Postgraduate Module Descriptor

POLM886: Dissertation

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

The aims of this module are to equip you with the professional skills needed to conduct an extended piece of research and writing. You will have the time and guidance to engage with core debates across the sub-disciplines of politics, equipping you well with practical skills and contributing to your intellectual development. The aims of this module are also to enable you to write an extended piece of independent writing, around a topic of your own choosing, in communication with an academic supervisor in your chosen area. It will allow you to demonstrate depth and breadth of knowledge in a particular subject area of professional or intellectual interest. The dissertation will be a mark of your ability to express yourself in writing.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. Demonstrate knowledge in depth of a specialised subject area. 2. Design an individual research programme, incorporating appropriate social science research methods. 3. Collate and analyse subject-specific information from a range of appropriate sources.
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. Develop the skills requisite to conducting an extended piece of academic writing, including: devising a research question, proposal and literature review; organizing and summarizing key literatures, debates, ideas and controversies. 5. Locate your own research in key disciplinary debates, controversies and developments. 6. Assimilate and critically analyse data from an appropriate range of sources, from policy papers to canonical texts in the history of political thought. 7. Develop a cogent argument. 8. Communicate complex information and ideas effectively in writing.
Personal and Key Skills	9. Use IT for information retrieval and presentation. 10. Manage own work.

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Research Proposal	500 words	1-10	Written and/or oral
One draft chapter of the dissertation (e.g. literature review), or a developed introduction. Whichever the candidate feels most useful to gain feedback on progress	2,500 words	1-10	Written and/or oral

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Dissertation	100	12,000 words	1-10	Written feedback

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Dissertation	Dissertation (12,000 words)	1-10	Next reassessment period