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Research project - MUS00060M

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  • Department: Music
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Amandine Pras
  • Credit value: 60 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
  • Notes: This is an independent study module

Module summary

To complete your course, you will have three months to carry out an individual research project on the topics of your choice within the fields of music production, audio cultures, and sound engineering. Based on the project proposal that you will have submitted as part of the ‘Research Approaches and Processes’ module assessment to outline your areas of focus and methodology, you will be allocated a supervisor who will guide you through your research project over the Summer.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2024-25

Module aims

In this module, you will engage deeply with the academic literature that informs your theoretical framework, methodology and/or creative process. You will design research objectives, and you will conduct your project to achieve these objectives. This process aims to solidify your expertise and critical thinking skills in your area of studies, and to provide you with a piece of work that can demonstrate your ability to complete a large-scale independent project.

Assessment will consist of a final submission that will take the form of one these three possibilities:

  1. An empirical study report (of between 8,000 and 10,000 words) based on data collection and analysis, with accompanying documentation as applicable, e.g., research ethics application documents and approval, signed consent forms, stimuli created and used for perceptual experiments, interview transcriptions, qualitative data coding files, quantitative data spreadsheets. This study can consist of:

    • A listening test to evaluate and/or compare audio technologies and/or production approaches.

    • A survey based on four-to-six semi-directed interviews with industry professionals.

    • A survey based on eighteen-to-twenty-five questionnaire responses from industry professionals.

    • A survey based on two-to-three focus groups with industry professionals.

    • A small-scale ethnography based on a combination of in-situation observations and interviews with members of a specific scene or creative context or practice.

  2. A substantial piece of creative or practical work with a conceptual and critical essay (of between 6,000 and 7,000 words), and accompanying documentation to support the creative process as applicable. Typically around 45 minutes of high-quality audio, with or without high-quality video, this work can consist of:

    • The production of an original album (with or without video).

    • The development and assessment of software/hardware systems.

    • The organisation, live engineering, and evaluation of a themed event.

    • A community-based project involving production and/or live engineering.

    • An electroacoustic installation (with or without video).

  3. An extended essay/dissertation (of between 10,000 and 12,000 words) based on philosophical argumentation and musicology of production.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module all students should be able to:

  • Plan, complete and submit a written report on a research project in their areas of studies;

  • Design research questions and/or objectives supported by an academic literature review;

  • Select and apply appropriate methods to answer their research questions, and/or technical and creative processes to meet their objectives;

  • Critically discuss their research outcomes; and

  • Formally structure, format and combine all the documents that support their achievements.

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark Group
Essay/coursework
Essay/coursework : Empirical study report - 8,000-10,000 words		 N/A 100 A
Essay/coursework
Essay/coursework : A piece of creative or practical work -45 minutes of high-quality audio/video & between 6,000 & 7000		 N/A 100 B
Graduate/Postgraduate Dissertation
Essay/coursework : Dissertation - Between 10,000 & 12,000 words,		 N/A 100 C

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

When appropriate, a breakdown of the assessment mark will be determined by the supervisor at the beginning of the summer period, e.g. 20% for the sound quality of listening test stimuli and 80% for the written component; 50% for the creative work and 50% for the written component.

Students must select from one of the following options for the assessment:

  1. An empirical study report (of between 8,000 and 10,000 words) based on data collection and analysis, with accompanying documentation as applicable, e.g., research ethics application documents and approval, signed consent forms, stimuli created and used for perceptual experiments, interview transcriptions, qualitative data coding files, quantitative data spreadsheets. This study can consist of:

    • A listening test to evaluate and/or compare audio technologies and/or production approaches.

    • A survey based on four-to-six semi-directed interviews with industry professionals.

    • A survey based on eighteen-to-twenty-five questionnaire responses from industry professionals.

    • A survey based on two-to-three focus groups with industry professionals.

    • A small-scale ethnography based on a combination of in-situation observations and interviews with members of a specific scene or creative context or practice.

  2. A substantial piece of creative or practical work with a conceptual and critical essay (of between 6,000 and 7,000 words), and accompanying documentation to support the creative process as applicable. Typically around 45 minutes of high-quality audio, with or without high-quality video, this work can consist of:

    • The production of an original album (with or without video).

    • The development and assessment of software/hardware systems.

    • The organisation, live engineering, and evaluation of a themed event.

    • A community-based project involving production and/or live engineering.

    • An electroacoustic installation (with or without video).

  3. An extended essay/dissertation (of between 10,000 and 12,000 words) based on philosophical argumentation and musicology of production.

Reassessment

None

Module feedback

You will receive written feedback in line with standard University turnaround times.

Indicative reading

Graff, G., Birkenstein, C., & Maxwell, C. (2021). They say, I say: The moves that matter in academic writing. W.W. Norton and Company.

Hunt, A. (2005). Your research project: how to manage it. Psychology Press.

Klinkenborg, V. (2012). Several short sentences about writing. Vintage.

More TBC.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.