09 Jul Research Proposal Essay

Themain objectives of this assessment are to demonstrate that you have met thefollowing learning outcomes:

       areable to identify and critically review relevant academic literature

       formulateand clarify a research topic and research questions

 

Inaddition, you will berequired to demonstrate that you

       understand the nature of academic research

       understand alternative researchphilosophies and approaches

       identify appropriate methods that wouldallow you to address the research questions

       identify any ethical issues that may arisein the proposed research

 

Specifically,to achieve these objectives, you are required to

       identity a suitable research topic (forexample, a topic you may choose if you were to undertake an academic researchdissertation) this should be reflected in the title you give to thisassessment

       identify a selection of the most relevantpublications of prior research and theory relating to this topic (a minimum of12 sources)

       provide an overview and critical synthesisof the content of these sources this literature review should be the mainpart of your assessment and will be weighted accordingly

       identify the gap in the literature, i.e.identify opportunities to build on this prior research and suggest suitableresearch objectives, questions or (where feasible) hypotheses

       briefly explain what research philosophy, approachand methods would be suitable to address/answer the research objectives,questions (or hypotheses) you are not required to describe the method indetail, but should consider and demonstrate its feasibility

       identify any ethical issues, and any limitationsthat may arise in the context of the proposed research

       thoroughly reference your assignmentthroughout, and provide in-text references and a bibliography in accordancewith the Harvard style (see below)

 

The assignment should be no more than 1,500 words in length (excluding thebibliography) and will be an individual piece of work. Please state the word count on the final page of the document.Submissions of excessive length will be penalised.

 

 

Pleasenote:

This assessment requires you to draft a partial research proposal. Severalsections are not required to be treated in as much detail as would be the casefor a full, more developed research proposal. This applies esp. to the researchmethods section. Instead, the main emphases here are the literature review andthe development of research questions.

 

 

 

Referencing

 

The following briefinformation will help you to get started using HSU but you should consult the on the Library web pages (for more detailed guidance, additionalreference types and updates.  Thisinformation is also available in the Management School Postgraduate StudentHandbook which is available on Canvas.

 

To acknowledge a paraphrased idea put thereference information in brackets next to the idea used.

 

For example:

There is some evidence (Smith 1995) thatthese figures are incorrect.

OR

Smith (1995) has provided evidence thatthese figures are incorrect.

 

Multiple Authors: If a reference has two authors includeboth e.g. (Smith and Richardson 2013) but if it has more than two authors giveonly the first name followed by et al. e.g. (Johnston et al. 2012).

 

 

ExampleReference List / Bibliography

Anderson, R.C. and Klofstad, C.A. (2012)Preference for leaders with masculine voices holds in the case of feminineleadership roles. Plos One. 7 (12), e51216. Available:

 

[Accessed: 30 July 2014].

 

Creating the Kelpies (2014) [Television Broadcast] BBC 2Scotland, 6 May.

 

Gilmore, S. and Williams, S. eds. (2009) Humanresource management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Roberts, I. (2003) Sociology and industrialrelations. In: P. Ackers and A. Wilkinson eds. Understanding work andemployment: industrial relations in transition. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, pp. 31-42.