Research Method

1. Topics to chose from and the goals behind topic selection

The Goals in Topic Selection:
There must be literature including academic journal articles on your topic.

Assignment 1 requires you to conduct a literature review. This requires you to find literature that argue contrary views on your topic. Fore example costs outweigh benefits and alternatively benefits outweigh costs, what is true at one point of time is not necessarily true at another point of time, what is true in one part of the world is not true somewhere else and /or x is better or worse than y.

You must be able to describe and explain the gaps that exist in the literature. This is essential for you to complete assignment 2 where you need to describe research that you could conduct in order to collect data information and /or evidence that fills this gap. The gap may be that the literature does not have a broad enough scope (it does not consider all ages, all nationalities or changes over time and space). The found literature may be quantitative and therefore a qualitative investigation could be conducted or vice versa. You will need to formulate a research question and define and explain your research methodology.

For assignment 3 you need to write your individual reflective journal concurrently to performing assessment tasks 1 and 2, i.e. from the first week of the subject. For each week students should reflect and compare the theoretical knowledge with what they apply into practice. As assessment 1 and 2 are completed, students should clearly identify learning goals achieved. SEE OVER FOR THE LEARNING GOALS (OUTCOMES) of the unit.

SUBJECT OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES

On successful completion of this subject you will have the ability to:
Demonstrate an understanding of the research planning process ,business research methods and understanding importance of professional ethics, and of how to recognize and address ethical issues when they arise in a business research project
Apply concepts of business research to business scenarios.
Evaluate the impact of existing business research in a business environment
Evaluate and Compare various business research methodologies then apply them to a specific
business research project
Develop a research proposal, research project plan, literature review to be able to solve business problem and explain research outcomes.
Evaluate professional practice issues in business research
Justify chosen research methodology (quantitative/qualitative) and explain procedures for data collection, proposed data analysis, and limitations of your proposed study.

Assessment 1 Literature Review - Individual Assignment (2000 to 2500 words)

For this assessment, students are expected to demonstrate their understanding of the extant, academic literature related to an approved, business topic.

In consultation with their lecturer, students need to decide on a business-related topic/concept. Students need to select approximately eight to twelve (8-12), but at least three (3), peer-reviewed articles or comparable sources (online resource can be accessed using ProQuest or Google Scholar) that are related to the topic (as the basis of their literature review).

In the context of their chosen topic, students need to review the articles and sources selected, i. e. read and critically analyses (compare and contrast) the literature. In doing so, students are required to discuss the key ideas/arguments put forward by authors, identify communalities/similarities, differences and conclusions drawn by different authors. Based on this analysis and discussion, students are expected to point out potential gaps in the literature that will form the basis of Assessment 2, the research proposal

Assessment 2 Business Research Proposal - Individual Assignment (1500 to 2000 words)

Based on their literature review, students are required to write a business research proposal outlining the details of the proposed research project that addresses the gaps identified in the literature.

Derived from the business topic, the proposal needs to include clearly state research questions (primary and secondary), and provide a solid research methodology that supports the feasibility of the research project

4. What the unit outline says about what you need to do and how you need to do it.

Assessment 3: Individual Reflective Journal - Individual Assignment (1000-1500 words)
For this assessment, students are expected to write a weekly journal over the duration of the 12-week teaching period that documents a critical analysis of their learning process. In the journal students need to reflect/review how they have progressed with the learning goals related to assessments 1 and 2.

Students need to write their individual reflective journal concurrently to performing assessment tasks 1 and 2, i.e. from the first week of the subject. For each week, students need to make journal entries that provide a reflection of their 'journey' of gaining, and applying knowledge of the research paradigm. For each week students should reflect and compare the theoretical knowledge with what they apply into practice. As assessment 1 and 2 are completed, students should clearly identify learning goals achieved.