Report on Research Methodologies, Research Instrument and Dissemination

You are asked to produce a report, which consists of three activities:

Section 1.

Please provide a detailed critique of at least two well-used research methodologies.

Section 2.

Please construct a research instrument that could be used to collect data in your capstone project. You will not be collecting any data – just designing the tool.

Section 3.

Please reflect upon the audience and critical aspects of research dissemination in the specific context of your potential research findings and outcomes from the developed instrument.

Should you fail the assessment at the first attempt and be referred to retake the coursework, only the failed individual elements will need to be reworked, with 10% of the re-sit mark awarded for an additional reflective statement demonstrating how you learnt from the feedback and what you did differently the second time.

The final report should be submitted via Moodle to a turn-it-in box and will be graded according to the following marking criteria (see more instructions of the writing of above sections outlined under “Structure and presentation” below):

Section 1 – Clarity and justification of research problem

Section 1 – For the literature analysis, breadth and depth of explored research with a clear focus emerging

Section 1 – Critique of two specific research methods

Section 2 – Demonstration of the proposed research instrument’s potential for new knowledge generation and rigour in deduction of conclusions

Section 3 – Comprehensive appraisal of research dissemination requirements

All sections – Form and presentation 10% (this section only for main submission)

Applies to re-sit only – Reflective section marked instead of “Form and Presentation”

The same assignment task as for the main assignment period applies to the re-sit, with further instructions see below.

Re-sit deadlines will be published via Moodle. Visit the module’s Moodle site and check your Roehampton email account on a regular basis. 
The school is not obliged to check whether you have noticed re-sit deadlines.

You are required to improve and resubmit your original work as well as adding a further reflective commentary discussing what you have learned from the process. You must resubmit your work using the specific re-sit Turnitin link on Moodle.

The original marking criteria will still apply (see marking weights provided above and marking grid provided below) except that the 10% weighting for presentation will be awarded instead to your reflective piece.

Section 1.

You should:

Review your previously submitted work and read carefully the feedback given by the marker.

Use this feedback to help you revisit and rewrite your work, improving it in the areas identified as weak in the original marking process

Include with your resubmission an additional reflective piece (400-700 words) on what you understand was weak, how you set about addressing this and what you have learned from this that may help you with further assignments. You should address the following specifically:

o Identify tutor feedback points on your original work and identify where/how the resit work has changed (give page number) in response to feedback
o Identify the lessons you have learnt from doing the resit
o Reflect on how your feedback and this process will help you improve future assignments

If you did not submit work at the first opportunity, you cannot reflect on your feedback. However, you are still required to submit a reflective piece in which you identify your reasons for non-submission, the implications of non-submission for your future success and how you propose to address this in the future. If you have issues with confidentiality of your reasons for non-submission then you could reflect on how you have met the learning outcomes for the module, how you can use what you have done on the module to support your future career and what skills/employability attributes you feel the module has helped you to develop.

If you were deferred at the first assessment opportunity you do not need to include the reflective piece as this is a first submission at a later date, not a re-sit.

Any written work should be spell-checked, and a contents page should be included. Do not use various font sizes and colours. Black ink, Arial, size 11, 1.5 lines spaced is recommended. Use DIN A4 format and page margins of 2.5 cm or 1 inch.

Your report should be presented in good academic style, having been formatted using the Harvard referencing system and proofread for grammatical errors. It should not exceed 3,500 words including tables and figures but excluding references.

Select a topic of interest or business problem relevant to your degree specialism, e.g. strategy, supply chain management, international business & economics, marketing, finance, or human resources. Choose one of these topics that motivates you and that you are likely to pursue for your Dissertation or Consultancy Project (you may change your mind later, but it will be to your advantage if you stick to it, so choose carefully). This will require some preliminary research into that specific area.

Section 2.

Provide the following subsections and address the following tasks for the chosen business problem:

1.1 Research problem: Short explanation of the research problem and the particular question that you would want to study (about 150 words).

1.2 Selected key readings: An introduction that provides a brief commentary of key relevant literature. Be sure to justify your choice of these references in introducing the existing knowledge on your topic (about 500 words). Attach a full visual presentation such as a mind map, a Venn diagram, or a grandfather, father, son literature map in the report’s appendix to show the scope of your review of literature. That visual presentation will be considered when marking together with your brief commentary.

1.3 Two appropriate research methods: A detailed critique of at least two well-used research methodologies in the literature you have reviewed. Discuss a) how they are applied; b) how the methods were deployed to provide a worthwhile contribution to theory and research and c) what gaps the methods may leave that could lend the area to further analysis (and an opportunity for your own research). Discuss pros and cons of methods in the context of the proposed research question / research problem; and demonstrate full awareness of constraints and limitations deriving from investigation (about 1,500 words).

Section 2: Instrument and Conclusions

Provide the following subsections and address the following tasks for the chosen business problem:

2.1 Instrument Provide the details of a proposed research instrument such as, an interview guide, survey questionnaire, or other appropriate instruments. Provide this as an appendix to your report. Write 500 words of reflection, regarding how you have designed the instrument and why the way you did. The instrument is only for illustrative purposes and does not necessarily have to be complete.

2.2 Conclusions Concluding evaluation of instrument’s expected value for the research question(s) that you consider worthy of further investigation, and reflective by taking section 1 into account (about 350 words).

2.3 Bibliography (covers section 1 and 2) Containing a minimum of 12 references to relevant journal articles from good academic sources, including at least 6 published in the last 24 months and all cited in your analysis (*recommended). Please include all references referred to in section one and two here.

Note that the references listed in the full visual presentation (see subsection 1.2) must also be included here. 

Provide the following subsections and address the following tasks for the chosen business problem:

3.1 Relevance and audience Briefly explain who and why may be the right audience for implementing the potential findings from the suggested research (about 200 words).

3.2 Communication of research Reflect what kind of summarising, media, and design of the report would be needed to disseminate the outcomes properly and most effectively. Who could be partners in public organisations, NGOs, associations, or industry? (about 200 words).

You are invited to submit a one-page outline specifying in brief full sentence bullet points how you think to address the following tasks:

1.1 Research problem, especially a precise definition and justification why chosen

1.3 Two appropriate research methods, especially how these are suitable to address the problem stated in 1.1.

2.1 Instrument, especially what research arenas & disciplines, ideas, examples read, techniques, or any other input will inform how that instrument is created.

The purpose of the formative submission is to receive feedback and to be advised what are the points with the most radical potential to improve the work. The formative assessment will not be marked, and it will notbe considered in any form when the final submission is reviewed.