Assessment Title and Weight

Coursework 1 (CW1): Research Proposal.

This assessment is the first of 2 total assessments for this module. It weighs 40% of the final module grade.

Aim of the Assessment

The assessment gives the students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to choose a good hospitality research topic upon conducting an evaluation of the topic for feasibility and appropriateness.

Students will demonstrate their understanding of the first stages of the research process and apply the needed skills to undertake these stages leading to the Research Proposal.

This assessment paves the way for the second assessment of this module (Coursework 2: Research Project) as students will realize their Research Proposal into a Research Project to complete the research process.

Assessed Learning Outcomes

1. Identify relevant research topics and questions related to professional practice, which provide a scope for an individual investigation.

2. Identify and review existing research and literature, which provides suitable scope and impacts on the development of a research proposal.

3. Identify major research approaches and methodologies that will assist in the development and management of the research process in a professional context.

Assessment Brief

You will work individually on this assignment to write a Research Proposal on a hospitality topic of your choice (self-generated research).

Word Limit 2,000 words. The word count is to exclude the Cover Page, the Table of Contents, in-text references, text associated with tables and graphs, list of references, appendixes...etc.

Tasks

1. Identify an original research topic related to hospitality that has not yet been researched. It is important that the topic will sustain your interest throughout the full research process and you will have contact and/or access to appropriate people who can provide you with the relevant data for your analysis.

2. Evaluate the research topic for feasibility and appropriateness. A preliminary literature review is required as a sub-task for the evaluation.

3. Upon completion of the evaluation, determine if the research topic meets the needed criteria of a good research topic. If it does not, then repeat steps 1-2.

4. Refine your research topic to have a clear conceptual and contextual focus.

5. Formulate the research questions, aim, and objectives.

6. Plan your research by defining and developing the research methodology, resources requirements, action plan and timeline.

7. Write the Research Proposal to include all the parts listed in the following section.

Structure and Content of the Research Proposal

Your Research Proposal must include all the following sections in the given order:

1. Cover Page. The cover page must include:

The module code and title

The assessment title

The title of your Research Proposal

Your RGU Student ID

Your name (first name followed by last name)

The word count (please refer to the word count limit). Please use automated word count calculation tools.

2. Table of Contents.

3. Rationale and Background of the Research Topic. In this section you should demonstrate that you have evaluated your research topic against the criteria of a good research topic. In particular:

Give details of your preliminary review of the literature which has led to the rationale. The review should include at least 6 relatively recent journal articles (not older than 2013).

Classify the type of research you are proposing and discuss why it falls under that particular classification. Explain how they research topic will make a good contribution to the existing knowledge and/or how it will have significant applied practices.

4. Research Questions. Focus your refined research topic into at most 2 research questions. Formulate the questions that your research will address and answer.

5. Aim and Objectives. Formulate your research aims and objectives stemming from your Research Question(s):

Research Aim: overall purpose of your research explaining what the end product of your research will be.

Research Objectives: list at least 3 and maximum 5 research objectives. The objectives represent the practical steps, sequential stages and/or applied tasks needed to achieve the aim.

6. Research Design and Methodology. Plan your research design and establish your research methodology. Make sure to present a comprehensive step-by-step methodology and to justify how your choices will achieve research coherence.

7. Resources Requirements. Identify, discuss and explain the needed resources to conduct your research, and classify them into "essential" or "potential". These may include personal skills to be developed, fieldwork, permission requisitions and any other relevant resources which are needed for your research.

8. Action Plan and Timeline. Create an action plan across the available timeline set by the module which covers the stages of the research process and the tasks needed to complete your research. In particular, make sure that you identify any needed pre-requisites that must be resolved/made available to ensure a smooth transition of the steps.

9. Reference List. Alphabetical list of all references you used in your preparation of the Research Proposal including the preliminary literature review. All references must follow the RGU Harvard referencing system

(Refer to http://libguides.rgu.ac.uk/RGUHarvard).