Module title

Dissertation - Research Project

Module code

BUS7B63

Module leader

Mary Corcoran

Assessment title

Research Study Options & Proposal

Launch date

17/11/2023

Submission deadline

12/01/2024

Expected date for return of feedback

TBC

Module outcomes assessed

N/A

Assessment weighting

N/A

Word count (if relevant)

Approx. 1,000 (depending on option selected)

Assessment task details:

1.    Complete the proposal proforma (see below).

Select between the research study options and where prompted provide further detail on the research study you have chosen.  Choose between three research study options*:

·         Empirical-based research study

·         Literature-based research study

*Subject to availability. It is not guaranteed that all options will be available for each intake at all sites.  Please confirm the available options with your module tutor/supervisor or the dissertation stage lead.

Submission instructions

Format of submission:

Submission 1: Compete your research study proposal proforma

How should it be submitted? Moodle submission points

Submission 1: Proforma  

Note feedback will be provided on your proposal via Moodle.

Hints and tips

Additional Guidance:

Step 1: Choose between the three research study options

Step 2: Choose your research topic

Step 3: Compete the research study proposal proforma (below) answering in full

Refer to the module content as necessary to help you prepare your proposal.  Carefully consider the implications of the research study option you select.  For MSc dissertations your research must have a management or organisational focus.  If you are unclear, it is important that you speak to the module leader or your supervisor.  Do not rely on advice from fellow students or information found online.

For empirical-based research studies it should be clear how you are collecting your data and what this data will be (for example, a questionnaire or series of interviews or a set of policy documents you have collated).  Where relevant make sure you have gatekeeper approval before committing to your study.  This is permission to complete your research using the organisation as the focus from a senior manager at the organisation.  Note that this can sometimes be difficult to obtain.  You cannot complete your research with employees of a specific organisation without this gatekeeper permission.  The gatekeeper permission needs to be formal (e.g. an email) and will need to be shared with your supervisor.  Remember that for this option, your data should be empirical.  If you want to use only existing literature as the focus of your research this means you will be completing a literature-based research study (see below).  If you are not clear please ask the module leader to clarify which option your study will be.

For literature-based research studies you will need to select your topic focus carefully.  You needed to ensure that your review question is specific enough so that your search results in a manageable (yet sufficient) number of research studies to analyse.  Select one database as a trial run and see how many results you get.  Remember you need to justify the inclusion and exclusion of each item in the search results.  Ensure that your keywords or search sentence and limiting criteria gives you a set of results in the range: less than 150 but more than 20 (approximately).  If you get too many results, consider adding additional keywords e.g. a specific country or limiting the date range e.g. the last five years only.  If you have too few you may need to remove or edit a keyword.  You should be looking to identify research studies, conference papers, literature reviews and meta-analyses, but not opinion pieces, book reviews or anything else that does not report the outcome of existing research.  Remember to note down the details of your search in full – see the literature-based research study dissertation template on Moodle for details of what you will need to include in your dissertation.

For all research project options make sure to review the specific dissertation template and option brief.  All templates and briefs are available on Moodle.

All submitted work is expected to observe academic standards in terms of academic writing, use of language, etc.  Failure to adhere to these instructions may result in your proposal needing to be resubmitted.

Marking and moderation

Formative feedback will be provided on your proposal via Moodle. 

Your supervisor will issue your ethics approval once they have reviewed your research study proposal in conjunction with your application.

Proposal Proforma: You MUST complete this section

Name:

Student Number:

Programme:

Remember that your research topic and your programme must be aligned.  For example, if you are taking MSc International Business and Finance Management your topic must have a finance element.

Academic Year / Trimester:

2023/24 / 1

Declaration:

☐

I agree that:

ü  I will ensure that my research study complies with the University’s Code of Practice on Ethical Standards for Research and that I will seek clarification from my supervisor or the module leader where I am unsure 

ü  After completing this proposal, I will complete my Ethics Application in full

ü  I will not start my research data or source collection until I have had written ethics approval from my supervisor

Research Study Options:

(make ONE choice then procced to the specific section – you should only complete ONE section)

☐

Empirical-based research study (primary or secondary data collection) → Go to section 1

☐

Literature-based research study (secondary source collection) → Go to section 2

Instructions

Please complete the following details to outline your proposed research.  Complete all parts of this section.

Working Title/Topic

This will evolve during your research - it does not need to be your final title at this stage

Does the topic being proposed align with your MSc programme route? (make ONE choice)

☐

Yes

☐

No

Research Question

This should have a question mark ? at the end

Research Aim

This is one over-arching statement linked to your question

Research Objectives

List four objectives e.g. 'to analyse...', 'to establish...', 'to review...', 'to examine...'.  'to recommend…'

1.     

2.     

3.     

4.    To recommend

 Why is the study needed?

Give a reasoned justification for the study - a brief statement on the organisational/business/ management reason for the study.  Examples may be due to a performance issue which could be people, process or resource based.

Relevant Theme and Discipline/Theory Area

Example for this section could be ‘leadership’ or ‘change management’. Include an academic definition of the trms and ensure you provide the sources using Wrexham Harvard Referencing.

Initial Theoretical Research

This section should identify academic theory related to the theme and discipline/theory area identified above. A list of six sources, of which at least four should be journal articles, together with a very brief overview of the paper and indicate why this is relevant to your planned study.

What sampling strategy will be used? (make ONE choice then choose which sub-type)

☐

Non-probability

☐

Convenience (e.g. invite everyone you know)

☐

Snowball (e.g. invite everyone you know and ask them to share the link)

☐

Self-selection (e.g. post an invite to a forum)

☐

Purposive (typical-case, extreme/deviant-case/outlier, maximum variation, homogenous, stratified purposeful, random purposeful)

☐

Quota (e.g. invite 25 men and 25 women)

☐

Other (please state):

☐

Probability

Remember a probability sample requires randomisation to be introduced.  This usually needs a list of all members of the population (sampling frame).  For example, given a list of all employees in the department you invite every third person on the list to take part.  The sample MUST be random (in the statistical sense of the word) to ensure that each potential participant in the population has an equal probability of being selected.

☐

Simple random (e.g. use a web-based random number generator to select from the sampling frame)

☐

Systematic random (e.g. every 3rd element of the sampling frame is chosen for the sample)

☐

Stratified random (take a random sample from various strata (homogeneous subgroups of members))

☐

Cluster (divide the population into groups/clusters; take a simple random sample of the clusters; all members from the selected clusters are sampled)

☐

Other (please state):

Will the study collect primary or secondary data? (make ONE choice)

☐

Primary

☐

Secondary

☐

Other (please state)

What type of data will be collected? (make ONE choice)

☐

Quantitative

☐

Qualitative

☐

Other (please state):

How will the data be collected? (make ONE choice)

☐

Questionnaire

☐

Structured interviews (qualitative questionnaire)

☐

Semi-structured interviews

☐

Existing data set

☐

A data set will be collated

☐

Other (please state):

How will the data be analysed? (make ONE choice)

☐

Quantitatively - Descriptive statistics and data visualisations

☐

Quantitatively - Inferential and descriptive statistics and data visualisations

☐

Qualitatively - Thematic analysis

☐

Qualitatively/quantitatively - Content analysis

☐

Other quantitative (please state):

☐

Other qualitative (please state):

References