7BUSS002W Business Research Methods Assessment Brief Semester 1, 2025-26 | UoW

7BUSS002W Assessment Briefing

The Assessment

The assessment for this module is the Summative proposal, with a weighting of 100%. However, you must meet the requirements of the following:

• Submission of project topic form. While not assessed, submission is compulsory for the allocation of your supervisor and the submission of the summative proposal.
• Submission of formative (draft) proposal: formative feedback opportunity. The draft proposal will not be given a grade, but you will get feedback from your supervisor to ensure that you are on the right track. It is not compulsory, but it is highly recommended that every student should make good use of this.
• Submission of Ethics form via VRE by 31 March 2026.

This module supports students to enhance their research knowledge and practical skills, where the emphasis is on the development of a focused project proposal. The proposal aims to test students’ ability in designing and planning research whilst, at the same time, providing an opportunity for students to learn and develop the requirements to undertake an authentic project. Writing a research proposal is a critical stage in the preparation of a project. Therefore, whilst there is a need here to focus assessment on students' understanding of academic research development, it is important to make sure that they:

• have a breadth of critical understanding across a range of methodological approaches to research design, collection and analysis;
• can demonstrate a critical evaluation as well as an application of the taught aspects of the research methods module through an individual project proposal, justifying a full description of appropriate methods and techniques for the project.

There is a need to focus on and provide formal feedback on the academic standard and viability of the student’s project proposal at an early stage in the project development.

Therefore, the totality of assessment in this module is through the student research project proposal, which must address the entire module learning outcomes.
Based on the topic students submit, they are assigned a project supervisor who provides guidance in the development of the project proposal and in the further development of the Master’s student project itself. The latter is not part of this module, but part of the Project module.

Formative feedback: Before submission of the summative proposal, students have an opportunity to have a meeting with their allocated supervisor and also to submit their draft proposal via Blackboard for feedback.

The following graph illustrates the steps:

• Project topic form for supervisor allocation
• Formative proposal (draft)
• Summative proposal (assessed)
• Ethics form

1. Submission of Project Topic Form (PTF)

As part of your Project Module, you will be assigned a Project Supervisor who will support you in the process of your project submission, which is an independent piece of research. To be able to allocate you a project supervisor broadly relevant to your project topic, we ask you to submit a Project Topic Form by following the link on Blackboard.

Please note: think seriously about the feasibility and suitability of your suggested research topic before submission of this form. Your research question/area can still slightly evolve after submission of this form, but cannot change drastically, and must remain within the capabilities/knowledge of your supervisor. It is not possible to change supervisors once they have been allocated.

Whilst not assessed, submission of the topic form is compulsory and essential for the allocation of your supervisor. Any delay in submission will result in an automatic delay of your supervisor allocation. The contact details of your project supervisor will be published on Blackboard.

2. Submission of Formative (Draft) Proposal

The purpose of the formative assessment is to support you with writing the summative proposal. After you submit this formative element of the assessment, your project supervisor will give feedback that you can build on when writing your summative proposal. While this assessment is formative and not assessed, we encourage you to engage in it as it allows you to get valuable feedback from your supervisor before submission of your summative proposal.

Summative Proposal Details

Topic/Title of your Project proposal:

The Project Proposal is based on the research topic you submitted on the Project Topic Form (PTF).

Structure and Contents of your Project Proposal:

The Project Proposal is an outline of your intended Project, providing information on what, why, how conceptually and how practically your research idea is. It will effectively be an introduction, a literature review and will include an outline of your research method/methodology.

The purpose is to show the reader you have managed to arrange your broad Project research ideas into a logical account of research intention, and that these plans are justifiable and achievable. It requires you to think clearly about your research objectives, research methods and relevant literature.

Proposals should comprise the following areas:

• Title
• Introduction/context/research area/main research question
• Literature review
• Research questions/objectives or hypotheses
• Research design (methodology and methods)
• Data collection and analysis
• Conclusion/limitations, including an identification of contingency plans, where relevant, and resource requirements
• Timeline/Gantt chart
• WBS student research ethics consideration form (via VRE)
• References

Detailed outline:

i. Title of your Project Proposal: Reflect as accurately as possible the content of your proposal

ii. Introduction to the research: context-background

This section should describe the area you will be investigating and explain the rationale and the context for your research plans. Explain why you are interested in the research topic, and why it is worthwhile. You should provide sufficient background information on the issues you want to research for the reader to be able to understand the rest of your Project as well as its value. If you focus on an organisation, you should provide enough organisational information to put your research plans into context.

iii. Review of the literature

This should be presented under a separate heading. Through this review, you show that you have acquired knowledge about the literature that relates to your research area and identify the research/gaps, which your research relates to. It is not intended as a near-finished comprehensive critical analysis of the literature at this stage. In the Project Proposal, provide an identification of themes from academic and other relevant recent and/or historically important literature, which acts as the basis for your intended study and, most importantly, clarify where your intended study fits into this debate.

You must include key relevant literature, with references to key texts and especially refereed journal articles (RJA). Normally, we would expect 10-12 references of RJAs.

iv. Specific research questions

Here, or at the end of the literature review section, clarify the link between the previous research done in your field of interest and your research focus.

Specific research questions: this may be one overall question or several key questions that the research will address. If suitable, you could add research objectives which make it clear to the reader exactly what is being planned by the proposed research: identifying what is to be analysed, and to what purpose. Your questions and objectives should provide sufficient scope for a project of this size, but also be achievable within the resources available to you. They should not be vague or too general and should lead to observable outcomes.

The research questions and objectives will be used by the reader to judge the rest of your proposal, so make sure that your proposed research design, data collection and analysis fit with these.

If relevant and suitable, the research questions could be formulated as hypotheses. 

Please refer to:

Chapter 12 in Saunders, N.K., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2023). Research Methods for Business Students, 9th edition, Pearson. for more guidance on hypotheses.

- Bloom’s taxonomy of verbs to identify more ‘master’ level active verbs you could use as part of your research questions.

v. Research design, methodology, and method

This refers to an overall view of the methodology, design and methods chosen to answer your research questions and achieve your research objectives, as well as a justification of these choices.

Provide information and justification for the methodology and research design you propose. Methodology refers to the broad approach you plan to take – issues such as positivism or interpretivism; inductive or deductive; qualitative or quantitative or mixed methods; etc. You also need to outline and justify your research design: for instance, case study, cross-sectional survey, action research, ethnographic study, etc. If relevant, it should also detail particular areas your research will focus on, such as sectors of industry, regions, organizations and the characteristics of your research population.
Data/information requirements: Identify from your research questions, objectives or hypothesis, what main data or information you will need to acquire to be able to answer these. If no empirical data is needed, make this clear.

vi. Data collection and analysis

Provide details of the way in which you intend to collect the data: for instance, interviews, focus groups, surveys, questionnaires, observation, document analysis, or a combination, investigation of secondary data and the way you intend to analyse the data. It is expected that primary data will be collected as your main source of data. Any requests for only secondary data collection will need to be approved by your supervisor and module leader.

It is essential to explain why you have chosen this approach and reflect upon whether this is the most ‘effective’ way to answer your research questions.

Be as precise as possible. For instance, for questionnaires specify the distribution, population, sample size, likely response rate; for interviews specify interview population, intended interview duration and way of analysis. Regarding secondary data, specify the exact data sources you intend to use. Refer to ethical good practice, such as referring to the use of consent forms and participant info sheets when relevant.
 
vii. Reflecting on resources

Reflect on data availability and provide clear information on access to the data collected/used. Have you made sure all necessary data is available to you? If relevant, do you have the agreement of essential people to use certain data or conduct interviews? Is your project in agreement with the organisation you focus on, if this is necessary? Is your survey response rate likely to be satisfactory?

Reflect on time resources: a rough schedule of the tasks to complete between the submission of the Project Proposal and the submission of the Project, through a GANTT chart.
Other resources you may want to reflect on may include skills or software necessary to collect or analyse data.

viii. Conclusion, limitations, including an identification of contingency plans, where relevant.

The conclusion includes a brief overview of expected outcomes.

If access to (parts of) the data is still uncertain, reflect on possible alternative ways to collect data to answer the research question.

ix. WBS student research ethics consideration form

Your Ethics Form will only be submitted AFTER you pass this module, i.e., your proposal. Online arrangements for the ethics consideration process for PG students, via the Virtual Research Environment (VRE, part of Intranet). To submit an ethics application, you should go to:

Westminster Virtual Research Environment: Westminster VRE

You will be asked to enter the name of your supervisor when submitting an ethics application. Upon submission, the application is sent to your supervisor. The Module Leader cannot approve your form. You will find further information on Blackboard, under “Learning Resources”, Week 11 folder.

x. List of references

All references should be in Cite Them Right Harvard style, both in text and in the final referencing list. 

Learning Outcomes Addressed:

By the end of the module, a successful student will be able to:

• Formulate a research topic and research questions within the field of business and management appropriate for a master’s level research project
• Critically evaluate the applicability of different business and management research methodologies, research design and methods, incorporating the sustainability and ethics to ensure compliance with the University's requirements.
• Critically analyse the literature relevant to the specific topic.
• Develop a comprehensive research proposal that addresses all aspects of the research process, whilst demonstrating a high level of written communication.

Assessment Criteria

The assessment criteria and weightings show you what is important in the assessment and how marks are shared across each criterion. When you are completing your assessment, remember you need to fulfil the brief and the assessment criteria below:

University Grade Descriptors are a benchmark point of reference; they are contextualised using specific subject specialist criteria specific to a particular assessment. Please refer to the Rubric On Pages 14\15 of this document for specific criteria for this module.

University Grade Descriptors:

Generic Grade Descriptors at Level 7

80-100 - An outstanding piece of work: all assessment criteria have been met at an exceptionally high standard.

• Displays exceptional initiative, creativity, sophistication, and originality
• Provides insightful analysis
• Demonstrates originality and rigour of argument
• Shows independent synthesis of ideas and understanding
• Demonstrates reflexivity and critical analysis to generate transformative solutions/responses
• Demonstrates substantial independent research
• Communicates complexity clearly and succinctly with an excellent standard of presentation

70-79 - An excellent piece of work: all assessment criteria have been met at a high standard.

• Demonstrates sophisticated understanding across the field of study and related areas
• Draws on a range of techniques and information sources for independent analysis
• Demonstrates creativity and flair in task/enquiry
• Provides a robust and insightful argument
• Provides a high-quality, critical and reflexive analysis
• Demonstrates substantial independent research
• Communicates ideas clearly and succinctly with a good standard of presentation

60-69 - A good piece of work: all assessment criteria have been met at a good standard.

• Demonstrates breadth and/or depth of understanding across the field of study and related
  areas
• Synthesises knowledge to address task/enquiry
• Presents argument cogently and clearly
• Demonstrates extensive research and critical use of resources
• Communicates ideas clearly with a good standard of presentation

50-59 - A sound piece of work: all assessment criteria have clearly been met.

• Demonstrates understanding of an appropriate range of concepts and theoretical approaches
• Provides an argument to frame a response to the enquiry/task
• Uses a range of relevant sources provided to undertake research
• Undertakes meaningful analysis/reflection in relation to the enquiry/task
• Communicates ideas using an appropriate format with few weaknesses in presentation
• Demonstrates technical proficiency in English or the language of assessment to communicate effectively to the intended audience*.

40-49 - FAIL: An inadequate piece of work: one or more relevant assessment criteria are not met.

• Provides clear limitations in the range of concepts/principles explored
• Demonstrates a lack of clarity and depth of understanding in relation to the task/enquiry
• Uses a narrow range of sources to support the task/enquiry
• Provides limited analysis/reflection
• Communication is unclear, with significant weaknesses in presentation

39-0 - FAIL: A poor piece of work: Most of the relevant assessment criteria have not been met.

• Demonstrates poor understanding of key concepts and principles
• Shows significant weaknesses and omissions in completing the task
• Omits analysis/reflection
• Uses inadequate information sources
• Communication is unclear, with significant weaknesses in presentation

The student's project proposal assesses students on the extent to which they are

• demonstrate advanced understanding of research design and process; critical review of literature; data identification/collection and how it may be analysed; providing clear reasons for the research methods chosen;
• demonstrate critical evaluation and application of the business and management research knowledge through the research project proposal in which they;
• identify, define and justify research objectives which are both worthy of and capable of investigation within the resources and time available;
• provide an initial review of academic/practitioner literature relevant to their research;
• design a methodology of enquiry appropriate to their proposed investigation and taking account of the contextual ethical considerations;
• identify specific research questions, propositions and/or hypotheses to guide the investigation;
• determine and justify data and information collection methods along with initial strategies for data analysis;
• appreciate the likely limitations of the study and determine contingency plans;
• demonstrate familiarity with the theories, frameworks and authors;
• demonstrate the ability to reference appropriately

In the table below, there are descriptions of both the expectation for each criterion and how marks would be awarded based upon performance.

7BUSS002W Assessment Criteria