LME3701

RESEARCH TOPIC FOR SEMESTER 1 OF 2024

Table of Contents
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2
2 Turnitin ................................................................................................................................... 2
3 Research topic ........................................................................................................................ 4
4 Prescribed headings for the draft research proposal (assignment 02) ..................................... 5
5 Format and layout of the draft research proposal (assignment 02).......................................... 6
6 Preparing for the draft research proposal (assignment 02) ..................................................... 8
7 Important information regarding the draft research proposal (assignment 02) ....................... 9
8 Warning against plagiarism ................................................................................................... 10
9 A brief note about the portfolio exam ................................................................................... 10
10 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 11

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1 Introduction

This document contains information about completing your DRAFT RESEARCH

PROPOSAL (Assignment 2). Ensure that you use the prescribed headings in the proposal
in the order given. You will have to obtain sources on the given topic from the library.
Library training will be provided to guide you on using the Unisa online library to find
relevant sources.

2 Turnitin

Before we turn to the research topic, please note the following very important points about
the use of Turnitin which is a prerequisite for your assignment to be marked.

• We use Turnitin for assignment 2 (draft research proposal) and assignment 3 (final
research proposal).

• See the PowerPoint presentation under additional resources on how to submit it

through Turnitin on myUnisa – you simply click a big orange button as shown below:

• Turnitin will generate a similarity report that you can view. It can be a powerful
learning tool in that you can see where you perhaps did not paraphrase sufficiently,
forgot to use quotes or neglected to acknowledge your sources. Where the Turnitin
similarity index is unacceptably high, it may cause your assignment or portfolio not
to be marked and to be flagged for possible disciplinary action.

• If there is no Turnitin similarity report for your assignment/portfolio, your

assignment/portfolio will not be marked.

• For Turnitin to generate a similarity report, your file must be in PDF format – it must
be a searchable PDF and not a scanned PDF (also avoid the “print to PDF”
function). To see if your document is a searchable PDF, click anywhere in your PDF

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 and then click the control button (ctrl) and the f button (f is for find). A search block
should then appear (see the screenshot below).

• You can then type in a word that you know you used in the document (use “and” or
one of the prescribed headings for example). If it highlights the word, you typed in,
it is a searchable PDF. In the example below, I used tutorial letter 302 and searched
for the word “school” as it appears on the cover page: It picked up the word I typed
in so that confirms that it is a searchable PDF.

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 • If the search function does not work and the word you typed in is not picked up
(provided you typed it correctly)it means it is a scanned document, a non-searchable
PDF for which Turnitin will not be able to generate a similarity report which will cause
your assignment/portfolio not to be marked. It is your responsibility to ensure that
your document is a searchable PDF and not a scanned document.

• Turnitin does a round-robin check on the assignments/ portfolios on the due

date and time of the assignment, for this reason, assignment/portfolio due
dates cannot be extended.

3 Research topic

You work at a law firm that specializes in Family Law. You are consulted by a man with
his male life partner. They explain to you that they had just had a baby through a surrogate
and when they went to the Department of Home Affairs they were not allowed to register
as the child's parents due to the fact they were not married at the time of the birth.

You are tasked with researching the law on the rights of parents of children conceived
through surrogacy. You have to focus on the rights of the parents (the couple that wants the
baby), this will include any relevant Constitutional rights. You must choose whether you
are researching the topic using the historical approach or the comparative approach
(see explanation below)

Write a draft research proposal for a prospective post-graduate study on the topic setting
out how the law deals with such issues. Focus on the legislative framework, law reform
commission reports, case law and writings by scholars.

When writing your proposal, you have two options in terms of research approach:

1) Write the proposal using the historical research approach.

This means looking at the historical development of the law on the issue from a
specific date in the past up to the present day. You will look at relevant case law and
legislation that might have contributed to the law as it stands today. You will also

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 consider law reform commission reports. Writings by scholars can assist in
interpreting the law and evaluating its application and effectiveness.

OR

2) Write the proposal using the comparative research approach:

This means looking at the current legal position in one jurisdiction and comparing
it to the current legal position in another jurisdiction. For purposes of this research
proposal, you must look at the laws of England. Legislation, case law, law reform
commission reports and writings by scholars should be consulted.

4 Prescribed headings for the draft research proposal (assignment 02)

Your assignment 02 must include the following:

• Prescribed title/cover page as per section D of the study guide - also on

myUnisa

• Working title (on your title/cover page)

• Content page (table of contents)

• Your draft research proposal with the prescribed headings (see below)

• Academic honesty declaration – available on myUnisa

Your draft research proposal (assignment 02) must be fully referenced and contain
the following 11 prescribed headings in the order listed below:

1. Introduction. See learning unit 3.

2. Problem statement. See learning unit 4.

3. Hypothesis. See learning unit 5.

4. Points of departure and assumptions. See learning unit 6.

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 5. Conceptualisation of central research themes. See learning unit 7.

6. Proposed chapter outlay. See learning unit 8.

7. Projected time scale. See learning unit 9.

8. Description of proposed research method. See learning unit 10.

9. Preparatory study and research. See learning unit 11. Indicate at least 10 sources
you have already consulted and give a brief explanation/description/summary of
each.

10. Conclusion. See LLBALLF Tutorial Letter 301/4/2024

11. Bibliography. See LLBALLF Tutorial Letter 302/4/2024.

5 Format and layout of the draft research proposal (assignment 02)

• You have to select which approach you will be taking to solve the given legal problem,
historical or comparative?

• This assignment entails a draft research proposal, but it will also form the basis of
the final research proposal that you will submit as your examination portfolio
(Assignment 03). Therefore, you should ensure that you put effort into this
assignment.

• Your assignment must be typed. No hand-written assignments will be

accepted.

• Your assignment must comply with the following requirements regarding formatting
and layout: (Note that LLBALLF Tutorial Letter 301/4/2024 and 302/4/2024 also
contain instructions regarding the format and layout of assignments. Where
there are discrepancies between the two, the prescripts set out hereunder
should be followed).

• The text of all documents must be typed in font type Arial and font size 12.

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 • Footnotes must also be in Arial but in font size 10.

• The text of the document must be justified, in 1.5 spacing and with 12pt after each
paragraph.

• Footnotes must be justified and in single spacing and have a 1cm hanging indent
(see example footnote below). There should be no space between footnotes.1

• Margins must be set to “normal”.

• All headings must be aligned left, in Arial font size 12 and numbered numerically (i.e.
1, 1.1, 1.1.1, etc.). Main headings are in bold and sentence case, secondary
headings in bold and italics and sentence case, tertiary headings in italics and
sentence case and further headings in ordinary script (normal).

• Pages must be numbered at the bottom right-hand corner of the page.

• The document's title must be centred and in ALL CAPS and bold.

• Please submit your assignment via myUnisa. We are NOT allowed to accept
assignments via e-mail. You may resubmit your assignment on myUnisa for as long
as the system allows. If the submission attempts are limited, Moodle will indicate how
many submission attempts you have left. Please make sure that the document that
you choose to submit is indeed the correct one.

• When submitting your assignment via myUnisa, note that it should be in PDF-
FORMAT (NOT SCANNED) for online marking purposes. Do not lock or otherwise
disable the editing functions on your PDF assignment because it prevents us from
marking and commenting on your assignment.

• The assignment is limited to a maximum of ten (10) typed pages, cover page,
content page, bibliography and academic honesty declaration EXCLUDED.

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This is what a footnote should look like – there must be a space between the number of the footnote
and where the test starts. If your footnote goes over two lines, make sure that the text is left aligned
so that it appears like this one.
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 The 10-page count thus starts with your introduction up to and including your
conclusion.

• Your assignment must contain proper referencing by way of footnotes and a

bibliography of sources. You must provide evidence that you can cite a variety of
sources (e.g., case law, legislation, books, journal articles, etc.). Please refer to
LLBALLF302 for the referencing style to be used. NOTE THAT TUTORIAL
LETTER 302 REPLACES SECTION C OF THE LME3701 STUDY GUIDE.

• This is an individual assignment to be completed by you without the help of other

students. Academic dishonesty and plagiarism cannot be tolerated. Plagiarism
by a student is considered serious misconduct, which could result in sanctions such
as failing the assignment or module or being barred from the institution following
disciplinary action against you. Refer to Unisa’s policy on plagiarism.

• Note: During the marking process, the markers provide BRIEF commentary where
necessary, BUT MORE DETAILED commentary is provided in Tutorial Letter 202.

• A marking guide will be attached to your marked second assignment. The

marking guide will guide you on where there is most room for improvement for
purposes of your portfolio exam.

• Please consult the PowerPoint presentation under additional resources for

some handy tips on editing and getting the document into the correct format.

6 Preparing for the draft research proposal (assignment 02)

There are several documents to consult to prepare your proposal, including your study guide
and tutorial letters 301 and 302. We have compiled a PowerPoint presentation that
consolidates all the requirements.

Please visit the additional resources folder on myUnisa for a PowerPoint presentation that
explains what is required of you under each prescribed heading in the proposal. You will also
find a downloadable cover page and academic honesty declaration there. Note that you
need not sign the academic honesty declaration.
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Please use the academic honesty declaration available on myUnisa and not the one
in section D of the study guide.

Just a reminder that tutorial letter 302 which sets out the prescribed referencing style
replaces section C of the study guide.

Note that you must follow the instructions in the PowerPoint presentation regarding the
projected time frame as the information in the study guide is outdated.

7 Important information regarding the draft research proposal (assignment 02)

This assignment contributes 75% towards your semester mark, so make sure to put in much
effort! Your semester mark will contribute to your final mark even if it is lower than your
portfolio mark.

Note that your draft research proposal must already contain content, it is not just an empty
shell with headings. You must already do some research and include information from the
sources you consulted in your draft proposal. This also means that your proposal should
have many footnotes. Please consult tutorial letter 302 (available on myUnisa) for details
about the referencing style.

Library training will be provided to guide you on how to find sources on the given research
topic. Keep an eye on myUnisa where the dates for the training will be announced. The
training will be recorded for those who might be unable to attend during the scheduled time
due to work or other commitments.

On the third-year LL.B level, you must work a bit more independently, so you have to self-
correct where possible. Note that the feedback from the marker on the draft research
proposal will be brief. S/he will not point out every mistake that you have made. If you see
you scored low on a particular aspect in the rubric, you must revisit that part of the material
and see how you can improve.

Please note that the mark you obtain for assignment 02 is not an indication of the mark you
will obtain for the portfolio exam. By the time you submit your portfolio exam, you must have
mastered skills such as referencing and following the layout instructions, for example. The
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portfolio is thus marked “afresh”. Do not rest on your laurels if you receive a good mark for
assignment 02!

8 Warning against plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of taking the words, ideas and thoughts of others and passing them off
as your own. It is irrelevant whether the words are contained in prescribed textbooks, study
guides or tutorial letters – using them without acknowledgement is an academic offence. If
you acknowledge the source and the author of the source, using the relevant material will
not amount to plagiarism. Note, however, that if you take words verbatim (word for word)
from a source, you must put them in inverted commas and acknowledge your source in a
footnote. If you paraphrase and put it in your own words, you must still add a footnote
acknowledging your source.

Plagiarism is a form of theft that involves several dishonest academic activities. Plagiarism
occurs when using direct quotations, paraphrasing work or using patchwork processes to
reproduce the work of others without acknowledging the source.

Note that, if you allow someone to copy from you, you may also be found guilty of academic
dishonesty so please do your own work.

Please avoid using paraphrasing tools/programs. You have to do your own work, which
means rephrasing sentences yourself and not relying on software to do this for you. Note
that Turnitin can also detect when you use AI to write your assignment or parts thereof. This
will not be tolerated.

9 A brief note about the portfolio exam

The portfolio exam in this module consists of a final research proposal on the same topic
that you prepared the draft research proposal on. The exam is an off-timetable module,
meaning that the due date for submission will not appear on your exam timetable. We will
post more information about the requirements for the portfolio exam closer to the exam.

If you put much effort into your draft research proposal, the final proposal will not be as
daunting.
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There is no automatic second examination opportunity and/or supplementary exam for this
module, so do your best to prepare for the exam by putting in as much as you can into this
second assignment, which is the foundation for your portfolio exam.

10 Conclusion

We hope you will find this course stimulating and acquire valuable skills that will stand you
in good stead no matter which career path you choose.

All the best!

Your LME3701 lecturers

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