Key points from my 1-2-1 : Literature review, MORE form, proposal, appendices and critical reflection essay

I had a 1-2-1 with Helen a few days ago and although some of what we spoke about was very specific to my topic I feel like a lot of what we spoke about could be useful to others who feel a bit lost on this journey through module 2! 

First off the literature review. This has been giving myself and a lot of the people that I've spoken to an unnecessary amount of stress and I feel somewhat more relaxed after speaking to Helen about this. The key points I took away regarding the literature review are that it can be structured in any way you want as long as the required content is there. The required content should include an overview of  research methods, designs for research proposals and ethics of planning a proposal and give a broad overview of your inquiry topic and the themes which it branches out to. The introduction should be short and basically state that your inquiry spans x topics and that although only a few (3-4) key texts are discussed in this review many people have spoken about it and your inquiry is informed by wider reading.

Next up, proposal, MORE form and other random forms. The MORE form and the proposal should be virtually identical like literally copy and past from the MORE form into the proposal. The employer consent form can be signed and dated whenever as long as you change the explanation at the top to include the time period in which the research project will be conducted. Everyone must do the employer consent form even if self-employed. The consent form is a way of ensuring your employer has been made aware of and acknowledges that you will be conducting a research project within your practice/workplace and that you will need to dedicate some time to it. If you are self-employed it is to demonstrate that you acknowledge that you will need to make time to complete the inquiry.  

If you plan on conducting interviews (online or face-to-face) during module 3 you have to declare this on the MORE form and a few important things to note about this include: interviews should be audio recorded only (unless it is essential for your inquiry to read body language) to help ensure anonymity, you need to gain permission for and advise participants that recording will be for analysis only and inform them the data will be destroyed 6 months post-completion, interviews should be stored password protected on one drive as the principle investigator needs to be able to access them at any point, initial contact with participants should not occur until the start of module 3 and should be the sending out of the information sheet and consent form which should be sent from your university email address.

Finally, the critical reflection essay (which I completely forgot was even a thing until I re-read the handbook the other day). The essay should reflect on the process of module 2 and the creation of the proposal (what went well and what didn't etc.) It should talk about any similarities and differences between module 1 and 2 and discuss how what you learned in module 1 carried over to module 2. You should also comment on how blogs and discussion groups helped and informed you in the process. It is not expected that you hand in a draft of the critical reflection essay as it should be done closer to the end of the module when you're on the verge of completion. There should be a bibliography but it is expected that this will be short as the main things you will be referencing are key quotes you found through your research that have shaped the way you view your inquiry.

Hope this helps some of you!