Reference no: EM132203278

This assignment brief constitutes part of a programme of work for preparing for your proposal defence and thesis research.

Purpose:

The purpose of this programme of work is twofold. Firstly, it is intended to help you to prepare for your thesis proposal defence, and secondly, it will form part of your final thesis.

The programme of work:

The work that you do for these assessment tasks should be directly relevant and actually contribute to parts of the text of your written PhD thesis. Consequently, it is essential that you develop a rigorous and comprehensive understanding of the theoretical background of your research field. In preparation for the proposal defence,

Key assessment submission dates:

The programme of work is divided into key deliverables to help you to progress in your research in a logical manner.

Section Component of Assessment

Theoretical Background A2

Research Agenda A2

2.1 Developing the theoretical background. Minimum 4,000 - maximum (excluding appendices)

How is my proposed research based on the existing literature?

You are expected to provide a systematic review of the important literature published on your research topic. The objective is to review the literature that contributes to an understanding of the research problem you are investigating. According to Hart (1998), the literature review plays a vital role in guiding your research to answer the questions shown in the Figure below:

Accordingly, it is recommended that you use the followings key pointers as a guide to develop the theoretical background of your research.
- Report on what has been done in your research topic. This is to demonstrate familiarity with the past and state-of-the-art developments in your research topic
- Review the research problems recommended for further investigation
- Identify existing gaps or discrepancies in knowledge on the proposed research topic
- Find out what needs to done in your research topic
- Establish the context of your research problem
- Clarify the structure of your research subject
- Develop the argument and supporting evidence for your research problem
- Find concepts and constructs relevant to your research topic
- Discover conceptual frameworks that might exist in the field of your study
- Explain the relationship between earlier studies and your proposed research
- Determine the rationale for the significance of your research problem
- Developing new lines of inquiry, i.e., the potential contribution of the research

To explore the above key pointers, you are required to carry out a systematic review of the literature. Your literature review must demonstrate knowledge of relevant literature and present a critical assessment with up-to-date references in relation to all of the key pointers mentioned above. This means that you should be selecting those authors who present theoretical foundations for your topic and, for empirical studies, the foundational theory from which these are designed. You need to be able to identify which disciplinary sources are being used - business & management, international business, social sciences, economics, psychology, sociology, etc., and the particular schools of thought within those disciplines that are involved in the academic debates.

At the end of the literature review, you are expected to provide the following:
8. Issues learnt from the literature review
9. Line of argument developed out of the literature review
10. Research gaps
11. State how your research adds to knowledge about the existing and important research work in your field of investigation
12. Research questions
13. Research conceptual frameworks (if applicable)
14. Methods, tools and techniques for conducting the research for your PhD thesis

The output from the extensive systematic literature review should form 1-2 chapters of your thesis (the number of chapters will depend on your research topic, so please discuss this issue with your Director of Studies).

2.2 Developing the research agenda ( 2,000 words - )
You must use the outcome of your systematic review of the literature to consolidate and develop the following:
- Research problem statement
- Research questions
- Research aims and objectives
- Research hypotheses
- Research novelty and contribution

The work done in this section is expected to form the first chapter in your thesis. Thus, it imperative to clearly state the research questions, aims, objectives and hypotheses that your study will address. You should use the outcome of the literature review to support the rationale for these important aspects of your research. Up-to-date academic references must be used to support your case. You must work closely your DoS to refine and approve these important elements of your research.