BRP+Student+Handbook

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Surrey Business School

Business Research Project Student Handbook 2016

Overview

The module provides the opportunity for students to undertake a substantial piece of work in the field of their study, using skills drawn from the undergraduate programme. The business research project is based upon secondary data sources taken from books, journals, corporate websites, and reports from government and other agencies. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches (such as case study, critical evaluation, and content analysis) are acceptable.

Aims and Learning Outcomes

The overall aim of the business research project is to analyse and critically evaluate existing research work in order to address a business problem. Students will be encouraged to demonstrate their capabilities of analysing business problems and critically evaluating potential solutions. Students will acquire and develop a number of skills including problem definition, data analysis, and systematic review of the existing material produced by researchers and practitioners. In addition, students will be assisted in presenting the project according to accepted academic conventions.

On successful completion of this module, at threshold level, students will be able to:

1. Formulate and justify a suitable business research topic relevant to their

degree studies;

2. Review and analyse existing literature to identify key concepts;

3. Evaluate information collected to draw appropriate conclusions;

4. Communicate findings in a clear and effective manner in terms of a high

quality and well-structured project according to normal conventions for academic reports.

Content

The nature of the module dictates that students will develop their own topic and problem for study. The project report will consist of five sections which are mapped onto the learning outcomes, assessment criteria as follows:

?Problem definition (academic & applied rationale, Learning Outcomes (hereinafter LO) 1, 2, 4)

?Context & background (akin to traditional …literature review?, LO 2, 3, 4)

?Analysis & discussion (business data, case studies, critical appraisal of published research etc., LO 3, 4)

?Methodology (LO 2, 3)

?Applied Evaluative Conclusion (key findings of project, LO 3, 4)

The project must include the following elements:

Title page

Executive Summary

Set out on a page of its own immediately after the title page. It is a short (300 words max.) summary of the project (not an introduction) and should indicate the nature and scope of the work, outline the research problem, key issues, findings and your conclusion/ recommendations.

Table of contents

This is an outline of the entire project in list form, setting out the sequence of the sections with page numbers.

List of tables and figures

A table is a presentation of data in tabular form; a figure is a diagrammatic representation of data or other material such as photographs, images or maps. Tables and figures should be clearly and consistently labelled (table legends go above the body of the Table and are left justified, figures legends go below the graph) and the reader should be able to understand the meaning from the title without referring to the text for explanations. Units of measurement, the year to which the data refer, geographical area covered, and sources should be clearly stated. The labels in the text and in the lists should correspond exactly.Tables and Figures should be numbered consecutively according to chapter (e.g. Table 1.3 is the third table in Chapter 1, Figure 1.3 is the third figure in Chapter 1, and Figure 4.2 is the second figure in Chapter 4). Each should be separately listed with page numbers. Every figure and table must be explained and referenced in the text. List of abbreviations

Abbreviations should be used sparingly, and those that are not self-evident or in common use should be explained where they first appear in each chapter by giving the full expression and the abbreviation in brackets, e.g. …gross domestic product (GDP)?. Abbreviations not in common use should appear at the beginning of the project.Here are some useful rules for abbreviations:

?No full stops in abbreviations consisting of initial capital letters, UK, US (adjective), EEC, OECD, BBC, UN. Note : …United Kingdom? and …United

States? should be spelt out when used as nouns;

?No full stops after abbreviations ending with last letter of word abbreviated, Dr Mr Mrs;

?Full stops to be used in abbreviations consisting of phrases or single words, e.g., i.e., cet. par., op. cit., et al., p., pp., vol., No.

Introduction and definition of research problem

The introduction should set out the purpose and scope of the project, clearly explaining what it is about, how it is structured, but more importantly, why the research is necessary and to whom.You need to ensure that the academic and applied rationale is well explained and justified. An academic rationale should answer the questions “Why don?t we know this already? Why is more study on this topic needed?” and an applied rationale should demonstrate the relevance of the topic to contemporary business environments.The …problem definition? section of your project may only be worth 20% of your marks, but a poorly defined problem will cost you marks throughout, since your Project will lack focus and prevent you from critically addressing the pertinent issues (becaus e you won?t have identified any).

Context and background to the research problem

This section should give an overview of the context and background to the research problem. It builds on your problem definition section and so expansion of the concise arguments you make there, some historical development of the field, identification of key thinkers,and emerging problems, etc. would usually be included here. It is probably the section that will give you most scope to show off the wide range of sources you have consulted.

Critical analysis and discussion

It can be hard to know which section to include your material in –this or the preceding one–and you may decide to combine these two sections into one or more chapters based on theme, depending on your topic and your supervisor?s views. However, what is vital is that your Project contains sufficient analytical discussion in addition to the more descriptive …scene setting? material of context and background as analysis counts for 25% of your marks. For this element of the project you should aim to conduct some form of analysis as well as a critical review of published research and literature on the relevant issues. This could include secondary statistical analysis of government or company figures, use of financial performance ratios, detailed interrogation of case studies, websites, annual reports, advertisements etc, or analytical comparisons of market performance indicators. This list is not exhaustive.

Applied, evaluative conclusion

There are three parts to this section: application, evaluation and conclusion. You should aim to use examples throughout your project in order to show how your ideas can be applied in your chosen field, but here – in your concluding section –you need to answer the “So what?” question. What significance do your research findings have? For whom? Why? How?

In order to do this successfully, you need to have evaluated the relative merits of each of the important issues you have critically discussed. Which do you see as most important and why? It is hard to separate these two stages – application and evaluation – from one another in business research since the relative importance of one argument over another necessarily involves a differential impact on certain groups of people as opposed to others.

Both these elements will combine to produce an effective conclusion. A conclusion should be more than just a summary of wha t?s presented in the project, as explained above. You will find it easier to conclude if you …take sides? and argue for or against a particular conclusion rather than if you just …sit on the fence?.

Full list of references used in the project

You should provide correctly formatted bibliographic details for every citation made in the project itself. Do not include material which is not referred to in your text. If you have read it and it was useful, then cite it. If not, your marker has no way of assessing the range of sources you have actually consulted. You should also avoid listing works which others have referred to but you have not actually read yourself. In these cases, use the …cited in…? construction. For more information: https://www.sodocs.net/doc/615550181.html,/library/learning/informationskills/referencing.htm Appendices

Often misused and misunderstood, an appendix should only be used to include supplementary (but non-essential) material which, if included, would disrupt the flow of the text. Appendices are not marked so do not include any vital information, e.g. results of analysis, in one if you want the content to be considered part of the assessment.Appendices do not contribute to the overall word length.

Length of report

The project has a threshold of 10,000 words. Penalties will be applied for words exceeding this number at the discretion of the module convenor, in consultation with the supervisor.

The following do not count in the word-limit :

?Executive Summary

?Supporting text pages (such as table of contents, bibliography, references) ?Tables, graphs, legends, annotations or illustrative material

?Footnotes and Appendices

As a rough guide, a single page of A4 paper (the size of this sheet), 11/2 spacing, contains about 350 words. Your word processing software will count the words for

you. You must state actual word count on the project.Including large amounts of important material in footnotes, tables and/ or appendices is poor practice and

marks will attract penalties.

Methods of Teaching/Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is threefold:

?Whole cohort lectures/labs on business research related topics

?Team learning (group of 3 members) under the guidance of a supervisor, with students expected to make regular contact and attend progress meetings throughout the duration of the module

?E-resources available through the SurreyLearn site including tutorials, web links and lecture materials.

The total contact time include:

? 3 x 2 hour lectures (weeks 1, 2, and 6).

? 2 x 1 hour computer laboratories (weeks 2, and 6).

? 4 group-based supervision meetings (e.g. weeks 3, 6, 7 and 10)

?Drop-in sessions with supervisors when required

Assessment Strategy

The module learning outcomes are assessed through the completion of the project. All students will be asked to form groups (remaining students will be assigned randomly to a group). Detailed assessment criteria for the group work are provided in Appendix A and C.

Schedule

During the first phase of the BRP module, lectures and labs will cover the fundamentals of business research. Important within this period is to find a group and create a BRP proposal. The proposal is to be submitted via SurreyLearn by Monday 11th of March 2016 by4:00 pm.

The second phase of the module is the development of a BRP under guidance of a supervisor. Four meetings with the supervisor will give the opportunity to progress with the work appropriately.

The final BRP report must be submitted on Monday 16th of May 2016 by 4:00pm via SurreyLearn in Microsoft Word format.

Supervision

This section details the supervision arrangements and mutual expectations for students and their projects.

The role of the supervisor

A supervisor will be allocated to the group by the module co-ordinator on the basis of the BRP group proposal. Whilst the exact nature of the role of supervisor may vary they will all:

?Discuss the proposal for the project

?Agree on the approach to be adopted and timetable of work

?Give guidance on reading (as appropriate)

?Give advice on structure and presentation

?Give advice on the acceptability of elements of student draft report.

Your supervisor may not have subject-specific information on your project topic. Obtaining this material inevitably is your responsibility. Since the expertise of the School is extensive the supervisor may be able to refer you to another member of academic staff. However, it should be emphasised that the onus of responsibility for the project rests with you, the student, and that the role of supervisor is one of guidance and not dependency.

Supervisors will not read and/or comment on drafts within 2 weeks of the deadline for submission. Your supervisor cannot be expected to correct English. You should make use of the services provided by the English Language Institute in the University.

Supervision meetings

Your group will have four meetings with the allocated supervisor. It is the group?s responsibility to arrange these meetings. The meetings should take place in weeks four, six, eight and ten. The duration of a meeting is up to one hour. The group should take meeting minutes. Additionally the group should document their minutes of meeting. For the first meeting the proposal and the group?s initial minutes of meeting must be given and explained to the supervisor. The meetings will serve as a tool for the supervisor to assess participation and contributions of individuals. Based on this information formative feedback will be provided.

The following points are intended as guidance for you/the group regarding your responsibilities during the process of supervision. Taking control of these meetings will ensure that all parties benefit.

?Be well prepared

?Make sure you have read any texts suggested

?Note down any problems you have and discuss strategies to overcome them ?Have a clear view on how the project is progressing

?Summarise what has been done

Reading List

Essential Reading

?Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R. (2013). Research Methods for Business: A Skill-BuildingApproach (6th edition). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 978-1119942252 Recommended Reading

?Saunders, M.N.K., Lewis, P., &Thornhill, A. (2012). Research Methods for Business Students (6th ed i tion). FT Prentice Hall. ISBN: 978-027******* Background reading

?Bell, J. (2010). Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for First-Time Researchers inEducation, Health and Social Science (5th edition). Open University Press.

?Booth, A., Papaioannou, D., and Sutton, A. (2012). Systematic Approaches to a SuccessfulLiterature Review. SAGE.

?Field, A. (2009). Discovering Statistics using SPSS (3rd edition). SAGE.

?Oliver, P. (2012). Succeeding with your Literature Review: A Handbook for Students. Open University Press.

Appendices

This section includes:

?Appendix A: Assessment Strategy

?Appendix B: BRP Proposal Form

?Appendix C: BRP Marking Criteria

?Appendix D: Peer Assessment Form

?Appendix E: Supervision Meeting Form

Most of the documents shown in this section can be found on SurreyLearn.

Appendix A: Assessment Strategy

General information

The module learning outcomes are assessed through the completion of the business project report. All students will be assigned to a group at the beginning of the term and this information will be displayed on SurreyLearn. It is your responsibility to make contact with your group and to keep in touch with group members throughout the module. If you have problems working within your group then you are advised to resolve these through discussion. If you are unable to resolve them contact your group tutor and, if they remain unresolved, then contact the module leader.

Students who do not engage with the group work e.g. by missing group meetings, not responding to e-mails and/or making minimal contributions to the group work products will receive a reducedmark for this aspect of the module. If you have problems that affect your participation in thegroup work then it is important that you contact the group supervisor as soon as possible. Failure to alert the group supervisor in sufficient time to take action may result in you failing the assignment. Group project topics

A business research project title should be negotiated in consultation with, and by agreement of, your group supervisor.

The title will reflect the interests of the group and will relate to a topic that is relevant to the Surrey Business School / School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Curriculum.

Assessment criteria

?Each group is required to provide a completed Proposal Form to their group supervisor at the beginning of week 3.

?Each group is required to elect a Chairperson/Coordinator.

?Each group is required to demonstrate how they organised meetings and carried out discussions. These could be face-to-face or virtual meetings (using SurreyLearn for example). Students need to provide agend a?s and write accurate minutes

?Formative assessment will be in form of supervisor meetings.

?Formative peer assessments, i.e. student?s opinions should be communicated to colleagues in a constructive manner.

? A form must be submitted by each student prior to the supervisor meeting indicating (1) the contributions in line with the group?s arrangements and (2) indicating the other members have also contributed in line with the group?s arrangements.

?Group project report will be assessed by two markers independently. Your group supervisor will NOT mark the report. Assessment criteria will follow the Universities general grade descriptor.

Appendix B: BRP Proposal Form

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Appendix C: BRP Marking Criteria

Appendix D: Peer Assessment Form

Appendix E: Supervision Meeting Form