiment or survey etc.)

The structure of a methodology chapter will be discussed in class and examples given. The Methodology would normally constitute Chapter 3 in a research report, see suggested guidelines in (report.doc, chapter 3).

Submit this chapter by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.

Full Research Paper (15 Marks Due session 12)

In this submission, you incorporate the previous three submissions into a final document and submit by the due date and time. This submission will incorporate the Introduction, The Literature Review, and the Methodology chapters into one document. This will give you a chance to take on board any comments given by your instructor in the previous submissions, make corrections and possibly recover some marks which may have been deducted in the previous submission.

Your submission also contains the full abstract. This is an extension of the initial abstract submitted with the proposal document and summarizes the report including the hypotheses, procedures, and major findings (you will not be conducting the research, so you won’t have any findings). The Full abstract should be no more than one page.

Submit this document by the due date and time to the assignment drop-box.

Presentation ( 20 Marks To be arranged – typically in the equivalent of session 13)

For this component, you will be required to give a 10 – 15 minute presentation on your research report and answer any questions from the audience. The presentations will be conducted in a symposium type setting after the end of the semester, typically in week 15. There is no submission for this component of assessment, you will be graded on your presentation and ability to answer any questions put to you. The structure of the presentation will be discussed during the semester and a suggested format for the presentation will be made available in a sample set of PowerPoint slides, see (presentation.ppt).

As this component is based on your presentation, you will need to present your work to get any grade for this component

Submission guidelines

All submissions are to be submitted through turn-it-in. Drop-boxes linked to turn-it-in will be set up in the Unit of Study Moodle site. Assignments not submitted through these drop-boxes will not be considered.

Submissions must be made by the due date and time (which will be in the session detailed above) and determined by your Unit coordinator. Submissions made after the due date and time will be penalized at the rate of 10% per day (including weekend days).

As previously stated, this is a research subject and required a significant effort from you. There will be a zero tolerance for plagiarism and the turn-it-in similarity score will be used in determining the level if any of plagiarism. Turn-it-in will check conference websites, Journal articles, the Web and your class members submissions for plagiarism. You can see your turn-it-in similarity score when you submit your assignment to the appropriate drop-box. If this is a concern you will have a chance to change your assignment and re-submit. However, re-submission is only allowed before the submission due date and time. After the due date and time have elapsed you cannot make re-submissions and you will have to live with the similarity score as there will be no chance for changing. Thus, plan early and submit early to take advantage of this feature. You can make multiple submissions, but please remember we only see the last submission, and the date and time you submitted will be taken from that submission.

Assessment Rubric:

Marking

Criteria

Excellent

Very Good

Good

Satisfactory

Unsatisfactory

Initial

Literature

Review

Identifies a range of

exceptional quality

sources.

demonstrates excellent understanding of their significance to the

research

topic

Identifies high quality sources; demonstrates a high degree of

understanding of their significance to the

research

topic

Identifies quality sources; demonstrates a good

understanding of their significance to the

research

topic

Identifies the correct

number of sources but of varying quality and

range; demonstrates a satisfactory

understanding of their significance to the

research project

Identifies too few

sources, or

sources of insufficient quality, reflecting a lack of understanding of what will be

required to support the thesis

statement; and/or

descriptions do not

adequately explain

significance

Research

problem and question

Exceptionally

appropriate, clear and concise framing of the research problem and questions; if answered well in the final essay, the questions are likely to fully support the thesis statement

Highly appropriate, clear and concise framing of the research problem and questions; if

answered well in the final essay, the questions are likely to strongly support the thesis statement

Generally appropriate, clear and concise framing of the research problem and questions; if

answered

well in the final essay, the

questions are likely to support the thesis

statement

Rudimentary formulation of

research problem;

attempt at

formulation of

question/s;

may lack clarity and/or concision; even if

answered

well in the final essay, the

research question/s will provide only bare

support for

the thesis statement

Inadequate, with lack of clarity and concision.

Even if answered well in the final essay, research question/s will not

support the thesis

statement

Research Proposal	Exceptionally logical, comprehensive, and coherent description of the research’s structure, significance and organization	Highly logical, comprehensive and coherent description of the research’s structure, significance structure and organization	Generally logical, comprehensive and coherent description of the research’s structure, significance and organization	Describes the research’s structure, significance and organization but may be unclear and/or incomplete in places	Inadequate description of the research’s structure, significance and organization, with lack of logic, completeness and/or coherence.
Timeline	Exceptionally thoughtful and realistic timeline; incorporates all necessary tasks for research completion	Highly thoughtful and realistic timeline; incorporates almost all necessary tasks for research completion	Thoughtful and realistic timeline; incorporates most necessary tasks for research completion	Rudimentary timeline; incorporates some necessary tasks for research completion but with less detail and/or unrealistic timeframes	Inadequately developed timeline that does not reflect the necessary tasks or timelines for their completion
Literature Review	Exceptional identification of a wide range of appropriate and authoritative sources. Exceptional analysis demonstrating an excellent grasp of logic, critical thinking and engagement with sources	Very good identification of a range of appropriate and authoritative sources. Highly effective analysis demonstrating a strong grasp of logical, critical thinking and engagement with sources	Good identification of mainly appropriate and authoritative sources. Analysis demonstrated sound logic and some degree of critical thinking and engagement with sources	Identifies some generally appropriate and authoritative sources. Rudimentary analysis with some deficiencies of logic; passable demonstration of critical thinking; some engagement with sources	Poor identification of sources. Inadequate and/or illogical analysis with little or no demonstration of critical thinking and/or engagement with sources
Methodology	Excellent methodology for addressing the identified research problem and supporting the research statement	Very good methodology for addressing the identified research problem and supporting the research statement	Sound methodology for addressing the identified research problem and supporting the research statement	Methodology goes some way towards addressing the identified research problem and supporting the research statement	Selected methodology does not satisfactorily address the identified research problem and/or support the research statement
Conclusion	Fully persuades the reader of the research statement	Strongly persuades the reader of the research statement	Persuades the reader that there is some merit to the research	Supports the research statement, though may leave the reader less	insufficiently supports the research statement