Assessment Details and Submission Guidelines
Trimester T3 2020
Unit Code HC3131
Unit Title Business Research Project
Assessment Type 2. Report on Literature Review
Assessment Title Literature Review initial draft
Purpose of the assessment (with ULO Mapping) This assessment item seeks to ensure that all students
enrolled in the Capstone unit are adept at sourcing relevant and current literature using academic search
portals, such as Pro-Quest, and other places where high quality secondary data resides.
Furthermore, this assessment requires students to not only read and summarise what other authors have
already established, but also to become skilful at weaving together
complementary or contrasting arguments relevant to their approved topic, research problem, and research
question(s).
Relates to Unit Learning Outcomes 2, 3 and 4
Weight 15% of the total assessments
Total Marks 15
Word limit At least 3000 words for the initial Literature Review
Due Date Friday of Week 10 [late submission will attract penalties]
Submission Guidelines • All work must be submitted on Blackboard by 12 midnight on the due date, along
with a completed Assignment Cover Page. [If no cover page your mark will be reduced -20%]
• The assignment must be in MS Word format, single spacing, 12-pt Arial font and 2 cm margins on all four
sides of your page with appropriate section headings, paragraphing, and page numbers.
• Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report, and listed appropriately at the end in a reference
list, all using Harvard referencing style.
Assignment 2 Specifications
Purpose:
This unit aims to give you an opportunity to combine many facets of your acquired skills into the production
of a high-quality research project.
Assignment 2 – the Literature Review – is designed to ensure that you master the skills of searching, locating,
reading, summarising, and using relevant academic literature and secondary data to create a compelling
discussion and/or argument, thereby creating the context for their further research in pursuit of the answer to
their research question(s).
Your tutor will LEAD and FACILITATE you through the process, week by week. The learning will be
progressive, so for best results you will need to be reading the weekly materials as well as participating in the
interactive tutorials and discussion board.
Assignment Structure should be the following:
1. An opening statement of the Research Problem and research Question(s) – these should now be more
detailed than what you had in your Topic Approval.
2. Discussion of major theories, models or streams of influence around this topic in different sections using
subheadings. This provides your lecturer with evidence that you have gone deeper than your initial search
now to find literature that leads you toward answering your research question. In each section summarise and
draw conclusions.
3. Draw the reader’s attention to any contrasting views expressed in prior research in this area and give your
view of how differing opinions can be brought together to help answer the research question and ultimately
resolve the research problem. [the more comprehensive your literature review, the better. Whatever you do
NOT find out in this literature review will leave you with more work to do when you move to the next part of
the project, i.e. methodology]
4. Report how it has brought you closer to an answer to your research question(s).
5. Ensure all in text citations are correctly referenced.
6. Add a comprehensive List of References, in Harvard referencing style.
7. [Students please be warned that errors in referencing attract suspicion of plagiarism/academic misconduct
and may require detailed investigation, prompting a request for further information from you regarding your
sources. It is always essential that academic integrity is upheld and any breach thereof may lead to a mark of
ZERO and a report of academic misconduct. Don’t take a chance!]
8. Conclude with the selection of a specific subsection from your overall review that becomes the focus of
your final report with some initial data analysis.