The objective of this assignment is 1) to present a more thorough literature review substantiating the relevance of your proposed project, 2) to further explore the identified sub-problems, 3) to develop hypotheses and 4) to explain how your research will be conducted. This will include considerations of how and when the data (quantitative and / or qualitative; secondary and / or primary) pertaining to the hypotheses made (these will need to be stated) will be collected and analysed. Rationales as to why given methods and data sources have been chosen over others must be included; ethical considerations must also be mentioned.
*** PLEASE NOTE: As a guide, approx 1,400 words (of the specified 1,800 word count) should be dedicated to discussing the literature/sub-problems and stating the hypothesis.
Typically, a given research problem (in the sense defined for the first assignment) can be interpreted through more than one hypothesis and will have therefore more than one possible ‘in principle’ solution. Recognising that students do not have the time to look into all of these, the expectation is that students will mention various solutions available (leading to different solutions) but will only choose one (at minimum) on which they will work further. Student must remember that they will be asked to deliver and ‘road-test’ a prototype of a solution as part of completing MGT340 / XXX310; this practical feasibility demand should be their main criteria when choosing a solution.
By week 7 (i.e. when this assignment is due), data collection would typically be about to be initiated. Students are therefore strongly encouraged to seek in-principle confirmation prior to actually starting their data collection. This is especially important if you intend to conduct primary research, as there will be ethical and possibly confidentiality issues to consider carefully.