module specification

ST5060; Sports Science Research Methods; Spring teaching period. It is expected that students will have successfully completed Level 4 as a module pre-requisite.

The aims of this module are aligned with the qualification descriptors within the Quality Assurance Agency’s Framework for Higher Educations Qualifications. This module aims to allow students to reflect on their chosen course. Students will select their project within the context of the course and possible future career. Students will consider and carry out the preparation necessary for a scientific dissertation proposal. In so doing, students will gain experience in devising dissertations by taking into account experimental design, feasibility in terms of costs and resources, and aspects of ethics and safety.

Literature retrieval: use of established resources such as ScienceDirect, SPORTDiscus, and PubMed; awareness of generic library resources. LO2

Experimental design: consideration of laboratory organisation, resource needs and costing, safety and ethical matters. Understanding of time management and personal responsibility, the use of controls and replicates, and the proper recording of results. LO2

Statistical analysis: an appreciation of the scope of statistical analysis, an understanding of the statistical design appropriate for the chosen project. Application of statistics to the analysis of experimental data, to include; correlation, regression, confidence levels, standard errors, t-test, F-test, analysis of variance. LO2

Dissertation proposal: writing in an academic scientific style. LO3

Students will be provided with the opportunity to acquire knowledge of the subject material through teacher-led activities in the form of lectures and tutorials (30 hours) and practicals (30 hours). Students' ability to seek, handle and interpret information will be encouraged through directed reading, access to the websites of professional bodies, and other learning resources. Students will work in groups on aspects of experimental design and as individuals on the project proposal. Students’ study responsibilities are articulated in the FLS Staff/Student Agreement, which is available via the Faculty Web site.

On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate an ability to creatively design a scientific dissertation, taking into account experimental design (including appropriate statistical frameworks), resources, ethics and safety.
2. Research the background information to their dissertation using appropriate primary sources.
3. Present a written report of the dissertation proposal in an appropriate scientific form.
 

The module will be assessed by means of one coursework component (100% of the overall mark). This component (100% of the overall mark, 2500 words) will consist of a written project proposal that will include a literature survey alongside resource, ethical and safety considerations (LO1, LO2, and LO3). To pass the module students need to achieve a minimum mark of 40%.

Textbooks:

Core Texts:
Field, A (2013) Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS, 4th edn. London: SAGE.

Other texts:
Bell, J and Waters, S (2014) Doing your research project: a guide for first time researchers, 6th edn.  Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education.
Bowers, D. (2008) Medical statistics from scratch. 2nd edn. Chichester UK: John Wiley & Sons.
George, D., and Mallery, P. (2016) IBM SPSS Statistics 23 Step by Step, 14th edn. Routledge
Greer, B., and Mulhern, G. (2011) Making sense of data and statistics in psychology. 2nd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Peck, J., and Coyle, M (2012) Write it Right, The Secrets of Effective Writing. 2nd edn. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Thomas, J. R. and Nelson, J. K. (2015) Research methods in physical activity. 7th edn. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Journals (all available via the Library):
International journal of qualitative methods
The Cochrane database of systematic reviews
Measurement in physical education and exercise science

Websites: http://www.davidmlane.com/hyperstat/