Unit Synopsis
In this unit, you will develop a research proposal on a topic of your choice. To achieve this, you will follow a structured, step-by-step research process, commencing with formulating a research question and research objectives. You will examine and critique quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods designs. You will identify and retrieve a relevant body of research and literature, analysing and synthesising the findings into a coherent literature review. By identifying gaps in the literature, you will develop a justifiable rationale for your topic and design an appropriate research proposal. You will evaluate any ethical challenges in line with the AASW Code of Ethics and human research ethics guidelines and develop a feasibility strategy for your proposed study, ensuring the research is ethically and practically achievable.
Details
| Level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 9 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 4 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-requisites: SOWK29001 Ethical and Legal Issues in Practice SOWK28005 Social Work Field Education 1 Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Literature Review or Systematic Review | 50% |
| 2. Research Proposal | 50% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
No previous feedback available
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Critically evaluate the key methods and methodologies used in social work research and the implications for evidence-based practice.
- Conduct a literature review that critically and ethically analyses and synthesises appropriate research findings to inform a research topic.
- Design a research proposal that justifies the selection of research methodologies and addresses identified gaps in the literature.
- Evaluate ethical considerations of the research design and develop a feasibility strategy to ensure the proposed study is ethically sound and practically achievable.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Literature Review or Systematic Review | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Research Proposal | • | • | • | • |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Communication | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | • | • | ||
| 4 - Research | • | • | • | • |
| 5 - Self-management | • | • | • | |
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | • | • | • | |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |