IBRP BIM FAQ List
General Questions
What does FAQ mean? – FAQ stands for ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
What’s the best way to get in touch with the module leader? – My room is 6X222. In 2021 I’m not due into campus (due to lockdown) but I do access email often so that’s probably the best way to get in touch. My email is Peter.James@uwe.ac.uk if you want to ask me a question via email. Remember that a lot of questions about the module are answered here and I recommend reading through them anyway to get a better overall knowledge about what we’re doing on the module.
What are the first steps that I should do in IBRP? – Watch and read Lecture 1. It’ll point out some generic feedback that I’ve found from the first proposals that I’ve marked. Get in touch with the rest of your RMB group and check whether these apply to your proposals.
Once you’ve got your RMB (BIM) feedback, please have a read of that. There should also be some generic feedback from this (and possibly the previous) year, much of which are common issues that came up again and again in the work that the module reader marked for that cohort. You can also read more of the literature and think about how are you going to get access to the people / organisation(s) that you want to research.
What do I do if I haven’t studied RMB (BIM) or feel that I didn’t quite understand the content / failed the RMB (BIM) assignments? – The RMB (BIM) lecture content is replicated here in one of the Blackboard tabs (RMB Module Material) to the left hand side of your screen. This tab should include the slides (with added Notes in the Notes View part of PowerPoint), PLUS Panopto Video Captures of each lecture. The tutorial content is also included. You also have a section of the RMB (BIM) and IBRP module handbooks (the last 7 pages) entitled: Which Statistical Tool Should I Use? Other content from BDM in the first year is included here (specifically some of the materials on how to carry out SPSS tests).
Will there ever be a boy born who can swim faster than a shark? – No.
Do you know the way to San Jose? – No, not really.
What does the fox say? – It’s kind of a high pitched bark.
Who is faster, Superman or The Flash? – The Flash.
Lectures and Q&A Sessions
Lectures:
Will the lectures be recorded? – Yes. The computer that I have that has access to Panopto doesn’t have a camera so it’ll just be my voice narrating the slides. I won’t be recording the Q&A sessions are they tend to be specific about the one-to-one advice for that particular student.
I can’t make it to my timetabled lecture. Is there another lecture I can attend? – The lectures are all recorded remotely this year so it’s up to you when you access them. Generally, the earlier the better.
Why isn’t there a lecture every week for IBRP? – We have covered most of the relevant content in RMB (BIM) that highlighted how to carry out business research using both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. (This is why I’ve made all that available in the RMB Module Materials tab). I don’t want to distract students by asking them to attend sessions with content we’ve already covered. RMB focused on a plan for the research whereas in this semester students will actually be carrying out that research. As such this semester we are just filling in some small gaps left over from RMB
Q&A Sessions:
Are the Seminar Q&A sessions going to be timetabled with the same people? – No, they are not. It’s been very difficult to keep the same people together across two semesters (as some students have left, and some students have joined). However, ideally, I would like to see you do your research project in the same group. You can do this via email, telephone, social media groups or video conferencing software (which mirrors what happens in multi-institutional research projects in non-COVID times).
We’re NOT going to be to strictly limiting attendance to those on the timetable. If your group have a question, then they can join a particular session to ask that question or you could ask the question on their behalf. Most of the work on the research project will be carried out outside of the sessions (it’s like a standard assessment that way).
I can’t get to my timetabled Q&A session but I need to ask a question, what do I do? – You can go to a more suitable session or you can get in touch with the module leader (Peter.James@uwe.ac.uk)
Will the Q&A sessions have the same timetables every week? – Not every week. Some weeks (the initial idea is for weeks 3, 5 and 7) the sessions are being taken by our statistics colleagues from FET. These are to answer queries about how to use the statistics tests. THESE SESSIONS ARE TIMETABLED DIFFERENTLY TO THE OTHER Q&A SESSIONS. PLEASE SEE THE Blackboard Collaborate tab on Blackboard
Software Issues (Qualtrics, SPSS, NVivo)
If I want to use Qualtrics, can I just set up a trial account? – No, you should use a UWE version. If you use a trial account, you cannot export the data so that you can use SPSS to carry out inferential statistical tests on that data and instead are limited to descriptive statistical tests. This will impact your mark for the quantitative analysis part of your report.
First you will need to register: uwe.eu.qualtrics.com Enter your UWE email address. Remember to use any numbers in your address AND the word LIVE e.g. Xiang9.Madeupname@live.uwe.ac.uk It’ll ask for a password, this will be a NEW password for this account. Click on Get Started!
This should start the registering process. They will send you details about starting the account. PLEASE LOOK AT YOUR JUNK AND / OR CLUTTER FOLDERS. The process MAY TAKE A FEW DAYS, so it’s important that you do this in the first few weeks of the module (or during RMB (BIM)) – the sooner the better.
How do you download SPSS? – You should be able to download SPSS from the UWE site. This year they’ve been doing it through AppsAnywhere. [https://www.uwe.ac.uk/study/it-services/software] If you have any issues please contact IT Online [https://www.uwe.ac.uk/study/it-services/it-service-desk ]. There should be a way of doing the formulae for non-parametric tests on Excel however our teaching materials are genuinely limited to SPSS.
Apps Anywhere SHOULD also have details of any code to enter to use the software.
Do we have to do SPSS tests for quantitative data analysis? – I would expect to see one inferential / non-descriptive statistical test used per report e.g. the correlation, t-tests (or their non-parametric equivalents) etc. included in your report.
Which statistical test should I use (with SPSS)? – There is a section of the RMB (BIM) and IBRP module handbooks (the last 7 pages) entitled: Which Statistical Tool Should I Use? This gives guidelines of which test to use. A summary of these tables is included in RMB Lecture 4.
If you look at SAGE Research Methods resources (available via the UWE Library website here: https://www1.uwe.ac.uk/library/usingthelibrary/findthings/searchforthingsa-z/databases/a-z/databasesa-18.aspx#sageresearchmethodsonline) you can also find their guide for which statistics test to use (Or you can try here: https://methods.sagepub.com/which-stats-test ):
It will give you a series of questions about the data and tests you want to use. E.g. if I had data sets from the amount of steps that I took each day in 2019 and 2020 and wanted to see if they were significantly different (and the data was not normally distributed), the checklist points to me using a Mann-Whitney test.
Why aren’t we told which statistical test to use? – In the first year (BDM), students were given a statistical test to carry out. In the final year, should you do statistical analysis in your dissertation, you’ll have to decide, individually, which statistical test to use. In this module, we are trying to bridge the gap by giving that decision to each group to decide themselves. A significant part of the marks are awarded for the ability to choose a test and carry out the analysis, so the teaching team is not going to do the choosing and analysis for you.
Do I HAVE to use NVivo for qualitative data? – You don’t HAVE to but it is a good tool. You could do some thematic analysis and coding by highlighting text just using Word or Excel. NVivo does give some interesting ways of presenting your data e.g. using diagrams similar to http://www.wordle.net/create
From where can I access NVivo? – You should be able to access it from the Computer PC Labs that you used in RMB in the first semester. It’s also downloadable from UWE websites (to either PCs or Macs) and it’d be free to use until you graduate.
You’ll have to log in with your UWE account, this year you should be able to download it from here: ( they’ve been doing it through AppsAnywhere) [https://www.uwe.ac.uk/study/it-services/software] If you have any issues please contact IT Online [https://www.uwe.ac.uk/study/it-services/it-service-desk ].
How do you get results from Qualtrics surveys into SPSS? – Here are some screen shots:
1) Open up the survey in Qualtrics (i.e. the page where you work on the questions) and click on Reports:
2) Click on Share Report
3) Click Export Raw Data And choose SPSS
Where do we put diagrams or report tables from SPSS? – The appendices are certainly the right place for this type of content (along with one short sentence to explain what each table refers to – as readers sometimes find that if tables are included in the appendices there is a little dislocation from the content that’s in the main body of the text).
Assessment Questions
I have written 2,550 words, is that okay? – The maximum word count is expected to be 2,500 words. Please reduce it down to that number (we know that this is difficult but modules in the final year can be very strict about this and we want to prepare you for those assignments).
Is the IRBP research project group work or individual work? – You work on the research project together, but you write up the document that you hand in INDIVIDUALLY. This is similar to what you did for the RMB (BIM) research proposal.
I don’t know the structure of the research project – Firstly, that’s not a question. Secondly, it’s covered in the first lecture of IBRP.
Can we change the topic choice / organisation or company from our RMB (BIM) research proposal? – You can change aspects, however if you change the theory, then it’ll mean writing a different literature review section?
Can we ‘cut and paste’ content from our RMB (BIM) research proposal into your IBRP report? – Some of the content can be similar e.g. The introduction / the literature review / the appendices(plus changes you’ve made) and perhaps even plans of data collection. HOWEVER, remember that the RMB (BIM) research proposal was written in the future tense and this assessment is looking back at work that you’ve carried out.
What’s the marking scheme for the research project and where can I find it? – There’s a copy in the module handbook (see Blackboard for an online copy).
Is there an example assignment that I can look at? – We don’t use exemplars because students could then just copy / paraphrase whole sections into their own assessments [This is following advice I was given from faculty level].
Do I have to write everything in the first person / third person? – Your work is a mixed methods approach. Usually qualitative research is written in the first person, while qualitative research is written in the third person. As this is mixed methods you could use both. If I HAD to choose, my personal choice would be to write in the third person.
Abstract / Contents / Introduction / Background:
Is the Abstract / Executive Summary counted in the word count? – From 2019/2020 onwards we are NOT counting the abstract / Executive Summary in the word count. We WILL expect to see you include one in your final research project report.
Is the Abstract / Executive Summary the same as the Introduction? – No, it’s subtly different. The Abstract gives a summary of the whole document (including what TYPE of data collection methods you used, e.g. don’t say ‘qualitative’ state whether it’s interviews, observations or focus groups) while the introduction points out the structure of the report with some details on background information about the company/companies.
Should the Abstract / Executive Summary have a 1 or 2 sentence summary of the report findings? – Yes.
Do I have to include a contents page? – It’s a good thing to include for the presentation of the report. You will be expected to include one in your dissertation.
Literature Review / Aims & Objectives:
How do you do literature reviews? – There’s a good link to the library study skill pages: https://academicskills.uwe.ac.uk/general/workbooks/literature-reviews/45666/welcome-to-the-literature-review-workbook
Do you know of a good example of a business or management related literature review? – Brown, S.L. & Eisenhardt, K.M. (1995) Product Development: Past Research, Present Findings, and Future Directions. Academy of Management Review, 20, 343-378.
Should I put company information in the literature review? – Usually, no. This is context / background and should be in the Introduction section. It’s not academic literature about the theory.
Can I just ‘copy and paste’ my literature review from my RMB (BIM) research proposal into my project? – We may mark the literature reviews a little more harshly in the IBRP project.
In quite a lot of research proposals, the literature review DOES act as the base for the final literature review. Instead of just cutting and pasting straight across, we advise that you look at any feedback you got, the generic feedback video lecture, any positive feedback your group members got for their literature review and look to see if there are any small improvements you could make (e.g. adding one of the literature review tables into the Appendices, if you hadn’t already done so).
What are some of the key weaknesses with the aims and objectives section? – Sometimes students don’t link the aims and objectives back to the literature review. Often they don’t explicitly state which objective is going to be addressed by collecting quantitative data collection and which is going to be addressed by collecting qualitative data collection.
What kind of content should I aim to put in my literature review? – Most of the time the sources should be either research books, research articles or text books. These would take about 80% of your references. You can then add conference papers as the next suitable source. You should limit the number of references to webpages. Ideally I want to see you writing content about the academic theory (e.g. consumer behaviour) rather than background about the context, company or industry (e.g. the music industry). That would be better placed in an Introduction.
Data Collection, Analysis and Presentation:
Do I have to reference the methods that we use?
Yes. This is a common aspect of most research writing. E.g. if you have used a convenience sample, reference that term from the methods literature. In most of the RMB (BIM) lectures, I will have referenced the slide content in a similar way to that which I expect to see from students. An exception to this is the final year research dissertation choice of ‘Enterprise Project’. This is written for a particular target audience (e.g. venture capitalists) so it doesn’t tend to include as much references as other research focused assignments.
Can I use a convenience sample for collecting quantitative data? – You can do however it’s not the best choice (as it’s not a random sampling technique). It’s a non-probability sampling technique – there are therefore weaknesses in using it for quantitative analysis as it doesn’t represent the whole population. I’d expect to see this mentioned in the limitations section.
[Repeated question] Which statistical test should I use (with SPSS)? – There is a section of the RMB (BIM) and IBRP module handbooks (the last 7 pages) entitled: Which Statistical Tool Should I Use? This gives guidelines of which test to use.
When should we start collecting data? – If you haven’t already started collecting data by Mid-March, then that would be a good time to finalise your data collection methods (e.g. survey, interviews etc) and start collecting the data. Once that’s back, then there shouldn’t be anything to prevent you from starting the data analysis (once all the data is back). The Q&A sessions are all non-stats staff delivered now, until the end of term.
Do we have to use NVivo to analyse qualitative data? – No, however it is a more powerful tool sometimes than just using Word and highlighting / coding text ‘manually’.
Where can I find out more about sampling, data collection, data analysis and data presentation? – These aspects are covered quite a lot in the RMB (BIM) lecture content [available as PowerPoint slides with extra notes, AND video captured content on the IBRP Blackboard webpage]
Limitations:
What should I put into my limitations section? – Here you talk about what the limitations of the study are (e.g. you’ve only collected data from UWE students) and why that limitation occurred / what you did to address that limitation (e.g. students were approached at different places on campus / at different times / on different days during the week, in order to make the sample a little more representative of the student body).
Referencing:
What sort of referencing should I do? – UWE Harvard style referencing (See: https://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/studysupport/studyskills/referencing/uwebristolharvard.aspx )
Do I have to reference methods literature? – Yes. Refer to it to support your choices for methods, sampling, data collection, data presentation or data analysis.
Should I reference background information? – Yes. If you’ve got information about a company, reference where you found it.
What do students often forget about referencing? – They often forget to put book titles or the title of the journal into italics. Book publishers and places of publication are often forgotten. They often leave out the Volume (Issue) and page numbers of a journal article. Sometimes students don’t put the references in alphabetical order, use different fonts or font sizes or WRITE PARTS ALL IN UPPER CASE when they should be in sentence case (if they are the title of an article).
Presentation:
What is the font size? – Size 12
What is the line spacing to be used? – 1 ½ or double line spacing
Personal Reflection:
A quick word about the Personal Reflection. This will be 750 words and handed in the same time as the Research Project (you can include it at the end of that Word document – make sure it’s clearly mentioned in the Contents / first page. It should follow the appendices.
The basic content for this is any part of the research proposal and research project that went well or not so well. Perhaps there were some parts that you thought you would do quickly, but ended up taking longer, or any aspects that you thought would be hard, but ended up being easier to carry out. You can talk also about any changes you’ve made to the research from the first steps last semester to the final submitted copy. Perhaps you changed from doing a focus group to interviews, changed the context of your assignment to a local company, or even changed the topic choice.
What type of content should I include in my personal reflection? – The personal reflection can include (but not be limited to) an account of how your research has changed since the start of RMB (BIM) and areas that you found more difficult or easier than expected. It can include a statement of which dissertation choice you will be studying in your final year and how RMB (BIM) and/or IBRP have prepared you for that module – the key skills and challenges you’ve learnt / the experience you’ve had about how to carry out research.
Resits
What’s the resit format for IBRP? – The resit should be the same format as the sessional assessments, i.e. a 2,000-2,500 word research report and a 750 word personal reflection.
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