School of Management

UCLan Coursework Assessment Brief

In this assignment, you will write a Research Proposal.

Format: A report style format is acceptable and word length should be 2,000 words (plus or minus 10%) excluding references/bibliography (minimum 5 academic sources).

You are expected to write a research proposal covering all points mentioned below.

The process of refining research ideas into research questions, aims and then objectives is dealt with in class sessions and the course text. Remember – just because you may not yet have a clear idea of what you want to do does not mean you cannot write a clear research proposal.

The research proposal should include ALL the following points:

1. Explain what your research question is. Remember that an unclear, inaccurate and non-focused research question will affect the entire proposal.
2. Explain why answering the research question should be important. What is the importance of the research you propose?
3. What are the aims and objectives? The objectives should be numbered and linked specifically to appropriate methods for achieving them.
4. A brief outline of your approach to the literature on your topic giving (500-1,000 words):
   1. explanations/definitions of key terms and ideas
   2. key writers or theoretical background
5. Methodology. You should cover ALL the following in separate sections:
   1. Research philosophy: outline your research philosophy and approach
   2. Data collection: how do you plan to collect your data? Using what research design? And using what research methods? Why? Describe and justify your choices (a justification of their appropriateness, strengths and weaknesses in relation to your study, including relevant references to the literature)
   3. Sample: What is your sample? What is the size of your sample?
   4. Sampling techniques: What is the sampling technique you are going to use (Probability or Non-Probability? And what technique exactly?) Why? Describe and justify your choice.
6. Any problems you might anticipate (e.g. in access or sampling, etc.) and how you might resolve these.
7. A consideration of any ethical issues raised by your proposal.
8. A research timetable (this can go in an appendix if preferred).
9. References/bibliography for ALL sources utilised in the text.

Assessment Criteria:

1. Content criteria will be specific to the chosen title and topic area.
2. Evaluation of your understanding of the research process will address depth of detail on, and sensitivity to, methodological issues and quality of linkages to course material.

Important Notes:

1. Remember that this is a proposal, so you DO NOT have to actually do the research for this assignment!
2. The aims should be clear and focused and the research objectives should flow logically from the aims. You should avoid making your aims too vague as this generally leads to too wide a range of specific objectives and to proposals which are not viable in terms of time, scope or depth – remember, your overall task is to refine your research ideas into a specific research question (one or two questions) and to present a coherent proposal enabling you to address your questions realistically.
3. Though it is impossible for you to accurately predict levels of access available to you and consequently to determine a precise sample frame, you should still be able to propose what kinds of access would be needed and rough estimates of the ideal sample frame and sampling strategy needed in order to collect the kind of data you propose. Sampling is often covered badly in these assessments so check that you have covered it adequately.

• The Methodology session should demonstrate systematic thinking linking design, methods and sampling. Explain clearly how the methods you have chosen will generate the data you need to accomplish your research aims.
• Marks may be deducted for: poor referencing and incomplete or non-existent bibliographies, poor structure, and for serious mistakes in grammar and syntax.

This assignment is designed to test the following learning outcomes:

• Critically reflect on a specific area of interest within business and management in order to develop a research proposal
• Critically reflect on the skills and personal development needed as a researcher to be able to critically assess the implications of their research for organizational policy and practice

At this level, you are expected to make use full use of the academic sources provided on-line by the University. You need to make full use of the Reading List found at:

https://uclan.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/leganto/public/44UOCL_INST/lists/5403986550003821?auth=SAML

Please remember that the Reading List is a starting point, and you should make use the Internet search engines provided by the university. We do not recommend reliance on Google or Google Scholar – these engines will not provide full access to the academic material that you need for this assessment.

Assessment Deadline Date and time: Monday 17^th June 2022 23:59 UK time

Please note that this is the final time you can submit – not the time to submit!

Your feedback/feed forward and mark for this assessment will be provided by 8^th July 2022.

Please note that where work is submitted late, there may be a delay in providing feedback/feed forward and a mark.

Your assignment will be submitted as a single document. The word length of the assignment should be 2,000 words (plus or minus 10%) excluding references/bibliography.

You will submit the assignment into Turnitin by the deadline date and time. Please note any work submitted after the deadline will be treated as late unless you have given an extension. Late work will be subject to a penalty – work submitted up to 5 days late will be capped at 40%, while work submitted after 5 days will be given a mark of 0%. You will access your feedback and grade from Turnitin. Please note that all grades are provisional ending a decision by a University Assessment Board.

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