Key details:

Assessment title:

Written assignment (individual): Research Questions & Literature Review

Module Name:

Research Project

Module Code:

PM600

Assessment will be set on:

Cycle 2, Week 1

Feedback opportunities:

Before deadline: Peer feedback in class, tutor feedback in class 1:1

After deadline: Written feedback available on Turnitin two weeks after submission.

Assessment is due on:

14/12/25

Assessment weighting:

30%

Assessment Instructions

What do you need to do for this assessment?

In your previous assessment you produced a research project proposal on which you have received feedback from your tutor. Use this feedback to improve your project design by improving or expanding two sections of the proposal:

1. The Research Questions should be refined to ensure feasibility and clarify the focus of your research.

2. The sources in the Annotated Bibliography should be compared and contrasted with other sources in your Literature Review. These should be grouped into themes containing an evaluation of the sources used and lead to the identification of a research gap, which you will try to fill with the study you will carry out in the next stage of the project. The Literature Review should give an overview of the research done previously, including details on findings and the methodology used in the sources reviewed.

This could be resubmitted to a potential research supervisor. The aim of these two sections is to provide appropriate focus of your research project and literature-based evidence which can help persuade your research supervisor about the importance and need for this research project.

Guidance:

For this assessment you should make use of the following formative activities that you have already completed.  These activities have been designed to support this assessment:

· Week 7: Research Proposal assessment feedback

· Week 9: Peer Review Literature Review Worksheet

· Week 10: Literature Review 1:1s with class tutor

Please note:

Both parts of this assessments are individual tasks which means that you are expected to complete them by yourself.

Structure:

Project Title: Give your project a working title (15-20 words).

Introduction: State the layout of your literature review and key points to come (maximum 150 words; optional)

Section 1: Literature Review (~1200 – 1500 words)

· In this section, you are to review the available academic literature on your chosen topic. You should compare and contrast existing research findings in order to identify gaps which your research aims to fill, and critically evaluate the quality of existing literature on your chosen topic.

· You can organise this section into further sub-sections, such as an introduction and sub-sections dedicated to specific research themes. Themes could be different areas of your topic that you researched or different areas of literature you find in your research. Sub-section headings should reflect the relevant content of that section.

Section 2: Reflection on Research Questions (~200-300 words)

· This section should include your Research Questions (maximum three).

· You should provide a justification of these questions and relate these to gaps in the existing literature on your chosen topic.

· The research questions should be a result of the research done in the Literature Review.

· This assignment should not answer your research questions.

· You can also discuss your hypotheses for your project, highlighting the kinds of results you expect to find based on your reading.

Reference List (excluded from the word count)

In this section you should include a list of all sources you have used to complete this assignment.

Theory and/or task resources required for the assessment:

This is a secondary research task, requiring you to draw on sources to evaluate your research design and the topic you wish to research. Note – this does not mean your final research project must follow a secondary research approach. This is solely for the Literature Review & Research Questions assessment.

You should draw on knowledge and information provided in your lessons. A range of sources relevant to your topic area is required for this assignment: you may wish to use less-formal sources for background research on your topic, e.g., newspapers, reputable websites in addition to a diverse range of academic sources available to you through your college, including journals, textbooks and chapters in edited volumes. Databases are a rich source for datasets. Any non-academic sources you use should be treated with caution. A minimum of 10 sources is required for this assignment.

Referencing style.:

All sources cited within the literature review should appear in the final reference list. The preferred referencing style. is APA, although your teacher may offer an alternative style. of Harvard referencing that can be used.

Expected word count:
You are expected to write approximately 1,500 – 1800 words to complete this assignment, following the structure outlined above.  References and project title are excluded from the word count.

Learning Outcomes Assessed:

· Conduct and produce a critically evaluative academic literature review appropriate to the proposed research question(s) following accepted conventions.

· Critically reflect on academic skills & performance, responding appropriately to feedback to improve aspects of academic work.

Submission Requirements:

You must include the following paragraph on your title page:

“I confirm that this assignment is my own work. Where I have referred to academic sources, I have provided in-text citations and included the sources in the final reference list.”

You must type your assessment in an academically suitable font (e.g. Arial), font size 11, with 1.5 spacing. Sections and sub-section headings can be font size 14/16.

You must submit the assessment electronically via the VLE module page.  Please ensure you submit it via the Turnitin VLE plug-in.

When you submit a copy of your Proposal to Turnitin, you must include a title page with the following information:

✓ Module Code (PM600)

✓ Class/Group (e.g. Group A)

✓ Module Title (Research Project)

✓ Assessment Type (Literature Review & Research Questions)

✓ Module Tutor Name

✓ Student Name

✓ Student ID Number

✓ Date of Submission

When you submit your proposal on Turnitin, the submission title should include:

Your student ID number_module code and group_tutor initials

e.g. 2999999_PM600F_JB

NB – If you have technical problems submitting, you should do the following:

1. Contact College Services using this form. before the deadline: https://kicpathways.formstack.com/forms/contact_gic

2. Under ‘What is your enquiry about?’, choose ‘assignment hand in’.

3. In the ‘How can we help you?’ box, write what the assignment is (Assessment 1: Research Proposal), the module (PM600), group (e.g. JAN 25 - ENG Group A), tutor’s name and date it was due in.

4. Attach your assignment and screenshot(s) of the error message.

Academic Integrity & Misconduct Information:

Please use this link to access more information on academic integrity and misconduct:

https://pathways.kaplaninternational.com/course/view.php?id=1940

Additional submission information – check you have done the following:

Formatting Consistent font, spacing, page numbers, formatting and subheadings

Citations Correct format and location throughout the report

Referencing Harvard referencing system used correctly in the reference list

Summarising Summarising the results of research

Paraphrasing Paraphrasing the contents of research findings

Spell check Spell check the report

Proof-reading Proof-reading completed

Grammar The report has been checked for grammatical accuracy

How will this assessment be marked?

The following criteria will be used to evaluate your performance in this assessment:

Coverage and content (25%)

- How well you cover available sources and identify key content that is relevant to your research area.

- How suitable and persuasive your research objectives and research questions are.

Critical Appraisal (25%)

- How well you evaluate and comment on the literature in your research area. This includes identifying logical connections between sources and your own research project.

Organisation of ideas (25%)

- How well you organise your ideas to address your key research themes and assessment objectives.

- How well you structure your ideas using linking expressions, cohesive devices and narrative synthesis, as well as section headings and order.

Academic Expression (10%)

- How well your present your ideas in academic English and use relevant terminology for your research area.

Academic Integrity (15%)

- How well you follow academic conventions relating to appropriate register, paraphrasing and referencing.

- How genuine, accurate and precise is/are the data/facts presented.

You will receive a (%) grade for each criterion.  The overall assessment grade will be averaged from the four criteria, and the overall mark will be a percentage.

You must achieve a minimum 40% to pass this assessment.

How will you get feedback?

Your tutor will grade the assessment and provide feedback for each criteria area. Students will usually receive assessment feedback on Turnitin two weeks after the assessment submission deadline, unless affected by holidays, term breaks and other circumstances.