Research Design and Dissertation (BUS9026M)
Assessment 1: Qualitative or Quantitative Research Report
Report A: a qualitative research report (based on peer interviewing) or Report B: a quantitative research report (based on an analysis of an existing SPSS dataset).
The word count for this element of this assessment will be up to 3, 000 words. This assignment accounts for 90% of the module mark. There are no credits attached to this module, so the overall module will be assessed on a pass/fail basis. In marking these, however, tutors will assess against specific criteria, and allocations of marks are given below to guide the students about the expectations for each section.
Both these assignments relate to material that is covered in the Research Design and Methods module, delivered at lectures and practical seminars, and IT workshops.
The following assignment briefs provide more detail of the requirements for each assignment.
Report A: Qualitative Research Report
The first assignment is to produce a research report (max. 3000 words) based on an analysis of qualitative data you will each collect by undertaking an interview. Your task is to conduct an interview, record it, transcribe a sample of your recordings, undertake some initial analysis of the content of the conversation, and reflect on the process of collecting data this way. It is expected you will support this using insights gained from your wider reading on the subject of qualitative interviewing.
The aims of the assignment are:
to familiarise yourself with the use of a qualitative method (in this case, interviewing) for both data production and data analysis to develop your research interviewing and transcription skills to promote reflection on the process of doing qualitative research.
The assignment task is to use a semi-structured or unstructured interview process to discover your interviewee's views and perspectives on the subject of their reflections on living in Lincoln as an international student.
This will involve using interview approaches to probe the subject and gather and analyze your interviewee's own responses to this topic (in his or her own words).
The expectation is that you will interview an international student, possibly someone from your own course. You will have to use your initiative to find a person who will be willing to be interviewed. It is preferable to make contact with someone you don't know very well; a useful approach to do this may be to seek someone who is a friend of a friend.
Give yourself plenty of time to set up the interview. Having made contact, you will have to explain what the interview is about and arrange a time and date. The interview should take place at a location where the interviewee feels comfortable but also where you are both safe (for example, in a public space such as the university library or business school building during normal office hours)[footnoteRef:1]. Set aside between 1 t...
