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Course title: Business Research Methods

Assignment Guidelines

This assignment is a compulsory part of the course and should be carried out by students
individually. The results of the assignment will contribute 50% of the final course score. Hence,
you are advised to take your assignments seriously.

Specific guidelines are listed below:

 Write your Admission Number, Name, Programme Title, Course Code, Course Title, at
the top of the first page of your assignment sheet
 The assignment contains four parts: Paper 1: Research Topic, Paper 2: Annotated
Bibliography, Paper 3: Literature Review, and Paper 4: Research Proposal. Each part of
the assignment listed earlier carries equal mark.
 The list of references should be clearly quoted at the end of the assignment
 Assignments need to be submitted by group reps via my telegram account (0917804408)
on the date of final examination (each section representative should send the assignment
of the section in a zip folder)
 Assignments that are late (without prior authorization or something like a doctor's note)
will receive a non-negotiable grade of 0.
 Assignment work that deviates from the guideline provided will not be marked.
 All of the four assignments should be compiled as one document part by part. One
student should submit one document that include all of the four parts.
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Paper 1: Research Topic: Submit an idea for a research study based on a business/economic
problem. Write the title of the study. Explain your overarching aim for the study. What is the
problem? Why are you passionate about it? What is the significance of it? Draft at least two/four
research questions. Consider vague definitions. Format the citations and bibliography correctly
for your citation or referencing style.
Advice on how to identify research area (topic)

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1. Read on "call for papers" by top journals /journals in web of science core collection
2. Spot the "Research front” on the web of science core collection (hot paper and highly
cited papers are also help full

3. Keep an eye out for Review papers/articles and special issues in your chosen subject
area as they are very helpful in discovering new areas and hot topics.
o Reviews provides an insightful synthesis of the literature, reporting key themes
in the research stream
o The best review high lights unique insights that would not be apparent by
reading a single scholarly or empirical article on the topic
o The review covers a hot topic, updates an earlier review of an established
research stream, or includes other elements that would lead to high cited piece of
interest to greater academy
4. Look for limitations and future directions provided by guru authors in your field /find
those kinds of articles on top journal in you field.
5. Follow the cited by tag on the Google scholar for the best review papers/ research front
articles / hot topics to see the new trend and direction. (Dig for the limitations and future
direction as well)
6. Read in related discipline to identify new boundary conditions (moderators) and
mediators for a proposed dependent and independent variables
7. You can sign up to receive table of contents or notifications when articles are
published in your field from most journals or publishers.

Advice on finding online resources

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Paper 2: Annotated Bibliography: Prepare and submit an annotated bibliography of twenty
(20) articles from academic, peer-reviewed and/or scholarly journals. These articles should be
related to your idea for a research study (e.g., Paper 1). The annotated bibliography will serve as
a resource for developing and writing your literature review and research proposal. Format the
citations and bibliography correctly using endnote, qiqqa, medley or other reference manager.

Refer the following link for further information regarding annotated bibliography
 https://libguides.enc.edu/writing_basics/annotatedbib
 https://utopia.ut.edu/annotatedbibliography
 https://www.bethel.edu/library/research/apa-annobib-sixth.pdf
 https://www.lindsey.edu/academics/img/writing-center-pdfs/annotated%20bibliography
%20-%20apa.pdf
 https://library.csun.edu/docs/apannotbib.pdf
 https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/1340450/
Annotated_bibliography.pdf
 https://uwc.cah.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2016/10/
Annotated_Bibliography_MLA.pdf
 https://www.wlv.ac.uk/lib/media/departments/lis/skills/study-guides/LS136-Guide-to-
Writing-an-Annotated-Bibliography.pdf
 https://libguides.enc.edu/writing_basics/annotatedbib

Advice with regard to Reference managers and storage

Use one or a combination of the following apps (check tutorial on YouTube on how to
use the chosen app among the one listed here under)
1. Qiqqa- it is award-winning research management software, designed for
commercial and academic researchers.
2. Endnote: EndNote gives you the tools you need for searching, organizing
and sharing your research. It allows you to easily create bibliographies while
writing your next paper with features like Cite While You Write. Maximize
your time with features like finding full text for your references and
automatically updating records.

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 3. Medley: it is a unique platform comprising a social network, reference
manager, article visualization tools.
4. Google Drive: It provides a powerful productivity suite useful for
researchers/ teachers. You can now upload your documents, work on them
collaboratively, share them with others and also access them wherever you
are.
5. Drop box: It is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and
videos anywhere and share them easily. Drop box is one of the best apps out
there for backing up and syncing files between devices. Setting up Drop box
only takes a few minutes and files sync in the background seamlessly
6. Zotero: it is a downloadable citation manager, allowing you to collect web
references with one click and then easily create bibliographies.

Paper 3: Literature Review: Prepare and submit a relevant literature review to allow your
reader some insight into the background of your topic (e.g., Papers 1 & 2). Format the citations
and bibliography correctly using reference manager and citation generators. You have to rely
more on peer-reviewed journals, hot papers and highly cited articles to compile your literature
review.

Paper 4: Research Proposal: Prepare and submit a prospectus indicating the background of the
problem, the problem statement, the purpose of the study, the study’s hypothesis(es), a review of
the literature (this should be your revised and improved version of Paper 3) and the methodology
to be employed in your proposed study. You have to develop or adapt an Instrument/ a
questionnaire to be used to solve your problem. In a Prospectus, you are expected to devise a
research plan that will explain your ideas in a structured format for your analysis – You will do
everything except collect the data. Format the citations and bibliography correctly using
reference manager and citation generators.
proposal writing: Instruction
 Your research topic is the same as the one you use for Paper 1: Research Topic
 The minimum page expected is 20 pages and there is no upper limit on the number of
pages

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  Make sure that you include the important components of a research proposal as per the
check list (format of the research proposal) provided by Neil.J, Salkind, 9E, Exploring
Research #204-211
 Please do not copy from any source. Try your own work. The level of similarity index
/plagiarism will be checked by URKUND Anti-plagiarism System

Deadline: At the date of final examination

Submission Format: Soft Copy via telegram. (Each group representative should send the work
of their respective sections in the zip file via telegram)

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