Research Methods (BC13-2)

What am I required to do in this assignment?
Research proposal
You are required to write a research proposal. A research proposal is a document that provides a detailed description of the
proposed research. The research proposal includes all activities that go towards completing a project stopping short of collecting
and analyzing the data.
While the research proposal is primarily written for an academic audience, it should contain elements that address the concern
of those in the organizations and whose problems were the subject of the proposal. Getting this balance right is one of the skills
needed to write a good proposal and ultimately a good project.
Your proposal would be a framework that would improve your understanding of a significant academic concept, business and
organizational matter.
Submission Deadline Marks and Feedback
Before 6pm on:
Click or tap to enter a date.
15 working days after deadline (All Levels)
Click or tap to enter a date.
Module title & code Research Methods (BC13-2)
Assignment number and title 01
Assessment type Individual Report
Weighting of assessment Written report 70 % and Presentation 30 %
Module learning outcomes 1. Knowledge and Understanding: Understand the research process to choose and apply a
range of research methods
2. Critically evaluate pertinent academic literature and develop an appropriate research plan
2
The intention of the proposal is to ensure that the students’ have done sufficient preliminary research in the area of their choice;
have understood and identified the issues/problems of their study; a have proper methodology on how to proceed his/her
research.
Initially, you are required to submit smaller reports as pilot studies and present your research topic in the class. Once the feedback
on that is received a full proposal can be submitted. The first pilot report is about choosing a topic, providing a rationale for the
study and developing your research objectives. The second pilot report involves reviewing and writing a literature review on the
chosen topic.
You are specifically required to undertake the following tasks
Task 1: Submission: 4th week
You are required to choose a researchable topic, give an introduction of the topic, state the rationale/ need for the study and
research objectives.
Task 2: Submission: 8th week
Pilot Report- You are expected to demonstrate your academic knowledge in the chosen area with an appropriate literature
review and correct referencing
Task 3: Presentation: 13
th week — (Weighting 30%)
You are required to present the research topic in the class
Task 4: Submission: 15thweek — (Weighting 70%)
Research Proposal (includes pilot report 1 and 2) – The proposal should be systematically presented with:
• Suitable title
• Introduction
• Problem statement; Research Questions; Objectives; the scope of the study
• Literature review- conceptual review and research review
• Research Methodology, limitations
• Time & budget plan
• References
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. The assignment MUST be submitted on-line (through MOVE) on or before the due date.
2. The assignment follows a report format and must be original and creative.
3. This is an individual report which carries 70% and presentation which has 30 % weighting of the module grade.
3
4. Your assignment shall reflect the depth and breadth of your original analyses in a clear and coherent manner. Use
relevant academic literature to support ideas and issues discussed.
5. Any reference to authors and other writers shall be quoted with due acknowledgement in your report using the Harvard
Referencing System. For details of Harvard referencing style refer https://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/a-guide-to-referencing.
6. The assignment should be organized under suitable headings. An analytical piece of work is required. The use of ‘cut and
paste’ approach will be penalized. It must be presented in a structured manner, with appropriate cover page, content
page, introduction, body (with appropriate heading / sub-headings), conclusion, references, page numbered and any
required appendices.
7. Your assignment should be word-processed and professionally presented. The length should be between 2500 words
(+/- 10%), presented in the text of font size 12 with 1.5 line spacing. Please state the exact word count at the end of
the assignment.
8. The cover page should be attached with the assignment and uploaded through MOVE (on-line). Name of the student,
the Programme, Module Title, Assignment Title and number of words must be reflected on the cover sheet.
9. All assignments must adhere strictly to the deadlines specified by Majan College. Failure to hand in the assignment for
any reason and without prior approval and a valid written extension from the module tutor will not be marked and will
be awarded a grade G (0) irrespective of the quality of the work. See Student handbook.
10. Unacknowledged use of work of others (plagiarism) is regarded as a dishonest practice and will be penalized. See the
penalties in the student’s handbook.
11. For Operational Guidelines refer to Student Handbook Section IV: ASSESSMENTS.
Additional Guidelines
• The Assignment Submission link on MOVE will be open, a week ahead of the submission date.
• You can submit your assignment multiple times, till the submission deadline. Note that Turnitin could take up to 24 hours
to produce similarity reports for submissions.
• The last submission, within the deadline, will be considered as your final submission.
• Assignments should be submitted by 6 pm on the day of the deadline. There is a grace period until midnight to allow for
technical difficulties, but any assignment submitted after this will be considered as a late submission. Technical problems
will not be accepted as an excuse for a late submission.
• The similarity percentage of your final submission will be one of the factors considered, for assessing the originality of
your assignment. However, the decision to report an assignment for plagiarism is taken by the Lecturers, who mark your
assignment.
4
• The Lecturers will consider a number of factors such as Assignment type, part of the assignment where similarity occurs,
nature of similarity etc., along with the similarity percentage of your assignment to assess the originality of your
assignment. Therefore, similarity percentage would not be accepted as a basis for disputing academic judgments
regarding plagiarism.
• Note that the similarity percentage of your submission can change until the submission deadline if the submissions of
other students have similarity to your assignment. Therefore, the similarity percentages are not final, till the assignment
submission is closed.
• You are required to tick to confirm the statement: “I confirm that this assignment is my own and all sources have been
acknowledged. I understand that the use of other people’s work or ideas without acknowledgement is plagiarism and
could result in failing the assignment”. You will not be able to submit the assignment without ticking this box.
• In a case of group work, it is recommended that the group should identify a leader who can be responsible for uploading
the assignment on Turnitin and to share the feedback received from lecturers with the group members.
Deliverables
Submission
Submission of the A1.PPT presentation and A2.Written report will be submitted via Turnitin Link on MOVE. At the time of
submission, you need to make sure that the assignment is your own and all the sources have been acknowledged.
Is there a word limit (Number of Words ± 10%)?
2500 words (+/-10%)
What do I need to do to pass? (Threshold Expectations)
• Identify and formulate a feasible research topic with clear objectives and rationale.
• Students provides a satisfactory relevant academic literature and develop a minimum of one research questions and
objectives
• Analyze and substantiate the relevant research methods, including data or evidence gathering and analytical processes
suitable to answer specific research questions.
• The report presented should be following the basic required structure of the research report. Information in the
literature review supports the topic of the study, Research design has been discussed in a satisfactory manner, data
collection methods are presented bur lacks clarity, sampling design is provided but not clearly explained.
• Data analysis section is discussed but descriptive in nature.
5
How do I produce high quality work that merits a higher grade?
• The report presented should demonstrate excellent conceptual awareness, problem, evidence of induction/deduction.
Research questions, aim and objectives should be based on research gaps, A cyclic approach towards the literature
should be evident.
• Contemporary researches, exemplary critical stance, show arguments, counter-arguments, and develops gaps, and
deduces hypothesis.
• Outstanding application of the research methods, defining the research methodology, provides excellent justification
and move towards the scientific approach.
• The report with minimum flaws in the structure of the proposal.
How does assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions?
The research report that has to be developed by the student is based on the topic that is being taught in the class right from the
first unit until the last unit. The first topic discusses the importance of the research, which gives an idea of basic research and the
types of research. The second unit will be discussing how a research topic shod be identified. This is helpfully in identifying the
topic of the research. The third unit is a discussion on literature review, which helps in writing the literature review, which further
includes developing the research questions, aim and objectives of the research. Topic four and five is a discussion on data
collection, scaling, sampling which is a part of the research methodology. The last topic is data analysis tools and techniques,
which is also a part of the research methodology.
How will my assignment be marked?
Your assignment be marked according to the threshold expectations and the criteria on the following page.
You can use them to evaluate your own work and estimate your grade before you submit.
No Criterion Weighing
(%)
Sub
Standard /
No Attempt
(0 Marks)
Poor
(20 Marks)
Satisfactory
(40 Marks)
Good
(50 Marks)
Very Good
(60 Marks)
Excellent
(70 Marks)
Outstanding
(100 Marks)
1
Conceptual
skills:
Introduction
10
The report
lacks focus,
concepts not
explained,
purpose not
discussed
The research
has some
outline,
concepts
vaguely
explained,
lacks focus
The report has
an outline,
concepts
introduced but
has scope for
improvement
The report has
focus and
content,
concepts
explained and
rationale has
been providedbut the element
of objectivism
prevails
The report has
clear focus and
content,
concepts well
explained and
rationale well
explained
The excellent
introduction
has a clear
focus, concepts
well explained
with
references/data
and rationale
clearly stated
Has all the characteristic of an
outstanding introduction
(showing conceptual
awareness,
problem/rationale/opportunities
identification) evidence of
induction/deduction.
2
Application
skill:
Objective
15
Aims and
objectives not
stated
Aims and
objectives are
not
researchable
and lack clarity
Aims and
objectives are
stated but lack
focus
Aims and
objectives are
clearly stated
but have scope
pertaining to
usage of
appropriate
action verbs
Aims and
objectives are
clearly stated
and focused
Aims and
objectives are
clear and it
clearly spells
out of the
research
agenda
Aims and objectives are based
on research gaps, A cyclic
approach towards the literature
is evident
3
Information
Management:
a Literature
review
25
There is no
evidence of
information
search, no
references
given
There is some
evidence of
information
search but no
academic
references
given, not well
paraphrased,
most websites
are referred to,
lacks focus
Although the
information
supports the
task, the
information is
not well
compiled and
presented,
lacks synthesis
Uses a variety
of sources,
ideas are
generated than
being
synthesised;
shows some
evaluative
perspective
Focused
review, uses a
variety of
sources,
appropriately
referenced,
ideas are well
synthesized;
analytical and
evaluative.
Excellent
review of
literature,
evidence of
wider reading,
summative,
analytical,
formative, good
synthesis and
evidence of
critical content,
uses of a
variety of
Contemporary researches used,
exemplary critical stance, show
arguments, counter-arguments,
and develops gaps, and
deduces hypothesis.
7
sources and
correctly
referenced
4
Research
Skill:
Methodology
25
Research
design-type
not specified,
sampling
plan, data
collection
plan,
sampling
plan, data
analysis plan
not clearly
defined and
lacks clarity
Research type
has been
mentioned but
lacks clarity.
Data collection
methods are
discussed, but
no focus and no
link to the
research
proposal, the
sampling plan
is mentioned.
Research
design has been
discussed, data
collection
methods,
sampling
design, data
analysis are
discussed, and
descriptive in
nature
Research
design,
sampling
design, Data
collection
methods
discussed, but
lacks
justification
Research
design,
sampling
design, Data
collection
methods are
clear and
focused, there
is evidence of
research,
however, there
is a scope for
refinement
All the aspects
of research
methodology
have been
clearly
discussed,
focused,
reliable, valid,
and well
justified in the
context of
research at
hand.
Shows outstanding application
of the research methods, in
defining the research
methodology, provides
excellent justification and
move towards the scientific
approach.
5
Organisation
skills:
Structure
10
The report is
unorganised
and not
readable
No logical flow
of information
and ideas, no
linkage across
sections
The flow of
information is
satisfactory,
can
communicate
and link ideas.
Good flow of
information,
sections
structured, but
has scope for
information
flow
A good and
logical flow of
information,
sections are
well structured
and linked
Excellent
compilation of
the report,
logical,
coherent, and
well linked.
A report with no flaws in the
structure – expression
enhances the quality of the
proposal
6 Bibliography 15
The references
do not clearly
comply with
the basic
requirements
of the
HARVARD
STYLE
format.
The references
do not clearly
comply with the
basic
requirements of
the HARVARD
STYLE format.
The references
are inadequate
to support the
literature used
in the report.
Sources used
show limited
relevance and
currency.
The report
shows some
compliance to
HARVARD
STYLE
referencing, but
shows many
errors.
Very few
references
quoted which
are inconsistent
with the amount
of literature
used in the
report.
Some sources
of information
The report
demonstrates a
basic level of
HARVARD
STYLE
referencing, but
still contains
major
deficiencies.
No
sophistication
is evident i.e.
Websites do not
follow Harvard
Referencing
style.
Majority of the
sources are
relevant and
current.
The report
demonstrates a
solid
understanding
of the basic
elements of
HARVARD
STYLE
formatting. Intext citations if
presented at
relevant areas
will lend more
appropriateness
to the report.
Sources used to
support the
discussions are
relevant and
current.
The report
demonstrates
excellent
HARVARD
STYLE
formatting
skills. In-text
citations are
presented in
relevant areas.
Consistent use
of relevant and
current sources
that enhance the
discussions.
Strictly adheres to Harvard
Referencing style.
The student understands and
recognizes the concept of
intellectual property, can
defend him/herself if
challenged, and can properly
incorporate the ideas /
published works of others into
their own work building upon
them.
8
are relevant
while others
are dated.
How will my report presentation be marked?
.
No Criterion Weighing
(%)
Sub Standard
/ No Attempt
(0 Marks)
Poor
(20 Marks)
Satisfactory
(40 Marks)
Good
(50 Marks)
Very Good
(60 Marks)
Excellent
(70 Marks)
Outstanding
(100 Marks)
1
Presentation
Aid
10
No visual aids
are used
Slides are not
organized
logically,
Slides do not
represent the
arguments and
there is no
synthesis
between the
two
Slides cover
the main
aspects of the
presentation,
structured
properly and
match the
arguments
There is a
structure of
slides and
synthesized
There is a
logical flow of
information.
There is a clear
structure of
slides and
synthesized
There is a
perfect logical
flow of
information.
Slides
complement
the arguments
The slides are
structured and well
synthesized There is a
logical flow of
information Slides
enhance the arguments
The slides are clearly
presented, structured
and well synthesized
There is a perfect
logical flow of
information Slides
enhance the arguments.
2
Research
RigorAnalytical
and Critical
Thinking
Skills
30
The
discussions are
not related to
the topic of the
study. Does
not understand
the meaning of
research
Demonstrates
any critical
thinking and
analytical
skills
Does not
represent the
issues
holistically and
most of the
relevant
dimensions are
not discussed
Demonstrates
poor critical
thinking and
analytical
skills
Discusses the
topic in its
entirety as all
dimension are
discussed,
fairly
synthesized
critical
thinking and
analytical
skills are
satisfactorily
demonstrated
Good
understands
the
complexity of
information
but multiple
viewpoints are
not well
synthesized.
Demonstrates
good critical
thinking and
analytical
skills
Very good
understands
the complexity
of information
but multiple
viewpoints are
synthesized.
Demonstrates
very good
critical
thinking and
analytical
skills
Presents depth
information on the
chosen topic. Different
viewpoints are
presented and a wide
variety of sources.
Demonstrates Excellent
critical thinking and
analytical skills
Presents very in-depth
information on the
chosen topic. Multiple
viewpoints are
presented and a wide
variety of sources is
cited.
Demonstrates
outstanding critical
thinking and analytical
skills
3
Justification
of Methods
usedEvaluation
Skills
20
Does not
demonstrate
any ability to
evaluate, no,
reasoning and
no evidence.
Does not
Demonstrate
very weak
ability to
evaluate and
unable to
Satisfactory
demonstration
of the ability to
evaluate but
with weak
reasoning and
A good
demonstration
of the ability
to evaluate
with a fair
level of
Demonstrates
very good
ability to
evaluate and
based on
reasoning with
Demonstrates ability to
evaluate methods based
on reasoning with
evidence. Shows
excellent ability to take
critical decisions are
Demonstrates ability to
evaluate methods based
on sound reasoning with
evidence. Shows
outstanding ability to
make critical decisions
9
No decision
–
making skills
evident
provide any
reasoning and
evidence. Does
not cite any
reference does
not
demonstrate
any decision
–
making skills.
no evidence.
Methods and
tools are linked
vaguely to
research at
hand.
demonstrates a
fair level of
decision
–
making skills
evidence.
Some
references are
cited. Methods
and tools
chosen are
somewhat
linked to
research at
hand.
Demonstrates
a good level
of decision
–
making skills
a good level of
evidence.
References are
cited. Methods
and tools
chosen are
linked to
research at
hand.
Demonstrates
a very good
level of
decision
–
making skills
justified in the context
of research.
(methods and tools
chosen) are justified
perfectly in the context
of research at hand.
4
Confidence
and
Command
over
Language
15
Shows signs
of nervousness
as both content
knowledge and
presentation is
incorrect, No
eye contact
Demonstrates
poor
Level of
confidence
evident from
an inadequate
level of subject
knowledge and
lack of
preparation.
No confidence
demonstrated
through
language,
expression and
body language
all of which
indicates lack
of confidence.
No eye contact
Demonstrates
satisfactory
Level of
confidence
evident from
an adequate
level of subject
knowledge and
preparation.
Confidence
demonstrated
through
language,
expression and
body language
seems
artificial.
rarely keeps
eye contact
Demonstrates
a good level
of confidence
evident from
good subject
knowledge
and
preparation.
Confidence
demonstrated
through
language,
expression
and body
language.
Frequent eye
contact
Demonstrates
a very good
level of
confidence.
evident from
very good
subject
knowledge and
preparation.
Very good confidence
demonstrated
through
language,
expression and
body language.
Frequent eye
contact
Excellent confidence is
evident from the
knowledge over the
subject. Confidenc
e
demonstrated through
language and
expression. Maintains
eye contact
Outstanding confidence
evident from command
over subject relevant
knowledge, preparation.
Confidence
demonstrated through
language, expression
and body language.
Maintains continuous
eye contact
5
Handling
Questions
from Peers
and Tutor
25
Makes no
effort to either
understand the
question or
respond to the
question.
Does not
understand the
questions
responds
incorrectly,
Asks for
questions to be
repeated, tried
to avoid
questions
Somewhat demonstrates
an ability to
understand the
questions only
at the surface
level, respond
with some
explanation,
focus and
reasoning.
Good
Demonstration
of ability to
understand the
essence of
questions,
responds with
confidence
with a good
explanation,
and reasoning.
A very good
demonstration
of the ability to
understand the
essence of
questions,
responds with
confidence
with a very
good
explanation,
Demonstrates an
excellent ability to
understand the
questions, responds
with confidence with
excellent explanation,
and reasoning. Explains
what is expected
Demonstrates an
outstanding ability to
understand the essence
of questions, responds
with confidence with
outstanding
explanation, focus and
reasoning. Explains
beyond what is
expected
10
focus and
reasoning.

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