BUSI40290: RESEARCH PROPOSAL (LEVEL 4)

• Practising Business Research; Macro Perspectives on Business; Applied Behaviour Analysis OR Microperspectives on Business; Business Research: Functions and Disciplines; Business Research Methods; Rigour and Relevance in Business Research.

• None

• None

• To advance student skills, appropriate to the level of the module, in analysis and writing relevant to their field of study by facilitating the completion of a comprehensive research proposal on an approved subject that:
• is based on extensive critical analysis of key bodies of literature and some use of primary source material;
• shows awareness of the practical implications of the critical analysis;
• shows awareness of interdisciplinary approaches to the subject;
• preferably, though not necessarily, develops an interdisciplinary approach to some aspect of business and management that could potentially serve as a platform upon which to build a subsequent doctoral-level research proposal.

• The research topic will have been chosen by the student in consultation with his/her appointed supervisors, and should be one that is suitable for research at doctoral level.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• A detailed understanding, based upon primary research and secondary reading, of a defined topic in business and management studies;
• An understanding of interdisciplinary methodologies relevant to the chosen topic of the research proposal being developed.

Subject-specific Skills:

• ability to design and complete a research project that engages in original research into some aspect of business and management studies;
• ability to analyse primary and secondary source material;
• ability to use such material to construct and present a coherent and scholarly argument for a programme of research;
• ability to engage with ethical dimensions of research design.

Key Skills:

• Written Communication;
• Planning and Organising;
• Problem Solving and Analysis;
• Using Initiative;
• Self-discipline, time management and the ability to work autonomously;
• Ability to present conclusions and recommendations in a clear, concise and orderly way.

• The learning outcomes will be met through the production of an individual 15,000-word research proposal (to include a detailed examination of the literature in the field). This is the culmination of a series of regular meetings which students will have had with their supervisory team to provide support throughout the taught phase of the programme.

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