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). This assignment should not exceed 700 words excluding the cover page, table of contents and references.

Students need to present the following:

• Title and study area - no more than 25 words;
• Problem statement - students must present what they would like to investigate and why? Here, you need to critically evaluate and analyse the literature to support your problem statement.
• Research aim, objectives and scope of the study- students to identify the potential research aim and objectives that can address the problem that they have identified followed by scope and limitation of the study.
• Methodology, sources of secondary data and data analysis - students must provide a rationale for the type of methodology selected to address the research problem (quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods); and 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.  
• References - We expect you to read and reflect on at least ten recent refereed journal articles closely related to your proposed research topic.  The number of references is not of key importance however.  Focus on the quality, and you should link all evidence or information that can help identify the problem of your research and the methods of data collection and analysis with appropriate in-text references that you have read.  False referencing (i.e. referencing that is clearly not linked to the information presented) will lead to a reduction of marks and further analysis for evidence of academic misconduct.

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. All students are required to present a three minute long presentation on their project topic and sources of secondary data by end of Week 4.  You will be expected to show some degree of mastery of your topic and data set, to evidence that you have done this task on your own, and have absorbed the key elements.

Please read the guidelines on the use of Artificial Intelligence (e.g. Chat GPT) provided on the unit's Moodle site.

All of the assessment criteria outlined below are equally weighted for this assessment piece (i.e. 20% for each criterion).

Criteria Grade:

1. A brief statement of the problem (4 marks);   

2. Research aim, objectives and scope of the study (4 marks);   

2. A brief methodology, sources of secondary data, data presentation and analysis methods (4 marks);                           

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

5. Topic and Data Presentation (4 marks).

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 Friday of Week 9.

Once you open it, the link will remain open for 100 minutes.

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

There will be 30 multiple choice questions and one short essay question (300 words or less) with the short essay question based on content delivered during weekly lectures.  These lectures are live, and recorded (so students who cannot attend can listen to them at a time to suit them). Examples of the short essay question will be given during lectures. 

Each correct answer to the multiple choice questions is worth 0.5 mark and 30 correct answers are worth 15 marks.  The short essay question is also worth 15 marks.  

Please read the guidelines on the use of Artificial Intelligence (e.g. Chat GPT) provided on the unit's Moodle site.  These guidelines apply to the short essay component of this assessment. 

Multiple choice questions are automatically graded.

Each correct answer is worth 0.5 mark.

The following criteria apply to the short essay component, which is worth 50% of the total marks of this assessment (i.e. 15 marks in total).

1. Appropriate length:  300 words or less.  Up to 2 marks will be deducted for a response that is more than 50 words overlength.
2. Correctness:  The material included is factually correct and appropriate in answering the question.  5 marks.
3. Comprehensive:  The response fully answers the question.  5 marks.
4. Clarity:   The answer is clearly written and easy to understand.  3 marks.

Assessment task three requires the preparation of a full project proposal that should not exceed 3000 words excluding the cover page, table of contents (if included) and reference list.

Students need to address the following:

• Refined Problem Statement, Aim, Objectives and Scope - students need to provide a detailed statement of the problem you would like to investigate as well as aim and objectives of the project within the scope of the study.
• Research Project Justification  - students need to explain why your chosen project is important both theoretically and practically? 
• The Conceptual Framework - students need to provide a review of literature relevant to the research project that leads to the development of a conceptual framework to investigate the research problem.
• 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.

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, and use in-text at least twenty recent refereed journal articles on their topics, 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. The key, as with Assessment 1, is not the NUMBER of journal articles, but that they are appropriate, good quality, and that each of the key arguments presented in your submission is linked to evidence. 

You should link all evidence or information that can help identify the problem of your research and the methods of data collection and analysis with appropriate in-text references that you have read. False referencing (i.e. referencing that is clearly not linked to the information presented) will lead to a reduction of marks and further analysis for evidence of academic misconduct.  Please read the guidelines on the use of Artificial Intelligence (e.g. Chat GPT) provided on the unit's Moodle site.

All of the assessment criteria outlined below are equally weighted for this assessment piece (20% each).

Criteria:

1. A detailed statement of the problem, research aim and objectives, research questions and scope of the study (10 marks);
2. A detailed justification of the project, including an insight into the research gap being explored (10 marks);
3. The conceptual framework and theoretical insight (10 marks);
4. Methodology, organisation of the study (10 marks);
5. Accurate referencing, use of correct English, logical sequencing and attention to detail (10 marks).

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.