1.The module learning outcomes being assessed
A1 Assess the validity and relevance of different types of evidence.
A2 Compare and critique a range of the different theoretical perspectives available for the analysis of problems in business and management research.
A3 Determine and justify research questions at the level necessary to complete the dissertation module successfully.
A4 Decide how to find sources of information in the field of business and management and judge those sources (especially those appearing in internet searches).
B1 Assess the methodological strengths and weaknesses underlying generalisations within the field.
B2 Use research methods and skills to carry out rigorous research in business and management.
B3 Make recommendations for practice based on a student’s findings and conclusions (in particular for students who are pursuing more practical-focused research).
B4 Enhance academic and reflective writing skills.
C1 Assess evidential claims which are made by different groups and actors in society.
C2 Assess situations by critically applying theoretical ideas to advance understanding of business and society.
C3 Determine appropriate actions in complex situations.
2.Instructions and guidance
The aim of the proposal
The research proposal requires you to demonstrate your ability to identify, analyse a research problem related to business and management, and to set out a plan for a research project to investigate that problem. The aim of this assessment is to enable you to develop and demonstrate your abil
ity to: (a) diagnose a problem in business and management, (b) arrive at the consequent research questions, (c) determine how to answer these questions by drawing on the academic literature, (d) assess the potential of different research methods and (e) plan a small-scale research project.
Your report is intended to form the plan for how you might use the literature (by drawing on the ideas and findings of others), design a research project and analyse the findings.
This report is among the most challenging assignments set during the M.Sc. programmes. You are being asked to anticipate the issues that will confront you in conducting a small research project. Thus, it is quite different from and more difficult than, writing a conventional coursework paper. The best reports are usually those produced by those students who have devoted considerable thought to the assignment before even beginning to write the report.
Your choice of problem for the project proposal report does not commit you to that topic for your dissertation. You can just complete the report as a free-standing exercise in which you are assessed on your ability to analyse a problem, grasp the arguments and the evidence contained in the literature and devise a suitable research design. You are free to select a different topic for your dissertation if you so wish, although there are obvious advantages in sticking to a topic to which you have already given thought and invested some work (although you must avoid cutting and-pasting parts of the proposal into the dissertation).