Imagined study scenarios

Word limit                   1,000 words total

Due date                      Sunday 18th August 2019

Contribution                25% of overall grade

A detailed explanation of how the criteria map to each grade is also available in the DRL A1 criteria 2019 PDF.

Task description

Produce two speculative scenarios that project into the future of your proposed research.

  1. One should capture what the outcomes of your study might be. You can choose from the following:
    1. Write a newspaper article – think about the headline, any potential controversy, relevant images, how the authority of the work might be conveyed
    2. A book blurb – what readers would find on the back cover if you wrote your study up as a book (could be an academic book or a more popular book); this should summarise the key ideas, make it clear what the distinctive ‘niche’ is, and can include imagined testimonials or reviews from key people
    3. A script of a TV or radio interview in which you talk about your research, why and how you did it, what you found.
    4. A poster and an accompanying text explaining the key points (aims, design, findings, conclusions).
  2. For the other you can choose one of:
    1. Disaster scenario. Think of what might go wrong in your study at different stages – what if there is an ethical breach of some kind? What if stakeholders react badly to your findings? What if you find you can’t analyse the data for your intended purpose?
    2. A response to a study you have found that relates closely to your own proposed research topic: how would you change that study to make it better?
    3. A response to a study (provided by the lecturer on request) that is not so closely related to your topic: how can you bounce off this to see potential relevance, useful ideas, ways to develop your own study?
    4. A ‘change half-way through’ scenario: what if your research challenges your theoretical framework?

Criteria

  1. Clear statement of research question and hypothesis 10%
  2. Depth of critical reflection 40%
  3. Coherence of organisation, clarity of expression and presentation 20%
  4. Use of relevant literature to support and frame the speculative process 30%

Attach your Assessment in an email to nick.hopwood@uts.edu.au

The email must come from your UTS email address. Assessments received from non-UTS email addresses will not be opened.