Final Assignment
Your Final Assignment in this module consists of two elements and ethical approval forms:
- Critical Literature Review (2,000 words)
- Research Proposal (3,000 words)
Completing your Final Assignment
Use the instructions below to complete all required elements of your Final Assignment
Critical Literature Review (2,000 words, 40%)
Your Critical Literature Review should review published, peer-reviewed scholarly literature relevant to your research topic and question. In your review, you should:
- Critically analyze the major themes, perspectives, and types of research on your topic.
- Situate your research question within the literature you reviewed. In other words, determine how your research question relates to problems identified in the literature, to studies on similar questions or to gaps in understanding of the topic identified in similar studies.
Additionally, you should include a review of methods and methodological approaches used to study the topic, in which you should:
- Examine the theoretical perspectives and paradigms in the research literature you reviewed.
- Critically analyze the methodological approaches used in previous research on your chosen topic.
Notes: To complete Critical Literature Review findat least 10 sources of academic information (the majority of these should be peer-reviewed scholarly literature (academic journal articles) relevant to your research topic and question) and analyse them to show how your work may fill an existing gap or extend existing knowledge. Situate your research question within the literature you reviewed. In other words, determine how your research question relates to problems identified in the literature, to studies on similar questions or to gaps in understanding the topic identified in similar studies. Compare and contrast the sources with each other and with your approach. Does your research attempt to answer a question from a different perspective, or address a question in a different context, as compared to prior studies? Additionally, will your research findings potentially add new perspectives on a current theory and provide a unique application of knowledge to practice?
Additionally, you should include a brief review of methods and methodological approaches used to study the topic, in which you should examine the theoretical perspectives and paradigms in the research literature you reviewed and critically analyze the methodological approaches used in previous research on your chosen topic.
The majority of the sources should be from referenced academic journals, which you can find in the online library. Citations from the main textbooks used for your modules are NOT sufficient here. The appropriate length of the Critical Literature Review is 2,000 words. As a suggestion, and depending on your topic, about ¼ of your Literature Review should discuss the types and paradigms of research.
Remember that a critical literature review is not a product of articles' summaries. Do not only summarise the key points of the articles you reviewed one-by-one. You should aim at comparing and contrasting the arguments in existing literature and at synthesising and summarising existing research in order to present a coherent story that presents existing knowledge on your selected topic.
Instructions:
1. Your approved research topic is "Corporate Social Responsibility as it relates to responsibility and accountability- A case study of Starbucks Corporation.
2. Complete your assignment using the Harvard Format referencing.
Research Proposal (3,000 words, 60%)
Prepare your Research Proposal for approval by your Faculty Member, including the following sections:
- Topic, Research Objectives, Context, and Rationale
- Present your topic, research question, objectives for conducting the research, the context for your research question and your rationale for choosing it, using references to the research literature for support.
1. Your approved research topic is "Corporate Social Responsibility as it relates to responsibility and accountability- A case study of Starbucks Corporation.
Notes: Pay attention to the justification of the topic: Why you are researching this topic, what is your personal motivation of doing this topic, what the potential benefit is to your firm or industry or to the field of business in general, and what actions may result from the valuable insights gained, etc. Provide adequate background to the research topic. Make sure that enough information is provided to justify why this topic is interesting, relevant and meaningful.
- Methodology and Methods
o Select and analyze your chosen research paradigm and its impact on your research question.
o Describe your chosen methodology and how it relates to your research question.
o Critically analyze the strengths and weakness of choosing this particular methodology, including why you did not select an alternative methodology.
o Discuss the types of data you intend to collect with your chosen methodology.
o Present a data collection and analysis plan and detail the following:
- How do your strategies for data collection and analysis align with your methodology and research question?
- What other data collection and analysis strategies could you have considered to answer your research question? Why did you choose to exclude these strategies?
- Critically analyze the ethical implications of your research methodology and methods and explain how you will address any ethical challenges.
o Be sure to support all of your decisions about methodology and methods with references to relevant literature.
Notes: In this section, you will discuss your research methodology. Discuss the difference between methodology and methods. What is your epistemological approach-positivist, relativist or constructionist? Address triangulation, qualitative and quantitative approaches. Be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of choosing this particular methodology, and discuss why you did not select an alternative methodology. This will inform the research design you choose as well as the research methods that you will use to collect the secondary and/or primary data. Present your chosen methods in detail. You must be able to justify your choice in terms of your learning objectives, your research question and your research approach. Keep in mind that supporting all of your decisions about methodology and methods with references to relevant literature is very important.
- Practical Considerations and Plan for Completion
o Describe the potential challenges you might encounter in collecting and interpreting your research data and what you might do to minimize these issues.
o Explain how you would present your data and what presentation format would you use to convey the results to your audience.
o Comment on how you would reduce the chances for misinterpretation of your data.
Notes: Here you are required to elaborate on the feasibility of your research: Will you have the necessary resources(such as access to requisite data, consent of your organisation, some indication of the willingness of subjects to be questioned or interviewed, etc.)? Do you think there will be any challenges with presenting and interpreting the data? What are you plans about presenting your data? Here you should also discuss any measures that you will take to reduce any chances of misinterpretation of your data. For example, if you have mis-specified your research questions or the variables of your research, this may lead to misinterpretation. Or if you are not using appropriate methods of analysis and/or data presentation, then again you may be misinterpreting your data.
Notes: How to structure the Final Assignment:
Your Critical Literature Review and Research Proposal must be submitted in one document. You may choose the structure of your Final Assignment, as long as you cover all the areas outlined above.
You may want to structure your Final Project as follows:
Front Page: Include a front page. This front page can contain information such as your name, the title of your research (this can be something that identifies the area of your research or something that relates to your research question), your student id, your program of study, the name of your faculty member.
Critical Literature Review: Start your Critical Literature Review on a new page. You may want to structure the Critical Literature Review in sections and sub-sections.
Research Proposal: Start your Research Proposal on a new page. You may want to structure your Research Proposal in three sections
(i) Topic, Research Objectives, Context, and Rationale, (ii) Methodology and Methods, (iii) Practical Considerations and Plan for Completion.
References: Please make sure to include a reference list including all the sources of information that you used and cited in your Critical Literature Review and Research Proposal. Your reference list as well as in text citations should follow the Harvard Referencing style.