Design and critically evaluate an appropriate dissemination strategy for the research project discussed in Tarapdar and Kellett (2013).

Tarapdar, S., Kellett, M. (2013) Cyberbullying: Insights and Age-Comparison Indicators from a Youth-Led Study in England, Child Indicators Research, vol. 6(3), pp. 461477.

And a minimum of two sources from the module material.

Below is a list of module material that you may find useful in completing this TMA; you are not required to use all the material in this list. You must refer to the research article by Tarapdar and Kellett (2013).

Block 4 Units 1822
Module Reader Chapter 15 by Robb cite as (Robb, 2014) in your assignment
Module Reader Chapter 16 by Ruxton cite as (Ruxton, 2014) in your assignment
Module Reader Chapter 17 by Pascal and Bertram cite as (Pascal and Bertram, 2014) in your assignment
Module Reader Chapter 18 by Mann, Liley and Kellett cite as (Mann et al., 2014) in your assignment.
You may also refer to material studied earlier in the module, either other chapters in the Module Reader or online sources. All sources must be referenced using the Cite Them Right referencing system (as specified in Section 5.6 of the Assessment Guide).

Suggested approach
In this assignment you will focus on both designing and critically evaluating a dissemination strategy for a youth-led study into the nature and prevalence of cyberbullying from young peoples perspectives. The study explored aspects of young peoples experiences in nine regions of England using a mixed methods approach to identify and address a range of issues.

You are provided with a reference to an external source reporting this research: Tarapdar and Kellett (2013) and you need to use this article which you can locate and access using the search skills you developed in TMA 03. Use the OU Library search facility to first find the journal title, then use the information in the reference to navigate to the correct volume and issue in order to locate the article. Once you have located the article, download a copy to your own computer and read it.

The TMA task asks you to design and critically evaluate an appropriate dissemination strategy for the research project by Tarapdar and Kellett (2013). As you read the article, make a note of aspects of the research and research findings you consider should be disseminated to the research community and also to others who might be interested in this research study. (In the module materials, it is suggested that dissemination should be a consideration from an early stage in planning a research project; you may assume this was the case with this research study.) As you read, note other factors that you think may be of interest or relevance, for example, you may wish to read the research findings and recommendations in some detail and consider whether these are specific to the locations where the research was undertaken or whether they might have relevance elsewhere. Ask yourself:

Why does research matter? (Be clear about how and why a particular piece of research is significant.)
Who are the audiences for the research? (Be clear the research can be important and relevant in all kinds of different ways to a range of different audiences.)
Who would be interested in the research findings and how they might they be made aware of them?
Before starting your TMA, you are advised to review your notes from Section 2 of Unit 22. Take time to consider who the potential audiences are for this study, which findings are relevant to which audience(s) and how might each audience be reached.

It is not necessary to find out about the researcher who carried out the project nor the ways in which the results of the actual project were disseminated. You are being asked to think about how the results of this study could potentially be disseminated clearly, efficiently and ethically to the relevant audiences. Your assignment will be marked according to:

how well you are able to identify suitable audiences for the research who should hear about the findings of this research?
how realistic your plans for reaching those audiences are how might different audiences be engaged?
how well you think through the practical and ethical problems involved in disseminating the research.
The assignment not only asks you to design an appropriate dissemination strategy but also to critically evaluate it. In order to do this, you will need to refer to at least two sources from the module material in reflecting on your strategy. What are the strengths and limitations of your strategy? How does each part of the dissemination strategy contribute to the whole? Is your strategy appropriate for the different audiences you identify?

The TMA builds on key material discussed in Block 4. These brief notes may be useful as you consider which module sources to use in your TMA. In Chapter 15 of the Module Reader, Robb focuses on the different types of discourse within childhood and youth research that reflect the different approaches researchers employ to share their work with a range of audiences across academic, policy and practice arenas. Robb highlights how research dissemination is an important consideration for researchers during the planning stages of their research. Getting research into policy and practice, however, is not a straightforward task. In Chapter 16 of the Module Reader, Ruxton, and in Chapter 17, Pascal and Bertram, provide detailed examples of the complex process of linking research with policy and practice and the different strategies that can be used for engagement and dissemination.