IB9HN0 Research Methodology Term Two 2021/2022 WARWICK BUSINESS SCHOOL ___________________________________________________________________________ 100% Individual Assignment 3500 words: This is a strict limit not a guideline: any piece submitted with more words than the limit will result in the excess not being marked. This individual assignment contributes 100% of the overall mark for the module. It should be submitted by 20.00 on Tuesday April 26, 2022. The assignment task provides an opportunity for you to (1) apply and synthesise the knowledge of research methods that you have developed over the module and (2) develop and practice skills in research design. To accomplish these learning goals, the assignment task requires you to design a research project to investigate a research question, problem, puzzle or issue that interests you. Please note that the assignment task does not require you to design your dissertation project – this comes later in your MSc journey. Instead, the assignment prepares you to undertake your dissertation project by deepening your skills training as a researcher who is equipped to design and evaluate research projects that are epistemologically coherent and methodologically robust. The assignment requires the following steps to complete: 1. Identify a question, puzzle, or problem based on your reading of the academic literature in your discipline area coupled with your own values, interests and experiences. 2. Develop an appropriate, coherent and robust research plan for investigating your question/puzzle/problem. Your plan should include the rationale for your choices of research paradigm, methods (quantitative, qualitative or mixed), strategies for data collection and analysis, techniques and pro
cedures including sampling, and ‘goodness’ criteria. 3. Write up your assignment as a 3500 word individual assignment that describes your question/puzzle/problem, evaluates a suitable research plan, and justifies all of your choices. Specifically, your 3500 write-up must include: a. A description of the research question/puzzle/problem that your empirical study will investigate and why it is important. You should consider both theoretical and practical relevance; b. An explanation of the research paradigm which underpins your approach to investigating your research question/puzzle/problem, including your ontological and epistemological assumptions; c. An evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative methodologies for investigating your research question/puzzle/problem and justification for your choice of quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods; and d. An evaluation of the particular research methods that will be used to collect data and their strengths and weaknesses relative to other possibilities for addressing the research question/puzzle/problem; e. An explanation and justification of the sampling strategy that will be used to select the sources of data; f. A description of the analytical strategy or strategies that will be used to analyse the data together with an appraisal of their strengths and weaknesses in generating findings that will contribute to existing knowledge of the topic and to practice and/or policy; and g. The criteria by which the ‘quality’ of the research can be judged and why these criteria are appropriate. Note: This assignment should be 3500 words excluding the list of references at the end of the document. This is the absolute word limit for the body of the assignment.