MARKET RESEARCH

5MARK012W MARKETING RESEARCH

SEMESTERS ONE & TWO

[Academic Year 2019/2020]

CW1 - REFERRAL / DEFERRAL BRIEF

(In-Course INDIVIDUAL Assignment)

[weighted to 50% of Module grade]

Detailed Individual Assessment Outline

Contacts:

Module Leader Anna Zacharewicz 

Office: Room M130: Westminster Business School

Email: [email protected]

Westminster Business School

Completing the REFERRAL / DEFERRAL INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT

There are THREE Tasks / Sections to the Individual Assessment

(weighted to 50% Module Marks)

Different mark allocations for each Task:

Task One = 20% (10% Module marks);

Task Two = 50% (25% Module Marks);

Task Three = 30% (15% Module Marks)

ONLINE SUBMISSION DEADLINE

[Semesters ONE & TWO: REFERRAL / DEFERRAL]

Monday July 27th, 2020

KEY POINTS:

· Each student must only complete their Individual Assignment according to the Brief and the statements for Task Three

· Each student must individually understand the brief – the onus is on each student to query any issues with their class tutor.

· The word limit for the entire submission is 2000 words (with a 10% margin i.e. between 1800 and 2200 words).

· It is recommended Task One be completed in 400 words (+/- 10%), Task Two in 1000 words (+/- 10%), and Task Three in 600 words (+/- 10%) i.e. 300 (+/- 10%) words for each statement.

Context for Individual Assignment Brief

UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER

The University of Westminster / UoW has received many requests for having a bookshop / stationery store at its Marylebone / central London campus.

The University commissioned an exploratory project (based on secondary data collection / desk research) to produce an overview of the type of items different universities were selling / students were buying in such campus-based stores.

Some new secondary data has just been made available and a query has arisen which you (as a research executive working for an Agency specialising in work with students in Central London) have been asked to answer – Task One in the Individual Assessment.

INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT: Task One [worth 20%]

From an exploratory phase (referred to above), a data set (Tables 1, 2 & 3) was obtained (through secondary / desk research) that requires evaluation – refer to the APPENDIX on Page 9.

You (in your role as a marketing research executive) are required to produce a summary (of about 400 words +/- 10%) which indicates what the data is saying &/or not saying i.e. isolate and interpret and summarise the key findings in the data. You will need to provide graphs/tables in summarising the findings.

The allocation of marks is as follows:

· Reworking / SUMMARISING data (6%)

· Key findings from each of three tables (6%)

· Overall summary (linked to acknowledging aim) (8%)

The University is now planning the second phase of the project which will involve a series of Focus Groups among UoW undergraduates / UG students.

Please note there is no requirement to actually complete the Focus Group!!!!

The University wants to explore in detail the expectations UG students have and their specific requirements and preferences for the items to be made available by the University in a store on the Marylebone campus

There will be a set of three Focus Groups at Marylebone. Each focus group will have with between 6-8 participants / undergraduate students from a range of courses delivered at the campus.

Thus, for Task Two, in your role as a research executive, you have been asked to:

· Outline the recruitment parameters for the focus groups

· Produce the discussion guide and some moderator instructions

· Provide some guidelines for analysis of the groups

INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT: Task Two [worth 50%]

There are four components to this task: Recruitment parameters (worth 10%); Discussion / Topic Guide (worth 25%); Facilitator / Moderator Guidance (worth 10%); Analysis Guidelines (worth 5%)

Note: The maximum number of words for this Task is 1000 words (+/- 10%)

Recruitment parameters (worth 10%)

· Outline briefly who will be attending the focus groups and justify your selection of participants

· Provide a screener / short recruitment questionnaire that will ensure the right participants are attending the groups

Discussion / Topic Guide (worth 25%)

· Include the discussion themes / topics (supported by Prompts and Probes) to be covered in a one-hour UG Focus Group

· You must use at LEAST ONE PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUE in the Discussion / Topic Guide.

Facilitator / Moderator Guidance (worth 10%)

· Explain the key issues that the moderator / facilitator should pay attention to (before, during and after the group).

Analysis Guidelines (worth 5%)

· Recommend the best option for analyzing the groups

· Ensure you justify your choice based on an understanding of all the options available for analyzing the groups

Finally, there has been some discussion within the committee at the University of Westminster who will be evaluating the research findings. Statements have been made which are not clear to some members of the committee.

Thus, for Task Three each student will have two statements that they need to explain and critically evaluate.

INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT: Task Three [worth 30%]

Many points were raised during the discussions on the research process carried out by the University of Westminster.

You have been asked to provide a critical evaluation of the following two statements.

Statement One:

1. SAMPLING IS MORE RELEVANT IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH THAN IN QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Statement Two:

2. ETHICAL RESEARCH MUST NEVER USE USER GENERATED CONTENT

Note:

· The evaluation of each statement is worth 15%

· 6% is allocated to evidencing an understanding of the statement and the theoretical aspects embedded in the statement

· 6% is allocated to a critical evaluation (indicating the extent to which the statement is true and/or false)

· 3% is allocated for the use of sources (which should be acknowledged using Harvard referencing)

It is suggested that about 300 words (+/- 10%) are used to evaluate each of the two statements i.e. 600 words in total (+/- 10%) for this task.

GUIDANCE NOTES FOR COMPLETING THE INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT

· Each Task has very specific requirements. Hence ensure you understand what is required and focus on what you have been asked to do.

· Each Task has a different maximum number of words (Task One = 400 words; Task Two = 1000 words; Task Three = 600 words). Please include a word count at the end of each Task

· You can use diagrams, tables, visual representations (which are not part of the word count but must be labelled sourced and used) for each Task.

· It is useful to start each task on a new page / sheet of A4

· Create a professional document for this submission using a reporting format

Further guidance was given during the Module in lectures and during seminars.

Students are also strongly urged to use the CW1 Guidance available in bb.

ONLINE SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Coursework Project Deadline

The REFERRAL / DEFERRAL Individual Assignment report (covering THREE tasks) should be submitted online on Blackboard by 1.00pm:

[Semesters One & Two – Academic Year 2019/2020]

Monday July 27th, 2020

THIS DEADLINE IS FINAL.

All assignments submitted, and date marked later than this deadline will normally be penalized in terms of marks according to University regulations on late submission. Any appeal against this must go through the University's Mitigating Circumstances procedure.

Please note that Course Leaders, Module Leaders and Seminar Tutors do not have any discretion to offer extensions to deadlines.

Submission of Coursework

All coursework on this module should be submitted via Blackboard. On Blackboard it will automatically be scanned through a text matching system (designed to check for possible plagiarism).

For the Blackboard submission:

· DO NOT attach a CA1 form or any other form of cover sheet;

· YOU MUST NOT include your student ID as the document header and also on the first page of your assignment as the University adheres to a policy of anonymous marking!

To submit your assignment:

· Log on to Blackboard at http://learning.westminster.ac.uk;

· Go to the relevant module Blackboard site;

· Click on the ‘Submit Coursework’ link in the navigation menu on the left-hand side, as advised by the module teaching group;

· Click on the link for the relevant assignment;

· Follow the instructions.

You will be given details by the Module teaching group about how and when you will receive your marks and feedback on your work.

REMEMBER:

It is a requirement that you submit your work in this way.   All coursework must be submitted by 1.00pm on the due date.

If you submit your coursework late but within 24 hours or one working day of the specified deadline, 10% of the overall marks available for that element of assessment will be deducted, as a penalty for late submission, except for work which is marked in the range 40 – 49%, in which case the mark will be capped at the pass mark (40%).

If you submit your coursework more than 24 hours or more than one working day after the specified deadline you will be given a mark of zero for the work in question.

The University’s mitigating circumstances procedures relating to the non-submission or late submission of coursework apply to all coursework.

General Guidance:

Each student due to complete a Referral / Deferral Individual Assignment will use the same brief for Tasks One, Two and Three.

Advice:

· Ensure you have all the contact details for your module leader as they are the first contact point for any queries.

· You must abide by the MRS Code of Practice / adhere to ethics in research practice throughout this Module.

· You are not required to carry out a focus group for completion of the Individual Referral / Deferral Assessment.

APPENDIX:

Data Sets for A RANGE OF ITEMS SOLD IN CAMPUS STORES

PLEASE NOTE:

THIS IS FICTIONAL DATA DEVELOPED FOR USE IN THIS INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT AND AS SUCH THE SOURCES GIVEN ARE ALSO FICTIONAL

Table 1:

Most popular items bought in campus stores by college students studying in North America

Products	NUMBER OF STUDENTS BUYING
Pens and pencils	76
Notebooks, planners and diaries	71
Greetings cards	68
Gifts	66
Flash Drives	52
Messenger bags	42
USB rechargeable battery	36
Health items (such as sanitisers)	32
Stainless steel Water bottles	17
Fitness Trackers	15
Power banks	12
Drawing equipment	11
Sticky notes	10
Paperweights	5
Hedgehogs (to store scraps of paper)	4

[Base: 480 respondents / December 2018]

Table 2:

Top Ten Stationery Items in 2019 as voted for by students studying

CATEGORY	% STUDENTS
Marker pens	82
Notebooks and planners	74
Pencil cases	62
Stickers / sticky notes	58
Mechanical Pencils	44
Washi tape	34
Illuminating Pens	32
Erasable gel pens	29
Fountain pens	18
Stapler	10

[Base: 860 UK students in further education / January 2019]

Table 3: Reasons for buying items on campus

Statement	% giving as reason
Neat design and styling	32
Impulse purchase	24
The item is useful	20
Liked the item	18
They make great gifts	12
Needed the item	10
Did not buy	52

[Base: 112 University Undergraduates in the UK studying architecture – October 2019]

BRIEF: ITEMS IN CAMPUS STORE

REFERRAL / DEFERRAL Individual Assessment: MARK SHEET

STUDENT NAME:……………………………. STUDENT NUMBER:………………

	CRITERIA	MARKS	COMMENTS
		Max.	Allocated
TASK ONE	Reworking / SUMMARISING data	6
	Key findings from each of three tables	6
	Overall summary (linked to acknowledging aim)	8
Total Task One	20
TASK TWO	Recruitment	10
	Guide	25
	Moderator Instructions	10
	Analysis	5
Total Task Two	50
TASK THREE	Statement One - Theory	6
	Statement One - Evaluation	6
	Statement One - Sources	3
	Statement Two - Theory	6
	Statement Two - Evaluation	6
	Statement Two - Sources	3
Total Task Three	30
OVERALL TOTAL (across three Tasks)	100
OVERALL (WEIGHTED TO 50%)

REFERRAL / DEFERRAL Individual Assessment Brief Page 6