BM9501 - Business Research and Analysis

You will learn through a combination of formal sessions (lectures, seminars, IT workshops and webinars), tutor-directed study and independent reading. The seminars, IT workshops and webinars will be highly interactive and will draw upon the directed learning undertaken, your own marketing-related experiences and discipline expertise of the academic team.

These interactive sessions will centre on high levels of participation, both individually and within small groups. The IT workshop or seminar sessions facilitate practice with the methods and techniques covered. This will allow you to learn through practice for both work involving quantitative data and using statistical software such as SPSS (or an equivalent) for analysis, or for conducting interviews and considering how to analyse the qualitative data that is generated.

Several lecture sessions will be used to communicate vital areas for Northumbria University including the University Ethics policy and to provide marketing-specific input which may be helpful in providing guidance on possible areas for your choice of topic in the Dissertation or Management Enquiry.

Directed learning will centre upon a range of activities including pre-reading and preparation for interactive activities. Independent learning will centre upon you identifying and pursuing areas of interest within the marketing discipline, to inform the writing of your research proposal. Critical reflection on knowledge, experience and practice underpins the learning and teaching philosophy on this module along with the explicit development of competence, both of which you will develop into a reflective statement as part of the module’s summative assessment. This independent learning will be further supported by various online materials housed within the module eLP, comprising recordings of key lectures, IT workshops, seminars and development of the summative assessment.

You will be supported by the module tutor who is an academic lead for the module, in addition to an academic teaching comprising subject experts from the marketing discipline. This academic teaching team will lead on lectures, IT workshops, seminars and webinars. The IT workshops and seminars will be in small groups so that there is opportunity for exploring the subject matter in detail with both the academic staff and your fellow students.

A comprehensive eLP site will store the materials needed for the lectures, IT workshops and seminars, alongside a detailed week-by-week learning and teaching plan to guide you through the module. There is an electronic reading list indicating the core texts which cover research methods and data analysis, alongside reference to various recommended marketing-related journals and business and management databases, which you should access as the module progresses. You also make use of statistical analysis software (SPSS or equivalent) for analysing quantitative data as part of the module. The eLP site will also provide a blended approach to learning housing various recordings of the module lectures and key seminar/IT workshop interventions that further support the classroom based study within the module.

You will be supplied with formative feedback through seminar and IT workshop discussion and reflection, further supported by the weekly webinar, which is a 1-hour weekly session with member(s) of the teaching team and fellow students. Formative feedback will be provided throughout the module, particularly in relation to seminar and IT tasks where the practical aspects of the module will offer you opportunities to give and receive feedback from your tutors and fellow students. There will be opportunities for you to discuss your potential research idea with staff who have expertise in the marketing discussion, through the seminar and webinar activities. This will provide you with formative feedback on your research proposal and will help you to develop your summative assessment.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• Identify a research opportunity or business enquiry related to marketing and develop a research proposal. [MLO1]

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• Reflect on your experiences in developing a research capability to inform future work and academic study. [MLO2]
• Demonstrate your skills to undertake a research-based study in the marketing discipline that informs project work at your next level of study. [MLO3]

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• Develop a marketing-related working proposal and project plan to lead to a research project in your final year of study. [MLO4]
• Reflect on your own ethical values as a researcher in the marketing discipline. [MLO5]

You will receive formative feedback from marketing academics on your research proposal. This will involve face-to-face feedback and will take place during the seminars on the module, where you will also be able to share research ideas and project plans with fellow students. The weekly webinar will also provide further opportunity for academic and peer discussion and formative feedback.

The summative assessment is a 2,500 individual assignment and reflective statement that provides a research plan for Level 6 study. These are based on your initial choice of either a Dissertation or Management Enquiry. Guidance on this choice will take place during the semester within this module informing you on which of these options to use as the basis of the summative assessment submission.

All students will on the programmes listed submit this summative assessment, i) as demonstration of their development as researchers with an ability to plan a major piece of independent research, but ii) it is recognised that a number of you will take a year out between Levels 5 and 6 where opportunities that arise may result in you wishing to change you research plans in Level 6 and iii) some of you will successful be placed at Level 6 on the Undergraduate Consultancy Project. The module learning and summative assessment experience will still be of benefit here, albeit the output of the summative assessment less explicitly.

The 2,500 word summative assessment will cover module learning outcomes MLO1-MLO5 inclusive.

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This module will enable you to develop your appreciation of research methods and analysis before you undertake work placement, study abroad and progress to your final-year dissertation, management enquiry, consultancy or enterprise project. You’ll engage in and reflect upon practical, research-based activities to increase your understanding of designing and executing responsible management research, gaining hands-on experience in the analysis of qualitative and quantitative research data. You’ll also develop an appreciation of ethics’ central role in research. Primarily research-oriented, the module involves working with your discipline-specific academics to ensure research-tutored approaches. You’ll explicitly engage with a research problem, supporting your enquiry-based learning experience.