Students are to provide an outline of a research project that they intend to use as the basis for their final assessment task (assessment 3). The full project proposal should not exceed 600 words excluding the cover page and the table of contents.

Students need to present the following:

• Project Title - no more than 25 words;
• Problem Statement - students must present what they would like to investigate and why? The research aim and research objectives to address the problem also need to be discussed;
• Methodology - students must provide a rationale for the type of methodology selected to address the research problem (quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods); and
  
• Secondary Data Sources and Data - students must clearly identify the data sources and data that is required to conduct the research. Students must also discuss the methods and tools that will be used to analyse the collected data.

This is an individual research task. As a Masters student, you are required to engage in research and demonstrate your understanding of the relevant body of work including recent developments in a discipline and/or area of professional practice. You are also required to demonstrate knowledge of research methods applicable to real-life business research. We expect you to read and reflect on at least ten recent refereed journal articles on your topic supported by any other evidence or information that can help identify the problem of your research and the methods of data collection and analysis.

• All on campus students are required to present their project topic and available secondary data during tutorial sessions in front of other students. Students are also expected to provide constructive feedback on all other students' projects.
• Distance students are required to use the discussion forum on Moodle to present their project topic and available secondary data. Students are also expected to provide constructive feedback on all other students' projects.

Please refer to Moodle for the full assessment details and criteria. 

All of the assessment criteria outlined below are equally weighted for this assessment piece.

Criteria Grade:

1. A brief statement of the problem, research aim and research objectives;               

2. A brief methodology;                                                                                                    

3. Sources of secondary data, data presentation and analysis methods;                          

4. Accurate referencing, use of correct English and logical sequencing; and                            

5. Topic Presentation.

Key to grading:

• HD (84.5% to 100%) - The student demonstrates an outstanding understanding and interpretation of all aspects of the criteria.
• D (74.5% to 84.4%) - The student demonstrates an excellent understanding and interpretation of almost all aspects of the criteria with some minor corrections or additions needed.
• C (64.5% to 74.4%) - The student demonstrates a very good understanding and interpretation of most aspects of the criteria with some need for additional work and/or improvement.
• P (50% to 64.4%) - The student demonstrates a good understanding and interpretation of the criteria to warrant the award of a PASS but requires considerable additional work and/or improvement.
• F (below 50%) - The student demonstrates an unsatisfactory understanding and interpretation of the criteria and requires major additional work and/or improvement to achieve a passing grade.

This is an online and individual research exercise.

The online link will be available from 9am on Monday in Week 9 and closes at 5pm AEST on Sunday of Week 9.

The link will open for 90 minutes.

You need to complete this task in one go. You cannot exit and re-enter the site.

There will be 20 short answer questions base on several brief case studies.

Students will need to:

• read these cases;
• do some calculations (if required); and
• provide the correct answer.

Each correct answer is worth 1.5 marks and 20 correct answers are worth 30 marks.

Please see Moodle for the detailed guidelines and practice tests.

Questions are automatically graded.

Each correct answer is worth 1.5 marks.

However, the unit coordinator will check the results of some selected questions manually (see Moodle for further details).

Assessment task three requires the preparation of a full project proposal that should not exceed 3000 words excluding the cover page and reference list.

Students need to address the following:

• Problem Statement - students need to provide a detailed statement of the problem you would like to investigate.
• Research Project Justification and Potential Outputs - students need to explain why your chosen project is important both theoretically and practically? What are the potential outputs and outcomes of your research?
• The Conceptual Framework - students need to provide an analysis of the literature relevant to the research project that leads to the development of a conceptual framework for conducting the research.
• Methodology - based on the conceptual framework, research aim and research objectives, students need to provide a detailed description of the data collection methods, tools and data sources that will be used to analyse the data.
• Research Project Organisation, Budget and Schedule - students need to present all components of the research report by writing the names of the chapters/sections and briefly discussing what will be written in each of those chapters/sections followed by a brief description of the budget and project schedule.

This is an individual research task. Students are required to demonstrate their understanding of the relevant body of work in a real-life business research context. We expect students to read and reflect on at least twenty recent refereed journal articles on your topic, supported by any other evidence or information that can help refine the problem of your research, formulate a conceptual framework and develop the methods for data collection and analyses.

Please refer to Moodle for the full assessment details and criteria.

All of the assessment criteria outlined below are equally weighted for this assessment piece.

Criteria:

1. A detailed statement of the problem, research aim, research objectives and research questions;
2. A detailed justification and potential output of the research;
3. The conceptual framework;
4. Methodology, organisation of the study, project budget and schedule; and
5. Accurate referencing, use of correct English and logical sequencing.

Key to grading:

• HD (84.5% to 100%) - The student demonstrates an outstanding understanding and interpretation of all aspects of the criteria.
• D (74.5% to 84.4%) - The student demonstrates an excellent understanding and interpretation of almost all aspects of the criteria with some minor corrections or additions needed.
• C (64.5% to 74.4%) - The student demonstrates a very good understanding and interpretation of most aspects of the criteria with some need for additional work and/or improvement.
• P (50% to 64.4%) - The student demonstrates a good understanding and interpretation of the criteria to warrant the award of a PASS but requires considerable additional work and/or improvement.
• F (below 50%) - The student demonstrates an unsatisfactory understanding and interpretation of the criteria and requires major additional work and/or improvement to achieve a passing grade.