Reference no: EM133180637

Assignment Brief

Topic - Gender equality in the organisational development and effective influence of women in traditionally male-dominated workplaces; especially in IT sectors.

LO1 - Critically evaluate business and management practice and literature to construct a relevant research question and appropriate aims and objectives

LO2 - Critically analyse, evaluate and review appropriate literature from a wide range of relevant sources

LO3 - Critically examine a range of data collection methods, exploring limitations to propose and justify an appropriate methodological approach to address the aims and objectives of a research study.

LO4 - Plan and implement a structured research, demonstrating effective data collection methods and data analysis, whilst conforming to ethical requirements.

LO5 - Critically analyse and interpret data to develop coherent findings and conclusions.

LO6 - Develop recommendations for practice which recognise the limitations of your own study.

LO7 -Defend findings and demonstrate critical reflection in an effective and structured manner.

Purpose of the Assessment

The purpose of this assignment is to examine the student's ability to produce an extended piece of work and develop the necessary skills in this area, conducting substantial research study on a relevant topic and addressing a management problem. It builds up on the Research Methods module previously taught.

Assessment Task

Research Proposal (AS1)

You are requested to write a research proposal. This work counts 10% of the whole mark. This means explaining what area(s) you wish to research, why those areas are important, and how you intend to research them. The process of writing the proposal also helps to ensure that some serious and structured thought has been given to your dissertation. You should produce aproposal where it is clear how recommendations will be made to a real or hypothetical client in relation to the problem area you wish to explore.

Students should discuss the structure of their research proposal with the supervisor especially when it comes to the content of each section chapter. Make sure that you include all core headings of the section of the proposal.

Word Limit: The assessment should be limited to 500 words. If you end up with more than 500 words or less, then you must revise the text judiciously to deliver work within the stated limits.

Style requirements: Except for the Titles and subtitles, you are not allowed to highlight text, which will be in Arial size 11, and without indentations. The main title is highlighted in size 16, and the subtitles are highlighted in size 14. The margins should be justified, not aligned to the left. Additionally, the space between lines should be single and the space between paragraphs should be double. The work will be in Report form and not the Essay form requiring and Introduction, the main body with subtitles and a conclusion.

Dissertation (AS2)

You are requested to write a dissertation (up to 12 000 words), weighting 90% of the mark. You can choose the topic of your dissertation;however, you should discuss it with your supervisor as Your supervisor needs to approve your dissertation topic.

You need to complete a cover sheet for the dissertation which contains a declaration of originality. The cover sheet is available to download on the module page on Moodle.

The dissertation must be prefaced by an abstract. This is not an introduction but a summary which outlines the plan and argument of the dissertation. It should include brief details of the methodology employed. The abstract should not be longer than 300 words. It should be included immediately after the title page and it will be examined as part of the dissertation.

A list of contents, such as the glossary, chapters, and appendices - with page references - should be included at the front of the dissertation.Diagrams, figures, tables, and illustrations should be incorporated into the text at the appropriate place, unless there is a series of them or they are continually referred to throughout the text. In this case they should be placed in appendices at the end of the work

The work of other authorities must be acknowledged. When quotations or general references are made they must be suitably referenced by using the Harvard system.

Appendices should not contain material which is not used or referred to in the text. Similarly, illustrative material should not be included unless it is relevant, informative, and referred to in the text.

Characteristics of your dissertation
You will have gained some idea of what is required in a postgraduate dissertation from the learning outcomes of the module and the assessment criteria, however,in general terms we expect an emphasis on the critical literature review and an in-depth understanding of theory and methodology. Specifically,

Methodology- you will be expected to critically review the theoretical, empirical, and methodology literature. The theory should be comprehensively discussed and understood, and paradigms of inquiry and different methodologies should be explored. You should show awareness of the soundness of the methodology you use and its rationale.

Problem formulation- you will need to be precise and rigorous about the problem formulation and the setting of objectives. Relevance and originality in the choice of topic is also important.

Content and Analysis- your dissertation should clearly meet stated objectives and indicate the extent that arguments are based on valid and reliable evidence and identified and worked within a critically analysed theoretical framework.

Evaluation of Implications- the evaluation of the implications in the dissertation, based upon the analysis undertaken and upon any data collected, should be of high quality and aim for originality.

Presentation- your dissertation should be well-structured in terms of both paragraphs and chapters. There should be attention to detail, expression should be clear, the title appropriate, and arguments coherent. Any appendices (and you are encouraged to keep these to a minimum) should be used. The same applies to references and the bibliography. Tables and diagrams should be of a high standard and make use of appropriate software.

Chapter 1 - Introduction An explanation as to what the Dissertation is all about and why it is important. The research questions or hypotheses.

Chapter 2 - Literature Review A critical analysis of what other researchers have said and where your topic fits in. The theoretical framework.

Chapter 3 - Methodology Why was this methodological approach taken, how data was collected, how it was analysed and how were ethical issues addressed.

Chapter 4 - Results A presentation of your research results.

Chapter 5 - Analysis and Discussion Analysis of your results showing the contribution to knowledge you have made and acknowledgement of any weaknesses/limitations in your work.

Chapter 6 - Conclusions/Recommendations A description of the main lessons to be learned from the study and what future research could be carried out.

Chapter 7 - References and Bibliography References are a detailed list of sources from which information has been obtained and which has been cited in the text. The bibliography is a detailed list of other sources you have used but not cited.

Appendices - Detailed data referred to but not shown elsewhere.

You may wish to elect to write a descriptive type of dissertation that looks for patterns, ideas and hypotheses. If you do the quality of the dissertation will depend on:
• How thoroughly the issues are covered.
• How closely the facts relate to the original research question.
• Whether the data collected provides valuable and new information that is a contribution to knowledge.
• Whether the research could be built upon by future writers.
• The extent to which creativity has been used in building the narrative.

Please note, this approach is not an extended essay, but evidence of critical reflection and analysis.

The two forms of dissertation outlined above are given as an indication of possible formats. It is possible that your dissertation may require a different approach or modification to the above possibilities in presentation and content. Both presentation and content should be discussed with your Dissertation Supervisor at an early stage. Remember, study at master's level encourages innovative application of research principles to academic work.

The criteria for assessing your dissertation are shown on the General assessment Guidelines, Level 7(MASTERS), University of Bolton and in the Appendix A- Business Dissertation Feedback and Grading Rubric Form that is included in this document.

Your dissertation should cover the followings;

Introduction - Is the abstract adequate? Is there a clear purpose and rationale for the study? Clear set of objectives / research questions?

Research Design & Methodology - Was research design and methodology discussed? Was the approach appropriate? Evaluation of the effectiveness of the methodology. This section should include a justification of the methodology used. It should also include an outline of any ethical issues associated with the research undertaken and how they have been addressed.

Use of Literature / Sources - Was the range suitable and adequate? Has a critical review of the literature been adopted? Has the student made a ‘link' between existing literature and their own research?

Results, analysis and interpretation of data - Has the data been accurately presented and analysed or are the findings merely a description? Appropriate theory applied? Interpretation - Has the student made reasoned judgements on their findings?

Conclusion & recommendations - Are conclusions reasoned? Do they correspond with the objective(s) of the dissertation? Has the student reflected on the extent they have achieved their objectives? Was limitations and future research discussed?

Presentation - structure & language, Harvard Referencing correctly applied, appropriate use of tables/diagrams

Attachment:- Gender equality Assignment.rar