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BUS707 Applied Business Research

ASSESSMENT 4: Research Proposal

This assessment is designed to allow students to present and justify appropriate method(s) for a research project designed to address the research question posed. This assessment relates to Learning Outcomes a, b and d.

There are two components of the assessment:

• Written proposal: 40%
• Oral presentation: 10%

Based on the Research Question developed in Assessment 2, students should develop a research design aimed at providing insights and/or answers to the question. Students should make any recommended adjustments to the content of Assessment 2, based on feedback provided, prior to including it in Assessment 4.

This assessment requires students to choose and justify the most appropriate research design, clearly explaining WHY the chosen design will best answer the research question and is most appropriate in the specific circumstances. Students should clearly justify their recommended research and analysis methods.

Note: Other than in exceptional circumstances, Assessment 4 of this subject is intended to form the basis of the student’s Research Project in BUS710 Research Project, following appropriate adjustments recommended in feedback

Written Proposal: The proposal will contain the following information:

1. Title Page
2. Abstract/Executive Summary
3. Introduction to the research (assessment 2, revised if necessary)
4. Research Problem and Research Objective (assessment 2, revised if necessary)
5. Theoretical Background/Literature review (Based on assessment 3, expand and elaborate)
6. Research Methodology
7. Reference List: Formatted using Harvard (Anglia)
8. Appendix: include proposed ethical approval form and informed consent form if

Note : please see the detail checklist of each section (page 3 of this guide)

Submission Details

• Individual Assessment
• Word limit: 4000 words (±10%) (excluding reference list)
• You need to state the word count of the assessment on the cover
• The review should be professionally presented using proper headings and sub-headings, in Arial 10pt or Times New Roman 12pt, single space. Harvard (Anglia) style referencing.
• Submission deadline Week 10 – Saturday 26 May 2018, by 11.59pm
• Softcopy to be uploaded on Turnitin via Moddle links

Late penalties and extensions:

An important part of business life and key to achieving KOI’s graduate outcome of Professional Skills is the ability to manage workloads and meet deadlines. Consequently, any assessment items such as in- class quizzes and assignments missed or submitted after the due date/time will attract a penalty. Penalty for written assessment is – 5% of the total available marks per calendar day unless an extension is approved

Applying for extension:

If students are unable to submit or attend an assessment when due, and extensions are possible, they must apply by completing the appropriate Application for Extension form available from the Student Information Centre in Moodle, the KOI Website (Policies and Forms) and the Reception Desk (Market St and Kent St), as soon as possible but no later than three (3) working days of the assessment due date. The completed form must be emailed with supporting documentation to academic@koi.edu.au.Students and lecturers / tutors will be advised of the outcome of the extension request as soon as practicable. Appropriate documentary evidence to support the request for an extension must be supplied. Please remember there is no guarantee of an extension being granted, and poor organisation is not a satisfactory reason to be granted an extension.

Marks out of 40 will be awarded on how well the student addressed the following criteria

Title Page

Choose an interesting title for the report, the title should indicate the nature of problem/research being investigated. If client organisation is used, the name of the organization should be part of the title.

Abstract/Executive Summary

Executive summary should provide key information of your research, 1 page is preferably. Provide summary of :

• The introduction of the research
• The matter being investigated
• The research design and methodology

Introduction to the research
This section should give convincing background about the research and why the topic is worth to research, by providing evidences to support your arguments. Key points to be included in this section are:

• Introduce the topic of the research
• Overview of client organization (if any)
• What real problem does the research seek to resolve and why is it important to research this topic
• Outline the structure of this proposal.

Research problem and research objectives

This section should be straightforward, state the overall research problem and research objectives based on your brief research plan (A1), revised A1 if necessary.

Theoretical Background/Literature review

This section is expected to be the extended version of your A3 (structure literature review), therefore, you should not copy paste your A3 into this section, instead you need to use your A3 is a basis to do a comprehensive literature review. Around 10 extra literatures are required (on top of the four articles you used in your A3). Link your literature review back to your research problem. BUS707 Applied Business Research

Research Design and Methodology

This section should provide detail plan of research design and research methodology. It should consist information on:

• Inform and justify the type of research (exploratory, descriptive or causal)
• Inform and justify the research approach (quantitative, qualitative or mixed approach)
• Describe the type of data will be used (primary or secondary data)
• Describe how data will be collected: interview, focus group or observation for qualitative research, and/or survey and experiment for quantitative research
• Describe and justify the sample: sampling frame, sampling methods and technique, sampling characteristics and size.
• Inform how the data will be analysed : theme-based analysis for qualitative research and statistical analysis for quantitative research, or a combination of both for mixed approach)
• Explain how the methodology plan address all ethical concern.

Please note: only provide an overview of YOUR research design and methodology, do not discuss theory on research methodology.

Reference List : Formatted using Harvard (Anglia)

Appendix : include proposed ethical approval form and informed consent form if relevant

Note : Ethics Approval Form is not counted toward the word count of the assessment, only fill in this form if applicable. Include this form as appendices.

Oral Presentation:

Students are to present their proposal to the class as if the audience had the authority to grant approval for the research to ‘go ahead’.

The presentation should contain the following information:

1. Research project title
2. Introduction to the research
3. Research problem and objectives
4. Literature review
5. Research design and methodology
6. Ethical consideration
7. Summary

Presentation Details

• Individual Assessment
• Oral Presentations should be 5 minutes
• The slides should be be supported using appropriate visual, Presentation power point template is provided (downloadable from Moddle).
• Students should not just read their proposal – students reading rather than presenting will find it difficult to pass this part of the assessment.
• Presentation schedule Week 11 Monday 28 May 2018 (batch 1) and Week 12 Monday 4 June 2018 (batch 2) during tutorials
• Late penalties and extensions:

An important part of business life and key to achieving KOI’s graduate outcome of Professional Skills is the ability to manage workloads and meet deadlines. Consequently, any assessment items such as in- class quizzes and assignments missed or submitted after the due date/time will attract a penalty. However, for in-class assessment, no extensions permitted or granted – a make-up test may only be permitted under very special circumstances where acceptable supporting evidence is provided. Presentation is considered as in-class assessment, therefore no extensions permitted or granted – no presentation = 0 marks. The rules for make-up presentations are the same as for missing in-class tests.

• Applying for extension:

For in-class assessment, a make-up presentation may only be permitted under very special circumstances where acceptable supporting evidence is provided. If students are unable to attend an assessment when due, and extensions are possible, they must apply by completing the appropriate Application for Extension form available from the Student Information Centre in Moodle, the KOI Website (Policies and Forms) and the Reception Desk (Market St and Kent St), as soon as possible but no later than three (3) working days of the assessment due date. The completed form must be emailed with supporting documentation to academic@koi.edu.au.Students and lecturers / tutors will be advised of the outcome of the extension request as soon as practicable. Appropriate documentary evidence to support the request for an extension must be supplied. Please remember there is no guarantee of an extension being granted, and poor organisation is not a satisfactory reason to be granted an extension.

Marks out of 10 will be awarded on how well the student demonstrate the following criteria: