This module will equip students with the appropriate knowledge and understanding to complete their dissertation and other major research projects.

This Module is only offered on the Cyber Defence and Information Assurance MSc, PgDip and Cyberspace Operations MSc, PgDip.

Due to the nature of the subject matter in this Module, security clearance may be required. 

What you will learn

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

Knowledge

  • ability to develop, plan and communicate research in a structured way,
  • understand the importance of research ethics when using human participants,
  • able to articulate the role of ‘self’ within research and their related, personal, strengths and weaknesses.

Skills

  • be able to appraise and select qualitative and quantitative research methods and apply methods to different data collection and data analysis research needs,
  • be able to assess the design of research and research outputs in terms of validity, reliability and generalisability,
  • demonstrate a coherent ability to construct an academic discourse on a selected topic,
  • be able to apply for CURES approval.

Core content

Module topics:

  • what is research, and what it means to be a master of research,
  • the iterative nature of research,
  • formulating a topic,
  • developing and framing a research question, aim and objectives,
  • justifying the research,
  • scoping and conducting a critical literature review,
  • establishing a research approach,
  • formulating a research design,
  • Making ethical considerations, and obtaining CURES approval,
  • making sampling considerations,
  • appraising, selecting and applying the most frequently used qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection and analysis,
  • writing an initial research proposal,
  • writing up research findings.

Location and travel

Cranfield Defence and Security (CDS) is a Cranfield School based at the Ministry of Defence establishment on the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire borders.

Shrivenham itself lies in the picturesque Vale of the White Horse, close to the M4 motorway which links London and South Wales. It is 7 miles from Swindon, the nearest town, which lies off the M4 at the hub of Britain’s motorway network.

Bath, Cheltenham, Bristol and Oxford are all within an hour’s drive and London less than two hours away by car.

All visitors must be pre-booked in at reception by the person they are visiting on the campus.

For further location and travel details