Module Handbook

Faculty of Business, Computing and Digital Industries

School of Business

BMM5582: Business Research

2024-25

Contents

Module Welcome…………………………………………………………………………… 3

Module Guide……………………………………………………………………………….. 4

Module Code and Title…………………………………………………………………. 4

Module Leader Contact Details and Availability………………………………….. 4

Module Team Tutors Contact Details and Availability………………………….. 4

Module Teaching………………………………………………………………………… 4

Module Intended Learning Outcomes………………………………………………. 4

Summary of Content……………………………………………………………………. 5

Assessment and Deadlines…………………………………………………………… 5

Assessment Criteria…………………………………………………………………….. 7

Assessment Criteria Grid………………………………………………………………. 8

Resources…………………………………………………………………………………. 9

Academic Support……………………………………………………………………… 10

Action Taken and Changes Made in Response to Student Feedback……. 10

Essential Library and Learning Resources………………………………………. 10

Race Equality…………………………………………………………………………… 11

Your Module at a Glance – Teaching and Assessment…………………………. 12

Your Module at a Glance – Employability…………………………………………… 13

Assignment Preparation Checklist……………………………………………………. 15

Module Welcome

Hello and a very warm welcome to Business Research Module.

I hope that you find this Module Handbook helpful in supporting your studies and that it provides you with all the information you need to know about this module.

This module is your chance to gather the tools that you will need to investigate the area of business that you are most interested in! In the final year of your degree (level 6) you will have the chance to undertake the ‘Professional Learning Through Work’ (PLTW) project. This project would require you to develop research skills, and critical thinking capabilities in order to make the most of them. This module has been designed to give you a broad range of skills from across the spectrum that you can draw upon to develop your research proposal (due at the end of this term), and then carry this project to completion next year.

Remember, this is about what YOU are interested in, would like to research, and could maybe see yourself pursuing a career doing in the future. This module is therefore meant to be challenging, but equally, rewarding for the effort.

On page 12, you will see your module at a glance.  This document helps you understand your assessment for the module, how it connects to the intended learning outcomes and to the graduate attributes (skills and behaviours) you will develop during your studies. This handbook is designed to help you understand what you have to do for this module and to explain why you are being assessed in a particular way. This will include how the learning you do, the teaching sessions you attend, and how the module assessment will support you in successfully completing your level of study.

All assessments included at your current level study have been aligned against the programme outcomes to ensure you achieve these. Intended module learning outcomes are articulated in this document to give you clarity on the expectations of this specific module and its associated assessment tasks.  We have designed your assessment so that it supports you to make meaningful connections across all the content you will study during this academic year. This handbook sets out the key assessments dates so you know when you will need to submit work and when you can expect your feedback.

Formative assessment and feed-forward methods will be employed throughout this module at various points in the semester. Formative forms of assessment will include (but are not limited to): class-based activities, drop-in sessions with the module tutor and preparation of bullet-point outlines of group presentation and individual research proposal that will be assessed for feedback purposes. There are two summative assessments – Group presentation and Individual research proposal. Details of the assessments are provided in section 5 of this handbook.

On successful completion of your course when you apply for jobs you will be able to talk about the following transferrable skills that you have developed in this module: working independently, critical thinking, enterprise and entrepreneurship, teamworking, and effective communication skills.

Dr Pranita Gosavi

Module Leader

Module Guide

Module Code and Title

Module Code: BMM5582

Module Title: Business Research

Module Leader Contact Details and Availability

Dr Pranita Gosavi p.gosavi@wic.ac.uk

Module Team Tutors Contact Details

Dr Humphrey Anaehobi – h.anaehobi@wic.ac.uk

Dr Mazen Joureih           -m.joureih@wic.ac.uk

Emeka Luke Okolie  e.okolie@wic.ac.uk

Becky Forbin            b.forbin@wic.ac.uk

Eric Forgoh              e.forgoh@wic.ac.uk

Module Teaching

Please refer to your Timetable

Module Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this module students should be able to: 

1. Outline specific research aims and objectives, as well as the boundaries of research project.
2. Investigate the existing body of knowledge in line with identified research aims and objectives and produce a comprehensive literature review, including a theoretical framework.
3. Appraise the various approaches to the investigative method and data collection, compare and contrast a range of research methods and justify their usage.
4. Propose a small-scale research project into a chosen business, management, marketing, finance and accounting, international business, or economics topic, and develop a research proposal suitable for undergraduate level.

Summary of Content

This module introduces students to the key principles of social science research which underpin business, management, economics, accounting and finance, and marketing methodologies. Theoretical and empirical investigative methods will be explained, as well as a range of qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches and techniques, such as systematic literature review, survey, interview, focus groups, and statistical analysis using primary and secondary databases.

The module will also guide students through the process of research design and writing a realistic, small-scale research proposal, ideally conducted in the UK or international business organisations.

It is possible that there may be content or discussion within this course that may be difficult for some students. Please look to the module schedule to ensure you are aware of the broad subject content. The module team will flag especially difficult content proactively so that we ensure this classroom space is one that acknowledges that each of us will experience these discussions differently. There are a number of resources that can support you (include Student Space, Student Wellbeing or Samaritans). If you have any concerns about the content of a specific session, please inform the lecturer or a peer and seek support from Student Support who can be contacted via support@wic.ac.uk and via text/phone on 0207 0180 430 between 9 am – 5 pm Mon-Fri and 10 am-4 pm on weekends.

Assessment and Deadlines

Component form (e.g. Essay or Online test)	Magnitude (e.g. 2,000 words or 2 hours)	Weighting and/or Pass/Fail	Assessment Deadline	Feedback Date	Module Intended Learning Outcome(s) assessed (e.g. 1, 2)
Group presentation (as a poster or PowerPoint Presentation)	20 minutes (including Q&A)	40%	Week 8 of the term (In class Group Pesentation )	Turnitin submission 19th March 2025	1, 2
Research proposal (as a word document)	2,000 words	60%	End of semester	26th March 202	3, 4

Group Presentation (20 minutes including Q&A which constitute 40% of the assessment): The aim of the group presentation is to give the student the opportunity to have a detailed review of a topic in business, management, economics, accounting and finance, and marketing with the purpose of practising the research process by developing and presenting a research proposal (which should evaluate the purpose of the study, research questions, initial literature review, justification of methodology and methods and feasibility). The group presentation could be through a PowerPoint or Poster presentation. In the group assessment, all students will receive the same mark. Group Presentation will be scheduled during Week 8.

Individual Research proposal (60%): The individual research proposal (2,000 words) should evaluate the purpose of the study, research questions, initial literature review, justification of methodology and methods and feasibility. The individual research proposal should be in a word document. The Individual research proposal should be submitted via Turnitin during the assessment period after the end of week 10 teaching.

Leeds Trinity University uses APA 7th Referencing conventions – further information about this will be provided during the taught sessions.

Feedback Date: Feedback will be available on Moodle 15 working days after the submission date.

Late Submission: Where there is no agreed request for an extension, a deduction of 5 marks will be made for assessments which are submitted in the 24-hour period immediately after the deadline. This means that work submitted one minute after the submission time will lose 5 marks. Subsequent deductions of 5 marks will be made for assignments submitted during subsequent 24-hour periods (not including non-working days), down to a mark of 40% for work of a pass standard and 0% for work of a fail standard. Work submitted more than 5 working days after the deadline will not be marked and a mark of zero will be returned.

All modules will include a session which unpacks the assessment brief, providing opportunities for you to clarify any questions you have about the assessment task. The assessment criteria and rubric will be examined in these sessions to support your understanding of the expectations of the task(s). Your module tutor will provide generic feedback on what a good assessment looks like, common misconceptions, pitfalls, construction of arguments, format, spelling and referencing. You are encouraged to bring selected sections of your work or a one-page plan to assessment support sessions for verbal feedback and where appropriate, peer discussion. Your module tutor will not give any indication of mark or classification for any draft work presented. Where you have received previous feedback, your tutors will encourage you to reflect on this to support your acquisition of knowledge and academic skills development. Feedback on a full draft of an assessment for submissions, prior to the submission deadline, is not normally permitted.

Use the Assignment Preparation Checklist on the last page before you submit your

work.

Academic Integrity
Waltham International College, in partnership with Leeds Trinity University, is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment where students are expected to act with integrity, self-discipline, and respect in all academic and professional activities. Academic Integrity refers to conducting scholarly work in an open, honest, and responsible manner. Students must respect the intellectual property of others by properly attributing and acknowledging sources. Through authentic learning, students are encouraged to develop independent thought and analysis, ensuring the academic standards and value of the University’s awards. It is the responsibility of students to ensure their work upholds these standards.

Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct involves any form of dishonesty in academic work, whether intentional or unintentional, that undermines the integrity of assessments. Any suspected misconduct will be investigated, and common types of misconduct include:

• Poor Scholarship: Incorrect referencing or misunderstanding of academic standards.
• Self-Plagiarism: Reusing one’s work without proper acknowledgement.
• Plagiarism: Using others’ work without citation.
• Collusion: Unauthorized collaboration on individual tasks.
• Fabrication: Falsifying data or manipulating academic documents.
• Research Misconduct: Failing to conduct ethical research.
• Impersonation: Allowing someone else to assume your identity for academic gain. 
• Contract Cheating/Use of AI: Seeking assistance from a third party or using AI tools to complete your assignment.

Waltham International College and Leeds Trinity University are dedicated to investigating all instances of academic misconduct and applying appropriate disciplinary measures when necessary.

Formative Feedback

Students are required to submit a draft of their work to the formative feedback link on Moodle. Students should submit at least a week before the final submission date / presentation date to ensure that the tutor is able to provide feedback and the student is able to amend based on the feedback within a reasonable time frame.

For Group presentations, only 1 member of the group needs to submit the draft presentation on behalf of the whole group; Every member of the group is not required to submit the draft presentation.

For individual report, every student should submit their own draft.

Students can submit the draft as many times as they require and can get feedback on each draft. Students are not allowed to email their drafts to their tutors; however exceptional cases will be considered.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in this module

• You may use generative AI such as ChatGPT to assist you in the process of undertaking the assessment in the following ways: brainstorming, research, planning, feedback, editing.
• All use of generative AI must be explicitly acknowledged, and any artificially generated content (e.g. images) explicitly labelled, with the source of the AI tool referenced using current APA referencing conventions You can find further guidance on the library website on their AI webpage).
• In submitting your assignment, you agree to disclose the extent to which you have used generative AI in preparing this work, and include evidence of your AI use in your appendices (e.g. dated screen shots of your use of this tool or copy and paste your AI chat into Word).
• Failure to disclose your generative AI use may result in a 0 for your assignment and a referral for academic misconduct (see the Student Academic Misconduct Policy under Essential Info in the MyLTU app).

You are required to include one of the following statements on your assignment:

Either:

• This assignment used generative AI in the following ways for the purposes of completing the assignment (choose 1 to 5 of the following): brainstorming, research, planning, feedback, editing.

Or:

• This assignment did not use generative AI for the purposes of completing the assignment.

Assessment Criteria

Criterion	% of Mark
Overall Aim and Context (including research objectives)	20%
Literature	20%
Methodology	20%
Feasibility and Access	20%
Presentation, Style & Conventions	20%

For description of expectations from expect from 1^st class work; 2:1 work; 2:2 work, &c, please the assessment grid on the following page.

Assessment Criteria Grid

Generic descriptors to inform marking criteria for academic undergraduate assessments
Classification: Criterion:	Exceptional 1st 100, 95	Outstanding 1st 85	1st  75	2.1 68, 65, 62	2.2 58, 55, 52	3 48, 45, 42	Fail 38, 35, 32	Abject Fail 25, 20, 10, 0
Knowledge & Understanding	Polished grasp of subject. Astute and authoritative approach to complexity.	Comprehensive and confident grasp with strong sense of subject complexity.	Thorough understanding evident and well applied to specific assessment task.	Secure, general understanding and reasonable application to assessment task.	Sound knowledge relevant to the assessment task.	Limited knowledge shows basic understanding. Some awareness o the context of the assessment task.	Faulty understanding of assessment task or concepts. Irrelevant or mostly absent content.	No understanding of assessment task or concepts. Irrelevant or absent content.
Structure, Argument	Effective and integrated over- arching argument or structure, clear, insightful synthesis. Highly creative understanding of topic	Effective overall argument with clear and insightful connections between claims. Creative understanding of topic.	Clear and logical focus and direction with valuable connections made between claims. Good level of creativity.	Well-focused on the question with some clear connections made between claims and some overall direction. Some creativity.	Addresses the topic with some direction and makes some connections between claims or different parts of artefact/assignment .	Argument is weak and difficult to detect. Connections made between statements limited	Lack of argument. Faulty connection between statements.	No argument. Many faulty connection between statements.
Analysis and Conclusions	Original and searching analysis, critical appraisal of task and judicious conclusions.	Searching analysis with pertinent conclusions drawn.	Insightful analysis throughout with appropriate conclusions drawn.	Strong analysis of salient illustrative examples. Some general conclusions drawn.	Some conclusions drawn based on some reasonable comparisons and examples.	Basic analysis. Remains descriptive, little evaluation or comparison. Few clear conclusions.	Insufficient evaluation or attempt to make comparisons. Conclusions illogical insufficient.	No evaluation or attempt to make comparisons. Conclusions illogical or absent.
Sources & Evidence	Extensive and evaluative use of evidential support for argument.	Extensive use of evidence with some evaluation.	Clear support of argument with well selected evidence.	Draws on relevant independent sources and evidence to support claims.	Makes simple use of evidence from recommended sources.	Relies on superficial statements with little supporting evidence.	Lack of evidence or relevant sources.	No evidence or relevant sources.
Adherence to Referencing Conventions, Technical Skills	Flawless referencing or technical skills.	Flawless referencing or technical skills.	Excellent referencing or technical skills.	Consistent and accurate referencing or technical skills.	Largely consistent accurate referencing. or technical skills.	Limited referencing/ adherence to convention or technical skills.	Inadequate referencing or technical skills.	Inadequate or no referencing or technical skills.
Written/Visual/ Oral Style & Clarity	Professional and sophisticated with exceptional clarity and coherence. Excellent, controlled, confident delivery, pace, and audience engagement.	Professional and fluent with great clarity and coherence. Confident delivery, pace and audience engagement.	Fluent and accurate with great clarity and coherence. Mostly confident delivery, pace and audience engagement.	Clear and coherent. Good delivery, pace and audience engagement	Some lapses of clarity. Some expression is ineffective. Satisfactory delivery, pace and audience engagement	Adequate, but awkward expression throughout with little clarity. Poor delivery, pace and audience engagement	Inadequate and unclear presentation. Impaired communication. Error-strewn.	Grossly inadequate and unclear presentation. Severely impaired communication. Error-strewn.

 

Resources

The library holds several editions of many of the books you will find useful, but references are given here only for the most recent editions.

The recommended text for this module is:

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2019) Research Methods for Business Students, London: Pearson Education

The companion website for this book is: https://wps.pearsoned.co.uk/ema_uk_he_Saunders_ResMeths_8/

Other titles:

Ghanad, A. (2023). An overview of quantitative research methods. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Analysis, 6(8). https://doi.org/10.47191/ijmra/v6-i8-52

Clark, T., Foster, L., Sloan, L., and Bryman, A. (2021) Bryman’s Social Research Methods, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039

Pajo, B. (2018) Introduction to Research Methods: a hands-on approach, Los Angelos: SAGE.

Lune, H and Berg, B.L. (2017) Qualitative Research Methods for the social sciences, London: Pearson Education.

Bryman, A. (2016) Social Research Methods, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2015) Business Research Methods, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Polonsky, M. J. and Waller, D.S. (2015) Designing and Managing a Research project: a Business Student’s Guide, London: SAGE.

Collis, J. and Hussey, R. (2014) Business Research: a practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

You are advised to consult academic journals and periodicals to gain a more detailed understanding of business ethics. The following are consistently useful:

Journals

Journal of Qualitative Research

Journal of Business Research

British Academy of Management Journal

Many academic journals can be accessed online through the Business Source Premier database available via the LibraryWeb.

Web sites in support of student learning:

The Internet is an accessible source of current issues in business ethics and contains many primary documents and case studies not available in print form. The web sites given below are highly recommended. Further web links will be given for lectures and tutorials

I have also found Youtube, in particular, Andy Field’s channel to be exceptionally useful when dealing with SPSS and quantitative analysis techniques:

Academic Support

The Academic Community of Excellence (ACE) provides additional support in addition to Learning Support and is accessible to all students regardless of their academic levels. The ACE Team offers general academic support to help students accelerate their learning progress, catch up with their peers, meet learning standards, or succeed in their academic goals. ACE is placed in the Student Hub, making support easily accessible to all students. Students can contact by emailing at ace@wic.ac.uk.

The module leader will be available by appointment on Microsoft Teams for advice, support and explanation of assessment feedback.

• Feedback is given at multiple points across the duration of the module, in different modes. You should expect, and recognise, that feedback can be given by your peers, verbally in sessions, feedback might be given to the whole module cohort during teaching sessions, and it might also be given in conversation with your tutor.
• Formative feedback doesn’t have a grade attached; it will often be given in your teaching sessions. Formative feedback is valuable as it allows you to improve your subject knowledge for your summative assessment(s) as well as allowing you to practice the type of assessment that you will count towards your final grade for the module.
• You will receive feedback on all summative assessments, these are the graded assessments in your module. You might receive summative feedback during an assessment session, as audio or written feedback.
• Feedback will focus on what you are doing well, and how you can continue to improve your work.

Action Taken and Changes Made in Response to Student Feedback

The word count of assessment component 2, Research Proposal, was reduced from 2,400 to 2,000 words.

Essential Library and Learning Resources

The WIC Library has quiet places to study and a relaxing area. We also have computers, printing, and photocopying. You’ll find all your required books and online resources to help with research and referencing skills.

LTU Website: https://library.leedstrinity.ac.uk/home

Online and Local libraries. Access the new WIC e-library via https://library.leedstrinity.ac.uk/partnerships/waltham-international-college

Race Equality

We acknowledge that racism is ingrained across our society, institutionalised within the higher education sector and our university. We recognise that racism is not always overt and manifests in the everyday life of our staff and students; the impact of which is significantly harmful to individuals and our community. We hold ourselves accountable and empower everyone to be anti-racist, challenge all forms of racism and work to dismantle structures that perpetuate racism including challenging ourselves. We are committed to eliminating racial inequality and will take systematic action to address racial inequities. We expect all staff, students, and all members of our university community including partners and stakeholders to embody these values and behaviours.

Your Module at a Glance – Teaching and Assessment

Module Code		BMM5582				Module Title	Business Research
Module Leader		Dr Pranita Gosavi				Semester/Term	2
Module Learning Outcomes			Upon completion of this module students should be able to:
			Outline specific research aims and objectives, as well as the boundaries of research project.
			Investigate the existing body of knowledge in line with identified research aims and objectives and produce a comprehensive literature review, including a theoretical framework.
			Appraise the various approaches to the investigative method and data collection, compare and contrast a range of research methods and justify their usage.
			Propose a small-scale research project into a chosen business, management, marketing, finance and accounting, international business, or economics topic, and develop a research proposal suitable for undergraduate level.
Weeks				Pre (on-demand learning – available to all students on Moodle)		Live (live learning – face-to-face on campus & online)			Post (on-demand learning – available to all students on Moodle)
	Weekly topic overview			Learning resource sets (Guided & Independent learning activities)	Hours	Face-to-face sessions on campus	Online sessions	Hours	Learning resource sets (Guided & Independent learning activities)	Hours
1	Introduction to Business Research			Pre-reading to be published on Moodle site.	1			3 + 1	01: Group Presentation (40%) – TBC   02: Individual Research Proposal (60%) – TBC feedback – TBC
2	Choosing your Research Topic and Developing the Research Proposal							3 + 1
3	Critically Reviewing the Literature				1			3 +1
4	Research Design, Methodology and Research Ethics				1			3 + 1
5	Methods of Data Collection				1			3 + 1
6	Methods of Data Analysis 1				1			3 + 1
7	Methods of Data Analysis 2				1			3 +1
8	Group Presentation				1			3 +1
9	Finalising the Research Proposal				1			3 + 1
10	Module Summary and Individual Research Proposal Guidance				1			3 + 1
11
12
Total Guided Learning Hours					40
Independent learning hours					160
Overall module learning hours					200

 

Your Module at a Glance – Employability

Module Code	BMM5582	Module Title		Business Research
Module Leader	Dr Pranita Gosavi	Semester		2
Assessment			Leeds Trinity University  Graduate Attributes and Skills Framework		Skills and Attributes Group
Component			DIGITAL CONFIDENCE		Effective Leaning
All evidenced through the Group Presentation and Individual Research Proposal			Digital Tools and Software
			Data Analysis
			Digital Citizenship
			RESEARCH AND THINKING CRITICALLY
			Analysis and Evaluation
			Problem Solving
			Critical thinking
			WORKING INDEPENDENTLY
			Initiative
			Planning and Organising
			Active listening
			RESILIENCE		My Development
			Positive Mindset
			Self-Awareness
			Motivation and Purpose
			ADAPTABILITY
			Managing Change
			Coping with ambiguity
			Flexibility
			PROFESSIONAL OUTLOOK
			Career information
			Articulating your skills
			Graduate Identity and Social Intelligence
			ETHICS, DIVERSITY, SUSTAINABILITY		Making an Impact
			Social Justice and Responsibility
			Inclusivity
			Cultural Awareness
			EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
			Emotional Intelligence
			Networking and Collaborating
			Leadership and Working with others
			ENTERPRISE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
			Innovation
			Commercial and Business/Sector Awareness
			Negotiating and Influencing

Assignment Preparation Checklist

This brief assignment checklist is designed to help you avoid some of the most common mistakes made in coursework. You can sometimes lose marks by forgetting some of the more straightforward elements of your assignments. We recommend that you “tick off” each of the points below as you prepare your work for submission. If you need any help. you can ask your module tutor.

TICK

□         Have you read and understood the assessment criteria?

□         Have you addressed the learning outcomes? Your assessment should clearly demonstrate how you have addressed these in your assessment.

□          Have you kept to the word count? If you are not sure, check with your tutor.

□          Have you demonstrated academic conventions? EG: Show you have supported your arguments using academic literature; you have presented ideas and information which challenges thinking, and you have offered discussion points which extends your own or others’ viewpoints.

□          Have you maintained an academic tone throughout your work? Have you tried to avoid repeating the same words? Have you attempted to use the technical language of your subject area?

□          Have you properly referenced the sources you have used?

□          Have you checked that the referencing/bibliography in your assignment is in line with your course requirements?

□          Have you proof-read your work and used spellcheck software to check your spelling and grammar? Have you made sure your font size, colour, style, line spacing and margins are consistent and appropriate to the work as specified by your tutor?

□          Can you confirm that the work submitted is your own and not plagiarised?

□          Can you confirm that if you have used generative AI, that this has been done as specified by the module tutor in line with guidance within the module documentation?