SD3D110 - Dissertation / Social Impact Project 01 Sep 2024 - 31 Aug 2030 | Version 0

Associated Module Information

Module Code: SD3D110
Module Title: Dissertation / Social Impact Project
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Leadership and Public Services
Faculty Sub Group: Leadership and Public Services
Module Leader: Howard Williamson
Module Team: David Phillips, Mohammad Kabir, Laurence Blake, Paul Lewis, Stuart Morgan, Vida Greaux, Wendy Booth
First Intended Intake: SEP 2024 Final Year of Intake: 2029
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 40 Credit Level: 6
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100502 - social policy
HECOS Code Weighting: 100

Document Version Information

Version 0
Valid From 01 Sep 2024
Valid To 31 Aug 2030

Module Aims

The module aims to enable and ensure students’ capacity and competence to engage in independent study, within a supportive framework of plenary workshops and individual supervision, and to actively reflect on this.   

The objectives of the module are to: ? 

  1. Finalise the design of the research proposal submitted in Year 2.   

  1. Conduct a literature review on their specified research topic. 

  1. Engage with the allocated supervisor to gain support to produce a substantial piece of research and adhere to ethical requirements. 

  1. Prepare and be involved in organising an annual conference to present research/project findings and reflections, and receive feedback from other students and from their session’s external Chairs who are ‘significant others’ in public services and the charitable sector in South Wales. 

  1. Complete a 10,000 word fieldwork or library based dissertation / social impact project. 

Content Summary

The Dissertation / Social Impact Project will enable students to pursue an in-depth research project on a topic of their choice. 

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Seminars 20
Project Supervision 20
Demonstration/Conference? 20
Fieldwork and data analysis 100
Independent Study? 240
Total Hours Selected 400

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Recognise the importance of, and implement, effective time-management through planning and executing an extended research project
LO2 Demonstrate the capacity to produce a coherent and in-depth analysis of an issue of contemporary relevance to sociology and/or public services.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Synchronous Onsite Oral Assessment Presentation (Synchronous Onsite) 1 Conference presentation at the Social Impact Student Summit. 10 N/A 20 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Dissertation / Major Project 1 An academic dissertation or project report of 10,000 words 0 10000 80 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Presentation (Synchronous Onsite) 1
Dissertation / Major Project 1

Reading List

Aiello, E. Donovan, C. Duque, E. Fabrizio, S. Flecha, R. Holm, P. & Reale, E. (2021). Effective strategies that enhance the social impact of social sciences and humanities research. Evidence & Policy, 17(1), 131-146. 

Bryman, A. (2016), Social Research Methods, 5th edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press 

Cohen, L., Manion, L. & Morrison, K. (2017). Action research. In Research methods in education (pp. 440-456). Routledge. 

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.  

Davies, M. B., & Hughes, N. (2014). Doing a successful research project: Using qualitative or quantitative methods. Bloomsbury Publishing. 

Denscombe, M. (2017). The good research guide: For small-scale social research projects. McGraw-Hill Education  

Gilbert, N. and Stoneman, P. (eds) (2016), Researching Social Life, 4th edition, London: Sage  

Gray, D. (2014), Doing Research in the Real World, 3rd edition, London: Sage 

Laurie, C. and Jensen, E. (2016), Doing Real Research, London: Sage 

Lofland, J. and Lofland, L. (1995), Analysing Social Settings, 3rd edition, Belmont: Wadsworth 

Punch, K. (2014), Introduction to Social Research, 3rd edition, London: Sage 

Vanclay, F. (2020). Reflections on Social Impact Assessment in the 21st century. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 38(2), 126-131