CIS8500 Assignment 2
Research Proposal Report
Description Marks out of Wtg(%) Word limit Due date
Assignment 2 100 60 5,000 (±10%) 5 Jun 2017
This assignment must be your own work. It is acceptable to discuss course content with others to improve your understanding and clarify requirements, but solutions to assignment specification must be done on your own. You must not copy from anyone, including tutors and fellow students, nor allow others to copy your work. All Assignments will be checked using collusion monitoring tools to ensure that each assignment is the original work of the submitting student. Assignments that do not adhere to this requirement will be deemed as being the result of collusion or plagiarism. This may lead to severe academic penalties as outlined in USQ Policy Library: Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. It is your own responsibility to ensure the integrity of your work. Refer to the USQ Policy Library for more details:
• Academic Integrity Policy
• Academic Integrity Procedure
Learning objectives and graduate skills tested
1. evaluate strategies for the solution of applied research problems in information systems
2. demonstrate an understanding of applied research methods
3. collect and analyse information systems research data using applied research methods
4. synthesise and communicate information systems research information to inform business decisions
In completing this assignment, you are expected to use available resources such as the
EndNote software, the Course Study Desk – especially the Discussion Forums (click the Study Desk link on UConnect – http://uconnect.usq.edu.au ), as well as finding and reading research articles on your own.
Referencing Requirements
References are required and the Harvard AGPS standard of referencing must be used. This standard is detailed on USQ Library Site http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing .
You are required to use EndNote (reference management software tool) that can be used with Microsoft Word to write and present your research writing with references. Information about downloading and using EndNote is provided in Week 1 Activities.
Plagiarism, collusion and cheating will be severely penalised. Refer to the USQ Policy Library for more details:
• Academic Integrity Policy
• Academic Integrity Procedure
Ensure that your reports are fully referenced, including any reference to the assigned research article. Your report should include in-text references and a List of References.
Do not repeat verbatim large slabs of information from other sources such as the text – you must put the ideas/information in your own words.
You must use at least ten (10) academically sound sources other than the assigned research article in completing this assignment.
Assignment 2 Specification
Assignment 2 requires you to extend your work in Assignment 1 (critical literature review) and develop a research proposal. The research topic, research questions, conceptual framework, literature, methods, significance, limitations and ethical issues must be presented as part of the research proposal in association with your allocated research article sourced from the Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) held in Wollongong in early December 2016: http://business.uow.edu.au/acis-2016/papers/index.html. Your research article has been emailed to you during the second week.
As part of the development of the research proposal based on your allocated research article, you are required to investigate at least ten (10) relevant scholarly articles relevant to the keywords of your allocated research article in order to present your arguments in the proposal.
You are expected to follow the following checklist of headings for your research proposal.
This proposal template has been sourced from Punch, K., 2006. Developing effective research proposals. 2nd edn, Sage Publications.
Your research proposal must be related to a research topic associated with the keywords of the research article assigned to you. Failure to do so will result in your assignments being rejected and no marks will be allocated.
Research Proposal Report
Report Structure and Presentation 5
Your report should include a title page and Table of Contents.
Note: Make sure to state your name and student number in the report on the title page. State the word count of the report (from Introduction to Report Section 7)
Report: Abstract (approx. 300 words) 5
Your report should include an abstract of the proposal. An abstract is a brief summary of the proposal, NOT the introduction to the proposal. Abstract writing requires you to convey as much as possible in as few words as possible. Abstract is written last. Please include the following in the abstract:
• What the research is about and aims to achieve? (research questions) • How the research intends to achieve its objectives?
Report: Introduction (approx. 500 words) 5
Your report should include an introduction to the report. The introduction should be engaging.
• Give some background information (area and research topic) to provide a context for the report
• State the purpose of the report (statement of purpose)
• Clarify key terms and indicate the scope of the report (i.e. what the report will cover)
Report Section 1 – Research Questions (approx. 800 words) 10
In this section, you should write the questions the research is trying to answer. The research questions provide a clear picture of the purpose of the research. Therefore, the research question generally follows from the statement of purpose of the report (Introduction). You need to build an argument based on the purpose of the research and then state your research questions.
You might have a general-to-specific framework of research questions; or an exploratory study that states the general questions and how they might be refined during the research.
EXAMPLE:
General Research Question:
To what extent does social media in e-commerce impact on intention to purchase by online users?
Specific Research Questions:
• What is the influence of social media information on online users?
• How can social media transfer trust in e-commerce for online users?
• How does social media usage, information influences and trust transfer result in purchase intentions by online users?
Report Section 2 – Conceptual Framework (approx. 800 words) 10
A wide variety of approaches are possible to demonstrate conceptual framework of your research. This section must demonstrate how all the important constructs in your studies are related. This can be often done effectively using a diagram and then an explanation of the diagram. If your conceptual framework is only an initial draft that can be modified later, please state so. The role of theory must be demonstrated here – are you proposing some kind of theory development (design theory, principles, methods, models, concepts, etc.) or theory verification? If you are proposing to verify an existing theory, please state hypotheses and refer to the theory behind your research conceptual framework.
Report Section 3 – Literature (approx. 800 words) 10
In this section, your proposal must identify the body of literature that is relevant to your research. You should demonstrate how your proposed research is related to the relevant literature and how the literature will be used in the proposed research to justify and explain the directions of your research.
Your work in Assignment 1 (critical literature review) should provide a strong background to write this section. You can re-use what you did in Assignment 1, however the writing must be repurposed to sharpen the focus of your research work and to give a logical structure to your research questions and conceptual framework.
EXAMPLE:
Social media usage can greatly enhance social presence in e-commerce. Social presence is “communicator’s sense of awareness of the presence of an interaction partner” and purchasing requires relatively high level of social presence (Weisberg, Te’eni, & Arman, 2011). It is therefore important to note that social media usage is becoming increasingly common in e-commerce and their relationship is important to understand.
People make purchasing decisions based on consumer-created information over the Internet (Godes & Mayzlin, 2004). Social media are credible third-party platform for open information sharing unlike online customer reviews where unfavourable comments may be deleted and favourable comments may be repeated to manipulate information depending on seller’s purposes (Lee, Park, & Han, 2011). Since, the first-hand information present on social media is not under the direct control of the e-commerce sellers, social media can have greater influence in providing information that facilitates social word-of-mouth.
A study by Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman (1995) proposed the theory of trust with three dimensions: ability, benevolence, and integrity. In the context of e-commerce, ability can refer to seller’s capabilities to uphold their commitments in their online business.
Benevolence is defined as seller’s obligations to provide value-added benefits to online consumers and Integrity determines the degree of positive attitude and credibility of ecommerce sellers.
A number of solutions have been proposed that can enhance trust in e-commerce and one of them is the mechanism of trust transfer from a trusted source to e-commerce. A study by Lee, Park & Han (2011) expands the trust model in the e-commerce environment to include the trust transfer from consumer communities such as social media. Consumers trust the recommendations of their peers making social media an ideal platform of trust transfer to spread their thoughts and experiences regarding online purchases.
In context of e-commerce, consumer intention to purchase relates to exogenous factors like trust and previous online shopping experience (Monsuwe, Dellaert, & de Ruyter, 2004). Combined with the information influences and trust transfer, social media usage have a strong social context, therefore social media usage can potentially determine purchase intentions in e-commerce by online users.
Report Section 4 – Methods (approx. 800 words) 10
In this section, the overall approach to be taken in your research – quantitative, qualitative or both – must be clearly stated. In this section, you should answer the following:
• What research methodology is proposed? Qualitative, Quantitative, Mixed?
• What is the sampling strategy, the sample size and rationale of sample selection?
• What data collection instruments (survey, interview questionnaire, protocols) are used or generated?
• How the research data is collected and what are the procedures followed for quality data collection?
• How the data will be analysed (statistical analysis, thematic coding)?
EXAMPLE:
This research will consider online users’ opinions about social media usage that may influence purchasing behaviour in e-commerce. The study will conduct a quantitative, positivist analysis of social media impact on e-commerce.
Population of this study includes social media users who have at least one social media profile that they use regularly (eg. Facebook, Twitter or Instagram). Survey will be undertaken in a university environment with a sample of 200 students as respondents. Undertaking an online survey with students is relatively accessible in a university setting. Likewise, university students represent active social media users who are familiar with online shopping. Student sample is also justified because social media users fit nicely with the demographics of college students aged between 18 to 34 years which also represents the highest concentration of social media users among all age groups (Neilson Research, 2011).
This study will utilise questionnaires as a primary instrument for data collection conducted via online survey. The survey questionnaire will compose of two sections: first part will gather basic demographic information and the second part is related to the constructs developed in the conceptual model of this study. The research instrument will be adopted from prior studies and adjusted accordingly to make it relevant to social media and ecommerce relationship for the research study and then the instrument will be validated for reliability of the construct model. Questions related to the construct model will be measured using scaling response approach of an established seven-point Likert scale.
Firstly, the developed research measurement model’s validity and reliability are assessed and confirmed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. This will include measuring goodness of fit of the collected data and instrument validity measures. Structured Equation Modelling (SEM) will then be employed for data analysis and testing hypothesised relationships as required in the research model so that the dependent variable (online users’ intention to purchase) can be observed from the predicting variables developed. Finally, sample respondents will also be analysed with descriptive statistics using frequency tables, cross tabulations and analysis of variances (ANOVA) where applicable.
Report Section 5 – Significance (approx. 500 words) 5
In this section, your proposal must state the significance of your proposed research. This section must answer the question: “why is your research worth doing?”
You can include the following arguments as part of this section:
• justification of your research
• importance/ impact of your research
• contributions your research can make o to the body of knowledge/ literature o to practice/ industry o to policy/ government
• intended outcomes of your research
Report Section 6 – Limitations and Delimitations (approx. 400 words) 5
In this section, your proposal must state the limiting conditions that is unavoidable in your research. All research has limitations and they must be noted in your proposal so that you demonstrate you know these challenges in your research.
Besides the statement of limitations, you must also define “delimitations” – drawing the boundaries around your research study to show what is included and what is NOT included in your research work.
Report Section 7 - Ethical Issues (approx. 400 words) 5
In this section, you discuss the consent, access and associated ethical issues of your research, particularly when your research is based on data from people and about people. You need to discuss this by anticipating what ethical issues may arise in your proposed project and how you will deal with those issues.
Some of the key ethical issues that may need to be addressed are:
• anonymity and confidentiality of data
• privacy
• the use of the research results
• intervention and advocacy
Report: Referencing and Appropriateness of Sources 10
References are required and the Harvard AGPS standard of referencing must be used. This standard is detailed on USQ Library Site http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing .
Ensure that your reports are fully referenced, including any reference to the research article. Your report should include in-text references and a List of References.
Do not repeat verbatim large slabs of information from other sources such as the text – you must put the ideas/information in your own words.
You must use at least ten (10) academically sound sources other than the research article in completing your assignment.
You are required to use EndNote (reference management software tool) that can be used with Microsoft Word to write and present your research writing with references.
Note: the word count does not include references or appendices.
Appendix 1: Critical Review Journal and Reflection Report 20
A reflective report allows you to learn from your critical review experience. It is intended to make connections between what you did in your assignment and what you need to learn/ practice to become a competent researcher.
Prepare a journal that records your activities and reflection of your research work related to completing the assignment. In date order, clearly list the following:
o Date of research activity o Full description of activity/ discussion o Time duration of the activity o Reflection related to the activity (reflective writing)
? Description: Making sense of what did you do?
? Self-Evaluation: How well did you do? You can perhaps do it better next time?
? Action Plan: Why and how this activity could be important for you in future?
Submit this part as Appendix 1 of the Assignment Report.
Submission Guidelines
Attach the Assignment report in Microsoft Word or PDF file format using the naming convention below, to your online assignment submission in the Assignment 2 area on the CIS8500 StudyDesk before midnight Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) on the day the assignment is due.
[lastname].[initial] _ [student number] _ [course code] _ assign2.docx or .pdf (eg. shrestha.a_0050051005_cis8500_assign2.docx).
Upon completion of the submission process, check your UMail email account for an automatically generated confirmation email (if you do not have an email account, print out the Submission Complete screen before exiting the Submission System). You must check that the file name and file size are listed correctly - if there is a problem with either, please email the course leader immediately.
If you have difficulties submitting through the StudyDesk Assignments submission tool, email the course leader immediately for instructions on an alternative course of action. Any submissions after the due date is considered Late Submission and will be dealt accordingly.
Please note that:
• The following is the USQ Assessment – Assignment (Late Submission) and Compassionate and Compelling Circumstances procedure that relate to Extensions and Late Assignments. They can be found under the following links:
? Assessment – Assignment (Late Submission) Procedure:
http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents.php?id=14749PL#4.2_Assignments
? Assessment of Compassionate and Compelling Circumstances Procedures: http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents.php?id=131150PL
• Students seeking extensions for any Assignment work must provide appropriate documentation to support their request before the due date of the assignment (see points 4.3 and 4.4 in the Assessment of Compassionate and Compelling Circumstances Procedures above to see what is considered as Compassionate and Compelling reason for an extension and the level of documentation that will be needed).
• An Assignment submitted after the due date without an approved extension of time will be penalised. The penalty for late submission is a reduction by five percent (5%) of the maximum Mark applicable for the Assignment, for each University Business Day or part Business Day that the Assignment is late. An Assignment submitted more than ten (10) University Business Days after the due date will have a Mark of zero recorded for that Assignment.
? The StudyDesk Assignments submission tool will accept late assignments up until 23:55pm on the 10th University Business Day after the due date.