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Construct a research proposal which captures and articulates a research design for your chosen area of interest/focus.

Coursework Assessment Brief

Module code/name

AFM500 Capstone Project

Module leader name

 

Academic year

2025/2026

Session

April to June 2026 (first half of module)

Copyright Note to students: Copyright of this assessment brief is with the module leader(s) named above. If this brief draws upon work by third parties (e.g. Case Study publishers) such third parties also hold copyright. It must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or shared with any other individual(s) and/or organisations, including web-based organisations, without permission of the copyright holder(s) at any point in time.

Academic Misconduct: Academic Misconduct is defined as any action or attempted action that may result in a student obtaining an unfair academic advantage. Academic misconduct includes plagiarism, obtaining help from/sharing work with others be they individuals and/or organisations or any other form of cheating.

Referencing: You must reference and provide full citation for ALL sources used, including articles, textbooks, lecture slides and module materials. This includes any direct quotes and paraphrased text. If in doubt, reference it. Failure to cite references correctly may result in your work being referred for Academic Misconduct investigation. The University of London checks all assessed coursework for plagiarism using the Turnitin software for guidance. Any references should use a consistent referencing system e.g. Harvard, APA or Vancouver.

Important: This assessment falls under Generative AI policy Level One - Supportive use of Generative AI permitted. The use of Generative AI in a limited way is permitted for this assessment. Generative AI tools may be used to support students in the completion of this assessment but the work submitted must be a genuine demonstration of their own work, for example their subject knowledge or their own critical analysis. Students should not submit the outputs of Generative AI tools as if it is their own work – doing so will be considered an assessment offence. Students should also acknowledge the use of any Generative AI tools used in this assessment.

Core information

Submission date

Monday, 13 July 2026

Submission time

13:00 hours UK time

% weighting of this assessment within total module mark

30%

Maximum word count and penalties

2,500 words. You must state an accurate word count on the front page of your submission. If you exceed the 2,500 words:

By over 10% more - your total mark will be reduced by 5 marks;

By more than 20% - you will receive zero marks for this coursework.

Excluded from the word count

The title/front page, a Table of Contents page, reference list. Charts, diagrams, figures, tables containing numbers/data may be inserted as images (jpeg/PNG).

Submitting your assessment

Use a Word-processed document. Submit one single document to the submission link on the module VLE site by the deadline. Only your Student Reference Number (SRN) should be the identifier. Do not include your name.

Assessment Brief and Requirements

If for any reason you have issues uploading your assignment to the dedicated submission link on the VLE you must immediately log an enquiry through your Student Portal and attach your assignment to that enquiry before the deadline.

Required

There is one requirement in this section, as specified in the Task further below. The focus is the proposal and design of a potential research study.

Context

This coursework assignment focuses on your own personal or professional area of interest. The area of interest is likely to be work-related but the choice of another area of focus, perhaps of a more personal nature, is not excluded. Whichever area of focus you choose it should be justified in your coursework assignment. If you decide to select an area not work-related ensure that the area is of substance and is not ‘light-weight’. As reflected in the Task detailed below, you are required to select, justify and formulate a research proposal for your selected area of focus.

Thus far in this module’s materials you have been introduced to and considered the methodological underpinning of a number of aspects of the nature and logistics of, amongst others:

  • The nature of research: ‘what research is’.

  • Research objectives, hypotheses, and questions.

  • Research paradigms.

  • Literature reviews.

  • Research designs.

  • The nature of and approaches to qualitative research.

  • The nature of and approaches to quantitative research

  • The nature of and approaches to mixed methods research.

In developing your research proposal, you will draw upon, as appropriate, all or some, of the aspects introduced and considered in this module’s materials. You will also undertake your own further consideration of other supporting literature appropriate to your task, showing wider independent research and learning. This is a fundamental expectation at Masters Level studies.

Task

There is one task. This is for you to construct a research proposal which captures and articulates a research design for your chosen area of interest/focus. Please note here that you are not conducting the actual study! This task comprises a number of components and these are detailed further below.

It is worth noting that there is a possibility for you to link your coursework assignment to your final project’s business plan/consultancy report relating to this module. However, do note that the assessment brief for this particular coursework is specific and may not necessarily suit your ultimate business plan/report. This specific coursework is more academic in nature and assesses the theoretical frameworks of research methods whereas the business plan/consultancy report within the final project is more practical in nature. As a consequence, this coursework assignment may not naturally lend itself as a pre-cursor to the project so do not force it to. Also given things/your circumstances can change, you are not obliged to stay with the same topic area/setting in this coursework as for the project submission at the end of the second half of the module.

Guidance for undertaking and completing the Task, and required components

Your proposal will be assessed by the module team against each of the points detailed below. You are advised to ensure that it addresses each of those points further below. Please be reminded that the nature of this coursework assignment is academic and may not lend itself to linking easily to the final project which is focused more on a strategic business plan/consultancy report. You may, for example, explore a specific organisational phenomenon as the basis of your research proposal. This may be built upon within your final project’s business plan/consultancy report, especially where you may wish to cite some of the benefits within the literature of that phenomenon as part of a suggested strategy to implement in your workplace context. It might then also be appropriate to actually explore it within your workplace context via part of the appropriate methods you discuss within your research proposal. This is, of course, something quite specific. Our advice would be not to try to make your research proposal fit what you want to use it for as part of the project, but rather ensure you satisfy the criteria/areas detailed below which should be covered in producing your research proposal. Use this assignment to explore a topic of interest to you, in the first instance.

Your research proposal should include the following components which will be assessed via academic judgement of knowledge and understanding displayed/communicated on a scale of 10: 

1. (Carries 10% of the marks available for this Coursework)

An account of the background to and rationale for your research proposal which should:

Explain the nature of your research topic, expressing your research topic in the form of a problem which needs solving, a question that needs answering or something which you find exciting and has aroused your curiosity and you wish to find out more about.

In so doing, provide a brief description of the background/context and state why your research is worth the effort of undertaking research into.

Note:

If your focus relates to an organisation-related area, emphasise the significance of the research to the organisation.

If it is not an organisational scenario, you should still provide a background and perspective. Illustratively, if your area of focus relates to, say, an impact on society such as medical research, or education, or robotics, you should set a societal background/perspective, and emphasise the significance of the research accordingly. 

2. (Carries 20% of the marks available for this Coursework)

Conduct a brief literature review to inform your proposal and convey the following:

  1. The main themes, focus, findings and significance of existing research literature in the chosen field.

  2. Where appropriate, critique the existing literature to show where gaps exist either in approach, and/or particular areas of focus and/or application to certain scenarios/areas/contexts, and so on.

Note:

This is not a full written literature review (however, you will need to explore the literature!). It will be a summary of the above (a and b) so that a reader can understand what is in existence already and what your proposal may add to the body of literature. It should link to back to component 1 immediately above as well as component 3 immediately below. 

3. (Carries 5% of the marks available for this Coursework)

Construct and set out statement(s) of your research aims and objectives, and associated hypotheses or questions.

Note:

These statement(s) should leave the person reading and assessing your research proposal in no doubt as to precisely what it is your research seeks to achieve.

The statement(s) should be informed by your considerations in components 1 and 2 immediately above.

These should be narrowed down and not too broad in nature. The scope of your proposal should be evident from these aims and objectives and should reflect the pragmatism of what can fit into the word limit, and indeed what a research proposal can actually do as a small-scale research piece. 

4. (Carries 20% of the marks available for this Coursework)

Select an appropriate research philosophy, supported by discussion and justification of your selection.

Note:

Within your justification of why your chosen philosophy is appropriate, you should ensure that you also explain why alternative philosophies are not appropriate.

It is not enough just to explain different philosophies and yet no commentary on their inappropriateness for your work.

5. (Carries 32% of the marks available for this Coursework)

Select an appropriate research design, with an accompanying description, supported by a justification of that research design. In this part of the proposal you should set out and justify:

  1. your approach: whether deductive and/or inductive;

  2. your type of study: whether exploratory or descriptive or explanatory

  3. your strategy, justifying your selection in the context of how it is suited to enabling you to answer your particular research questions and meet your research objectives; here you should refer specifically to the case(s) and/or setting(s) and/or population(s) that will be the focus for data collection;

  4. the nature of the data – primary and/or secondary - you intend to collect;

  5. how you intend to, if necessary, successfully negotiate access to data from institutions and/or organisations and/or individuals;

  6. your sampling strategy, where relevant/appropriate/if not, why not;

  7. techniques, be they qualitative or quantitative or mixed, you intend to use to collect and analyse your data;

  8. a brief indication of timescale if this plan were to be implemented.

Within this component (5) and specifically in relation to item 5g) in the context of item 5d), if you intend to use secondary or primary data or both types, use your knowledge about the nature and characteristics of such data to not only identify appropriate techniques for analysis but to also justify why those techniques are appropriate and others are not appropriate.

6. (Carries 3% of the marks available for this Coursework)

Identify and consider any ethical issues that might arise in the course of the research and how you intend to address them. Consideration of this area is an important part of any proposal and indeed study. Even if you feel there are less ‘ethical’ issues to consider, this should be explicit and also provide the rationale as to why you feel this is the case.

7. (Carries 10% of the marks available for this Coursework)

Relating to structure, clarity and communication of content, up to 10% of the marks are available for the thrust, flow, integration and cohesion of the research proposal, and will be awarded by the marker on the basis of overall academic judgement. 

A relevant reference list. This should link to any references drawn upon in components 1 through to 6 immediately above. (There are no specific marks available for this list but it must link to references drawn upon in your considerations. The marking scheme relating to points 1 through to 6 includes marks for identification and appropriate consideration of relevant and appropriate references. That said, where a relevant reference list is not provided marks will be reduced by 10 percentage points( i.e. 10 marks.)

Other Important notes:

  • There is no formal guidance relating to the word count for individual sections of your proposal. Any one proposal may vary from another.

  • You must decide how to allocate the 2,500 words yourself. You may wish to use the weightings of each criteria/point/section to help you organise this.

  • You need to cover the criteria and requirements set out in points 1 to 7 above in addressing the assessment brief. The reader is not someone who already knows what your idea is and therefore you should write in a way that is accessible and clear. They should not have to second guess you or make assumptions.

  • You may know what you wish to say and ‘know’ it… but the reader does not and needs you to tell them!

How your work is assessed

Within this assessment you may be assessed on the following aspects, as applicable and appropriate to this assessment, and should thus consider these aspects when fulfilling the requirements of each section:

  • The strengths and quality of your overall analysis and evaluation;

  • Appropriate use of relevant theoretical models, concepts and frameworks;

  • The rationale and evidence that you provide in support of your arguments;

  • The credibility and viability of the evidenced conclusions/recommendations/plans of action you put forward;

  • Structure and coherence of your considerations and reports;

  • Appropriate and relevant use of, as and where relevant and appropriate, real world examples, academic materials and referenced sources. Any references should use a consistent referencing system e.g. Harvard, APA or Vancouver.

  • Academic judgement regarding the blend of scope, thrust and communication of ideas, contentions, evidence, knowledge, arguments, conclusions.

According to the Higher Education Qualifications Framework (HEQF) at Masters level (Level 7), the grade standards represented by the mark ranges are:

Mark range

Grade standard

Knowledge and understanding, and intellectual skills

86 and above

Very high Distinction

This work is of publishable quality, with only very minor amendments, and would be likely to receive that judgement if submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.

70 to 85

Distinction

Produces work of exceptional standard, reflecting excellent understanding. Displays mastery of a complex and specialised area of knowledge and skills, with notable critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights at forefront of field. Shows excellent ability to evaluate methodologies critically and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses. Deals with complex issues systematically and creatively, making excellent judgements.

60 to 69

Merit

Produces work with a well defined focus. Demonstrates a systematic knowledge, understanding and critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of the academic discipline, field of study or area of professional practice. Is able to evaluate methodologies critically and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses. Is able to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, making sound judgements in the absence of complete data

50 to 59

Pass

Demonstrates a sound knowledge and understanding of material within a specialised field. Demonstrates an understanding of current theoretical and methodological approaches and how these affect the way the knowledge base is interpreted. Provides evidence of relevant and sound analysis within the specialised area, with some critical evaluation. Is able to analyse complex issues and make appropriate judgements

40 to 49

Fail

Demonstrates knowledge of the field and awareness of current evidence and issues, but with some notable weaknesses. Lacks knowledge and understanding of some key areas. Offers some appropriate analysis, but with some significant inconsistencies which affect the soundness of argument and/or conclusions. Demonstrates very limited critical ability.

39 and below

Fail

Demonstrates little knowledge of the field. Demonstrates significant weaknesses in the knowledge base, and/or simply reproduces knowledge without evidence of understanding. Shows little or no critical ability. Poor, inconsistent analysis.

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AFM500 Capstone Project (What this module is really about)

This module is basically your shift from “learning research methods” to actually designing a real research study on your own. Instead of solving set problems, you pick a topic that matters to you and build a proper research proposal around it. That means identifying a problem, reviewing what others have already said about it, and then designing a structured plan for how you would investigate it in real life.

The focus is not just on writing, but on thinking like a researcher. You’re expected to show that you understand how research is planned from start to finish, including philosophy, design, data choices, and ethics. It’s less about having the “perfect topic” and more about showing you can justify every decision you make in your research setup.

Why students struggle with this assignment

The main difficulty is that this assignment is not a standard essay or report. It sits somewhere between theory, planning, and academic justification. A lot of students underestimate how much explanation is needed for each decision, especially when choosing methodology.

Another common issue is that students either go too broad or too shallow. Some pick topics that are interesting but impossible to research properly in 2,500 words. Others pick something simple but fail to connect it properly to research theory, which is where marks are actually gained.

Where most students lose time:

  • Confusing research philosophy with research design

  • Writing a literature review that is too descriptive instead of critical

  • Setting aims and objectives that are too vague or too wide

  • Forgetting to justify choices (especially sampling and methods)

  • Treating ethics as a short afterthought instead of part of the design

Getting support with AFM500 Capstone Project

This is one of those assignments where structure matters as much as content. Students often lose marks not because their idea is wrong, but because the justification and methodology don’t fully align with academic expectations.

At Assignment Experts, students usually seek help with:

  • Turning vague topics into proper research questions and aims

  • Building a strong literature review with clear gaps

  • Choosing and justifying research philosophy and design properly

  • Aligning methods, sampling, and analysis logically

  • Making the whole proposal read like a coherent academic plan rather than separate sections

The key difference is making sure the proposal actually works as a research design, not just a descriptive write-up of ideas.