Reference no: EM132356102 , Length: 2200 Words

Report on Literature Review

Assessment - Literature Review

Purpose of the assessment - This assessment item seeks to ensure that all students enrolled in the Capstone Unit - Business Research Project - are adept at sourcing relevant and current literature using academic search portals, such as Pro-Quest, and other places where high quality secondary data resides.

Furthermore, this assessment requires students to not only read and summarise what other authors have already established, but also to become skilful at weaving together complementary or contrasting arguments relevant to their approved topic, research problem, and research question(s).

Relates to Unit Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 5

Assignment Specifications

This unit aims to give you an opportunity to combine many facets of your acquired MBA skills into the production of a high-quality research project.

Assignment 2 - the Literature Review - is designed to ensure that each team member masters the skills of searching, locating, reading, summarising, and using relevant academic literature and secondary data to create a compelling discussion and/or argument, thereby creating the context for their further research in pursuit of the answer to their research question(s).

Your lecturer will LEAD and FACILITATE you through the process, week by week. The learning will be progressive, so for best results you will need to be in weekly contact with your lecturer during class time at your campus.

Assignment Structure should be the following:

1. An opening statement of the Research Problem and research Question(s) - these should now be more detailed than what you had in your Topic Approval.

2. Discussion of major theories, models or streams of influence around this topic. This provides your lecturer with evidence that you have gone deeper than your initial search now to find literature that leads you toward answering your research question

3. Draw the reader's attention to any contrasting views expressed in prior research in this area and give your view of how differing opinions can be brought together to help answer the research question and ultimately resolve the research problem. [the more comprehensive your literature review, the better. Whatever you do NOT find out in this literature review will leave you with more work to do when you move to the next part of the project, i.e. methodology]

4. Report how it has brought you closer to an answer to your research question(s).

5. Ensure all in text citations are correctly referenced.

6. Add a comprehensive List of References, in Harvard referencing style.

7. Append a statement indicating ‘who wrote which sections of this report'

Report on Research Design and Methodology

Assessment - Business Research Design and Methodology

Purpose of the assessment (with ULO Mapping) The purpose of this assessment is to ensure each student is able to contribute to the construction of a written report demonstrating their understanding of the business research paradigm, appropriate methodology, and required (proposed) data collection, analysis and interpretation.

A brief presentation in-class may be requested by your lecturer.
Matches to Unit Learning Outcomes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Assignment Specifications

Purpose:

This unit aims to give you an opportunity to combine many facets of your acquired MBA skills into the production of a high-quality research report.

Assignment 3 - the Research Design and Methodology - is to ensure each student is able to contribute to the construction of a written report demonstrating their understanding of the business research paradigm, appropriate methodology, data collection, analysis and interpretation.

You will ideally work in a group of up to 3 persons. Your respective contributions will be governed by your Team Charter, which you produced at the same time as your Topic Approval submission. Additionally, you are required to append to this report a statement indicating ‘who wrote which sections'.

This assessment builds upon your Literature Review (assessment 2) in that you are now aware of what additional data is needed to lead you to the answer to your research question(s) (as defined in Topic Approval (assessment 1). To discover the required data may require you to search for additional secondary data, and will most probably also require the collection of primary data, by applying qualitative or quantitative methods. In this assessment you will document what your team has decided as the most appropriate way forward. If you choose a quantitative approach, you will go ahead and state your hypothesis, how you intend to verify it, what data you need, how it can be collected and analysed. [Note that you are NOT required to actually obtain primary data]. If you choose a qualitative approach, you will go ahead and decide which method is appropriate, how you would design the questionnaire (include a few example questions), and state how you would collate and interpret your data. [Note that you are NOT required to actually obtain primary data].

Your lecturer will LEAD and FACILITATE you through the process, week by week. The learning will be progressive, so for best results you will need to be in weekly contact with your lecturer during class time at your campus.

Only if you were requested to revise and resubmit your Literature Review should you append it to this submission.

This submission does require an appendix in which it is stated which members of the group actually wrote which sections of the Business Research Design and Methodology.

Assignment Structure should be as the following:

1. Introduction (an edited and adjusted version of your topic approval) including a justification for your research question(s).
2. A detailed research methodology addressing the qualitative-quantitative debate, hypothesis (if appropriate), additional secondary data, proposed primary data sample size and sampling approach, questionnaire design factors (include some sample questions), data collection method, envisaged analysis and interpretation.
3. A summary of your findings OR what you would expect to find
4. A conclusion (relating back to your original research problem and question(s))
5. The appended statement of ‘Who wrote What'

Note: You may request your lecturer to allow you to undertake a business project, company-specific consultancy, or business planning project. Permission may be granted by the lecturer to this effect in consultation with the Unit Coordinator and Degree Convenor. In that case the Assignment Structure and Marking Criteria may differ, as directed by the lecturer.