RECENT ASSIGNMENT

Topic for Assignment:
Identification of needs and provision of goods and services for people living in small towns or rural areas.
Major Project:
Word length: 2000 words
Format: Management Presentation and Annotated Bibliography
Total marks: 30 % of final grade
This assessment involves developing a research proposal based on one of the topics listed above.
You may select a topic of your own choice, but you MUST obtain approval from your tutor.
assignment is in two parts: (A) class presentation and (B) written paper.
PART A: Class presentation of Research Proposal
(15% of the total mark) 30 minutes
Presentation requirements:
Time limit 30 minutes plus question time.
You should treat the presentation as though you are presenting to senior management in an
organisation, for the purposes of securing their support for your research, or if the topic is not
research within an organisation assume you are presenting to a funding body to secure funding.
Your research proposal must include the following sections:
1. Introduction to, and background information about the topic (problem or research question;
2. The research objectives (at least two);
3. A brief statement how the information will benefit an organisation or society;
4. Critical review of the relevant literature (existing knowledge about the topic);
5. Describe the population, the Sampling Frame, and how will you “extract” the sample,
6. Describe the method/s of data collection;
7. Ethical implications of the research;
8. A statement about how you intend to analyse the data; and
9. List of references.

References
You must have a combination of texts, academic peer reviewed journal articles etc., You may also
use the popular media, (eg the internet, newspapers) but remember those sources are often
opinionated and unreliable. Wikipedia or other websites with no recognisable or academically
acceptable author are not acceptable. Overall you should have 5 to 10 items and you must
include at least three peer reviewed journal articles. The more journal articles you use the more
impressive your literature review will be.
The presentation will be marked both for process (how you present) and content (what you
present). A straight -lecturing- or (worse still) note-reading style, will be regarded as mediocre.
PART B: WRITTEN PAPER (15% of the total mark)
2000 words (excluding the Power point slides)
The written submission must consist of:
a copy of your power point slides;
an annotated bibliography (1500 words); and
a reflection of learning’s (500 words).
The annotated bibliography (1500 words) will consist of the list of references that you presented
on your power point slides with annotations. See Moodle for a sample of annotations. The sample
is quite brief. There is no a prescribed word length for each annotation however the absolute
maximum per annotation is 250 words. The length depends on the extent you used that item in
your presentation.
The reflection of learning’s (500 words) needs to be thought through carefully. It is not a
regurgitation of the proposal or the content of the course, rather it is careful thought about how
understanding of research and the skills of research can potentially benefit you in your future
careers and in your private lives.