MARK2044_Research Project Proposal Assignment Instructions, Fall 2011

Course Instructor: Dr. Uma Acharya

MARK2044_Assignment Instructions/Guidelines
Marks and Due Date: Group Research Project Proposal: 20% - of total ( Due Week 13) Presentation: 15% of total - (Due Week 12)

Introduction and Guidelines:

The purpose of this assignment is to enhance students understanding about marketing research principles and their application through critical analysis of some of the common marketing issues in the current market environment. The assignment will enhance academic research skills of students using secondary data-scholarly literature and skills to develop a research proposal. You will: Plan a primary marketing research study on a marketing problem of your choice according to industry accepted standards.

Define the marketing problem, marketing research problem and marketing research objectives. Write a marketing research proposal. Write a questionnaire that will address your identified marketing research objectives. Explain how to draw a sample.

The assignment is divided into 2 parts. The students will complete both the parts in groups.

Part I: Written Group Project Proposal

Step 1: Group formation Students form their own groups consisting 3-4 individuals. If any of you have problem forming/finding a group please feel free to discuss with me. Step 2: Topic selection As a group choose a product or service category it can be anything. For example, choose an area that you have some knowledge of, or expand upon content in another project / course work or simply choose a topic you are interested in. Using the GBC library resources, conduct some secondary research to ensure you have a basic understanding of the product/service/ industry that is of interests to you. Students are encouraged to select topics that have personal relevance from work or personal experience, or of other personal significance. Feel free to suggest topics on any aspects of marketing. Step-3 Work distribution and writing of the proposal Develop an outline (2 pages) of your proposal based on the headings provided below. Divide the work among the group members and make sure that all of you have equal and fair participation in the process and that you have learned all the components of a research proposal while focusing on your parts of the Page 2 of 7

MARK2044_Research Project Proposal Assignment Instructions, Fall 2011

Course Instructor: Dr. Uma Acharya

work. Step 4-Writing of the proposal It should be written using complete paragraphs, according to the section headings below. Please follow APA style and formatting (refer to GBC library page for detailed information on APA). The plan should include the following section headings and material: a. Introduction(approximately 1-1.5 pages) i. Situation analysis: Why the research is needed ii. Marketing problem/opportunity iii. Marketing research questions- Research focus, expressed as research question or hypothesis to be tested (with possible sub-questions) to be explored. List 2 to 3 specific research questions that your study will address. This section should include an explicit statement of your research question. Introduce your topic and your writing plan that you are following in this paper. Mention why you are interested in this topic and what is your research question/s? What do you wish to discover through your research? Include whatever information you currently know or have discovered about the context of your research. Mention what is your topic and what are the sections and sub-sections that you are planning to write/address in this paper. Example - My selected topic is---, I plan to discuss the importance of this topic and the rationale of my research under the literature review section I plan to discuss about the selected methods and proposed tools and techniques for my research under methods section. ..etc. 2. Literature Review(approximately 3 to 4 pages)- You must identify and summarize at least 10 scholarly sources dealing with your chosen topic. There are a variety of academic article indexes that you can use. You need to provide justifications for studying your topic and justify the research questions that they will be contributing to new knowledge. You will have to focus on your research questions and related issues and explain why carrying out your research is meaningful. Why do you think that your research is worthwhile? Why do you think your research is important? All your arguments and claims must be substantiated.

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MARK2044_Research Project Proposal Assignment Instructions, Fall 2011

Course Instructor: Dr. Uma Acharya

Example: As several recent news articles (Smith, 2010) have pointed out, access to health care in rural Canada is declining in relation to urban populations. The proposed study intends to systematically explore some of the reasons behind the gap in access to health care in this country. a. Do not simply summarize the articles that you find, but critically analyze them. You need to try to demonstrate a gap that you plan to fulfill through your proposed research. b. Using your secondary research, choose one company/brand and identify the marketing problem / opportunity to be studied, the marketing research problem as well as your specific research objectives. 3. Method - (3-4 pages) How do you plan to conduct the study? This is the most important portion of any proposal (and this one is no different). Select and adapt a method that has been discussed in the course. In doing so, you must demonstrate an understanding of the method, and spell-out the details of how you would apply it to your research question. An example of the gist of this section: This project will employ a combination of methods and techniques to collect and analyze data.... You must specifically address the following: i) Research design: Which research design (exploratory, descriptive, causal) you are planning to use and why do you think this design is suitable for your research questions? ii) Sampling: Define the population from which youll be sampling, the sample size, the sampling method, the method of data collection (e.g. telephone interview) etc. Explain your sampling strategies, interviewing techniques and their appropriateness for the research questions. How are you planning to select your sample and why?
a. If you wish to conduct an experiment, please introduce a description of your technological apparatus, as well as your choice of materials/sites to be tested. b. If you wish to conduct a survey, please explain whom you will be surveying (and why), where you will find them (and why youre choosing this approach), and include a sample survey.

iii) Also important to address who are you going to interview (e.g. executives, customers, consultants, salespersons etc.) and what types of tools are you going to use for such

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MARK2044_Research Project Proposal Assignment Instructions, Fall 2011

Course Instructor: Dr. Uma Acharya

interviews. What types of questionnaire design are you planning to use? Please attach your questionnaire/guidelines as an appendix. Example: A series of interviews with female office workers in Toronto will be conducted. The respondents will be randomly/snowball/.. chosen from the Toronto Womens Professional Directory. I will interview such respondents until I reach a sample size of 5-6/........ The interview guide for this study is contained in Appendix 1. I estimate that each interview will take approximately 45 minutes iv) Questionnaire design: Design a questionnaire (minimum 20 questions) that addresses your research questions. Ensure you follow the design guidelines outlined in class as well as in the text. Design questionnaires that suits your proposed methods Include single and multiple response questions. Keep questions requiring a Yes/No response to a minimum where appropriate? On a separate sheet of paper, for each question, outline the objective (from the research proposal) that it refers to. Submit a copy of this preliminary questionnaire (i.e. the before pre-test questionnaire).

v) PRE-TEST & REVISED QUESTIONNAIRE Each member of the group must pre-test the questionnaire with two people who are not aware of your project and who would be part of the sample population. After the pre-test, make necessary revisions to the questionnaire. On a separate sheet of paper, discuss what you learned by pre-testing the questionnaire and the changes you made to your questionnaire based on this process. Include the pre-test questionnaires in your appendix.

4. Data Analysis: How do you intend to analyze your data? Are you planning to use computer software or planning to code manually. 5. Ethical consideration: Describe how you plan to meet ethical requirements required by GBC. Check the ethical requirements on: http://www.georgebrown.ca/research/ethics.aspx Page 5 of 7

MARK2044_Research Project Proposal Assignment Instructions, Fall 2011

Course Instructor: Dr. Uma Acharya

(Mention that you are aware of these requirements and that you will submit ethics approval documents once the proposal is finalized.) 6. Timeline and budget: (1 page) You should propose a budget breakdown that you think you need to complete your research project. This is the amount of money that you need to pay to yourself, your staff, to purchase of equipment and any other expenses that might occur during the research. This can be real if you have any financial support or you can have a hypothetical budget. Provide an estimate of the expected budget for this project, using the following costs as a guideline.

Project Manager/Analyst Field Interviewers (telephone or in-person) Printing/Copying Data Entry Computing Charges Contingencies

$1000/day $60/hour $0.10/page $10/questionnaire $1000 10% of total budget

You should also include a timeline of research. Specify total length of project from start to finish and break out key milestones. What would be the duration of your research project? Try to break down the time-line into weeks or months depending on the types of the project you have in mind and its duration expressed in person days. This may include the time required to complete an outline, review the literature, collect data etc. Any additional information: Feel free to add any additional information that you think might help make your proposal competitive. 7. References/Works Cited: (no page limits) This is very important section of your research proposal. A References lists page (in APA format) that lists all texts from which you have included information in this assignment. Every time information (e.g., facts, statistics, ideas, and arguments) in your paper comes from another source, that source must be cited where that information appears, and must also be listed in the Reference lists page. 8. Appendices

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MARK2044_Research Project Proposal Assignment Instructions, Fall 2011

Course Instructor: Dr. Uma Acharya

Submitting the assignment a. Please make sure that any tables, figures, or additional information are included in an appendix that is separated from the main text. b. Please hand it in-class on the Week 13, Fall session. c. If you have any questions come and see me in class or make an appointment by email.

PART II
Class Presentation Format Assignment part-II_worth 15% of total Each group will present their term paper in the Week 12 (Dec. 2). Each group will make 20 min. presentations followed by 10 min. discussions using presentation technology. The group members should equally divide the responsibilities among themselves during the presentation and all members in the team should be able to answer questions relating the presentation. Presentation will be marked based on clarity, organization, time management, and demonstration of the in depth understanding of the research questions explored (details will be provided in class).

Writing Style
Based on your critical analysis of the issues pertaining to the selected issues/case write a paper not exceeding 9 -11 pages excluding tables, figures, reference list and appendices (extra pages will not be marked). Your references should be diverse and scholarly and not all sources can be web-sites. Your analysis should be written in essay form with full sentences and phrases, with headings, subheadings, paragraphs, and page number. You can start your essay with headings such as, Introduction, Discussion and Conclusions. The essay should be typed double spaced with 12 point font, and normal (one inch) margin on all sides following APA style.

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MARK2044_Research Project Proposal Assignment Instructions, Fall 2011

Course Instructor: Dr. Uma Acharya

Marking Rubric-Research Proposal

Key Focus 1) Contents:(12 Marks) a. appropriateness and adequacy of the stated research questions for the project and their explanation (has identified key issues stated under Part-I of the assignment descriptions/guidelines) b. the specificity of the information it seeks to obtain through literature reviewed- ( focuses on issues and demonstrates strong relevance to the questions; critically analyzes, doesnt merely summarizes information) c. the specificity of its stated methods for acquiring the answers to the stated research questions (as asked under step 4 methods part) Marks (20) 12

2) Style, Accuracy and Organization (8 Marks) Use of relevant and authoritative scholarly literature (eg. peer reviewed journal articles) In-text citation and their accuracy based on APA Style, And Reference list and their accuracy based on APA Style Organized according to the issues rather than by sources, well presented final look and form of the document

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