This coursework assignment carries 30% of the total of 100% for this Module. It comprises one requirement with one task. It is an individual not a group-based assignment. The task/requirement is detailed in point 5 on page 4 onwards.
Please take careful note of the flowing points:
The focus of this assignment is:
o The identification and supporting justification of a potential area of research.
o The design of an approach to researching that area.
o A justification of the design of the approach selected
The word count is up to 3,500 words. It is your own choice as to how many words to use within this limit. This should not be should not be exceeded – see point 3 on page 3.
The word count does notinclude the title page, any Table of Contents page, the list of references. You are not obliged to but may if you wish include an executive summary and/or an abstract. If you choose to do so it will not count towards to the total word count but should not contain any new information not already contained within the main body of work.
The upper limit of the word count of 3,500 words
You MUST state an accurate word count (excluding the title page, any Table of Contents page, and the list of references) on the front page of your submission.
Note that ALL words/numbers, excluding the title page, a Table of Contents page, and the list of references, will count towards to the total word count. Foot notes, illustrations, charts, diagrams, pictures, may be included in the main body of your text but they will all count towards the total word count.
Where tables are used which contain large chunks of text which should be part of the main body, these will be included in the word count.
Where tables are used which contain numerical data, these will notbe included in the word count and can be pasted into the body as an image.
If you are including examples of questionnaires/surveys/interview questions/schedules and so on you are permitted to paste these into the body as an image.
You are not permitted to use appendices. You should only show the list of references at the end of your work.
Any work received after the submission deadline will receive a recorded mark of zero.
You must ensure that you cite references consistently. MPAcc’s preferred referencing protocol is the Harvard referencing system:
(https://accountancy.elearning.london.ac.uk/mod/lesson/view.php?id=3808)If you decide to use another referencing system (e.g. APA or Vancouver) be consistent in its usage. You should state on your title page the referencing system you have opted to use, even if it is Harvard.
No appendices are allowed. Any extracts of graphs or figures or illustrations or questionnaires or interview schedules should be in the main body of the coursework assignment.
For formatting guidance, please refer to the Coursework Presentation Guide on the VLE.
Submitted coursework assignments are subject to a range of quality control and scrutiny checks including, as appropriate, double marking and/or moderation and/or scrutiny by the module’s Internal and/or External Examiners. All submitted coursework assignments are subject to Turnitin checking for plagiarism (see point 2 below). All results when first published are provisional until confirmed by the Examination Board (to be held sometime after this session).
Assessment criteria are referred to in point 4 on page 4 /Appendix A on page 8. Tasks and requirements and components, with marks available for each component of the following pages.
Required There is one requirement in this section, as specified in the Task further below. The focus is the proposal and design of a potential research study.
Context This coursework assignment focuses on your own personal or professional area of interest. The area of interest is likely to be work-related but the choice of another area of focus, perhaps of a more personal nature, is not excluded. Whichever area of focus you choose it should be justified in your coursework assignment. If you decide to select an area not work-related ensure that the area is of substance and is not ‘light-weight’. As reflected in the Task detailed below, you are required to select, justify and formulate a research proposal for your selected area of focus.
Thus far in this module’s materials you have been introduced to and considered the methodological underpinning of a number of aspects of the nature and logistics of, amongst others:
The nature of research: ‘what research is’.
Research objectives, hypotheses, and questions.
Research paradigms.
Literature reviews.
Research designs.
The nature of and approaches to qualitative research.
The nature of and approaches to quantitative research
The nature of and approaches to mixed methods research.
In developing your research proposal, you will draw upon, as appropriate, all or some, of the aspects introduced and considered in this module’s materials. You will also undertake your own further consideration of other supporting literature appropriate to your task, showing wider independent research and learning. This is a fundamental expectation at Masters Level studies.
Task There is one task. This is for you to construct a research proposal which captures and articulates a research design for your chosen area of interest/focus. This task comprises a number of components.
It would be worth noting that there is a possibility for you to link your coursework assignment to your final project’s business plan/consultancy report relating to this module. However, do note that the assessment brief for this particular coursework is specific and may not necessarily suit your ultimate business plan/report. This coursework is more academic and assesses the theoretical frameworks of research methods whereas the business plan/consultancy report within the final project is more Page 5 of 8 practical in nature. As a consequence, this coursework assignment may not naturally lend itself as a pre-cursor to the project.
