Research Essay (40%) à Learning Outcomes: 1, 3, 4, 6
Due: Final Assignment at end of Module 3 Analysing Issues in the Relationship between B, S & G in Contemporary Society
Rationale: The aim of the research essay is to develop skills to investigate different sources of information about one specific issue, critically selecting and analysing primary and secondary data to support your own arguments in response to a research question
Ø Choose a specific company in relation to issue Eg. Nike (bad reputation in Sweatshops)
Ø The Research Essay is the product of secondary & primary research to answer assigned research question.
Ø The investigation will use one specific case to illustrate the interaction between the 3 sectors, Business, Society and Government, in relation with the issue selected.
Ø Each research question is linked to one of the 2 sub-modules in Module 3
Ø The Research Essay (2000 words) includes;
o Abstract (Approx. 100 words)
o Presentation of your views on the issue from literature review (Approx. 700 words)
o Presentation of Case to illustrate actions taken by business, government and society (Approx. 250)
o Discussion of the case (a critical view from your own perspective) (Approx. 700 words)
o Conclusion (Synthesis of main issues and a proposal for how the issues could be better managed) (Approx 250 words)
o List of references (8-12 references)
BSP07 Research Questions
Drawing on the concepts and theories studied in Modules II (Ethics&Social Responsibility of business, Stakeholder Theories in the Modern corporation, The role of the State: Idology&Policies) and Module III (Positive&Negative impacts from the operations of Business, Impact of Business on Primary Stakeholders in the Workplace, Impacts from Business on the Wellbeing of Society in General and specific Stakeholders).
Write a Research Essay on the impacts of business activities on stakeholders and the actions taken by business, governments and social groups.
Base your Essay on your research into ONE of the following 6 Research Questions. Use one case (a business company) to illustrate the positive and negative outcomes you identify.
“Why do companies use sweatshops, and what are the impacts of their use for business, for society, and government?”
Preparation for the Research:
The readings in the BSP book are a support for the process of research that students are going to do as the learning process in the rest of the semester. They are guidelines for a more extensive process of research (eg. for an honours thesis) and therefore not all recommendations are relevant for a research assignment, but are important to understand the skill required for completing the research assignment. It is not expected that for the assignment students need to follow all steps included but their reading will provide a good guideline for the preparation of the essay.
In BSP the process of research is the central activity in Module 3, and therefore readings, tutorial activities and videos are provided to guide students through the research process. The research essay is the outcome that tutors will evaluate and marked and it is expected it will reflect an extensive work developed from week 8 to 14 that includes, review of literature for the theoretical perspectives, collection of information and data (texts from secondary and primary sources) on one case, analysis and interpretation of the information and data, reflection on the relationship between different perspectives and the case and communication of results in written form (essay style). For BSP the research is based on library and web resources but it is important to regard the texts collected as important data that should be critically analysed. The research process for writing the assignment is not just to put together fragments of information collected from different sources but the foundation for developing your own argument to be written in an essay form (see the assignment instructions from the unit outline).
The process of Research involves some steps:
1. Identification of the problem (associated with the research question)
2. From the research question you have selected identify key words that might be relevant for the web search (e.g. discrimination, gender, ‘equal opportunity’, ‘glass ceiling’, ethical, trade, consumerism). The readings in the BSP book can be used as a point of departure to select some key words.
3. Use the key words in advance search in the Library catalogue and E-Resources (eg. ABI/Inform Global; Business Source Premier; Proquest ANZ Newsstand, Factiva), and in Goggle Scholar. You can consult the online tutorial provided by the Library (link in web site) to introduce students to the use of the library resources.
4. To limit the findings and quality control use only peer review journals, restrict the dates (e.g.10 last years) and use combination of words using the Boolean search (eg. sweatshop AND outsourcing; child labour without the word sex).
5. Use Newspaper WebPages (eg. The Sydney Morning Herald or an international News agency such as Reuters or from the E-resources of the Library such as Proquest ANZ Newsstand) to identify cases that have reached the news. News articles might provide relevant data to be analysed comparatively with company data.
6. For the selection of the literature review read the abstracts included in the web (or details in the library catalogue) and select one or two recent relevant books and articles that analyse the problem under investigation with an approach closer to the research you are doing. For example if you are researching discrimination in the workplace you rather focus on the ones that refer to workplace issues from a sociological or ethical perspective. There is not a problem in dealing with more broad approaches but it might be not a good time management strategy for the assignment.
7. Identify in the selected literature how the problem has been interpreted by different authors (the different views in the academic debate).
8. Based on the information collected identify a case (a business organisation) whose activities are associated with the problem in positive and/or negative ways (ie. as Corporate Social Responsibility or as target from global social movements).
9. Identify organisations that work for the ‘solution’ of the problem under investigation. (e.g. ILO for labour standards, Human Rights to prevent child labour exploitation, consumer watch organisations)
10. Collect data about the case focusing on the problem under research (data from web pages from the company and from their critics)
The preparation of the Essay involves:
1. Reflective analysis of the literature about the problem (different perspectives and the arguments used to interpret the problem.)
2. Analysis of the data collected from the web page of the company and the critics. It is important to evaluate critically their statements not just take for granted that what they say is the ‘truth’. Look for their contradictions inside a text or comparing different texts from the same source.
3. Use your sociological imagination and ethical reasoning to question the different arguments.
4. For your essay writing, remember that you are the author and even if you refer to the ideas of other scholars, adequately acknowledged, the most important ideas are the ones that you develop from your interpretation of the literature and the analysis of the data. You can use first person if you like but it is not compulsory.
5. The research essay is the outcome of a complex and extensive research process and because it is only 2000 words it is expected that you synthesise the main ideas, arguments and data for the case.
6. The presentation of the case is not a description of the company, neither the way the company represent itself. It is the presentation of your analysis of the initiatives the company have in relation with the specific research question (the discourse and the actions). To including the history of the company is only adequate if it is relevant for the understanding of the practices developed by the business organisation in relation with the problem under investigation.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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