BUSN20021 - Business Research Project

General Information

Unit Synopsis

Researching business problems is an important part of professional practice and being a successful business manager and leader. Business Research Project is an independent 12cp research unit that draws upon your area of specialisation and knowledge of research methods. You will conduct independent research in an appropriate area of relevance to your specific Masters Course. This unit requires independence and autonomy in review and analysis of literature and secondary data sources. You will identify the topic, review existing literature, develop the research questions, define the methodology, collect and analyse the data, and write up the final business project, culminating in conclusions that highlight your answer to your research questions and recommendations for practice and future research.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 9
Credit Points 12
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.25
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites A minimum of 72 credit points of relevant cognate units, including BUSN20016 Research in Business.

As this unit involves integrating the majority of the content of a course in a research context, it is recommended students will undertake this research task having completed the majority of their course.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2024

Term 1 - 2024 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2024 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 12-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Research Proposal 40%
2. Research Assignment 60%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

To view Past Exams,
please login
Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 20% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Head of Course, Deputy Dean Learning and Teaching
Feedback
Artifical Intelligence is a problem for many assessment items as students may be tempted to use AI to complete their assignments.
Recommendation
In this unit in particular, students will be educated on the problems with using AI for research projects. Moreover, the viva voce for both assessment items will be increased in weight and importance, in particular in terms of students' ability to discuss and defend their project, as opposed to merely present it.
Action Taken
The problems of using AI for research projects were discussed during the classes and the viva voce (for both assessment items) shifted in weight from focusing on the presentation of the work, towards focusing on students' ability to explain what they did and why.
Source: Student feedback; teaching team reflections
Feedback
A large-scale project like this requires students to recall the pre-requisite knowledge, engage with the Moodle materials, work continuously, and be able to discuss progress and questions with the tutor and peers.
Recommendation
The initial briefing for new students in this unit needs to stress more explicitly what the student expectations and requirements are for a 12 credit point, individual research project. A "top tips" document will be useful to complement this information.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Apply methodological knowledge to identify a research problem in your cognate area and design a feasible qualitative and/or quantitative study, including the development of answerable research questions, collection of data, analysis and interpretation of findings
  2. Identify and critically review contemporary literature relevant to your research questions
  3. Apply research skills to successfully complete the designed study in a systematic and ethical manner
  4. Synthesise literature and findings to develop critical discussion and appropriate conclusions
  5. Apply high-level written communication skills and an awareness of professional writing styles to the production of research proposal and research report.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Research Proposal • • •
2 - Research Assignment • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Knowledge • •
2 - Communication • • • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • •
4 - Research • • • •
5 - Self-management • • • • •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8