Key
task and word count (or equivalent):
For
this assignment, you need to submit an individual written proposal (2500
words) that addresses a Business and Marketing issue that requires research.
Further
guidance about proposal writing will be provided during lectures and
seminars.
Unit
Learning Outcomes:
1.
Apply the research process.
2.
Critically apply research
methodologies to a research problem.
3.
To reflect upon personal
professional development
This
assessment will contribute to the achievement of the following Programme
Learning Outcomes:
1.1.1
Identify and interrogate
relevant data and literature sources using methods appropriate to level of
study and to discipline.
1.1.2a Apply theory to discussion and analysis.
2.1.1. Organise work in a logical structure
in order to draw conclusions that follow from line of argument.
2.1.2. Apply consistent and appropriate
referencing and in text citations.
2.1.3 Demonstrate digital skills
appropriate to level and to discipline.
3.1.1
Recognise, explore, and reflect
on key ethical issues as they affect own and others’ practice.
Assignment
Details and Instructions
The assessment for this Unit is an individual
written research proposal. Your written proposal should be on a topic
that fits within the wider Business and Marketing Discipline. The topic for
the proposal should be one that justifies the need for research.
Please note that you will use this research proposal for your
Level 6 Research project Unit.
The proposal should contain the following
information:
The topic:
How marketing gets to generation z
demograpic in beauty industry.
Background to the research:
In this section you must establish the
context and argument of your research proposal. You need to demonstrate that
you have read and understood the literature that speaks to your chosen topic.
To successfully write this section, you will need to demonstrate what
research exists on your proposed Business and Marketing/Marketing topic.
Furthermore, you need to demonstrate what is yet to be covered in research on
the topic you are investigating. The section must also show why your topic is
relevant (this can be demonstrated by recent statistics, problem area,
research gaps, new applications needed etc).
The background section should provide
answers to the following questions: (1) What has led to the problem as
supported by literature? (2) What is it that research has done on the
topic? (3) What is it that research is yet to do? Answering these
questions will help you to sufficiently demonstrate the research problem/gap
that will be addressed in the proposed study. Lastly, the section should
answer (4) Why is the proposed study important from a Business and
Marketing perspective?
Naturally, the background of the study
should be framed in a way that articulates a key research issue/problem that
needs to be answered through further research. This further research is your
proposed topic that you will be working on in this unit. Therefore, when
concluding this section, you would need to state the key issue that remains
unanswered in literature that you seek to answer.
The
research Aim:
In this section, you need to state what
your proposed study seeks to achieve on completion of the research project in
Level 6. This shows you
understand the precise focus of your research and should follow logically
from your background section outlining clearly what you intend to do.
A list of
Objectives underpinning your proposed study:
There should be 4-5 research objectives
that should be addressed in your proposed study. Ensure these are clear,
concise, focused, and viable within the scope of an academically informed scientific
research project. Each objective should clearly state the outcome of the
proposed research. Please do not provide a description of the process
or the steps to be carried out when conducting research.
Additionally, avoid having objectives that are double-barrelled in
nature (no multiple ideas in each objective). Furthermore, you must
demonstrate that these objectives are in synch with the aim.
Literature
review:
For the purposes of this unit, you will
need to review literature that is linked to the first two objectives or key
constructs of your proposed study. In this section, you must demonstrate
knowledge and understanding of the academic literature regarding your topic,
and be able to highlight some gaps, issues, limitations of existing insights
and controversies in such literature. In this section and for the purposes of
this assessment, you would need to review at least ten academic sources,
that is journal articles and books (not magazines, not Internet sources,
not reports) that were published recently.
The only older sources you can
review are those classified as seminal work (key literature).
Research
methodology
In this section, you would need to describe
and discuss several methodological issues. These methodological issues
include:
· Research
design – based on
your aim and objectives, is you need to indicate what research design is your
proposed study is going to follow. Will you follow a quantitative or
qualitative design? You will need to justify the choice. [Please note that mixed method design is not applicable in
this Unit].
·
Population of the study- you must indicate the pool of individuals
from which you are going to draw your sample from.
·
Sample – you must indicate the sample size for the
study, show how you determined the sample size, and provide its
justification. Furthermore, you need to explain the sampling techniques that
are appropriate in selecting the sample. These also should be justified.
·
Research Instrument – if you intend to collect primary data, you
will need to describe the research instrument that you are going to use to
collect the data. If you intend to use secondary data for your proposed
study, then you would need to clearly explain the data sources and justify.
·
Data collection procedure – you need to explain clearly how data will
be collected in your proposed study. It is important that the method data
collection is also explained clearly and how the instrument will be
administered.
·
Data analysis – Depending on your research design, you
would need to discuss how the data you will collect is going to be analysed
to achieve the aim and the objectives of the study.
Ethical considerations:
This section should attempt to identify ethical considerations that
your study will deal with. Ethical considerations in research are a set of
principles that guide your research designs and practices. These principles
include voluntary participation, informed consent, anonymity,
confidentiality, risk assessment, and results communication.
Time
frame/project management:
Considering the other assignments and the
deadlines you will have in your Level 6, you also need to demonstrate how you
will manage the research project, by stating the timelines under which you
realistically think you will deliver each chapter of the proposed
research. You must devise a realistic
timeframe that factors in the suggested key phases of the research project so
that you and your supervisor can work towards that timeframe.
References:
You will need to reference any evidence
used in your written research proposal, and you are required to include a full reference list at the end of the
research proposal. Your reference list must not be from authors that are
all from the UK. Please ensure that you cite scholars from other parts of the
world. The references for this assessment must be those that were
published recently, and the dominant use of journal articles is preferred. Please
do stay away from sources with no dates in this Unit.
Please only include those sources you cite
in your written proposals. You should use Cite Them Right Harvard referencing
style. You can find it on the Cite
Them Right
website that: 1) advises on how to cite and reference a broad range of
sources; 2) helps you to identify any referencing mistakes via the ‘You
try’ function; 3) Offers an online
tutorial and video
guidance.
Academic
Integrity and Generative AI
Generative
AI describes tools that can create online content. If you choose to use
generative AI to help with an assessment, for example to create initial
ideas, help with a high-level essay plan or to inspire further research, you
should be open in acknowledging this and explaining how you used it. It
is critical that you never try to pass off material produced with the help of
generative AI as your own. This will be classed as academic
misconduct and you may be expelled from your course.
If
unsure if it is appropriate to use generative AI for your academic
work, discuss it with your tutor before submitting. Unless you are
advised it is acceptable, do not use it. It is also important to understand the limitations of generative
AI. Please see further guidance and information
