Research Methods for

Business Management
(MOD001105)

Module Leader: Dr Noah Karley
Email: Noah.Karley@anglia.ac.uk
Room LAB322 Ext. 5739


Lecture 11
Assignment Review


Module Leader: Dr Noah Karley
Email: Noah.Karley@anglia.ac.uk
Room LAB322 Ext. 5739
Teaching Objectives
At the end of this lecture/seminar you will be
familiar with:
Modules assignment.
Assignments structure.
Modules reading list.
Marking criteria.
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Assignment

The assignment for this module consists
of 2 parts:
Part 1: Prepare a Project Poster (worth 20%)
Part 2: 3000 word research proposal (worth 80%
of final mark)
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Assignment
These assignment tests your achievement of the following
learning outcomes:

Demonstrate a critical awareness of different research designs
and respective methodologies relevant to academic and
practitioner researchers working within an international context.
Explain their chosen research question/hypothesis and research
objectives, and all the relevant elements contributing to a
research proposal suitable to researching a contemporary
international business topic.
Critically evaluate the literature relevant to their research aims in
order to develop a conceptual framework or critical stance.
Act as an independent self-learner demonstrate the skills
necessary to plan, organise, undertake and present an
international business project.



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Structure: Introduction
Consider the following structure:

1. Introduction

a) Title: initially this might be regarded as a working
title, and ideally should mirror closely the content of
the document.

b) Background: This informs the reader of the
problem or situation and the context you are
interested in.

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Structure: Introduction
c) Rationale for this study:
What is the research issue?
Why is it an issue?
Why is it an issue now?
What could this research shed light on?

d) Research aim, objectives, and research
questions.
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Structure: Literature Review
2. Literature review

This section will demonstrate your knowledge of
the literature and make a critical link with the
research question to be investigated. Students are
expected to critically review at least 6 sources to
underpin the study.

The literature should mostly rely on published
academic journal articles in the research area.

This critical activity should produce a conceptual
framework.
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Structure: Research Design and
Methodology
3. Research design and methodology

This section should provide a detailed rationale of how you
intend to achieve your research objectives. You are
expected to address the following areas:

Type of investigation: Explain clearly whether your
research can be classified as an exploratory, descriptive or
hypothesis testing study. Refer to the lecture notes and
textbook for details on each type.
Data collection method: Explain how you are going to
collect the data (e.g. postal questionnaire, telephone
interview, focus group, etc) and why this fits the purpose of
your research.
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Structure: Research Design and
Methodology
Sampling method: Explain whether you plan to
use a probability or non-probability sampling
design and the specific sampling technique. The
study participants should be able to offer the right
type of information to enable you address the
research problem.

Accessibility issues: what accessibility issues are
you likely to encounter when you collect the data?
How are you going to manage the accessibility
issues?
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Structure: Research Design and
Methodology
Ethical issues: You must discuss any ethical issues that are
relevant to your research topic, participants, and method.
Discuss how you are going to deal with the ethical issues.

Data analysis plan: how you intend to analyse the data you
will collect? This section must be consistent with the
previous section on data collection method and must be
mindful of the nature of the data collected, whether this is
quantitative or qualitative.

Research limitations: Define the limitations of the study
that you believe you may encounter and could be affect the
quality, scope, or value of the research.

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Structure: Timetable and
References
4. Timetables and references

Provide a chart on how you will use your available
time to complete your proposed research. This will
provide an indication of the viability of the
proposal. You will need to justify your plan.

The reference list at this stage need not be
lengthy, only sufficient to inform your proposal.
The list must include all the sources that were cited
and consulted in writing the research proposal. You
must use the Harvard Style of referencing refer to
appendix 1 of your textbook for details.

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Reading List
Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2011). Business Research Methods. (3rd edn). Oxford: Oxford
University Press.

Easterby- Smith, M., Thorpe, R. Jackson, P. and Lowe, A. (2008). Management Research.
(3rd edn). London: Sage.

Keleman, M. and Rumens, N. (2008). An introduction to critical management research.
London: Sage.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2012). Research Methods for Business Students.
(6th edn). Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R. (2010). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building
Approach. (5th edn). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Wilson, J. (2010). Essentials of Business Research: A Guide to Doing Your Research Project.
London: Sage.

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Word Limit
Word limit: 3000

Written assignments must not exceed the specified
maximum number of words.
All assignments which do so will be penalised.
The penalty will be the deduction of 10% of the maximum
marks available (i.e. 10%).
Assignments will not be accepted without a word count on
the cover sheet.
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Submission Dates
Part 1- Poster: Between weeks 4-6 to TBA by Tutor
Part2: Research Proposal Essay. This assignment
must be received by no later than:
For Semester 1: 5pm on 6 January 2014
For Semester 2: TBA

For this module you are required to submit your Turnitin

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Marking Criteria


Marks

1. Does the working title mirror closely the content of the poster?



Maximum 4%

2. Does the introductory part of the poster inform the reader of the problem or
situation and the context the student is interested in?


Maximum 4%

3. Does the poster inform the reader of the rationale of this study?
a. What is the research issue?
b. Why is it an issue?
c. Why is it an issue now?
d. What could this research shed light on?


Maximum (a, b, c, d) 12%
a. max 3%
b. max 3%
c. max 3%
d. max 3%
Assessment Form Coursework A (20%) Research Poster


Part 2: Dissertation proposal worth 80%
Coursework B is marked out of 100% but worth 80% of
the final mark for this module


Assessment Criteria Allocated Marks (%)

Development of research aims, objectives and
hypothesis/question
25

Appropriateness and rigour of research methods 20

Synthesis and analysis of initial literature on the
topic
20

Strength of anticipated findings and how they
relate to aims and objectives of study
15

Appropriateness of proposed dissertation
structure
10

Acknowledgement of sources and correct
referencing technique
5

Style/Grammar/Presentation 5

Total 100

Note: The marking scheme allows flexibility, and it is by no means exhaustive.
Guides
Writing is a creative process and a powerful way
to clarifying your thinking.
A report needs a clear structure that helps to
develop the storyline.
All the information should be readily accessible to
the reader.
Use a clear writing style free and check for spelling
and grammatical errors.
Be prepared to rewrite the first draft several
times.
Remember to check the assessment criteria.

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Guides
You need to pick a project topic that is feasible, which
means do-able in the short time that you have.

What is feasible?

Many student project proposals are initially over-
ambitious. They are often very wide-ranging in their
focus and could present significant problems for students
in collecting primary data.

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Guides
The best projects are those where:

The topic is of particular interest to you.
You can easily collect information the
information is readily available or you can collect
and analyse it easily, and within a short time
period.
The aim of the project is focused on a particular
aspect of a chosen topic.

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Guides
Keep the following points in mind when
choosing your topic :

Is the topic of academic significance, and not
trivial?

Is the topic really manageable in the time
available? It is a common mistake to imagine
that you can cover far more than is actually
feasible, so keep a suitably narrow focus. Do not
ask too big a question.

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Guides
Set your own system, generate stages:

Write the main topic in the middle of the page.
Jot down the other ideas that occur to you at other points
on the page:
as the page begins to fill, relationships between ideas
suggest themselves and lines between the ideas may be
drawn.
this allows you to group the ideas into discrete but related
chunks, which enables to form a section or a chapter.
Finish the writing session on a high point - if it is a complex
session you may forget the main idea.
Revise your work. Get people to read your work.

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Guides
Introduction should includes:

The research questions(s) and a clear statement of
research objectives.

Brief background and a guide to the storyline.

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Guides
Introduction is not a literature review. It should be a
summary of existing evidence that motivates your specific,
proposed work.

Start broad become increasingly specific.
End with a review, and broaden out to discuss potential
applications of the proposed work
Topics to be addressed: whats been done; what hasnt;
what is needed and why; indicate your part or
contribution (scoping your domain).

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Guides
Literature review purpose is:
To set your study in the wider context.
To show how your study supplements existing work.

You can engage with some or all of the following questions:

What previous research has already been done on this
topic?
Who did it, when and, perhaps, why?
What conclusions did previous researchers reach?
How relevant are these conclusions today generally and for
your own research?

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Guides
Methodology should help in understanding the
reliability and validity of methods, selected by you
and includes:
Theoretical setting.
Participants in the sample.
Materials.
Procedure.

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Guides
The purpose of the methodology is to
define a problem, outline procedures that
the researcher plans to use in order to
learn more about the problem, and
identify possible variables that the
researcher may face during his or her
research.

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Guides
How to Structure the Methodology Chapter
Section I: Philosophy
This will deal with the philosophy which
underpins your research. You will set out the
research paradigm here.

Section II: Approach
Here you will need to explain the context and
theoretical/empirical framework of your research,
its limitations and specifically answer the w-
questions, which include How, Why, What Where
and When?

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Guides
Section III: Strategy and Research Design
In this section you will outline how you are
planning to collect your data.
You will have to explain your choice for using the
particular methods, such as online surveys, phone
surveys, face-to-face-interviews and so on.

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Guides
Section IV: Data Collection and Analysis Methods
You have to explain how you are planning to collect the
data (by what means) and then explain the analysis tools
you will use. If you use software tools then you will have to
say what these are and why you have to chose to use these
particular ones.

In this section you have to explain very clearly how you are
planning to arrive at your findings and state clearly why
they should be reliable and how they will answer your
research questions or test the hypotheses on which your
research is based.

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Guides
Timetables help you to plan your dissertation
writing process.

It is best to start with the end date (i.e. submission)
and work backwards.
Plan to submit your dissertation at least two weeks
before the final deadline to give you some protection
against delays caused by unexpected problems.
Include in the schedule any other major
commitments you may have during the dissertation
writing period (e.g. examination, revision).
Once you have drafted your schedule, think about
when would be the best times for you to meet with
your supervisor and insert them into the schedule.

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Guides
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References
Gay, L. R. Mills, G. E. and Airasian. P. W. (2008).
Educational Research: Competencies for
Analysis and Applications. Harlow: Prentice
Hall.

Saunders, M. Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A.
(2012). Research Methods for Business
Students. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

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