This module is only offered as part of the Counterterrorism MSc and Counterterrorism Risk Management and Resilience MSc. 

This module provides students with the opportunity to engage in a significant independent research project. Students select the topic of the research but the focus must be on an area directly relevant to the terrorism and counterterrorism focus of the programme. The project must be an original piece of research which can be either empirical or literature based in nature.

What you will learn

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

  • Appraise the suitability of different research paradigms in the context of an identified research question.
  • Construct a critical literature review of key texts, identifying the academic theory most relevant to an identified research questions.
  • Compare and contrast different data analysis techniques.
  • Distinguish between different forms of evidence; their validity and verifiability. 
  • Outline the key requirements in generating research of a publishable quality, including specific needs of specific journals.
  • Relate research methods to the generation of innovative solutions and designs across defence and security challenges.

    • Core content

    Unit 1: Knowledge, novelty and verification and validation

    • The classical epistemological view of knowledge: S knows that p if and only if p is true, S believes that p and S is justified in believing p.
    • Novelty in research and contrast to what is not novel.
    • Potential sources of research topics, areas of interest
    • Purposes for which research may be performed
    • Impact of project purpose on what knowledge is needed
    • Requisites of a research project: a method to discover what is present and a method to provide assurance

    Unit 2: Areas of interest and research questions

    • Impact of intention to publish on project design
    • Broad approaches to research: discovery about an observable, improving practice in a field, improving individual or group practice, logic or mathematical proof, experiments, interpretation of extant data, analysis of text/discourse, etc.
    • Transformation of an area of interest into an articulated research question
    • Reading research papers to determine research questions and methods

    Unit 3: Formative feedback re proposed research question

    • Individual discussion with students re research question and their individual way forward. To be arranged as mutually agreed appointment times.

    Unit 4: Research methods matched to research questions
    • Development of the methods associated with the broad approaches to research: discovery about an observable, improving practice in a field, improving individual or group practice, logic or mathematical proof, experiments, interpretation of extant data, analysis of text/discourse, etc. (Material will be provided across the whole set, students will be encouraged to focus on methods that are linked to their intended research question.)
     

    Unit 5: Writing about research: Proposals, reports, theses, and papers

    • Description of research writing genres: proposals, reports, thesis, paper
    • For each genre: general description, generic outline, span of content, emphasis on sections
    • The nature and purpose of literature review in each genre
    • Pragmatic suggestions for writing: outlining, mind-mapping, reference management, document management
    • Creating publishable quality research including discipline specific journals and how to write academically credible and professional reports
    Unit 6: Formative feedback re proposed research methodology
    • Individual discussion with students re research question and their individual way forward. To be arranged as mutually agreed appointment times

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