DSC8106 : Data Science & Law Dissertation Capstone (Inactive)
- Inactive for Year: 2026/27
- Module Leader(s): Professor Ben Farrand
- Owning School: Â鶹´«Ã½ Law School
- Teaching Location: Â鶹´«Ã½ City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 3 Credit Value: | 60 |
| ECTS Credits: | 30.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
To demonstrate the ability to effectively reflect upon the legal dimensions of data science, through the completion of a dissertation concerning the regulatory or data ethics dimensions of data science, drawing from the knowledge and understanding developed through the taught elements of the programme. While the dissertation will be explicitly legal in nature, it will nevertheless contain a technical annex comprising a dataset that is used for the purpose of the legal analysis, that may contain (for example, but not limited to) algorithmically coded biases that could lead to discriminatory decision-making, or security vulnerabilities in code that could allow for data access and/or manipulation by unauthorised users.
Outline Of Syllabus
The Data Science and Law Dissertation Capstone is the project component of the Data Science and Law programme and is intended to be an interdisciplinary research project integrating elements of Data Science and Law in a research-based legal project. The project constitutes a dissertation conducted on the regulatory or data ethics-based issues arising from applying Data Science methods, which could entail consideration of issues of cybersecurity, data security, data protection and privacy, or algorithmic discrimination.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 100 | 3:00 | 300:00 | Background research |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 20 | 4:00 | 80:00 | Preparation of research proposal |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 104 | 2:00 | 208:00 | Writing of dissertation |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 2 | 2:00 | 4:00 | Workshops to prepare students for dissertation writing |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Dissertation/project related supervision | 8 | 1:00 | 8:00 | Supervision activities |
| Total | 600:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
The dissertation is intended to give students the opportunity to conduct a substantial and largely independent project of postgraduate research. The level of supervision is therefore designed to ensure that students are given sufficient guidance to avoid fundamental errors of judgment, and that they can put into practice the skills of organising their work, discovering and evaluating relevant materials, and presenting their findings in a structured and analytical manner. The dissertation also gives students the opportunity to acquire a body of specialised knowledge in their chosen topic. Prior to writing the dissertation, students will have two workshops: the first is a workshop led by a colleague in the Law School, which will provide an overview of writing a dissertation, identifying a research question, and how to structure the dissertation document. The second workshop will be with a colleague from the Data Science team, explaining the technical annex dimension to the project.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research proposal | 3 | M | 10 | 1,000 word research proposal |
| Dissertation | 3 | M | 90 | 10,000 words dissertation |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The dissertation is intended to test the ability of students to conduct a substantial independent project of postgraduate research. The proposal also prepares the students to begin to develop the skills described here, particularly their ability to find information using effective research techniques and then use them do devise a workable dissertation project. The dissertation allows them to demonstrate their skills in organising their work, discovering and evaluating relevant materials, and presenting their findings in a structured and analytical manner. It also allows them to demonstrate that they have acquired specialised knowledge in their area of research. The technical annex document is not included in the 10,000 word word-count for the dissertation.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: