SUMMATIVE ASSIGNMENT - DISSERTATION PROPOSAL

The task for this part of the assignment is to write a proposal for the dissertation project you will undertake in the final year of your degree programme. The report will introduce your chosen area of research, present evidence for your research aims/questions and will propose a research methodology.

In writing this specific document you should ensure you include the following:

A Title page and anonymous student code

An Introduction to your chosen area of research- including clear statements about: the research problem that you are trying to solve and why this is worth doing. This should lead to a brief summary of the research aims/ objectives.

Literature review – a short review of relevant literature consulted, identifying key theoretical concepts you will use in your dissertation. For quantitative studies, you should attempt to use the literature to create around 2-4 theoretically grounded hypotheses that may form the basis for all or part of your dissertation. For qualitative studies, you could choose to form 1-2 broader research questions.

Methodology – the anticipated research methods you will use to collect data, why this approach is appropriate, sampling procedures (if relevant), data collection instrument development (including relevant scales for quantitative research to be employed or questions for the interview protocol), fieldwork elements that should be taken under consideration (if applicable). Additionally, provide a brief overview of your anticipated data analysis strategy.

Ethical Issues – a short statement demonstrating that you have reflected on any potential issues surrounding your proposed research. Guidance on how to take account of ethical issues in research can be found at: https://www.dur.ac.uk/research.innovation/governance/ethics/ with the forms necessary for ethics approval for the dissertation available at: https://www.dur.ac.uk/research.innovation/governance/ethics/process/online/

Timeline – a summary timetable showing your ‘action plan’ for the dissertation itself. You can choose to use something like a Gantt chart, critical path method (CPM) or a simple table.

an Optional Appendices section may also be included (Very occasionally it may be appropriate to present, in an Appendix, material which does not properly belong in the main body of the assessment but which some students wish to provide for the sake of completeness. Appendices will have no role in the assessment; examiners are under no obligation to read Appendices and they do not form part of the word count.)

Notes:

While you are free to apportion the words as you wish for the proposal, the two key areas that should be given the greatest weighting are the Literature Review and Methodology.

The use of generative AI is permitted in this assignment, but it must comply with the “Policy on the Use of Generative AI in the Faculty of Business” (link), including reporting the AI software used, referencing, and the prompts and outputs utilized in the Appendix. AI may be helpful for correcting grammar and typos, but the quality of responses generated for other purposes is often unsatisfactory. There is no list of preapproved software packages. You can use whatever software you like for the assignment.

Overall word limit: 3000 words

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Your completed assignment must be uploaded to Blackboard

no later than 12:00 midday on 20th January 2025.

The assignment should be submitting using one of the following file types: .doc, docx or .pdf

A penalty will be applied for work uploaded after 12:00 midday as detailed in the Student Information Hub. You must leave sufficient time to fully complete the upload process before the deadline and check that you have received a receipt. At peak periods, it can take up to 30 minutes for a receipt to be generated.

Assignments should be typed, using 1.5 spacing and an easy-to-read 12-point font. Assignments and dissertations/business projects must not exceed the word count indicated in the module handbook/assessment brief.

The word count should:

Include all the text, including title, preface, introduction, in-text citations, quotations, footnotes and any other items not specifically excluded below.

Exclude diagrams, tables (including tables/lists of contents and figures), equations, executive summary/abstract, acknowledgements, declaration, bibliography/list of references and appendices. However, it is not appropriate to use diagrams or tables merely as a way of circumventing the word limit. If a student uses a table or figure as a means of presenting his/her own words, then this is included in the word count.

Examiners will stop reading once the word limit has been reached, and work beyond this point will not be assessed. Checks of word counts will be carried out on submitted work, including any assignments or dissertations/business projects that appear to be clearly over-length. Checks may take place manually and/or with the aid of the word count provided via an electronic submission. Where a student has intentionally misrepresented their word count, the School may treat this as an offence under Section IV of the General Regulations of the University. Extreme cases may be viewed as dishonest practice under Section IV, 5 (a) (x) of the General Regulations.

Very occasionally it may be appropriate to present, in an appendix, material which does not properly belong in the main body of the assessment but which some students wish to provide for the sake of completeness. Any appendices will not have a role in the assessment - examiners are under no obligation to read appendices and they do not form part of the word count. Material that students wish to be assessed should always be included in the main body of the text.

Guidance on referencing can be found on Durham University website and in the Student Information Hub.

MARKING GUIDELINES

Performance in the summative assessment for this module is judged against the following criteria:

Relevance to question(s)

Organisation, structure and presentation

Depth of understanding

Analysis and discussion

Use of sources and referencing

Overall conclusions

PLAGIARISM AND COLLUSION

Students suspected of plagiarism, either of published work or the work of other students, or of collusion will be dealt with according to School and University guidelines.

END OF ASSESSMENT