PPMP 20015 | Research Proposal Assignment | Management

ASSIGNMENT TASK

Overview:

This assignment is deliberately devised to help you produce a well-structured and integrated research proposal. The assignment consists of two parts: (Part A) Draft Research Proposal and (Part B) Final Research Proposal. Both Parts A and B weigh 10% and 70% respectively. The total weight for this assignment (Part A and Part B) is 80% of the total mark for the unit. This is an individual assignment and you must adhere to the chosen topic in assignment 1 and consider any feedback given on their chosen topic. The ultimate goal is to develop a detailed research proposal of academic standards which includes the following components:

1. Title: Develop a concise title that indicates the overall purpose of your study (15 words).

2. Abstract: Summarize the major elements of your proposal (200 words)

3. The rationale for the study: (800 words) Provide a research background and explain a suitable gap in project management literature that warrants research.

4. Significance: (200 words) Explain the significance and possible implication of outcomes emerging from the proposed research.

5. Research question(s) and objectives: Define the problem in the form of a research question and objectives.

6. Research Design: (200 words) Select and justify a research design or methodological approach to solve the problem (i.e. qualitative, quantitative, mixed method).

7. Data collection: (800 words) Select and justify the data collection method, procedures, sampling plan, samples of the survey questions, Ethics protocols, etc.

8. Preliminary literature review: (up to 2000 words) Conduct a preliminary literature review to critically review the most relevant arguments by other scholars relating to the chosen topic (minimum 10 scholarly refereed papers). You are expected to use your critical review report (Assignment 1) as a start point to complete this section.

9. Research Project Management: Provide the following project management plans and/or documentation:

 Project deliverables and exclusions or limitations

 Work breakdown structure (WBS) of the deliverables of your research project (up to four levels).

 Project schedule using Ms Excel for project execution including project milestones, durations and logical relationships of the activities. (The schedule should include a minimum of 15 activities)

 Allocated research hours, resources and budget for conducting each activity.

 

 Risk register including analysis and response strategy (a minimum of 10 risks)

 Stakeholder analysis. (a minimum of 5 stakeholders)

 Data management explaining how you will manage research data

Part A: Peer Review of draft research proposal (10%

Purpose

Student peer review is a process whereby students review the draft assignments of each other with an aim to improving it before submitting for formal assessment. It is widely recognised as an effective component of learning to promote active student learning and increase opportunity for success. The student peer review supports the development of critical thinking, interpersonal and other skills, as well as enhancing understanding of the assessment requirements and marking criteria. Through the peer review process, students will see the strengths of their classmates’ submissions and have a better understanding about how to do a good job. The comments from their peers will point out the weakness of their work, which is generally difficult to find out by themselves.

                                                                                                           

Task

The draft proposal should substantially include all components of the research proposal and the submission should not have any mention of your name or identity. The submission will then be randomly and anonymously assigned to two other students for peer review and grading. This means that each student will review and provide grades and constructive comments/feedback for two draft proposals. In addition, each student must self-assess his/her submission and provide a mark. Students must assess the submissions in accordance with the assessment criteria.

Grading for this part of the assignment covers 1) the students' own submission and 2) their self-assessment and assessment of other students' submissions. The first grade amounting to 50% of the available marks reflects the average score that you have achieved for your submission as collectively marked by other students. The second mark amounting to the other 50% reflects the quality of your assessment for other students and your ability to spot issues in the submissions. The quality of your assessment is measured automatically by comparing your assessment with the best assessment provided for the submission. Students who fail to submit the draft research proposal before the deadline can still assess other students and receive a mark for the assessment part but will receive zero marks against the submission part. Further details about the peer review benefits and process are available in Moodle site and will be explained to students during lectures/tutorials.

You will be required to submit your draft research proposal by end of week 10. Peer review assessment must be completed by the end of week 11.

Instructions for draft submission:

1. Your draft submission must take the form of an academic research proposal (including cover sheet, body, and references)

2. Delete any mention of your name or identity in the document.

3. For assessment, give a mark and constructive comments to other students based on the assessment criteria.

Part B: Final research proposal (70%)

This assignment will be due in week 13. You should learn from your participation in the peer review and gain ideas for improvement. You are expected to consider the peer review outcome and amend/improve your research proposal accordingly. You will have a reasonable time to finalize your proposal and submit for final assessment. This document is basically your research project plan and you should think of it as a document that should be detailed enough so anyone else can use your plan to execute the project. Make sure that you are well familiar with the assignment requirements and assessment rubric and note that you must achieve 50% in Part B of this assignment in order to pass this unit.

Instructions for final submission:

1. Your final submission must take the form of an academic research proposal (including cover sheet, body, and references)

2. Submit your assignment in WORD format (DOC or DOCx)

3. Include your name, student number and campus on the cover sheet

4. State the word counts in the cover sheet.

Rationale and significance (20%) Project is original in its approach and will contribute to project management development. Significance emerges logically from construction of argument in addition to being clearly articulated.