Students

MQBS8005 – Research Communications in Business and Economics

2024 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor
Terry Royce
terry.royce@mq.edu.au
Contact via email
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Permission by special approval
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
MQBS7005
Unit description Unit description

The unit provides an introduction to the essential elements of the research process, including developing an effective research proposal. It is designed for students who are undertaking, or who are seeking to undertake, a major higher degree research based project or thesis. Students will explore the purpose of research and its role within the broader community. Topics also include the philosophical aspects of the scientific process and knowledge paradigms, developing a necessary researcher’s mindset, as well as various protocols associated with research conduct and academic writing. Students will acquire a deeper understanding of various elements of the research project/thesis, including effective and comprehensive literature reviews, approaches to research and research methodology, as well as how to make sense of, and report on, data results. Students will learn to discuss and contextualise research results with regard to what has been found in previous literature and their implications for the theoretical foundations of their chosen study. Finally, students will be guided through various aspects of the peer-review process including the submission of manuscripts to conferences and journals as well as addressing reviewer feedback.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Develop knowledge, academic literacy and strategies to write critical reviews of literature in the discipline of business and economics
  • ULO2: Develop knowledge, academic literacy and strategies to write the research article, thesis or protocol in the discipline section by section
  • ULO3: Reflect on language and academic communication convention styles to inform future academic practice and writing
  • ULO4: Receive and address feedback to improve the quality of their research
  • ULO5: Orally communicate research ideas to specialist and non-specialist audience

General Assessment Information

Late Assessment Submission Penalty (written assessments) 

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern.  

For any late submissions of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to apply for Special Consideration.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Writing blogs weekly 10% No Weekly
Literature review 40% No 21/04/2024
Oral presentation of the research proposal 15% No 29/05/2024
A research proposal 35% No 12/06/2024

Writing blogs weekly

Assessment Type 1: Non-academic writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 24 hours
Due: Weekly
Weighting: 10%

 

Requires students to choose to write six blogs (Maximum 500 words each) responding to the writing tasks provided in the weekly sessions of the course (except for the last week).

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Reflect on language and academic communication convention styles to inform future academic practice and writing
  • Receive and address feedback to improve the quality of their research

Literature review

Assessment Type 1: Literature review
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: 21/04/2024
Weighting: 40%

 

The literature review requires students to demonstrate their knowledge and stance on the literature pertinent to their preferred subject topic. Students should collect relevant theories and studies from reliable academic sources, and apply critical thinking to evaluate them and critical writing to synthesize arguments and theoretical propositions in their written work. The word limit of the assessment is 3,000 words.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Develop knowledge, academic literacy and strategies to write critical reviews of literature in the discipline of business and economics
  • Reflect on language and academic communication convention styles to inform future academic practice and writing
  • Receive and address feedback to improve the quality of their research

Oral presentation of the research proposal

Assessment Type 1: Presentation
Indicative Time on Task 2: 6 hours
Due: 29/05/2024
Weighting: 15%

 

Students make a 5-min presentation on their proposed study with aid of slides.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Receive and address feedback to improve the quality of their research
  • Orally communicate research ideas to specialist and non-specialist audience

A research proposal

Assessment Type 1: Project
Indicative Time on Task 2: 25 hours
Due: 12/06/2024
Weighting: 35%

 

This assignment requires students to compose a compact-version of research proposal on their preferred topic, the one reviewed for the assignment of literature review. In the proposal, students should address only required elements rather than all elements typically seen in a proposal. The word limit of the assessment is 3,000 words.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Develop knowledge, academic literacy and strategies to write the research article, thesis or protocol in the discipline section by section
  • Reflect on language and academic communication convention styles to inform future academic practice and writing
  • Receive and address feedback to improve the quality of their research

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Delivery: 3-hour seminar taught F2F on-campus

Resources: Please see iLearn for weekly resources.

Unit Schedule

Week 1 Fundamental Knowledge for Starting a Research Project

Week 2 How to Write a Critical Literature Review

Week 3 Library Skills and Information Literacy Support for Research

Week 4 Critiquing Literature and Developing Research Questions

Week 5 Working with Theory in Research

Week 6 Citation & Writing Style & A Rigorous Description & Justification of Methods

Week 7 Literature Review Rhetorical Structure & Interpret Results and Draw Implications

Week 8 Communicating Research to Specialist and non-Specialist Audiences & Develop Arguments and Write with Good Flow

Week 9 Develop Your Research Proposal

Week 10 Abstracts & Introductions: Develop Arguments and Write with Good Flow

Week 11 The Methods Chapter (Revisited) & Results Chapter

Week 12 The Discussion & Conclusion Chapters

Week 13 Oral Presentation (Assignment 4)

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2024.02 of the Handbook