Deadline:Week 11 – Monday, 9am via Blackboard

Word limit: 2,500

Weightage:100%

Assessors: Tutor and benchmarker

Prepare a Research Proposalbased on the same business or management issue in Malaysia selected by you for the Presentation.

Approaching the Assignment:

1. Identify the key terms and requirements for a Research Proposal
2. Use the Marking Criteria in the Proposal Rubric to understand the expectations of the reader.
3. Create an outline of your assignment.
4. Use your Research and Referencing to support and justify all your points
5. Use Evidence to support your proposed research design and methodology
6. Your assignment should include in-text citations and be supported with a full List of

References. You are expected to use the CU Harvard Referencing Style. Please refer to the CU referencing guide.

Please remember that when you submit your assignment, you need to include:
o Your Name
o Your Student ID number
o The Title of the Assignment (in the Submission Title box)

Structure of the Research Proposal

Research Proposal Title

Reflect as accurately as possible the content of your chosen topic.

Abstract
This is a detailed summary of the whole report. The abstract should be written in such a way so that after reading the abstract, the reader would be able to know and understand what is contained in your thesis without having to read it.

It contains the following information which have been summarized from your research:
o The problem of the research / motivation for conducting the research / why is it interesting
o The methodology used
o The findings
o Conclusion based on findings. How does it fill the gaps in research? How and to whom would these findings be of significance to? What are the recommendations based on these findings?

(for the proposal, the findings and conclusions are not needed)

Format of the Abstract
o It appears after the Title Page, the Acknowledgement and the Table of Contents.
o Avoid using headings and subheadings in your abstract
o As a general guideline, the introduction section should be about 20-30% of the whole, your methodology paragraph should be 10-20%, your results paragraphs should be 35-45% and your discussion paragraphs should be 20-25%.
o Do not include figures or tables in your abstract
o An abstract is always written in the present tense (except for the methodology)
o It should be about 1-2 paragraphs and consists between 120 – 250 words (for this proposal, you will have lesser words and you will not have findings and conclusion)

3.Introduction

o Research background

o Establish the context of the research by providing some background information relating to the area of study to show that there is a need to conduct a research in this area or to show a problem exists and needs to be examined.
o Information can be obtained from newspapers, magazines, journal articles, reports and others. Provide some figures to strengthen any claims made.
o This information should then lead to the problem statement.
o Approximately 300-400 words

o Problem Statement

o Start with one or two sentences of the problem – summarise the information given in the background and show what is needed
o Describe past research on what has already been studied on the problem.
o Explain what are the research gaps – what has not been researched before in the area.
o Describe your research and how it will address the needs and gaps.
o The purpose statement – one or two sentences to explain your study.
o Approximately 100-200 words

o Research Question and Research Objectives

o State one research question and three objectives
o The research question is the purpose of the study framed in the form of a question
o State three objectives.
o The objectives are what needs to be done in order to achieve the overall research aim.
o The objectives should be measurable.
o The objectives should be related to the problem statement and research question.
o The objective should be in the form of bullet points.

o Significance of the study –
o how and to whom will the research be of significance to

Definitions of terms

5.Literature Review

o Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of what others have written on the topic.
o Explain how your proposal relates to the academic debate which has been identified as part of the literature review.
o Key theories and concepts pertaining the topic are present
o The literature review should be linked to the research question and objectives.
o The literature review should be focused and should not have irrelevant information.
o The structure of the literature review should be grounded to the key constructs / variables of the study
o The literature should be structured well – i.e. according to important themes or chronologically
o Information from different studies should be synthesized well
o Information should be critically evaluated. Arguments should be supported by evidence.
o Information should be obtained from a variety of relevant, credible sources i.e. from refereed journals such as those obtained in databases such as Science Direct, Ebscohost, Emerald and other good databases.
o The literature review should be concluded well, by summarizing main findings
o Develop the theoretical framework
o Approximately 1000-1200 words

6.Methodology

o Relates to your research questions and research objectives and shows how you will achieve them.
o Consists of

(1) Research design – (philosophies, approaches, strategies, choices, limitations, assumptions). You are expected to make strong justifications in support of your chosen research design.
(2) Data collection –Identify how specifically the data will be collected, the sampling method used, what information will be obtained,
(3) Measurement of variables–the operationalization and measurement used for the dependent and independent variables,
(4) Reliability and Validity–Explanation of the tests for reliability and validity.
(3) Data analytical method– evaluate the data analytical method used and justification for the use of this method
(4) A copyof a proposed questionnaire should be presented as part of the appendices. A cover letter to explain the purpose of the questionnaire should be presented.

7. Research Ethics

o Identify and discuss the procedures for implementing the study (permissions, treatment of human subjects and data gathering).
o The Ethics Form must be completed and submitted as a separate Appendix in the Research Proposal Assignment.

8. Budget and Timescale

o Break down the research process into a series of steps. Indicate specifically how much time will be required for data collection and analyses. You are encouraged to use a Gantt chart.
o Think about the resources needed for the completion of the project that you are proposing.
(travel, accommodation, printing of questionnaires).

10. References

• You are expected to use the CU Harvard Referencing Style

11. Appendix

Based upon the Assignment Briefs, I would expect to see:
o A copy of the proposed questionnaire or semi/unstructured interview questions
o A copy of the proposed cover letter to explain the purpose of the questionnaire
o A copy of the formative feedback document from the Presentation
o A copy of the completed Research Ethics form

Important note to those of you planning on doing a dissertation as a Term 4 Option

There are four main reasons why your Research Proposal and work in M001 needs to form the basis of your work in a dissertation in term 4.

• Your Research Proposal in M001 takes you through the required/suggested structure for a dissertation at MBA level; this would be too much to cover on a new topic next term – literature review, approach to research gathering, data analysis etc.
• The work in M001 prepares you for using a variety of data collection, analysis and statistical tools.
• Based on your M001 topic, you will be allocated a dissertation supervisor with a background or specialism in your chosen area.

Assessment Feedback – Formative and Summative

• Formative feedback is offered throughout the module in seminar and group activities.

o Feedback will also be provided following the presentation. Students will receive formative feedback face to face on the submission. The purpose of this feedback is to help students improve the Research Proposal before a final submission.

Queries
If you have any queries, please feel free to discuss them with me.