Quantitative Research Methods Report (Both routes)

The Report module of the degree is based upon independent study. The total assessment
for the award of the Master’s degree must include a 30 credit Report. In addition, you should
note that although this is not a taught element of the course you are entitled to individual
support for this element of your programme of study. You will be allocated a supervisor from
the Institute of Education.

The Report is up to 10,000 words and is worth 30 credits.

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Support for the Report

You need to plan your Report carefully to ensure that you are able to make use of all the
sources of support that the Institute of Education offers Masters students:

1. Your supervisor
2. The Academic Writing Centre
3. The Statistical Advisory Service

The role and responsibilities of the supervisor
Your supervisor is the main member of staff that is responsible for supporting you in the
process of writing a Report. The Programme Leader will identify a suitable supervisor –
usually an academic from within the department – for you, based on your research interests
and likely research methods. You will be entitled to two and a half hours of face-to-face
contact time with your supervisor. This is not a great deal of time, so please plan and use it
wisely. In addition, your supervisor will undertake to spend two and a half hours reading and
commenting on drafts of your writing.

The role of the supervisor is to support students in all aspects of the Report. This includes:

 advice on the literature search
 feedback on written work
 advice on theoretical/conceptual framework
 advice on developing a research plan and outline
 methodological help
 suggestions of sources of help such as English language support, academic literacy,
academic counselling etc.
 advice on ethics, presentation etc.

It is your responsibility to manage the relationship with your supervisor and spend adequate
time working on your Report. You must:

 make appointments to see your supervisor (plans need to take into account that
supervisors might not always be available outside of term time)
 prepare a timetable for completion, with target dates for different stages
 prepare the agenda for supervision, e.g. questions for discussion
 submit draft work so that supervisors have adequate time to read i.e. not less than one
week in advance

Submit work that is word-processed and submit by email if at all possible. Some supervisors
like to use track change in Word for making comments. Each supervisor will agree with you
the preferred way of submitting drafts.

Ethical issues

All research at the Institute of Education, including research undertaken by students, needs
to be ethically reviewed before data collection commences. Ethical review processes are
specified in the Research Governance and Ethics Policy, available on the Research Ethics
web page (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/srs/research-ethics-committee/pages/ioe).

Ethical review is one aspect of ensuring that research is conducted to the highest levels of
integrity. This involves responsibilities to participants, institutions, and to the research
community. Please ensure that you are aware of the ethical issues involved in research.
Your course of study may include sessions specifically focusing on ethical issues within
educational research or the social sciences.

Ethical issues are especially relevant to the following areas:

 Determining research aims and who benefits from the research
 Handling dual roles (e.g. being a researcher and a professional) and potentially
conflicting values
 Minimising potential risk or harm to all involved
 Gaining access to participants
 Ensuring voluntary informed consent
 Safeguarding participants
 Ensuring confidentiality and anonymity
 Giving feedback, reporting results, and dissemination

You should discuss these and other issues with your supervisor and ensure that your
research adheres to sound ethical principles.

Professional codes of practice

Many professional organisations have produced codes of ethical practice for their disciplines
or areas of work. Please ensure that you are familiar with the code for your discipline or
area.

You will need to specify and follow one of these codes of ethical practice during your
research. You do not have to be a member of a professional organisation to follow their code
of ethical practice.

Links to the common codes of ethical practice are provided on the Research Ethics website
(www.ioe.ac.uk/ethics). These include codes from:

 The British Educational Research Association (www.bera.ac.uk)
 The British Psychological Society (www.bps.org.uk)
 The British Sociological Association (www.britsoc.co.uk)
 The British Association for Applied Linguistics (www.baal.org.uk)
Ethical review and approval procedures

Ethical review and approval are necessary before data collection can commence.

The procedures for student ethical review and approval are described on the Student Ethics
section of the website (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/srs/research-ethics-committee/pages/ioe).
Application forms and guidance notes are provided on the website. Please follow the
guidance, which also explains who you need to submit your application materials to.

If you intend to conduct research which may raise particular or difficult ethical issues (for
instance, work involving vulnerable groups, deception or where consent will not be possible),
you are advised to begin the ethics approval process well in advance of your planned data
collection.

If you need to undertake research involving direct engagement with children or vulnerable
adults, please remember that you will need to obtain clearance from the Disclosure and
Barring Service (DBS; formerly the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)). For more information,
please contact your course administrator or the Registry.

Changes and amendments

The ethical issues associated with your work should be regularly considered. Changes in
research questions, methods, or other areas may have further ethical implications. This may
require seeking ethical approval for a second time.

Resources and further support

A selection of links to further resources and guidance material is available on the website.
Further relevant books and materials are available through the IOE library.

Some material includes:

Alderson, P., & Morrow, V. (2004). Ethics, Social Research and Consulting with Children and
Young People. Barkingside: Barnardo’s.
Barbour, R. (2008). Introducing qualitative research: A student guide to the craft of doing
qualitative research. London: Sage.
Bassey, M. (1999). Case Study Research in Educational Settings. Buckingham: Open
University Press.
Bell, J. (2010). Doing your Research Project: A Guide for First-Time Researchers in
Education, Health and Social Science (5th ed.). Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Bennett, N., Glatter, R., & Levačić, R. (Eds.). (1994). Improving Educational Management
through Research and Consultancy. London: Paul Chapman in association with the
Open University.
Burgess, R. (Ed.). (1989). The Ethics of Educational Research. Lewes: Falmer Press.
Campbell, A., & Groundwater-Smith, S. (2007). An ethical approach to practitioner research:
dealing with issues and dilemmas in action research. Abingdon: Routledge.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (Eds.). (2011). Research Methods in Education (7th
ed.). London: Routledge.
Farrell, A. (2005). Ethical research with children. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Greig, A., Taylor, J., & MacKay, T. (2007). Doing research with children (2nd ed.). London:
Sage.
Israel, M., & Hay, I. (2006). Research Ethics for Social Scientists. London: Sage
Publications.
Johnson, D. (1998). Research Methods in Educational Management. London: Financial
Times/Prentice Hall.
Mauthner, M., Birch, M., Jessop, J., & Miller, T. (Eds.). (2002). Ethics in qualitative research.
London: Sage Publications Limited.
McNamee, M., & Bridges, D. (Eds.). (2002). The Ethics of Educational Research. Oxford:
Wiley-Blackwell.
Middlewood, D., Coleman, M., & Lumby, J. (Eds.). (1999). Practitioner Research in
Education: Making a Difference. London: Sage/Paul Chapman.
Oliver, P. (2010). The Student’s Guide to Research Ethics. Maidenhead: Open University
Press.
Robson, C. (2011). Real World Research: A Resource for Users of Social research Methods
in Applied Settings (3rd ed.). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Sargeant, J. (2012). Doing ethical research with children. Maidenhead: Open University
Press.
Te Riele, K., & Brooks, R. (2012). Negotiating Ethical Challenges in Youth Research.
London: Routledge.

Submission: Printing and binding

The final submission date for the Report is by the 1
st
September 2017.

You need to submit the work to the programme administrator and details are below.

You will be asked to indicate whether or not you wish to have your Report made available to
other scholars for reference and for photocopying in connection with their studies (not for
publication or other commercial use). If you wish your Report to be made available for the
above purposes, please include the following statement on the title page of your work:

‘This Report may be made available to the general public for borrowing, photocopying or
consultation without the prior consent of the author.’

If you do not, then include the following statement:

‘This Report may not be made available to the general public for borrowing, photocopying or
consultation without the prior consent of the author.’

The Report should include, after the title page, an abstract of not more than 300 words and a
table of contents giving chapter headings and page numbers.

A list of references should be added in accordance with normal academic procedure, and
references included where necessary.

The title page should show the title of the master’s degree, the officially approved title of the
Report and the name of the candidate as registered with the Institute. The pages should be
numbered in one continuous sequence, in the right-hand top corner, from the title-page to
the last page of type. The Report should be typed on A4 size paper, in 1½ or double-line
spacing; the margin at the binding edge should be not less than 40 mm (1.5 inches) and
other margins not less than 20 mm (0.75 inches).

You may find it helpful to look at master’s Reports held in the Institute Library to gain an idea
of acceptable style and format. In accordance with University regulations, you should supply
two copies of the Report; which will be retained by the Institute.

One copy should be bound in the traditional manner, i.e. in hard-back cover with medium
blue cloth, lettered up the spine with the degree (i.e. MSc in Quantitative Research Methods,
year, your name and initials in gold).
One copy should be submitted in a binder or file which secures the sheets of papers safely
and is acceptable to the Programme Administrator. It is recommended that you consider a
soft-back binding (in blue buckram, for example) with gold or black lettering.