12207 (v.2) Business Research Project (Marketing) 695

Area:

School of Marketing

Credits:

25.0

Contact Hours:

3.0

Lecture:

1 x 3 Hours Weekly

Syllabus:

Guides students through the preparation of the smaller business research projects. Develop your researching capabilities, improve your writing ability and help you to plan, structure and produce a business research project. Students are guided through the stages of formulating a research idea and producing a research plan. During the course, participants will be taught where to look for information, what to look for, how best to look for it and how to put together a body of information to produce a literature review. Participants will be taken through the steps of structuring, organising and collating information and data to produce a comprehensive, critical and unbiased research report.

Unit Outcomes:

On successful completion of this unit students will have- Obtained the basic skills necessary to produce a research report. Enabled to manage their time. Completed the task on schedule. Provided the foundations for more advanced research units or degrees by research. Isolated a researchable topic. Ensured the topic is well defined, straightforward with limited scope. Defended and justified your topic to the critical audience. Presented the grounds for continuing with the research on the topic. Produced a state of the art literature review: where major areas are obvious and the review is logically organized, with it explained, constructed, styled and presented clearly and understandable, argued the research findings of others working in the area, indicated the data necessary for solving problem/question, presented a summary of their topic in relation to the current literature. Written a professional report/dissertation in which: Problems, hypotheses or inquiry is stated clearly, findings are presented unambiguously, adequate background information is presented, appendices contain the detailed material to support the report, exposition and writing style is brief, clear and direct.

Text and references listed above are for your information only and current as of September 30, 2003. Please check with the unit coordinator for up-to-date information.

Unit References:

Kumar, R. (1996). Research methodology: A Step by Step Guide for Beginners. Sydney, Addison Wesley. Butler, P.F. (2000). Business Research Sources: A Reference Navigator. (latest edition). Sydney, McGraw Hill. Ticehurst, G.W. and Veal, A.J. (2000). Business Research Methods. Sydney, Longman. Cavana, R.Y., Delahaye, B.L. and Sekaran, U. (2001). Applied Business Research: Qualitative and Quantative Methods. Sydney, John Wiley and Sons. Zikmund, W.G. (2000). Business Research Methods. (sixth edition). Sydney, Harcourt College Publishers. Sekeran, U. (2000). Research Methods For Business: A Skill Building Approach. (thrid edition). Sydney, John Wiley and Sons. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. Research Methods for Business Students. (second edition). Sydney, Pearson Education. Turabian, K.L. (1987). A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. (fifth edition). Chicago, University of Chicago Press. Coakes, S.J. and Steed, L.G. (2001). SPSS for Windows: Analysis Without Anguish. Sydney, John Wiley and Sons. http://directory.google.com/Top/Science/Social_Sciences/Methodology/ Curtin University Library & Information services home page: http://lisweb.curtin.edu.au/ Curtin Library Catalogue: http://lisweb.curtin.edu.au/dr

Unit Texts:

Cooper, D.R. and Schindler, P.S. (2000). Business Research Methods. (seventh edition). Sydney, McGraw Hill.

Unit Assessment Breakdown:

Selection & Presentation of Topic 20%, Literature Review and Research Plan Presentations 20%, Final Project Report 60%. To pass this unit you must obtain 50% or more and you must pass each assessment point before proceeding on to the next. This is doneby grade/mark assessment.

Year	Location	Period	Internal	Area External	Central External
2004	Bentley Campus	Semester 2	Y