Fourth Master's Module "Research Methodology" Essay Submission

Following on from last week's post, this week I am talking about the last Master's assessment I submitted. It's a little bit outdated but nevertheless, I wanted to share it for my own memories, as well as to help those going through their own Midwifery Masters. 

Writing this essay was a little bit of an odd one, because whilst a lot of students were writing it throughout the module, I had to finish my previous module which I had an extension for that didn't finish until October. Therefore, instead of writing from September, I didn't actually start until November, but once I started, I really got into it and fell into the zone. 

The assessment involved selecting a research article and analysing the research methodology behind it, alongside using evidence to back all points and historical knowledge to build the foundations for research. I found the specification of this assessment quite prescriptive, which made it a lot easier to write than the other assessments which had much more freedom. They wanted it to be split into three parts. 

1. Introduction: defining research, quantitative and qualitative research and the background of my chosen research article, including contemporary facts, statistics, policies and guidance, psychosocial factors, and technical information (if appropriate) for context. 
2. Examines the article: methodology, samples, methods, ethics, analysis and discussion. 
3. Recommendations: emerging themes, application in practice, further research with both obstacles and enabling factors. 

Interestingly, it also requested we add specific appendices which I a not particularly used to. It asked for the full article abstract, literature search to identify the article and a screenshot of the email approving and confirming choice with your supervisor. 

As you can see, there was a clear plan of writing and I just had to keep relating the section back to my original article. As it was a topic I picked myself, it was something I was very interested in and therefore engaged and excited to write about, so I found it surprisingly enjoyable. I'm hoping the mark will reflect that.