business and management research proposal

This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes:

1. Understand various approaches and methods in management research and be able to distinguish between poor and well-founded research project proposals
2. Understand the key concepts involved in developing a research proposal and how they interrelate in a complementary way to form a coherent research proposal
3. Undertake a critical review of the literature in the chosen subject area prior to framing the research question
4. Formulate a set of research question and objectives
5. Critically compare alternative research techniques and evaluate their uses and limitations
6. Prepare a research proposal which reflects utility and which demonstrates an understanding of validity, reliability and generalisation

This assignment is made up of a report and a presentation. Please find details below:

Mid-term Presentation

Submission Deadline: please check Moodle page submission link

Presentation: Mid-term (week 5 or 6) during seminar activity sessions.

Students are expected to complete the Individual Review document. Assessor: The Presentation is assessed by the Tutor and fellow students

20% of the final marks contribute to your attendance and participation of the Presentation. Students are expected to complete the Individual Review document and attach it to the end of term submission.

Important Instructions

1. You MUST participate in the Presentation and you MUST all be on time – if you do not participate, you will be allocated a mark of ZERO for your final assessment.
2. After the presentation has taken place you will be expected to complete the Individual Review document (see ‘Assignment’ section on Moodle). These documents will be part of your appendix for your final assessment.

PURPOSE OF THE PRESENTATION

• To educate others about your research topic;
• To get feedback/critique from peers before submitting your assessment
• To network with other students who are interested in the same research

SECTIONS OF THE PRESENTATION

1. Working Title

2. Research Background into the proposed research topic

Justification/Rationale – Why did you want to investigate this area? Who could benefit from the results?

Invest time in explaining a compelling reason for the study rather than just showing past literature that found similar results.

Purpose – Exactly why you want to research this area?

3.One Research question and 3 research objectives (4th objective can be recommendation)

The research question which is one overall question

Research objectives (3 different research objectives) must be clear statements that identify what the research process seeks to achieve. This must relate to the research question/topic

Both research question and the three research objectives must relate to the literature review

4. Literature Review

Top 5 lists of the most important or significant studies, theories/models/framework

How relevant are the mentioned studies, theories/models/framework?

5. References

End of Module Assessment (100% include 20% mid-term formative assessment): Research Proposal

Submission Deadline: please check Moodle page submission link

Word limit: 2,500

Assessor: Tutor

This Assignment requires you to engage with the Business and Management Research Methods tools typically employed to plan for a proposed piece of original research. The Mid Term Module Assessment requires you to produce a Research Proposal to investigate a relevant business issue and will contribute to existing knowledge. It is imperative that you complete the requirements as part of the marking criteria.

Your research proposal MUST be in line with your specialisation.

Approaching the Assignment:

1. Identify the key terms and requirements for a Research Proposal
2. Use the Marking Criteria to understand the expectations of the reader.
3. Create an outline of your assignment.
4. Use your Research and Referencing to support and justify all your points
5. Use Evidence to support your proposed research design and methodology
6. Your assignment should include in-text citations and be supported with a full List of References. You are expected to use the CU/CULC Harvard Referencing Style. Please refer to the CU/CULC referencing guide.

Please remember that when you submit your assignment, you need to include:

• Your Name
• Your Student ID number
• The Title of the Assignment (in the Submission Title box)

Suggested Structure – Research Proposal

1. Research Proposal Title – Reflect as accurately as possible the content of your chosen topic.

2. Abstract – This is a brief statement of what you are intending to research. This needs to describe the proposal content.

3. Introduction

• Relevance of the Proposed Research to Business Research
• Place the proposed study in context
• Justification of the chosen topic
• Value of this research

4. Research Question(s) and Research Objectives

• The research question which is one overall question
• Research objectives (3 different research objectives) must be clear statements that identify what the research process seeks to achieve. This must relate to the research question/topic
• Both research question and the three research objectives must relate to the literature review

5. Literature Review

• Clear and precise knowledge that relate to the research topic.
• Explain how your proposal relates to the academic debate which has been identified as part of the literature review.
• Demonstrate a link between previous work and current work that has been done in your field of research interest.
• Highlight in your literature review where your research question(s)/objectives came from.

6. Method

• Relates to your research questions and research objectives and shows how you will achieve them.
• Your method consists of two parts:

(1) Research design – relates to the research opinion (philosophies, approaches, strategies, choices, time horizon). You are expected to make strong justifications in support of your chosen research design.

(2) Data collection – relates to the last phase of the research onion (techniques and procedures). Identify how specifically the data will be collected (i.e. questionnaire, focus group, etc…). You are expected to provide the advantages and disadvantages of the various data collection methods and select the most appropriate data collection method(s).

• Your chosen method (1) Research design and (2) Data collection must relate to the purpose of your study.
• A copy a proposed questionnaire or semi/unstructured interview questions should be presented as part of the appendices. A covering letter to explain the purpose of the questionnaire should be presented.

7. Research Ethics

8. Timescale

• Break down the research process into a series of steps
• Highlight how much time is needed to be made available for data collection and analysis

9. Resources

• Think about the resources needed for the completion of the project that you are proposing. This could include direct costs (travel, accommodation) or indirect costs (time).

10. References

11. Appendix

• A covering letter to explain the purpose of the questionnaire/interview should be presented.
• A copy a proposed questionnaire or semi/unstructured interview questions should be presented as part of the appendices.

Individual Review Feedback Document from mid-term formative feedback should be presented.