1. Module overview
Aims
This module provides students with an opportunity to develop their understanding of research methods and apply their learning to a small-scale research project on a specific topic from the area of business specialism. Students will select one topic for independent investigation supported by an appropriate supervisor. The module enables students to display their grasp of all relevant issues surrounding that topic and to demonstrate their enthusiasm and interest. Students on BSc IBM must select an international business topic, students studying on BSc International Marketing and Management may select either a Marketing or Management topic.
Intended knowledge outcomes
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
1. Demonstrate a practical understanding of the significance of research methodologies and their application.
2. Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the significance of the results of their study for the research question or study topic.
Intended skills outcomes
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
1. Formulate an appropriate research question or study topic.
2. Critically review research and literature of relevance to their specific study.
3. Plan and manage a small scale empirical and / or theoretical study of a management topic.
4. Produce a report of their study, written and presented in a reasoned and coherent manner.
How research informs this module
Research is at the heart of your programme of study. In this module, you will be engaging with research in the following ways.
1. Learning about research in your discipline: You will learn about research in your discipline through your own independent study across the year.
2. Engaging in student-led research discussions: You will discuss what you have read with your peers, seminar leader and supervisor in relation to your own research and in application to the organisations that you are studying.
3. Developing research skills: You will develop your research skills by developing your research proposals and full dissertation and learn how knowledge is produced in a robust manner.
4. Undertaking research and inquiry: You will conduct you own research, designing your methodology, applying appropriate research methods and data collection in response to your own research question.
Assurance of Learning
The Business School has three overarching learning goals that graduates from all our programmes should attain. These goals are derived from our mission and are:
Disciplinary Competency “Our graduates will have acquired a theoretical understanding of their chosen subject area and its applied relevance to contemporary business and management practice”
Ethical Awareness “Our graduates will have the ability to understand and articulate relevant ethical values, principles, rights, and virtues from the point of view of different stakeholders”.
Global Perspective “Our graduates will have critical awareness of the interactions of individuals and organisations within a global community and an awareness of issues affecting the global business environment”
In this module we will particularly cover “Disciplinary Competency” as well as some “Ethical Awareness”. We will assess the “Disciplinary Competency” learning goal in your dissertation. Results from this assessment are collected separately for quality assurance purposes and feed into the continuous improvement of our programmes. They also form a core part of our AACSB accreditation.
3. Key dates
w/c 30 September 2019 Star of academic year 2019-20, first learning activities
4 November 2019 Submit your Outline Form by 4pm via Blackboard
w/c 11 November 2019 Confirmation of your supervisor
w/c 18 November 2019 First timetabled group supervision session
2 December 2019 Submit first task to supervisor for formative feedback
w/c 9 December 2019 Second timetabled group supervision session
20 January 2019 Submit second task to supervisor for formative feedback
w/c 27 January 2020 Third timetabled supervision session
3 February 2020 Absolute deadline for submitting ethics & risks forms
20 April 2020 Submit third task to supervisor for formative feedback
w/c 27 April 2020 Final timetabled group supervision session
Monday 11 May, 4pm Submission of 10,000-word Dissertation
Results will be released after the June Board of Examiners, which is normally in the last week of June.
2. Module structure and schedule
While all activities seek to support your learning and overall progress, it is your responsibility to design and manage the dissertation independently.
Lectures, seminars and workshops – Semester 1 and 2
On this module, classroom sessions are provided in Semester 1 to guide your planning, preparation and initial work on your dissertation. All taught sessions are your opportunity to ask any questions that you may have about your dissertation, so please do come prepared. All of the classroom sessions include some taught time BUT most time is given to respond to your questions – please ensure that you come prepared to get the most out of the sessions in relation to your own work.
Blackboard
The learning, assessment and feedback on this module is supported by Blackboard, and we advise you to familiarize yourself with the content of the module site as part of your independent study time. We will post regular updates on Blackboard, and it is therefore imperative that you check any information on Blackboard regularly, ideally on a daily basis. There are also links to library services, writing support, and lots of other useful supporting materials.
Independent study and module engagement
The majority of work on this module is done by you independently. You are expected to prepare thoroughly for all classes – lectures, seminars and supervision sessions. Over the course of this module, you will engage in 381 hours of independent study, which equates to about 12 hours per week over the 32 weeks from the start of the academic year to the submission deadline (excluding any breaks). Studying the material available on Blackboard and in this document is an important starting point.
Supervision (4 +2 hours)
Across Semester 1 and 2, you will have 4 timetabled group supervision sessions. You are required to bring along preparatory notes and submit a piece of work before each session to your supervisor, who will provide you with formative feedback on work submitted. These timetabled sessions constitute the majority of supervision hours to which you are entitled. Failure to prepare and/or attend could result in you losing out on dissertation support.
In addition, you are entitled to up to 2 hours of surgery with your supervisor over the course of Semester 2. You are expected to discuss the scheduling of these surgery sessions with your supervisor. Please ensure that you arrange these sessions in advance during times that are available for both student and supervisor.
Non-attendance of timetabled supervision sessions without due notice will be followed up by the module leader.
Learning activities Activity No of student hours Description
Lectures and seminars
Introduction to dissertation, literature review, research methods, ethics/risks/GPDR, dissertation planning, writing a dissertation. Offer opportunities to discuss topics on dissertation and research methods.
Independent study
381
This is time for students across the year to prepare for seminars, lectures, supervision meetings, reading and to conduct independent research through literature review, undertake fieldwork and data collection, data analysis and complete writing the dissertation
Supervision
This include 4 hours of small group timetabled supervision sessions (in groups of 5 students) with the assigned supervisor. These sessions aim to help students to focus your research enquiry, plan research and define research approaches. In addition, students are offered to 2 hours of flexible surgery to be arranged with the supervisor (email/face to face/Skype).
Reading
Reading is a particularly important part of doing your dissertation as the current status of the knowledge base has to be established before a contribution can be attempted. Some introductory reading and source material can be found in the relevant links on Blackboard.
On this module you will be engaging in two types of reading: content reading and process reading. By content reading, we mean reading about the topics that you are studying and particularly the one you will do your dissertation on. You will be searching for and analysing academic work published in peer-reviewed academic journals, specialist research books and edited collections. In addition, you may also want to read about the chosen topic in more practitioner-focused publications such as Harvard Business Review, People Management, The Conversation and the like. By process reading, we mean reading about the conduct of research and your dissertation. Research methods textbooks and specialist journal articles will give you important insights into how to conduct an in-depth literature review and, more generally, how to plan, implement and manage your research dissertation.
You may use foreign-language source material in support of your dissertation if relevant. However, you must be prepared to provide evidence of the source and a translated version if requested. When referencing foreign language material where the information is written using another alphabet, such as Japanese, you should transliterate (not translate) the details into the English alphabet. You only need to put the transliteration in your reference list.
Example:
鷲田清一. 2007. 京都の平熱 : 哲学者の都市案内. 東京: 講談社.
Washida, K. 2007. Kyōto no heinetsu: tetsugakusha no toshi annai. Tōkyō: Kōdansha.
