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CET351 Research - Project Plan

<Student’s Name>
<Student’s Registration Number>
<The name of the degree you are studying>
< Centre (if off campus)>

<Title of Proposed Project>

Word count <number of words>

1. Justification of the Research Proposed

Introduce the project and explain the context. What is the background to your chosen
research topic? Consult the literature papers you have identified and read about the topic
to describe the research topic. Citing journal and / or conference papers as evidence to
support your description.

Keep in mind that this research project is not about developing a new system, or solving one
client’s problems but should aim to extend one aspect of our knowledge. For example,
identifying a limitation(s) in the current methodologies published so far.

Cite your sources and provide details of these in your reference list in the Harvard
referencing format. Ensure your citations are in the correct format i.e. the name should be
outside of the ( )’s if part of the sentence. The format of the name should be the same
format as used in the reference list. Use the following online resource for correct literature
citation and referencing (https://www.citethemrightonline.com/).

2. The Project Aim

Based on the introduction, state clearly the proposed aim of the investigation from a
scientific perspective i.e. what new knowledge/information will come from undertaking this
investigation?

This statement on the project aim should be very short (no more than 50 words) and clear.
One or two sentences are enough. This should not need a long explanation.

This is a research project and thus the main aim should have a knowledge outcome. An
unacceptable aim would be to ‘develop a system for a client’ – this would be a practical
outcome not an expression of knowledge that would help the wider computing community.

3. The Project Objectives

The objectives should follow a sound scientific and logical order and focus on the main steps
or milestones to be completed to execute the project from initial investigation to the writing
up of a report. Aim for about 5-8 objectives. Each objective should have a tangible result
such as a report on the academic literature / the results of comparative analyses of
published work / the result of systematic evaluation of published methods on xyz.

The objectives should be as specific as possible to your project. Thus, instead of ‘Perform a
literature search’ you may wish to write ‘Search for research papers on methods xyz for web
interaction for visually impaired users.

A numbered list should be used for this section of your project proposal.

4. Contributions
State in bullet points what contribution(s) your project is going to make to the scientific
community. Since this is research topic investigating a specific area, the contribution is likely
to be around identifying gaps/limitations from published work. It could also be an extensive
systematic comparative analyses/evaluation of your chosen topic. You should identify 2-4
contributions.

5. Scientific Justification
Justify the evaluation plans, described in section 6, with reference to the scientific theory to
show that these plans adhere to sound scientific principles i.e. write a short but critical
reflection of these evaluation plans to identify any potential limitations or problems (e.g. the
possibility of data error or bias) and state what steps you may take in your experimental
design to overcome these potential problems.

You may wish to refer to the following list of scientific terms when writing this justification :-
Basic research, Applied research, Quantitative research, Qualitative research, Knowledge, A
hypothesis, Testability, Reproducibility, Precision, Objectivity, Validity, Reliability and
Significance.

While you may refer to appropriate scientific theory here a description of this theory is not
appropriate. Instead you should focus your discussion the justification of your specific
evaluation plans.

6. Ethical Justification
Briefly justify the methodology and evaluation plans, described in section 5 and 6, from an
ethical, legal and professional perspective i.e. make specific reference to the Economic and
Social Research Council (ESRC) Framework for Research Ethics, Legal acts and Codes of
Conduct and Ethics to show that this proposed project does not breach any of these
guidelines.

State briefly any social implications this research may have.

7. The Proposed Research Framework/Methodology

Describe the proposed methodology for this project. Describe the chosen research
framework in sufficient detail so that the reader can see how this specific
research/investigation is expected to be undertaken.
Detailed justification of the chosen research framework, i.e., why did you choose the
specific research framework?
8. Research Materials Selection Process
Describe in detail the processes and steps you have followed in identifying the research
papers State all the keywords and phrases you have used for identifying the research
papers. For example, list and justify the list of keywords/phrases you have compiled.
Describe the initial steps in identifying list of papers via searching certain publication
databases, list and justify selection the publication databases you have used for identifying
papers, describe the processes/steps you have used keep/discard certain papers, etc.

9. References
List here any research papers used in this document – other sources (e.g., websites) used
must also be cited and placed in the reference list though you should keep other sources to
a minimum!

Ensure this list is in the Harvard format and references to journal and conference papers are
formatted as in the module materials and thus highlight.
All authors names, publication year, the title of the research paper, the title of the journal or
conference (in italics), the volume and page numbers should be provided.

References should not be numbered but should be in alphabetical order using the author’s
name.

Any text taken from these sources must be in quotes and the sources cited.

If journal or conference papers are obtained via the web, providing the web address is not
appropriate or sufficient.
Raad the following online resource for correct literature citation and referencing
https://www.citethemrightonline.com/.

10. Schedule
Show how each of the numbered objectives are broken down into individual tasks and their
expected deliverables as well as the allocation of effort to each task (in hours) and planned
start and end date using the template provided below. A full and detailed list of tasks is
expected covering the entire project.

The wording of each task should be clear, detailed, and specific to your project.

The workload and timing of tasks should be appropriate.

11. Gantt Chart

Based on the schedule the Gantt chart needs to show the tasks and their timings
diagrammatically using the template provided here. This should also show the total working
hours planned each week.

While Gantt charts can be produced using Microsoft Project this is designed for larger multi-
person projects scheduled in days not hours. Furthermore Microsoft Project files cannot be
uploaded to TurnItIn and so for this assignment these are not allowed.
 You must therefore use the template provided below.

Schedule Template
ID Task Title Effort Planned Planned Actual Actual Deliverable
(hours) Start End Date Start End
Date Date Date
Identify published
1 papers 32
List of
Compile list of keywords
1.1 keywords/phrases 2 01/9/23 01/09/23 and phrases
List of
Search database references
1.2 for paperers 5 01/9/23 01/09/23 and papers
Identify and store Selection of
papers for further papers for
analyses (abstract further
1.3 reading) 20 02/09/23 05/09/23 reading
Filter papers for List of
further details stored
reading and papers for
1.4 reading 5 05/09/23 06/09/23 reading
Detailed paper
reading and
2 writing 72 07/09/23 28/09/23
Writing
critical
analyses of
2.1 Reading 5 papers 7 07/09/23 08/09/23 5 papers
Writing
critical
09/09/ analyses of
2.2 Reading 5 papers 7 08/09/23 23 5 papers

Task Effort
ID Task Title (hours) W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W 10
Identify published
1 papers 32
 Compile list of
1.1 keywords/phrases 2
Search database
1.2 for paperers 5
Identify and store
papers for further
analyses (abstract
1.3 reading) 20
Filter papers for
further details
1.4 reading and reading 5
Detailed paper
2 reading 35
2.1 Reading 5 papers 7

… … … …
… … … …
… … … …
Writing critical
3 analyses on papers 37
Writing critical
analyses on 5
3.1 papers 7

Total Hours Per

Week 32 35 …
GANTT Chart Template