Reference no: EM132808061

Required
There is one requirement in this section, as specified in the Task further below.

Context
This coursework assignment focuses on your own personal or professional area of interest. The area of interest is likely to be work-related but the choice of another area of focus, perhaps of a more personal nature, is not excluded. Whichever area of focus you choose it should be justified in your assignment. If you decide to select an area not work-related ensure that the area is of substance and is not ‘light-weight'. As reflected in the Task detailed below, you are required to select, justify and formulate a research proposal for your selected area of focus. Do use images as appropriate for good impression purpose.

Thus you have been introduced to and considered the methodological underpinning of a number of aspects of the nature and logistics of, amongst others:
• The nature of research: ‘what research is'.
• Research objectives, hypotheses, and questions.
• Research paradigms.
• Literature reviews.
• Research designs.
• The nature of and approaches to qualitative research.
• The nature of and approaches to quantitative research
• The nature of and approaches to mixed methods research.

In developing your research proposal, you will draw upon, as appropriate, all or some, of the aspects introduced and considered in this module's materials. You will also undertake your own further consideration of other supporting literature appropriate to your task, showing wider independent research and learning. This is a fundamental expectation at Masters Level studies.

Task :  CONSTRUCT A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

There is one task. This is for you to construct a research proposal which captures and articulates a research design for your chosen area of interest/focus. This task comprises a number of components.

You are advised to ensure that the addresses each of those points further below.

Your research proposal should include the following components which will be assessed via academic judgement on a scale of 10:

1. (Carries 6% of the marks available for this Coursework) Use around 210 words

An account of the background to and rationale for your research proposal which should:
• a) Explain the nature of your research topic, expressing your research topic in the form of a problem which needs solving, a question that needs answering or something which you find exciting and has aroused your curiosity and you wish to find out more about.
• b) Provide a brief description of the background/context and state why your research is worth the effort of undertaking research into.

Note:
i i. If your focus relates to an organisational area, emphasise the significance of the research to the organisation.
ii ii. If it is not an organisational scenario, you should still provide a background and perspective. Illustratively, if your area of focus relates to, say, an impact on society such as medical research, or education, or robotics, you should set a societal background/perspective, and emphasise the significance of the research accordingly.

2. Use around 770 words

A literature review, which should:

a) Draw on relevant literature to show why your study is important, and
b) Articulate the relevance and significance of existing research literature in the chosen field.

3. Use around 150 words

Statement(s) of your research aims and objectives, and associated hypotheses or questions.

Note:
These statement(s) should leave the person reading and assessing your research
proposal in no doubt as to precisely what it is your research seeks to achieve.

The statement(s) should be informed by your considerations in components 1 and 2 immediately above.

4. Use around 700 words (20% x 3500 total words )

The selection of an appropriate research philosophy, supported by discussion and justification of your selection.

Note:
Within your justification you should ensure that you explain why alternative philosophies are inappropriate.
Do use research onion (Saunders, et al.,2000) figure and explanations.

5. Use around 1155 words (33% x 3500 total words )

The selection of an appropriate research design, with an accompanying description, supported by a justification of that research design. In this part of the proposal you should set out and justify:
a) your approach: whether deductive and/or inductive;
b) your type of study: whether exploratory or descriptive or explanatory
c) your strategy, justifying your selection in the context of how it is suited to enabling you to answer your particular research questions and meet your research objectives; here you should refer specifically to the case(s) and/or setting(s) and/or population(s) that will be the focus for data collection;
d) the nature of the data - primary and/or secondary - you intend to collect;
e) how you intend to, if necessary, successfully negotiate access to data from institutions and/or organisations and/or individuals;
f) your sampling strategy, where relevant/appropriate/if not, why not;
g) techniques, be they qualitative or quantitative or mixed, you intend to use to collect and analyse your data.

Within this component (5) and specifically in relation to item 5g) in the context of item 5d), if you intend to use secondary or primary data or both types, use your knowledge about the nature and characteristics of such data to not only identify appropriate techniques for analysis but to also justify why those techniques are appropriate and others are not appropriate.

6. Use around 140 words (4% x 3500 total words )

Identification and consideration of any ethical issues that might arise in the course of the research and how you intend to address them. Consideration of this area is an important part of any proposal and indeed study. Even if you feel there are less ‘ethical' issues to consider, this should be explicit and also provide the rationale as to why you feel this is the case.

7. Use around 350 words (10% x 3500 total words )

Relating to structure, clarity and communication of content, up to 10% of the marks are available for the thrust, flow, integration and cohesion of the research proposal, and will be awarded by the marker on the basis of overall academic judgement. A relevant reference list. This should link to any references drawn upon in components 1 through to 6 immediately above. (There are no specific marks available for this list but it must link to references drawn upon in your considerations. The marking scheme relating to points 1 through to 6 includes marks for identification and appropriate consideration of relevant and appropriate references. That said, where a relevant reference list is not provided marks heavily)

Other Important notes:
As specified earlier, no appendices are allowed. You should only show the list of references at the end of your work. Footnotes, illustrations, charts, diagrams, pictures, tables (with large amounts of text that should be in the body anyway) are all included within the word count and should be included in the main body of your text.

If you are using tables, graphs, figures and so on remember that the words in there will count towards the word limit. Microsoft Word has a tendency to include them in its word count facility. Therefore, if you are using graphs or figures, you can paste them into your main body of work as an image if you wish. The words within a graph or diagram/figure are minimal anyway.

A table will also be included in the word count according to Microsoft Word. And quite rightly so. If that table contains lists or bullet points or paragraphs, it should, of course, be included in the word count and the table should not be pasted as an image to try to escape the word count. If the table contains numerical data, this is fine to be pasted as an image.

Only the title page, any Table of Contents page, and the list of references, and any executive summary and any abstract are excluded from the word count.

If you include any extracts or samples of interview questions or surveys and so on, you should include these within the main body of the assignment.

You are not obliged to but may if you wish include an executive summary and/or an abstract. As stated immediately above, if you choose to include an executive summary and/or an abstract it will not count towards to the total word count but should not contain any new information not already contained within the main body of work.

Attachment:- Address_for_the_task.rar