Individual skills-based assignment utilising primary and/or secondary research to address a significant business issue focused around the major business pathway disciplines of HRM, Marketing, Strategy or Operations management
Words - 4, 000 (LO 1, 2, 3 and 4) 80%

A class test length .75 Hours weighted at 20% (Lo 5)

This module provides students with the knowledge and skills to successfully design and implement a valid and reliable business research project within the workplace following graduation

Topics -
- The influence of conceptual issues -
- Critically reviewing literature and secondary sources
- Developing the research design. Defining questions or hypotheses, designing the methodological approach and understanding the limitations imposed by design decisions
- Ethical dimensions of research
- Design of data capture instruments and issues of data collection
- Analysing qualitative data - including univariate and multivariate analysis
- Analysing quantitative data using appropriate statistical software, sampling strategies
- Writing up the project and presentation of quantitative and qualitative data

1. UNDERSTAND RESEARCH METHODS THAT UNDERPIN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT
Knowledge & Understanding

2. FORMULATE RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND CRITICALLY DEVELOP A PROGRAMME OF INVESTIGATION TO ADDRESS THEM
Application

3. UNDERSTAND AND CRITICALLY APPLY THE ETHICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS OF THE BUSINESS RESEARCH PROCESS AND THEIR APPLICATION
Application
Knowledge & Understanding

4. DEVELOP RESEARCH DESIGNS USING A RANGE OF QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE ANALYTICAL METHODS TO ADDRESS BUSINESS RESEARCH PROBLEMS
Problem Solving

5. DEMONSTRATE SKILL AND UNDERSTANDING OF STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION USING APPROPRIATE STATISTICAL SOFTWARE
Application
Communication
Knowledge & Understanding
Learning
Problem Solving

This requires student commit to 150 learning hours of this 36 hours will be class contact and 114 of independent self directed study.
24 hours formal lectures/seminars
12 hours tutorial/seminar activity

Lectures will provide the conceptual framework and will direct independent and self directed study as well as contextualising principle within an application framework. Tutorial/seminar activities will centre around case studies, computer laboratory exercises or seminars and will develop awareness, analysis and understanding of application of theory to practice.

Business library
Internet access
E mail
PC with Office Software and appropriate statistical software
Blackboard module website
Companion web sites

ARMED FORCES STUDENTS ONLY.

Blumberg, Copper and Schindler, 2011, Business Research Methods,3rd ed, McGraw Hill, ISBN 9780077129972

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A, 2009, Research methods for business Students, 5th edition, Financial Times Prentice Hall, ISBN 978-0-272-71686-0

Taylor S, (2007), 3rd ed, Business Statistics, Palgrave
ISBN 978-0-230-50646-6