FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT STUDIES

UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS PROGRAMME

ACADEMIC YEAR2019 -2020, Semester II
July - 2020
WRIT 1
Programme Title: BMS&MM
Module Title:Research Methods for Business
Module Code:GRM5035
Assessment Method: Assignment
Level: 5 Block: 1 & 2
Module Credits: 10 Weighting: 100%
Due Date:22-Jun-2020, 12:00 AM Word Count:3,000
Examiner(s):Dr. Nasrin Sulthana
Module Tutors: Mr. Sanjay Sharma

Version: 2
 Gulf College – Faculty of Business and Management Studies – In academic

Affiliation with CARDIFF SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

A. Written work

 A signed declaration that the work is your own (apart from otherwise referenced
acknowledgements) must be included after the reference page of your assignment
 Each page must be numbered.
 Where appropriate, a contents page, a list of tables/figures and a list of abbreviations should
precede your work.
 All referencing must adhere to School/Institutional requirements.
 A word count must be stated at the end of your work.
 Appendices should be kept to the minimum and be of direct relevance to the content of your
work.
 All tables and figures must be correctly numbered and labelled.

B. Other types of coursework/assignments

 Where coursework involves oral presentations, discussions, poster presentations, etc.,

specific instructions will be provided by your module leader/team.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rewrite below part just after the References of your assignment.

WORK DECLARATION

I,[Name of Student],hereby declare that the uploaded Assignment through Turnitin is my own work. I
affirm that this has been researched and completed in accordance with the college rules and
regulations on plagiarism.

I acknowledge the advice given by the module tutors on proper referencing to avoid plagiarism and
the rules on the academic unfair practice.

I acknowledge that I read and understand the plagiarism guide written at the end of this assessment.
Any academic misconduct will be handled according to the rules and regulations of the university.

[Name of Student]

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General instructions

Assignmentmust be submitted online through Turnitin before due date. An acknowledgement will be
given to you by your teacher upon presentation of the finance clearance. This is your receipt, keep
it.

The only circumstance in which assignments can be uploaded late via Turnitin is if a Mitigating
Circumstances (MC) form is submitted at the same time. In these circumstances work may be
submitted within five (5) working days. Make sure to secure MC form and submit the same to the
concerned staff.

Write the number of words used, excluding references, at the end of your assignment. Provide the
list of sources you used at the last page of your assignment with proper label ‘References’. You may
include diagrams, figures etc. without word penalty. The number of words will be + or – 10% of the
total words allowed.

A work declaration must be included just after the reference page of your assignment. This ensures
that you prepare your work in good faith. Any form of collusion and/or academic unfair practice will
be dealt with according to the pertinent rules and regulations of the partner university. Please read
carefully the plagiarism guide.

Assessment Details

This Assignmentcomprises 100% of the total assessments marks.It contains one components of
constructing assignment. These will develop the following skills:

 Analytical skills. The reflection report enables the students to analyse and evaluate the
benefits of the different activities done in the class. This skill will eventually help them
evaluate options necessary to make decisions in the workplace.
 Research Skills. The research skills will help to improve the ability to understand the market
conditions in Oman. The needs of the consumers their buying behavior and growth of society
will be known. This will also help to have knowledge of research process in wider context.
 Interpretation skills. The data analysis and interpretation is an art and the rich passion to
know something in the field of research will help to do better interpretation of the data
collected.

In addition, the assessment will test the following learning outcomes:

1. Knowledge of the research process in its wider context.

2. An ability to critically evaluate the robustness of different research approaches and their
strengths and limitations
3. An ability to design research proposals in terms of methodology and approach
4. The practical skills to administer a range of research techniques particularly in relation to data
collection and analysis

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 Assessment Task

Please read the assignment guidelines carefully.

AIM: This assignment assesses the learning outcomes of the Research Methods for Business module.
To this end, you are asked to devise a research project, to conduct pilot research, and to analyse your
results on one of the following topics:

 A study on use of information technology in improving communication in any organisation.

 A study on performance of SME’s in Oman.

 A study on job stress and its impact on employee performance in any organisation.

 Any appropriate topic agreed with your module tutor

Please note that the total word count excludes appendices. Appendices contain supporting
information and for this assignment little supporting information should be needed beyond that
identified in the tasks or guidelines. The recommended (approximate) number of words for each part
of the assignment gives guidance on the required extent of analysis (i.e. approximates to the marks
allocated to a task).

The assignment should be appropriately presented in numbered sections and sources of information
must be Harvard Referenced. (You are required to provide minimum of 7 Journal references, 10
book references and 3 website references).
The assignment is to be completed individually.

***End of the Assignment Task***

Guidelines to Students:

1. Give a short introduction and the objectives of your proposed study. (100 words)

2. Formulate the research problem based on your topic. (100 words)

3. Undertake reviewof literature based on the topic from journals, books , e books & other secondary
sources, (at most 15 related literature & studies). Summarise any theory and evidence relevant to
your topic. (1500 words)

4. Briefly explain your research philosophy, approach and strategy. In particular, comment on
what makes your research positivist, interpretive or critical(500 words). In approach, whether
you have used an inductive or deductive approach. In strategy, whether you have used

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 ethnography, grounded theory or survey strategy in inductive approach. State the reason for
your choice of philosophy, approach and strategy. Provide its strengths and limitations.

5. Briefly reflect on the ethical implications of your research. (100 words).

6. For your research proposal in terms of methodology and approach you need to know the
appropriate: A. Research design, B. Sampling Technique used for the studyand C. Data
collection method/s. which can enable you to achieve the research objective or the research
questions.If the research design/method is descriptive survey (300 words)

7. Analyse the literature review and provide your findings and recommendations of your study. (200
words)

8. Evaluate your research in terms of the lessons learnt from the study, appropriateness of the research
instrument in relation to the research strategy outlined in Task 3, the reliability and validity of your
results, etc. (100 words).And Conclusion (100 Words).

9. You are required to provide minimum of 20 references from various sources.

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 GRM5035 - Research Methods for Business
AY:2019 -2020/ Semester II

Marking Scheme

Question Description Marks

No. Allocated

1. Introduction and choice of topic 5%

2. Objective (5 marks) and Statement of the Problem (specific questions) (5 10%

marks)

3. Review of Literatures (from Various sources) 20%

4. Research Philosophy (5 marks), approach (2 marks) and strategy(3 marks) 10%

5. Ethical implication (5 marks) 5%

6. Research Methodology (Research design 5 marks, Sampling details 5 marks, 15%

Data Collection methods 5 marks)

7. Analysis in the form of findings (10 marks) and suggestions (5 Marks) 15%

8. Reliability & Validity 10%

9. Conclusion 10%

Total 100

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Plagiarism

1. Plagiarism, which can be defined as using without acknowledgement another person’s words or
ideas and submitting them for assessment as though it were one’s own work, for instance by
copying, translating from one language to another or unacknowledged paraphrasing. Further
examples of plagiarism are given below:

Use of any quotation(s) from the published or unpublished work of other persons, whether
published in textbooks, articles, the Web, or in any other format, which quotations have not been
clearly identified as such by being placed in quotation marks and acknowledged.

Use of another person’s words or ideas that have been slightly changed or paraphrased to make
it look differentfrom the original.

Summarising another person’s ideas, judgments, diagrams, figures, or computer programmes

without reference to that person in the text and the source in a bibliography or reference list.

Use of services of essay banks and/or any other agencies.

Use of unacknowledged material downloaded from the Internet.

Re-use of one’s own material except as authorised by the department.

2. Collusion, which can be defined as when work that has been undertaken by or with others is
submitted and passed off as solely as the work of one person. This also applies where the work of
one candidate is submitted in the name of another. Where this is done with the knowledge of the
originator both parties can be considered to be at fault.

3. Fabrication of data, making false claims to have carried out experiments, observations, interviews
or other forms of data collection and analysis, or acting dishonestly in any other way.

Plagiarism Detection Software (PDS)

As part of its commitment to quality and the maintenance of academic standards, the University reserves
the right to use Plagiarism Detection Software (PDS), including Turnitin. Such software makes no judgment
as to whether a piece of work has been plagiarised; it simply highlights sections of text that have been
found in other sources.

The use of plagiarism detection software fulfills two functions. The first is to enhance student learning
(i.e. as a developmental tool); the second is to guard against and identify unfair practice in assessment.

Further information and guidance can be found in the University’s policy on the Use of Plagiarism
Detection Software.

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