ASSIGNMENT 2 – RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Write a Research Proposal

TASK
Write a research proposal in response to a research brief that will be provided to you through the
learning management system for the unit (Canvas).

INSTRUCTIONS

Based on the same company or case as Assignment 1, you will be provided a research
brief detailing a marketing problem, a research problem, research objectives, and
research questions.

As an individual, you are required to write a research proposal in response to that brief.
In the proposal, you should provide an executive summary, a background to the problem,
briefly summarise any available secondary data relevant to the topic area (including
academic literature), propose and justify a research design to answer the research
problem, discuss the ethical considerations of your proposed design, and develop a
research instrument based on your proposed research design (discussion guide, survey,
or experiment).

A suggested format:
- Title Page
- Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- Main Body
• Background
• Secondary Data (including academic literature)
• Proposed Research Design (including justification)
• Ethical considerations
- References
- Appendix: In the appendix you should provide the research instrument (discussion guide,
survey etc.) you would use to collect data based on your research design (this is not
included in the word count).

Submission Details:
The report, references and appendices to be assembled in one document and submitted as
an electronic copy uploaded to Canvas (via Turnitin) by 11:59 pm AEST on end of Week 7,
Sunday 11:59 pm.

1
Word limit: The word limit on this phase of the assignment is 2000 words (not including
Executive summary, table of contents and references).

Value/Weighting: This assignment is worth 35% of your total assessment in this subject.
The assessment criteria are provided following the next page.

NOTES ON REPORT SUBMISSION

- All submissions should be 1.5 spaced. Allow a minimum of 25mm (1”) on left, right, top
and bottom margins. All pages should be numbered.
- A standard font should be used, such as Arial, Times New Roman or equivalent. Size
11 font should be used.
- Do not use first person, e.g., “I” and “we” and avoid colloquialisms and clichés in formal
business reports.
- All tables and figures need to be numbered and labelled and referred to as such in the
text before they appear in the report.
- You should adopt the Harvard system of referencing, i.e., in text referencing (e.g., Smith
and John, 2013). All quotations and references should be properly sourced. Inadequate
details of publications and other sources will reduce the assessed grade. Please see
page 10 of the Unit Outline as well as
http://www.swinburne.edu.au/corporate/registrar/plagiarism/ for direction on writing style
and how to avoid plagiarism.

NOTE: Assignments or projects which are submitted after the due date and time will attract a
penalty of 10% of the total marks available per working day late, up to a maximum of five
working days. Assignments submitted after five working days will be graded with zero marks.

2
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Your work will be assessed using the following marking guide:

Criteria Fail Pass Credit Distinction High distinction

50-59% 60-69% 70-79% 80-100%
Executive Does not provide an Vaguely summarises research Conveys the research focus, but Accurate summary of the research Clear and concise summary of
summary accurate summary of proposal. gaps remain. proposal. all proposal elements. Reader
(5%) the research proposal. Important components are Missing some of the key points Reader can understand most of can fully understand the
Major components are missing / not clearly discussed. outlined in the instruction the proposal through the proposal through the
missing. Some issues of clarity may be Executive Summary alone. Executive Summary alone.
evident Minor slips in clarity may be
evident
Background Fails to provide an Background to the research Background to the research Accurate discussion of the Comprehensive and accurate
(5%) accurate description of problem provided but it relies too problem provided but some background to the research, but discussion of the background
the background to the heavily on the provided case. issues of clarity may be evident minor issues remain. to the research.
research.

Secondary Inadequate secondary Little additional data is cited from Both secondary data and Secondary data and academic Comprehensive and
Data (15%) data or academic secondary data sources or academic literature are used literature reviewed. enlightening review of
(including literature. academic literature. Discussion may summarise rather Review helps clarify the research secondary data and academic
academic Literature discussion lacks clarity than be a critical review. problem and proposed research literature.
literature) design Review highlights key
Gaps in the breadth of the review, or insights, which clarify the
brief lapses in clarity of discussion research problem and
may remain proposed research.

3
Research Research design lacks Research design is proposed but Research design is linked to the Research design clearly linked to the Research design is detailed
design adequate detail and/or some disconnect with research research problem and objectives research problem and objectives and consistent with the
(including does not target the problem may be evident but errors or inconsistencies Rationale justified research problem, objectives,
research problem. Elements may be missing or remain. and questions.
justification) Some lapses in detail.
lacking justification. Justification of elements may lack Rationale detailed and well
(35%)
clarity. justified.
All required elements are
present including sampling
and measurement.

Ethics Lacks a discussion of Ethical considerations related to Ethical considerations related to A comprehensive discussion of A high quality and detailed
(10%) ethical considerations the proposed research design are the proposed research design are ethical considerations is provided, discussion of ethical
related to the mentioned, but some elements discussed in detail, but some gaps with minor lapses of clarity. considerations related to the
proposed research are missing or unclear. in clarity or scope. proposed research design are
design provided.

Research No research Draft research instruments are Draft research instruments are Draft research instruments are Draft research instruments
Instrument instruments are provided provided, but are poorly linked to provided. are provided.
(Appendix) provided, or are not of Major issues with the design of the research questions, or have Instruments may have minor design The research instruments are
sufficient quality. the instruments in relation to the issues with design. issues or miss minor aspects of well designed and capture all
(15%) research questions. research questions. aspects of each research
question.

4
Information Inadequate research Literature review demonstrates Literature review requires more Literature review contains an Literature review contains a
sources conducted research; requires more sources. sources. appropriate number of sources. reasonable number of in-text
No in-text citations or Harvard referencing style has Harvard referencing style has been Harvard referencing style has been citations and a related
(5%)
references been attempted, but with major used, but some errors evident. used. Minor slips may remain reference list.
errors. Some attribution may be unclear Harvard referencing style has
The references used are of an
Attribution unclear Quality of references is variable been used accurately
appropriate quality.
The references used are of low throughout.
quality.
The references used are of
high quality.

Proposal The proposal is poorly The proposal formatting and style The required proposal format has The required proposal format has The required proposal format
format/ style formatted or not is basic and/ or unprofessional. been adopted. been adopted. has been adopted. Inclusion
(10%) written in a Some required elements are Inclusion of most necessary Inclusion of all necessary elements of all necessary elements
professional manner. missing. elements (title page, table of (title page, table of contents etc.) (title page, table of contents
Significant elements contents etc.) etc.)
General presentation, spelling and
missing General presentation, spelling and General presentation, spelling
grammar is of an acceptable
grammar should be improved to and grammar is of a
standard, minor slips remain.
professional standard. professional business
standard.