288ACC Research Proposal Coursework and the Marking Criteria
288ACC
Research Proposal Coursework and the Marking Criteria
The research proposal should consist of a maximum of 2500 words. Any data, or other appendices, are not included within this word limit.
You are required to produce a research proposal in the finance area. It is designed to provide the basis for your dissertation in year 3. The required topic sections that you need to cover, along with indicative marking criteria, are shown below.
The assignment is designed to access the following learning outcomes 1 and 2 of conducting an effective literature review and demonstrating an understanding of the research process.
Submission date: 23/04/2018
First= First Class (70%+); Up2 = Upper Second Class (60% – 69%); Lw2= Lower second Class (50% – 59%); Third = Third Class ( 40-49%); Fail= Fail (0% – 39%).
Category |
Marks |
| Research Question and Background
Your research question should be fully stated and you will need to produce a full justification of why you have chosen it. For example, it might be a follow-on study that repeats a study you found in an academic journal but which uses a different data-set.
The background to the research question identifies why this is an interesting question to examine. Interest in this topic might, for example, be driven by current political issues like Brexit.
The scope and limitations of your study should be identified. |
First Up2 Lw2 Third Fail |
| Key Literature Papers
You should identify key or seminal papers in the literature of your chosen topic. These might be just 4-5 papers. The focus of the review is to identify where your work will fit in relation to the seminal papers. You must identify the ‘gap in the literature’ where your work lies.
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First Up2 Lw2 Third Fail |
| Research Methodology
This is the critical section of the proposal and is normally the most detailed section. This may be in the region of up to 1000 words. If the methodology is not realistic and workable the proposal will fail no matter how good the other sections are.
Econometric based methodologies. The best papers often use econometric modelling. If you are using this approach you will need to give a detailed outline of your model. For example, event studies, market efficiency and runs tests, Altman default z-test or value investing.
Case study based methodologies If you are doing a case study or similar, the main theoretical model being applied needs to be identified along with the main variables/factors that you intend to examine in your analysis. For example, if you are doing an accounting based dissertation on ratio analysis details of the ratios to be considered, along with the theoretical objectives and the industries/sectors being examined would all need to be identified.
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First Up2 Lw2 Third Fail |
| Data Sources
You will not be able to do your research unless appropriate data exists. If you fail to provide evidence that you have access to adequate data the proposal will be failed.
Giving general sources such as ‘Bloomberg’ or ‘Reuters’ of ‘FAME’ will not be adequate. You will need to give precise details of the data series to be used including, for example, data identifiers, the time period of your data and any issues you might have with it.
For case study based methodologies the full dataset being examined needs to be identified. For example, the companies being studied, the data being used and the source of this data.
It is recommended that you show a sample of your data in a data appendix (not more than 1-2 pages). |
First Up2 Lw2 Third Fail |
| Research Expectations, Ethical considerations and their implications
Before we undertake research we often have some prior expectation s of what we will find. Briefly identify what these are and give your reasons (theoretical or otherwise). If our research results differ from these it does not matter and as this can then be used in the discussion section of the actual dissertation where the results are discussed.
Before you do your research you will need to go through the University ethics checking procedures. Identify in your proposal whether or not you believe your research will face any ethics related issues that will need addressing.
If your research has any potential implications for, for example, government policy, corporate governance (or similar) these can be identified in the proposal and discussed in detail in the actual dissertation.
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First Up2 Lw2 Third Fail |
| Presentation and Referencing
Referencing style should be consistent and follow a standard academic referencing style. Marks will be deducted for poor presentation style. |
First
Up2 Lw2 Third Fail |
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Total Mark Out of 100%
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Complete Answer:
