Candidates will work on an independent research project in an area of specific interest. The project may take the form of analysis of an existing data set, a systematic review of the literature, a case series, survey, or other project acceptable to the project supervisor and faculty team. In Dissertation A, the formation of the research question, research plan and literature review will be undertaken and presented with guidance from University academic staff members. The literature review can subsequently be incorporated into the dissertation. It is essential that appropriate ethics approval or advice is gained from the governing body where the project will take place. A research plan will need to be developed and candidates must provide a letter of approval from their local supervisor that a project and research question have been identified and the relevant approvals have been obtained. A candidate must enrol in a minimum of 12 credit points of dissertation units of study in order to submit their final dissertation. It is expected that candidates will spend about 10 hours per week on their research project. The literature review submission should be about 2,000 words. Assessment will include discussion boards (6 x 2.5%), end of subject presentation (30%) and written literature review (55%).