Description
It should present an original argument, business case or business plan that is carefully documented from primary and/or secondary sources. The research project must have a substantial research component and a focus that falls within the scope of cross-cultural/sustainable business management. It must be written under the guidance of an advisor who is knowledgeable in this area of study. As the final element in the master's degree, the project gives you an opportunity to demonstrate expertise in the chosen research area. Project should present and investigate a hypothesis or a research question. Alternatively, you can construct a business plan to address a current socio-economic, environmental or cultural issue. Whatever topic you select needs to spatially relevant and address a particular audience of interest.
Process
* Choose a topic
*Conduct preliminary research at this stage to understand what the current issues are, and the availability and accessibility of required data and existing research.
* Talk to your professors about the topics to help narrow down your scope.
*Familiarize with the experts in the area you are researching.
INCLUDED IN RESEARCH PROJECT
I. INTRODUCTION gives the background of the project and the rationale for conducting the study .
a. Background of the Study
i. Platform for the significance of the study
ii. Identify information gap
iii. May cite at most five authorities
b. Statement of the Problem
i. identifies the research gaps
ii. justifies the conduct of the study
iii. states the questions that the study hopes to answer
iv. serves as a guide in formulating the specific objectives
c. Objectives of the Study
i. states the general and specific objectives
ii. should be consistent with the problem
iii. should be clearly stated and logically presented
d. Hypotheses of the Study
i. states the researcher's expectations concerning the relationships between the variables in the research problem .
e. Significance of the Study
i. points out the vital contribution of the results of the study and who will benefit from it.
f. Scope and Limitations of the Study
i. sets the delimitations and establishes the boundaries of the study (delimits the study in terms of size and area of coverage)
ii. states what the study will not cover or will not do
iii. identifies the weaknesses and constraints which may affect the results of the study.
g. Definition of Terms
i. includes conceptual and/or operational definitions
ii. hanging indention and alphabetically arranged
II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
a. consists of both the research and conceptual literatures .
b. subsections can be included, which are based on objectives. All subtopics must be italicized and boldly written.
c. references must be properly cited in all paragraphs using author/year format.
(Please see APA for the detailed format).
d. rules on paragraphing must be strictly followed. A paragraph should have at least two sentences. It should not be too long.
e. should consist of at least 10 pages
III. THEORETICAL /CONCEPTUAL/OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK
a. discusses the theories linking the topic to the available body of knowledge
b. presents relationships between different specific constructs the researcher wants to study .
c. specifies the relationships between and among variables
d. may consist of a combination of mathematical, graphical, and/or diagrammatical presentations.
IV. METHODOLOGY
a. describes how the study was conducted
i. Research Design: specifies whether descriptive, causal/explanatory, correlational, comparative, exploratory, evaluative or combination of two or more designs .
ii. Sources of Data: specifies the sources of primary and/or secondary data
iii. Method of Data Collection/Data Collection Procedure: indicates the sampling procedures (if primary data) and the data collection methods such as survey, questionnaire, and others
iv. Analytical Procedures/Methods of Analysis:
1. indicates the most appropriate statistical tools used in analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data mathematical expressions must be italicized and numbered accordingly all models/equations must be properly numbered .
2. all major/key variables must be properly measured/categorized indicating their specific units of measure. The sources of formulas must be indicated in the text.
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
a. summarizes the data collected and the statistical results in sufficient detail to justify conclusions .
b. uses tables and graphs to supplement the text .
c. all figures must be numbered consecutively with their labels written below the figures .
d. the allowable font sizes for the figures are 10-14. All figures must be placed immediately after the page where a particular figure number is mentioned. All figures must be well explained in the text and all figure numbers must be mentioned properly in the text.
e. includes information about the obtained magnitude or value of the test statistic, degree of freedom, probability, and the direction of the effect.
f. evaluates/interprets the implications of the original hypothesis.
g. emphasizes any theoretical consequences of the results and compares results with the work of others.
h. subtopics and their sequencing must follow the specific objectives of the study
i. mostly in the past tense; some are in the present tense
VI. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
a. Summary
b. Conclusions
c. Recommendations
VII. REFERENCES
a. should be alphabetically arranged
b. all the references cited in the text must be included in this section
VIII. APPENDIXES
a. may include verbatim instructions to participants; original scales or questionnaires, and raw data; statistical calculations; and instrument used.