The assignment is about you preparing a research project proposal and getting it to the stage,

The assignment is about you preparing a research project proposal and getting it to the stage, where if you were to hand it to someone else they could follow your instructions and complete the actual research. In reality you will be doing the research yourself in Semester 3.

Therefore, thought must be given now to the size of the project i.e., small scale localised studies, rather than measure the world type studies. Further thought must be given to time scale – your proposal must include a realistic research plan on which activities are to be conducted – for example over a 12 week period

Thought must also be given to how you will gather the actual data from respondents, many students are unaware that you actually have to do ‘actual survey work’ in Semester 3, and produce a report on YOUR findings,

Task:

Choose a topic / theme in the field of Management. Using the skills you developed during the teaching sessions your task is to design a research proposal using contemporary and business relevant research methods.

Develop a 2500 word research proposal explaining and justifying the rationale of the decisions you made when designing it.

You have to show that given your chosen topic / theme:

• You can make informed decisions about a suitable research approach for the topic (i.e., is your approach inductive or deductive?)
• You have an understanding of a variety of research methods (i.e., case study, Action research, Survey etc.,) available, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each in relation to your topic / theme
• You can recognise the value of Qualitative (i.e., Secondary research, interviews etc.,), Quantitative (i.e., Questionnaires, Observations) and Mixed Methods (mixture of previous examples) research and how you might best collect the data
• Produce a realistic timeline for your research, explaining how you would actually gather the data, including a justifiable sampling strategy, if relevant, and ways you would analyse the different types of data (e.g. Microsoft Excel, SPSS, Pattern analysis, qualitative analysis etc.,)
  • You can recognise any relevant ethical and access implications involved in your investigations, including a short discussion about the usefulness, and limitations of the research.

  Report key points:

  • An introduction that briefly outlines the research project.
  • A literature review that summarises and critically reviews key academic and/or practitioner literature from a range of sources on your chosen topic / theme in Management.The literature review should explain the rationale/context/relevance of the individual’s interest in the research area. This will be in the region of 500 to 750 words.
  • Your proposal must include the objectives of your research and a description of the issues you are aiming to explore. From your literature review you should develop an overall aim for your project and specific research objectives. Your choice will be influenced by the research design and approach you are taking.
  • You must state your proposed research design and approach. In this section you should discuss: if the research is exploratory or explanatory; the research design (e.g. case study, action research); the time frame (cross-sectional or longitudinal); and whether you are adopting a qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods approaches. You should also briefly explain the method(s) you are going to use to collect your data e.g. face to face interviews, focus groups, online survey etc. and justify your choice by drawing on best practice.You need to justify these decisions by referring back to the literature on the subject.
  • Sampling strategy – Depending on your proposal you may or may not need to explain your sampling strategy. Your proposal may just involve gathering secondary data in which case you do not need a sampling strategy, but if you are proposing to undertake a primary investigation you will need to explain how you are going to recruit participants, your anticipated sample size. You need to justify these decisions by referring back to the literature on the subject
  • Any access or ethical issues that you have identified. You should consider ethics throughout your whole project You need to discuss any procedures that you must follow to conform to industry guidelines and you need to justify these decisions by referring back to the literature on the subject
  • Draft schedule of research – an outline timetable for conducting the research. This should map the various activities you have described in your proposal as well as the analysis stage. We recommend you present this as a matrix or GANNT Chart and plan your work over a 12 week timescale (10 teaching weeks / reading week and consolida
    tion week)

  References– this must be presented according to the Harvard Referencing System. You must include the papers, books etc., you have used in your report.