Overview
This unit equips you with the practical and analytical skills needed to design a credible business research proposal. You will learn how to identify a meaningful business problem and critically review relevant literature. The unit introduces different research methodologies, including qualitative and quantitative approaches, and helps you choose methods that best suit your research question. You will also develop skills in communicating your research ideas clearly, while demonstrating intellectual honesty and ethical awareness. Throughout the unit, you will build the critical thinking and planning skills required in the early stages of a research project.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2026
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from On-campus lecturers
Textbook uptake was very low, and subsequently some elements of basic in this unit were being missed
Substitution of required readings available on the Moodle site instead of textbooks is recommended. This has been instituted for the first time in T2 2025.
Feedback from As part of the CC74 Master of Management for Engineers (MME) Five-Year Course Review (FYCR) completed in T1 2025, the review panel recommended that all CC74 MME units be reviewed, including BUSN20016 Research in Business. The current UUP BUSN20016 was approved for T1 2016, and it is therefore due for a review and update. Thus, a UUP for BUSN20016 should be approved for delivery in T1 2026.
Review the unit and create an Update Unit Proposal (UUP) in due time for implementation in T1 2026.
The unit is to be reviewed from different perspectives, including but not limited to the impact of AI on content and assessment, Unit Overview, Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs), and Graduate Attributes (GAs). Rationales for GAs must be included, as they are now mandatory. The review of the unit should also be conducted from the perspective of the courses for which the unit is delivered.
- Identify a relevant business problem and formulate clear, well-defined research question(s).
- Critically synthesise and evaluate scholarly literature and secondary data to develop a theoretical framework for a business problem or opportunity.
- Demonstrate ethical awareness in research design, considering the social, cultural and legal dimensions of the research process.
- Select and justify appropriate qualitative, quantitative or mixed research methodologies demonstrating alignment with the research question.
- Plan a substantial research-based project by communicating a research proposal.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Practical and Written Assessment - 20% | |||||
| 2 - In-class Test(s) - 30% | |||||
| 3 - Research Proposal - 50% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | |||||
| 2 - Communication | |||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | |||||
| 4 - Research | |||||
| 5 - Self-management | |||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | |||||
| 7 - Leadership | |||||
| 8 - First Nations Knowledges | |||||
| 9 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
r.klafke@cqu.edu.au
Week 1
Begin Date: 13 Jul 2026Module/Topic
The nature and issues of business research.
Why research matters, and its importance for your business career.
Learning to read research outputs.
Chapter
The readings for this week are available to be found under Moodle Week 1 tile.
Events and Submissions/Topic
The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence in Business Research Design.
Week 2
Begin Date: 20 Jul 2026Module/Topic
Business research process, design and ethics.
Writing like a researcher.
Thinking like a researcher.
Coming up with ideas for research projects.
Chapter
The readings for this week are available to be found under Moodle Week 2 tile.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Workshop: Problem definition exercise. Development of a preliminary research problem statement.
Week 3
Begin Date: 27 Jul 2026Module/Topic
Research Aim, Objectives and Scope.
Reviewing the Literature and Secondary Data Sources: Types, sources and scale of data.
Finding data.
Understanding variables.
Chapter
The readings for this week are available to be found under Moodle Week 3 tile.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Workshop: Database navigation exercise (Scopus, Google Scholar).
Identification of three relevant journal articles related to students' topic of study.
Week 4
Begin Date: 03 Aug 2026Module/Topic
Data collection and sampling methods.
Chapter
The readings for this week are available to be found under Moodle Week 4 tile.
Events and Submissions/Topic
The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence in Business Research Design.
Week 5
Begin Date: 10 Aug 2026Module/Topic
Quantitative data: some basic processes and approaches.
Tools, techniques, and interpretation.
Chapter
The readings for this week are available to be found under Moodle Week 5 tile.
Events and Submissions/Topic
The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence in Business Research Design.
Assignment 1 - in class/online presentation.
Practical and Written Assessment Due: Week 5 Friday (14 Aug 2026) 11:59 pm AEST
Week 6
Begin Date: 17 Aug 2026Module/Topic
Hypothesis development and testing.
"Good" questions versus "bad" questions.
Chapter
The readings for this week are available to be found under Moodle Week 6 tile.
Events and Submissions/Topic
The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence in Business Research Design.
Vacation Week
Begin Date: 24 Aug 2026Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 7
Begin Date: 31 Aug 2026Module/Topic
Examining relationships between variables: correlation, regression and Chi square.
More advanced quantitative analysis methods.
Chapter
The readings for this week are available to be found under Moodle Week 7 tile.
Events and Submissions/Topic
The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence in Business Research Design.
Week 8
Begin Date: 07 Sep 2026Module/Topic
Qualitative data collection and analysis: interviews, focus groups, and observation methods.
Looking at examples of approaches.
Chapter
The readings for this week are available to be found under Moodle Week 8 tile.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Workshop: Students identify and justify the data analysis tools appropriate for their chosen methodology.
Draft methodology section.
Week 9
Begin Date: 14 Sep 2026Module/Topic
In-class Test (Assignment 2).
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
In-class Test (Assignment 2).
In-class Test Due: Week 9 Monday (14 Sept 2026) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 10
Begin Date: 21 Sep 2026Module/Topic
Communicating Research: writing a research proposal.
Refining the problem statement and research scope, looking at limitations and delimitations.
Understanding the weaknesses of your research project.
Chapter
The readings for this week are available to be found under Moodle Week 10 tile.
Events and Submissions/Topic
The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence in Business Research Design.
Week 11
Begin Date: 28 Sep 2026Module/Topic
Draft research proposal: common mistakes and how to eliminate them.
Academic research writing: dos and don'ts.
Do you have a future in research?
Research careers in business and beyond.
Chapter
The readings for this week are available to be found under Moodle Week 11 tile.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Workshop: Draft proposal.
Week 12
Begin Date: 05 Oct 2026Module/Topic
Workshop: Live research proposal presentation (Assignment 3)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Workshop: Live research proposal presentation (Assignment 3).
Research Proposal and Presentation Due: Week 12 Friday (9 Oct 2026) 11:59 pm AEST
Exam Week
Begin Date: 12 Oct 2026Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Vacation/Exam Week
Begin Date: 19 Oct 2026Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Practical and Written Assessment
For Assessment 1, students submit a research project outline that will form the basis of their final assessment (Assessment 3). The outline must not exceed 700 words (excluding cover page, table of contents, and references). Students should explore the datasets available on Moodle — or other official secondary databases — and start designing a project built around one or more of these datasets.
The Practical (presentation) and Written assessment must inform the following:
Title and study area - no more than 25 words;
Problem statement - students must present what they would like to investigate and why? Here, you need to critically evaluate and analyse the literature to support your problem statement.
Research aim, objectives and scope of the study- identify the potential research aim and objectives that can address the problem that they have identified followed by scope and limitation of the study.
Methodology, sources of secondary data and data analysis - students must outline their chosen methodology (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods) and explain why it is appropriate for their research problem. They must identify the dataset or datasets they will use, and briefly describe the methods and tools they plan to use for data analysis.
References - We expect you to read and reflect on at least 5 recent refereed journal articles closely related to your proposed research topic. The number of references is not of key importance. Focus on the quality, and you should link all evidence or information that can help identify the problem of your research and the methods of data collection and analysis with appropriate in-text references that you have read. False referencing (i.e. referencing that is not linked to the information presented) will lead to a reduction of marks and further analysis for evidence of academic misconduct.
A detailed rubric is available in the "Assessment Tile", providing further details for this assessment task.
This is an individual research task. As a Masters student, you are required to engage in research and demonstrate your understanding of the relevant body of work including recent developments in a discipline and/or area of professional practice. You are also required to demonstrate knowledge of research methods applicable to real-life business research. All students are required to present on the day of their workshop a 3-5 minute long presentation on their project topic and sources of secondary data in Week 5. You will be expected to show some degree of mastery of your topic and data set, to evidence that you have done this task on your own, and have understood the key elements.
This assessment requires students to adhere to the guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence tools as specified in the Artificial Intelligence Assessment Scale 2 (AIAS). Any misuse or lack of disclosure regarding the use of AI tools will be considered a breach of academic integrity. You may use AI for planning, idea development and research. Your final submission should show how you have developed and refined these ideas. Remember, it is important that you learn more than just how to use AI: you need to be able to 'think on your feet', and that requires that YOU learn the core concepts and skills.
(https://aiassessmentscale.com/)
Week 5 Friday (14 Aug 2026) 11:59 pm AEST
The presentation will be assessed during the workshop. The written report can be uploaded by Friday of Week 5, before 11:59 pm.
Every effort will be made to return submissions that were made on time within a fortnight of the due date.
All of the assessment criteria outlined below are equally weighted for this assessment piece.
Assessment Criteria:
A brief statement of the problem (4 marks);
Research aim, objectives and scope of the study (4 marks);
A brief methodology: identification of secondary data, data presentation and analysis approach (4 marks);
Accurate referencing, use of correct English and logical sequencing - APA (4 marks);
Topic and Data skills Presentation (Practical part only) (4 marks).
A detailed rubric is available in the "Assessment Tile", providing further details for this assessment task.
- Identify a relevant business problem and formulate clear, well-defined research question(s).
- Critically synthesise and evaluate scholarly literature and secondary data to develop a theoretical framework for a business problem or opportunity.
- Select and justify appropriate qualitative, quantitative or mixed research methodologies demonstrating alignment with the research question.
- Plan a substantial research-based project by communicating a research proposal.
2 In-class Test(s)
This is an individual online exercise completed during class. The link will be available during your workshop (15 minutes after it had started). Once opened, you will have 100 minutes to complete the task in a single sitting. You cannot exit and re-enter once you have started.
The assessment consists of two components:
30 multiple choice questions. Each correct answer to the multiple choice questions is worth 0.5 mark and 30 correct answers are worth 15 marks.
A short essay question (300 words or less), worth 15 marks.
Content to be assessed: Weeks 1 to 8.
Week 9 Monday (14 Sept 2026) 11:45 pm AEST
Students need to complete this assessment in class during their workshops.
Marks and feedback usually will be returned approximately two working weeks from the assessment due date.
Multiple choice questions are automatically graded. Each correct answer is worth 0.5 mark. The short essay (see below) is worth an additional 15 marks.
The following criteria apply to the short essay component.
Appropriate length (2 marks): 300 words or less. Marks will be deducted for a response that is more than 50 words over length.
Correctness (5 marks): The material included is factually correct and appropriate in answering the question.
Comprehensiveness (5 marks): The response fully answers the question.
Clarity (3 marks): The answer is clearly written and easy to understand.
- Demonstrate ethical awareness in research design, considering the social, cultural and legal dimensions of the research process.
- Select and justify appropriate qualitative, quantitative or mixed research methodologies demonstrating alignment with the research question.
3 Research Proposal
Assessment 3: Full Research Proposal (max. 3,000 words, excluding cover page, table of contents, and reference list)
This is an individual assessment. Your proposal must address the following four sections:
1. Problem Statement, Aim, Objectives, and Scope must clearly define the problem you want to investigate, and state your research aim, objectives, and scope.
2. Research Justification Explain why your chosen topic matters — both theoretically (what it contributes to knowledge) and practically (why it is relevant to the real world).
3. Conceptual Framework: review the literature relevant to your topic and use it to build a conceptual framework that guides your investigation of the research problem.
4. Methodology Drawing on your conceptual framework, aim, and objectives, describe in detail how you will collect and analyse your data — including the methods, tools, and data sources you will use.
All students are required to present on the day of their workshop a 3-5 minute long presentation on their research project (Week 12).
You must read and cite at least 10 recent refereed journal articles. What matters is not the number, but that sources are appropriate, high quality, and directly support the arguments you make. False or unsupported referencing will result in a mark reduction and may be referred for academic misconduct review.
Regarding AI use, this assessment follows AIAS-2. You may use AI for planning, brainstorming, and research, but your final submission must be your own work. It should show how you have developed and refined your ideas, because ultimately, you need to be able to think independently and demonstrate mastery of the core concepts yourself.
(https://aiassessmentscale.com/)
Week 12 Friday (9 Oct 2026) 11:59 pm AEST
The presentation will be assessed during the workshop. The written report can be uploaded by Friday of Week 12, before 11:59 pm.
Every effort will be made to return submissions that were made on time within a fortnight of the due date.
All of the assessment criteria outlined below are equally weighted for this assessment piece:
A detailed statement of the problem, research aim and objectives, research questions and scope of the study (10 marks);
A detailed justification of the project, including an insight into the research gap being explored (10 marks);
The conceptual framework and theoretical insight (10 marks);
Methodology, organisation of the study, accurate referencing (10 marks);
Research proposal presentation skills (Presentation component only) (10 marks).
A detailed rubric is available in the "Assessment Tile", providing further details for this assessment task.
- Identify a relevant business problem and formulate clear, well-defined research question(s).
- Critically synthesise and evaluate scholarly literature and secondary data to develop a theoretical framework for a business problem or opportunity.
- Demonstrate ethical awareness in research design, considering the social, cultural and legal dimensions of the research process.
- Select and justify appropriate qualitative, quantitative or mixed research methodologies demonstrating alignment with the research question.
- Plan a substantial research-based project by communicating a research proposal.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
