Overview of the assignment
Individual presentation of the research proposal will repeat the research proposal in some parts, but will substantially develop the following parts:
– Rationale for the research, stating and justifying the research problem, aim, objectives and research approach.
– Theoretical framework as the basis for the literature review.
– Previous research, gap in the research or evidence of the research necessity, e.g. from reports.
– Research methodology.
– Proposed outcomes of the research and personal contribution.
Consequently, this assignment provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate the ability to understand and interpret information relevant to the research methodology and present it to a variety of audiences in both academic and business environments in a written form as a 2000-word research proposal with required appendices.
You will need to prepare a PowerPoint presentation and present the proposal orally. You must be able to respond to questions concerning theoretical framework, previous research, gaps in the research, and practical and theoretical implications with appropriate referencing to the relevant primary and secondary sources. You will need to justify your interest and your role in future research.
Referencing and research requirements
Please reference your work according to the Canterbury Harvard style guidance which you can access on Moodle. Include at least 15 references. Additionally, to the research proposal, you will need to use more references for the theoretical framework to explain key theories and concepts and provide evidence of the research problem. Overall, the presentation will refer to more than 20 academic and business resources.
How your work will be assessed
Your work will be assessed to the extent it demonstrates your achievement of the stated learning outcomes for this assignment (see above) and against other key criteria, as defined in the University’s institutional grading descriptors. If it is appropriate to the format of your assignment and your subject area, a proportion of your marks will also depend on your use of academic referencing conventions.
Time: You will have 10 minutes to present the research proposal orally, and 10 minutes to respond questions.
This assignment will be marked according to the grading descriptors for Level 5 see Individual Presentation of the Research Proposal Marking rubrics available in the Assessment area in Moodle.
For successful presentation you must submit the presentation file as required below and present in class personally. Question and Answer session is an essential part of the presentation assessment.
Submission details
This assignment should be submitted electronically via Moodle (module tutors will discuss this process with you during class time).
Please ensure that your work has been saved in an appropriate file format (Microsoft Word). You PowerPoint presentation will have speaker notes and then will be saved as the Word Document Handouts with speaker notes below slides (see the instruction enclosed to this file below.)
The text in the slides and the speaker notes as well as the scheme of the theoretical framework, and the materials in the appendices to the proposal, will comprise the total of 2000 words. Please, note, that you do not need to repeat all the text of the proposal in the speaker note sand the slides, though some parts will be repeated. However, some parts will require different presentation than in the research proposal.
You can submit your work as many times as you like before the submission date. If you do submit your work more than once, your earlier submission will be replaced by the most recent version.
Once you have submitted your work, you will receive a digital receipt as proof of submission, which will be sent to your forwarded e-mail address (provided you have set this up). Please keep this receipt for future reference, along with the original electronic copy of your assignment
You are reminded of the University’s regulations on academic misconduct, which can be viewed on the University website: Academic Misconduct Policy. In submitting your assignment, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood these regulations.
Submission date and time
This assignment should be submitted to Moodle on or before the 30th of Sept 2024 by 2.00 pm.
You should submit all work for summative assessments by the above deadline. Work submitted up to two working days after the deadline will be accepted and marked, but the mark will be capped at the pass mark (40%) unless there is a valid reason for the late submission (i.e., having been granted an extension to the deadline or a deferral under the terms of the Extenuating Circumstances Policy).
Work submitted more than two working days after the deadline without a valid reason will not be accepted and will be recorded as 0% RN (refer, no work submitted).
For more information, please refer to: Student Handbook on Moodle.
Feedback and marks for this assignment will be available in three weeks from the deadline.
Assignment Guide – Individual Presentation
You will create your own template to the PowerPoint presentation.
The structure of the presentation below is tentative, and students have autonomy to decide where they need more slides. However, the total presentation must not exceed 15 slides.
Title (1 slide)
To ensure that your title and topic point directly to the focus of your research, check to see that key terms in the statement of the gap in the literature and the research aim are reproduced in the title.
Research problem or Justification (1-2 slides)
Description of your research: what, how, why (the research needs to be done)
What issue, problem, controversy, or important matter has led to research on the topic and set your research into a wider context of the discipline?
Theoretical framework (2 slides)
The theoretical framework will be presented as a model or a flowchart and supported by a detailed description in the speaker notes. It will justify the three topics investigated further in the Literature Review.
In summary, the theoretical framework model and literature review are interconnected in the research process.
The literature review informs the development of the theoretical framework by identifying relevant theories and concepts, integrating them into a coherent framework, and establishing the conceptual basis for the research study. In this presentation, students need to demonstrate the Theoretical framework model, not the literature review.
References are mandatory. Resources, not used in the research proposal, are not needed in this section of the presentation.
Gap in the literature or evidence of the problem from reports, etc. (1 slide)
Outlines the field of literature and the ‘gap’, the main findings to date, theories, debates, and remaining questions within the literature, and explains how the research will contribute to the gap. References are mandatory.
Research aim, research objective and research question(s) (1 slide)
Outline the focus or name the specific knowledge the research methodology aims to generate.
What will you need to know to answer the research question? How can you find this out?
Explain the research design and methodology: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods.
Clarify the correlations between the research objectives and the chosen approach.
Research method and methodology (4-5 slides)
Explain what you will do to achieve the research aim or reach your conclusions. You might consider adopting the following:
– Data and resources.
– Possible collaboration with financial services sector or non-financial services sector in the UK, or educational/research institutions.
– Budget.
– Research design and choice of research methods.
– Sampling design: the population or sample from which participants will be selected; location of the sample; the sample size; how the sample will be selected; surveys, questionnaires, including the one(s) you created, and tests used; how the data generated will be analysed.
– Choice/creation of research instruments, including online platforms, applications or software needed to a) collect data; b) analyse data.
– Your personal role in the research, your readiness (previous experience, research, training?). You need to explain and persuade your audience that you are the right person to complete the research, and competent enough to resolve the research problem.
– Understanding legislation.
– Ethics and confidentiality: Does your research involve people? Can you get enough data? How will you keep it confidential? Health and Safety considerations.
Summary or statement of proposed outcomes of the research (1 slide)
Research timeline (1 slide).
Justify the research feasibility. Explain practical limitations and how you plan to deal with them.
You will have 10 minutes to present the research proposal orally, and 10 minutes to respond to questions.
References must be clearly readable in the speaker notes. References are not included in the word count.