1. Introduction
The Research Philosophy and Practice course introduces you to research methods and core research
concepts. It demystifies research and research methods and enables you to grasp the basics of writing a
research proposal. It outlines the fundamentals of doing research and is aimed primarily at the
postgraduate level. It places the student experience at the centre by engaging learners in a range of
robust and challenging discussions and exercises.
The course will appeal to those of you who require an understanding of research approaches and skills,
and importantly an ability to deploy them in your studies or in your professional lives. In particular, this
course will aid those of you who have to conduct research as part of your postgraduate studies but do
not have access to research methods courses. No prior knowledge or experience in research is required
to take this course.
2. Course Learning Objectives
On completion of this course, students will be able to:
Understand basic principles and practices of research with a practical view of the whole process from
idea to required output.
Generate and define research questions and prioritise these in relation to contemporary managerial
and business contexts.
Recognise the quality and relevance of literature sources, be able to critically appraise the academic
literature and conduct systematic reviews.
Understand good practice in research, including originality and appropriate referencing and citation.
Think critically about research philosophy and consequently how methods and literature reviews are
interdependent.
Learn about a number of methodological options and issues, including research ethics, and apply this
knowledge in analysing data and interpreting evidence.
Write a robust research outline.
3. The Global Teaching Team
The School of Social Sciences operates across three of HW’s 5 campus locations giving you the unique
opportunity via Canvas to access any online sessions offered by faculty in each location. This course is offered
by staff located in Edinburgh, Dubai and Malaysia.
Campus Role Name HW Email Office Hours (local
time)
Edinburgh Global Course Leader Dr Lina Fadel lina.fadel@hw.ac.uk
11.30am- 12.30pm
Tuesday (Room EF18)
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Campus Role Name HW Email Office Hours (local
time)
10am-11am
Wednesday (Online
via Teams)
Please email for an
appointment
Lecturer/s TBC
Tutor/s TBC
Dubai
Course Leader Dr Sean Lochrie s.lochrie@hw.ac.uk
Monday 12pm-1pm
and
Friday – 3pm-4pm
Please email for an
appointment
Course Lecturer Dr Esinath Ndiweni e.ndiweni@hw.ac.uk
Please see the Canvas
page for details
Malaysia Course Leader Dr Lai Ling Ng Lailing.ng@hw.ac.uk
Please email for an
appointment
4. Course Structure
This course is divided into 12 Modules. Each Module is accompanied by one supporting tutorials and will
address a specific topic. In each of the course Modules on ConnectUs you will find a range of online learning
materials and instructions to guide your progress through a number of tasks and activities to support your
learning and to prepare you for tutorials. In total this course comprises 1 timetabled introductory lecture
(week 1) and 9 tutorials (weeks 3-12) delivered on-campus at the same time each week over the semester.
You are expected to attend these on-campus tutorials in weeks 3 to 12 to explore theories and concepts in
more detail.
Consolidation Week: Week 6 is reserved as a reading week free of any timetabled sessions across all HWU
courses. You should use this time to catch up with online learning materials and wider reading. This will also
give you time to work on coursework assessment.
5. Teaching Schedule
On-campus Lecture: There will be only 1 timetabled lecture of one hour in Week 1.
On-campus Tutorials: The learning materials in your online modules are accompanied by 9 timetabled weekly
tutorials starting in Week 3. These will be live interactive on-campus sessions lasting 2 hours. There will be a
number of tutorial groups available, and you are required to sign up to ONE of these groups for your campus
location ensuring that you select a group that is scheduled at a time that suits your overall programme
timetable. In your tutorial group you will explore the theories and concepts introduced in that week’s tutorial
session or in materials you will be directed to on Canvas. It is vital that you prepare for these sessions and read
any case study materials provided in advance. You must also work your way through the relevant
VLE/ConnectUs module before your tutorial.
Students must sign up for tutorial slot via Canvas. Students can do this via the ‘People’ tab on Canvas.
6. Course Assessment
Assessment on this course is designed to test your achievement of the learning outcomes listed above. This
course is assessed 100% by individual coursework. Details of assessment criteria can be found in Canvas.
The assessment for this course is based on two pieces of individual coursework.
Assignment 1 is an individual reflective report that documents a critical analysis of your learning process for
weeks 1-7. You are asked to reflect and review how you progressed with the learning goals of these modules.
Coursework One is worth 40% of the total weighting for this course and you are required to write 1400 words
(±10%). You should submit your assignment in Week 8 through Canvas only on Thursday, 9th March 2023 by
4pm (in time zone of registered campus of study). Details of how to do so are provided on the ‘Assessment’
page on Canvas.
Your reflective report should contain reflections on the following elements:
1. Selecting a topic
2. Identifying relevant literature
3. Writing a research question
4. Identifying a philosophical position and methodological orientation
This assessment will evaluate your performance against the following course learning objectives:
Understand basic principles and practices of research with a practical view of the whole process from
idea to required output.
Generate and define research questions and prioritise these in relation to contemporary managerial
and business contexts.
Recognise the quality and relevance of literature sources, be able to critically appraise the academic
literature and conduct systematic reviews.
Understand good practice in research, including originality and appropriate referencing and citation.
For further detail on your first assignment for this course, please check Online Module 6 on ConnectUs.
Assignment 2 requires you to write a Research Outline. Your assignment should be submitted in Week 15
through Canvas only (exact time and date to be confirmed in due course). Details of how to do so are provided
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on the ‘Assessment’ page on Canvas. Submissions must be uploaded via Canvas. Your assignment should be
1,800 words ±10% and is worth 60% of the total weighting for this course.
Your research outline should contain the following sections:
1. A clear working title for your proposed study and a short introduction
2. A clear research aim
3. A brief literature review
4. A consideration of the methods that you may be adopting for data collection and analysis
5. A note on research ethics
6. References
This assessment will evaluate your performance against the following course learning objectives:
Recognise the quality and relevance of literature sources, be able to critically appraise the academic
literature and conduct systematic reviews.
Understand good practice in research, including originality and appropriate referencing and citation.
Think critically about research philosophy and consequently how methods and literature reviews are
interdependent.
Learn about a number of methodological options and issues, including research ethics, and apply this
knowledge in analysing data and interpreting evidence.
Write a robust research outline.
For further detail on your first assignment for this course, please check Online Module 11 on ConnectUs.
Marking criteria for each assessment are available in the Assessment on this course Canvas Module. These
criteria are used to evaluate your work against the learning outcomes for this course and therefore you should
ensure that you understand the criteria and focus on what matters. Support to complete course assessment is
provided during tutorials and in the assessment documentation uploaded to Canvas. A Discussion Board on
ConnectUs will be set up for each assessment to allow open discussion and to answer any questions you might
have about course assessment.
Submission of Coursework. An electronic copy of your individual coursework MUST be submitted to the
Assessment Module on CANVAS. No hard copy of your work is required.
Will I get feedback on my coursework Yes, you will receive general class feedback and individual feedback to
help you improve your performance on the course. Class feedback, highlighting general strengths and
weaknesses, will be provided to you during a tutorial while individual feedback will be available up to 3 weeks
after the assessment is due, as per HWU policy. Feedback will be released to you via Canvas. You will not
receive marks on the final piece of Coursework until after the Board of Examiners have approved the course
results.
Late Submissions of coursework. In line with University Policy, any work submitted after the set date and time
will automatically have a penalty applied. The penalty is a reduction by 30% of the mark awarded. Submission
will be accepted up to five working days after the submission deadline – your work will be marked, the late
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penalty applied, and you will receive feedback. Coursework submitted after five working days will be awarded
NO grade and you will not be entitled to feedback.
Extensions. No extensions for coursework are permitted unless an extension is given to the whole class (in
exceptional circumstances). The course leader cannot grant individual extensions. If you foresee having issues
submitting by the deadline, please contact your Personal Tutor and apply for Mitigating Circumstances (MC)
via the student portal.
7. Academic Misconduct
At Heriot-Watt we expect all students to apply the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty in all
aspects of learning and assessment. You must read and adhere to the University’s policy on Academic
Integrity and complete the Academic Integrity Module included in the Canvas course.
To deal with academic misconduct, including activities associated with contract cheating, plagiarism and
collusion, the University has Student Discipline Policy and Procedures that apply to all students of the
University.
The University understands that assessment can be stressful for students, for a wide range of reasons.
Therefore, if you are feeling anxious about your assessment(s), please contact the Student Advice Hub, the
Student Well-Being Services, your Personal Tutor or your course leader for guidance and/or advice. If there
are circumstances out with your control preventing you from effectively engaging with and completing
assessed work, you should seek advice and consider applying for Mitigating Circumstances.
It’s vital that you seek support rather than resorting to cheating. If you are found guilty of academic
misconduct this will be reflected in your final degree transcript and you will be expected to resubmit your work
or resit the course; this may delay progression to the next stage of study and / or delay the award of your
degree.
To gain access to the Assessment on this course you will need to complete the
Academic Integrity Module contained within the Canvas Course.
8. Reading, Preparation and Additional Resources
Within each Online Module on ConnectUs and in the Canvas Course you will find what will be covered in each
tutorial and how you can best prepare for your weekly classes. Each Module details the learning outcomes
and topics to be covered. Please read through these carefully in advance. There are clear instructions for the
activities, exercises and tasks you need to complete before each tutorial.
Any required pre-work involves selected aspects of the online course and readings; if pre-work is indicated for
a lecture or tutorial this should be considered a minimum required level of preparation. If you have time and
would like to do more work beforehand or after a tutorial, you should work through the additional activities
and readings indicated in the Module.
The digital library is available giving access to a full range of resources, including e-books, databases and
journals. Resource lists, subject guides, skills development and online tutorials will also be available to support
your study. If you have any questions, our specialist Librarian (Marion Kennedy, EBS and Psychology, +44 131
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451 3583, m.l.kennedy@hw.ac.uk / Astrid Faragher, LINCS,, +44 (0)131 451 3383 astrid.faragher@hw.ac.uk)
will be ready to help with one-to-one advice.
Core Textbook: The core textbook for this course is available via the HWU library as an e-book:
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2019). Research methods for business students (8th ed.). Harlow:
Financial Times Prentice Hall. (Full eBook available in Discovery)
9. Detailed Course Schedule
All times are local. Lectures/Introductory Sessions are one hour in duration, Tutorials are 2 hours in
duration.
All sessions are delivered on-campus only.
