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LO1: Examine appropriate research methodologies and methods to identify those appropriate to the research process.

ASSIGNMENT BRIEF – AUTUMN 2025

Unit 19: Research Project

Unit Number and Title

Unit 19: Research Project

Academic Year

2025/26

Unit Tutors

 

Assignment Title

Part 1: Research proposal

Part 2: Research report

Issue Date

w/c 06/10/2025

Submission Date

11:59 pm, Friday 19 December 2025

IV Name & Date

1 October 2025

Guidelines for final submission

This assessment will require you to demonstrate your understanding in the use of research techniques and methods addressing the elements that make up formal research, including the proposal, a variety of methodologies, action planning, carrying out the research itself and presenting the findings. Based on your reading and as per instructions given to the above- mentioned documents; you are required to complete a RESEARCH PROPOSAL and a RESEARCH REPORT (as separate submission files).

Note: Prior to planning and preparing for assignments for this module, you must read the published document ‘Pearson Higher Nationals in Business Set-Theme Release (1st September 2025 - 31st August 2026) Unit 19’.

Unit Learning Outcomes

LO1: Examine appropriate research methodologies and methods to identify those appropriate to the research process.

LO2: Develop a research proposal, including a supporting literature review.

LO3: Analyse data using appropriate techniques to communicate research findings. LO4: Reflect on the application of research methodologies and process.

Assignment Brief and Guidance

Introduction to theme: Talent Management

The Pearson-set theme for use with Level 5 Unit 19: Research Project is Talent Management.

Talent management (TM) is the process by which businesses and organisations recognise and develop talented people who can have a positive impact on their organisations and their productivity. It not only has become a key component of human resource management but also the responsibility of leaders and managers at all levels to manage talent within the business, with TM strategies being developed in line with the particular needs and structure of the business and industry.

The theme of Talent Management (TM) relevant to businesses when considering a strategic approach to talent management include the following:

  • the role of line managers and leaders in employee development and well-being;
  • talent management being used as a lever for culture change;
  • the importance of contextualising approaches to talent management;
  • the need for new and innovative ways of working to achieve a strategic approach to talent management;
  • barriers for the development of a strategic approach caused by economic and day-today operational pressures.

Staff retention, training and morale is key in any industry where talented motivated employees can help differentiate one organisation from another and influence business success. An increasing number of businesses are rethinking ways to get the most from their staff. Rising costs, recruitment difficulties and changing employee attitudes mean that, for many employers, the traditional approaches to recruiting, training and retaining staff are being revisited to harness and develop talent and ultimately drive competitive advantage.

Choosing a research objective/question

Students are to choose their own research topic for this unit’s assignment. After discussions in class about suitable research topics, you will choose a topic of your own that relates to the theme of Talent Management.

The range of topics discussed could cover the following:

  • Talent management as a strategic priority
  • The role of talent management frameworks and future implications within organisations
  • Effective talent management strategies for successful organisations
  • The impact of talent management on the role HR
  • Talent management for entrepreneurs and small businesses
  • Best practices in global talent management within multinationals.

Strong research projects are those with clear, well focused, and defined research objective(s). A central skill in selecting a research objective is the ability to select a suitable and focused research objective. One of the best ways to do this is to put it in the form of a question. The research objective should allow you as a learner to broaden your understanding and widen your perspectives by being able to explore, argue, prove, and disprove a particular objective. The research objective(s) you choose should be feasible, novel, ethical, relevant and ultimately of interest to you.

To provide context for their research, each student would need to identify a real-life organisation (it could be for-profit business or a charity), which will be the individual case organisation for this research project. It is recommended that you select a local SME (micro, small or a medium enterprise) in order to better plan, conduct and manage the research activities for your project.

Ideally, you should be able to gain access to the chosen organisation to conduct primary datacollection, which would complement the data you identify from secondary sources.

 

ASSIGNMENT COMPONENTS

Part 1: Research Proposal

Submission deadline for research proposal and ethics form: 14 November 2025. Learning Outcome addressed by this part: LO2

You are required to produce a Research Project Proposal that clearly shows what research you plan to carry out and how you will organise it. You must use the template provided for the Project Proposal.

The Proposal should be approximately 1000 words.

Note: The Research Proposal will be assessed for a Pass / Fail only. No Merit or Distinction grade will be awarded for Part 1. However, a final grade (Pass, Merit or Distinction) will be awarded when the Research Report has been submitted at the end of term.

Once the Research Proposal is written, you need to complete the Ethics Form, provided in continuation within the same template. This will show that you have considered any possible ethical issues that may arise during your research and how you plan to deal with them.

Indicative structure of a research proposal

Title (example): Exploring the impact of talent management on the role HR at The London College

1. Research Aim and objectives (example):

The aim of this study is to explore/examine the factors affecting employee commitment at Sainsbury’s supermarket in the UK. In order to achieve this aim, the following objectives have been set:

  • To review the literature and identify the common factors affecting employee commitment
  • Conduct fieldwork and collect primary data from employees at Sainsbury’s regarding what affects their commitment to the organisation
  • Develop a descriptive model showing factors affecting employee commitment at Sainsbury’s
  • Make recommendations to the selected organisation on how the commitment of their employees can be maintained and/or improved.

2. Background and rationale

This provides the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of your research. What is there in the subject area? What has

been done before by other authors? You need to give this information very concisely.

Once you have explained a few things about the subject area, you need to develop a line of argument pointing out to a gap in the literature. Then, all you need to do is to explain how you are going to fill this gap with your research.

The last paragraph of this section must always state clearly the aim of your research as well as the potential/expected contribution of your research.

3. Methodology

This section should include information about your research design (i.e. case study, survey, action research, ethnography). These are some of the questions you should address: what research design did you adopt? Why? Are there any specific advantages of the research design that you took in to account? Why is it more appropriate than other research designs?

Furthermore, state that your chosen data collection method/s, i.e. will you use interviews – unstructured, semi-structured, structured-, or questionnaires, or perhaps do direct observation, participant observation, focus groups, diary studies, documentary analysis). Explain what data collection method/s you will use, justify why (and why you didn’t consider any others), and how you plan to apply them? If for example, you opt do conduct semi-structured interview, you need to state that clearly, give the characteristics of semi-structured interviews, explain why this method will be used over other data collection methods, and what questions you will ask your respondents. Also, state the purpose of asking those specific questions.

You also need to mention what will be your sampling strategy for collecting your data. First and foremost, you need to explain what your sample is (i.e. what is your sample unit, who are the participants), as well as what the sample size is. Then indicate the sampling types (probability / non-probability sampling), and sampling methods (random /systematic /stratified /cluster/convenience /purposive /snowball /quota).

Furthermore, you need to mention what you plan to do for the data analysis. This depends on the type of data you collect (qualitative/quantitative), and the research approach - inductive/deductive. A range of qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques can be used.

Limitations of your research design. Please identify any issues of validity and reliability, generalisability of the findings based on your research design. No research study is perfect. There are always limitations. You need to recognise and state the limitations of your study so that you delineate the boundaries of your research. This way, you avoid any potential challenges/critique to your study.

Ethical consideration – you will need to acknowledge whether your study would do any potential harm to the research subject/s, would there be any issues of confidentiality and indicate how you are going to ensure anonymity of the respondents. Also, state how you will obtain informed consent of the subjects and ensure their awareness of the purpose of your research project.

Timeframe for the study – this is optional but useful, as it would help you plan and manage your research activities.

4. References

Part 2: Research Report

Submission deadline for final report: 19 December 2025. Learning Outcomes addressed by this part: LO1, LO3 & LO4

If your Project Proposal submitted for Part 1 was approved by the unit tutor, in this second stage of the assessment you are required to plan, organize and implement the project in line with your proposal.

N.B. If your Project Proposal was NOT approved by the unit tutor, you need to discuss it with the tutor and amend it accordingly before proceeding with the project.

You will write up the details of your research project in a Project Report. You need to be aware that this is a relatively small-scale research project and therefore you will need to be careful regarding the scale and scope of the area to be investigated. In addition, your project report must reflect knowledge and understanding of relevant academic and professional literature available on the subject / theme of Talent Management. It must be developed on the basis of appropriate research design and methods and it must provide evidence of primary research and analytical skills. The Research Report should be written in 3000-4000 words.

The following is an indicative Structure and Content of the Project Report:

Note: Your front page must identify your name, ID number, unit number, the title of your research project, and other relevant information. The Table of Contents should be automatically generated in Word. If relevant, you should also include a Table of Figures.

RESEARCH PROJECT REPORT (breakdown by section with word count): Executive Summary 100-150

Chapter 1: Introduction 400

Chapter 2: Literature review 1500

Chapter 3: Methodology 500

Chapter 4: Company background/industry background 300 (max)

Chapter 5: Findings 1000

Chapter 6: Discussion and Conclusion 700

 

Executive Summary: it is a summary of your whole research project condensed in one page.

Please do not include any in-text citations here.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Purpose of chapter: It explains the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of your research. Introduces the subject area, develops an argument and presents the gap in the literature, then makes a case for the research project. It follows up with the aim and objectives of the research.

Chapter sub-structure

Scope and focus of the research: here you should present the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of your research. What is there in the subject area? What has been done before by other authors? You need to give this information very concisely)

Once you have explained a few things about the subject area, you need to develop a line of argument pointing out to a gap in the literature. Then, all you need to do is to explain how you are going to fill this gap with your research.

The last paragraph of this section must always state clearly the aim of your research as well as the potential/expected contribution of your research.

1.2 Aim and objectives

1.3 Summary of chapters

Chapter 2: Literature review

Purpose of chapter: To review the existing literature (that is what has been written in the subject area by previous authors). The literature review is always centred on the research aim/question. The ultimate purpose of the literature review is to inform you, and the reader, how to go about investigating your topic. Ideally, the chapter should end with a summary and conclusions where you can explain how you can investigate the topic. This won’t be like the methodology (you are not going to talk about the fieldwork) but it would concentrate more on the lenses you would apply in your investigation, i.e. what would be your levels of inquiry, if you would concentrate on particular dimensions, etc.

Chapter Sub-structure

2.1 Introduction

2.2. (theme 1)

2.3 (theme 2)

2.3.1  (sub-theme 1)

2.3.2  (sub-theme 2)

2.4

2.7 Summary and conclusions

Chapter 3: Methodology

Purpose of chapter: To explain how you conducted the fieldwork Sub-structure

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Research design

Research design (case study, survey, action research, ethnography). What research design did you adopt? Why? Are there any specific advantages of the research design that you took in to account? Why is it more appropriate than other research designs?

3.3  Data collection method/s

Data collection method/s (interviews –unstructured, semi-structured, structured-, questionnaires, direct observation, participant observation, focus groups, diary studies, documentary analysis).

Explain what data collection method/s you used, justify why you used them (and why you didn’t consider any others), and how you applied them? I.e you did some semi-structured interviews: You need to state that clearly, give the characteristics of semi-structured interviews, explain why you used these over other data collection methods, and how you used them (what questions did you ask? And what was the purpose of asking these questions?)

3.4  Sampling

Sampling (types: probability/non-probability sampling, methods: random/systematic/stratified/cluster/convenience/purposive/snowball/quota). First and foremost you need to explain what is your sample and what’s the sample size

3.5  Data Analysis

Data analysis (depends on the type of data you collect –qualitative/quantitative, and the research approach -inductive/deductive-. Various qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques can be used)

3.6  Ethical Considerations

Please acknowledge any ethical aspects in your study and how you dealt with them, such as damage to research subject/s, issues of confidentiality, anonymity of the respondents, awareness of the project, informed consent of the subjects.

3.7  Limitations

No research study is perfect. There are always limitations in terms of the effectiveness of the applied research methods. You need to recognise and state the limitations of your study so that you delineate the boundaries of your research. This way, you avoid any potential critique to your study.

Chapter 4: Company/industry background

Purpose of chapter: to provide relevant background of your chosen case company / organisation and its industry / sector. It helps the reader to familiarise themselves with the context of your study.

Sub-structure

(there is no particular structure in this chapter, although you can include various headings like history, organisational structure, key players, size of the market, the nature of the demand, competition, etc.)

Chapter 5: Findings

Purpose of chapter: Presents the results of the fieldwork. Sub-structure

5.1  Introduction

5.2  (theme 1)

5.3  (theme 2)

5.3.1  (subtheme 1)

5.3.2  (subtheme 2)

5.10 Summary of findings

Chapter 6: Discussion and Conclusion

Purpose of chapter: to give a definitive answer to your research question/aim and discuss your findings in the context of your case organisation. Highlighting key points and aspects of your research findings, please reflect on how these compare / contrast with the theoretical / literature positions. From a critically self-reflective perspective, please acknowledge any limitations in your research impacting the validity, reliability or generalisability of your findings, as well as any other challenges to meet your project objectives. You should also consider alternative research methodologies and lessons learnt in view of outcomes.

Sub-structure

6.1 Introduction

6.2. (theme 1)

6.3  (theme 2)

6.3.1  (sub-theme 1)

6.3.2  (sub-theme 2)

6.5 Recommendations for further research

List of References Appendices

Please use as many as you deem necessary, and make sure you number each appendix.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Pass

Merit

Distinction

LO1 Examine appropriate research methodologies and methods to identify those appropriate to the research process

For LO1 and LO2:

D1 Justify chosen research methodologies

and processes supported by a credible academically underpinned literature review.

P1 Examine alternative research methodologies. P2 Explore alternative methods and tools used for the collection of research data that consider costs, ethics and access.

M1 Evaluate alternative research methodologies and data collection methods and justify choices made based on philosophical/theoretical frameworks.

LO2 Develop a research proposal, including a supporting literature review

P3 Produce a research proposal, including a defined aim and objectives supported by a literature review.

M2 Evaluate the merits, limitations and pitfalls of approaches to data collection in compiling the research proposal.

LO3 Analyse data using appropriate techniques to communicate research findings

P4 Conduct research using appropriate methods for a business research project.

P5 Analyse data from research findings to communicate research outcomes in an appropriate manner for the intended audience.

M3 Present the analysis of data utilising appropriate analytical techniques, charts and tables to meet the research aim and communicate outcomes.

D2 Communicate to the intended audience the research findings and outcomes, including justified recommendations.

LO4 Reflect on the application of research methodologies and process

P6 Reflect on the effectiveness of research methods applied in meeting objectives of the business research project.

P7 Consider alternative research methodologies and lessons learnt in view of outcomes.

M4 Demonstrate self-reflection and engagement in the research project process, leading to recommended actions for future improvement.

D3 Demonstrate critical self- reflection and insight that results in recommended actions for improvements to inform future research.
       

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All About Unit 19: Research Project

Unit 19: Research Project is a Level 5 unit where you plan and carry out your own small research study. It is not just another essay, it is a full project where you choose a topic, design the research, collect data and write up your findings in a proper report.

For the 2025/26 academic year, the Pearson-set theme for this unit is Talent Management. This means your project must link to talent management in some way.

Further Information on Unit 19

Unit 19 helps you learn how to:

  • plan a realistic research project in business

  • choose suitable research methods

  • collect and analyse data

  • write a structured research report

  • reflect on what you did and what you would improve next time

The unit is based on a real organisation (usually a local SME or charity). You do not just write “in theory”, you connect your work to a real business and real people.

Unit 19: Research Project is important for students because it pulls together everything they have been learning and asks them to use it in a real situation. Instead of just writing another essay, they have to pick a live business issue linked to talent management, work with a real organisation, and collect their own data. This helps them understand how research is actually used in the workplace to solve problems, not just in textbooks. Students learn how to plan a project, manage time, deal with people, and turn information into clear findings and recommendations. These are the same skills employers look for in graduate roles, especially in HR, management and business analysis, so completing Unit 19 can make students feel more confident and better prepared for real jobs.

Sample of Unit 19

Title

Exploring the impact of talent management practices on employee retention in a UK SME: A case study of BrightWave Marketing Ltd

1. Research Aim and Objectives

Aim
The aim of this research is to explore how talent management practices influence employee retention in a UK-based small to medium-sized enterprise (SME), using BrightWave Marketing Ltd as a case study.

Objectives

  1. To review relevant literature on talent management and employee retention, with a focus on SMEs in the UK.

  2. To identify the main talent management practices currently used at BrightWave Marketing Ltd.

  3. To examine how these practices affect employees’ intentions to stay with the organisation.

  4. To make practical recommendations to BrightWave Marketing Ltd on how to improve talent management to support staff retention.

2. Background and Rationale

Talent management has become a key concern for organisations that rely on skilled and motivated staff to stay competitive. In the UK, service-based SMEs often face strong competition for talent, rising salary expectations and changing employee attitudes towards work–life balance and career development. When talented employees leave, SMEs can struggle with recruitment costs, loss of knowledge and disruption to client relationships.

Existing literature highlights that effective talent management goes beyond recruitment and includes structured development, fair performance management, clear progression routes, and a positive organisational culture. Many studies, however, tend to focus on large multinational companies with formal HR departments and established global talent programmes. SMEs, in contrast, often use more informal and ad hoc approaches due to limited budgets, fewer HR specialists and pressing day-to-day operational pressures.

BrightWave Marketing Ltd is a fictional but realistic UK-based digital marketing SME with approximately 40 employees, providing services such as social media management, content creation and campaign planning to small businesses. Like many SMEs in the creative and digital sector, it operates in a highly competitive labour market where experienced staff can move easily to other agencies or in-house marketing roles.

Preliminary conversations with managers (hypothetical for the purposes of this proposal) suggest that while the company offers some training and flexible working, there is no formal talent management framework and concerns have been raised about staff turnover, especially among junior and mid-level employees. This indicates a potential gap between what employees expect in terms of development and recognition, and what the organisation currently provides.

The gap in the literature relates to how smaller UK service-sector organisations, such as digital marketing agencies, apply talent management in practice and how this shapes employee retention. By focusing on one SME, this research will provide detailed, context-specific insights into which practices matter most to employees and where improvements could have the greatest impact.

The aim of this research, therefore, is to explore the relationship between talent management practices and employee retention in a UK SME, using BrightWave Marketing Ltd as a case study, and to develop recommendations that can support both organisational performance and employee well-being.

3. Methodology

3.1 Research Design

This study will adopt a case study research design. A case study is appropriate because the project focuses in depth on one organisation within its real-life context. This design allows for the use of multiple sources of data and helps the researcher understand how different talent management practices interact within the specific culture and structure of BrightWave Marketing Ltd. Compared with large-scale surveys, a single-case study is more feasible within the time and word limit of this unit and is better suited to exploring “how” and “why” questions about employee retention.

3.2 Data Collection Methods

A mixed-methods approach will be used, combining quantitative and qualitative data:

  • Employee questionnaire (online survey):
    A short anonymous questionnaire will be distributed to all employees at BrightWave Marketing Ltd. It will include closed questions (using Likert scales) on topics such as perceived quality of training, clarity of career paths, fairness of performance reviews, work–life balance, and intention to stay with the organisation over the next 12 months. This method is cost-effective, protects anonymity and should encourage honest responses.

  • Semi-structured interviews:
    Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with approximately 4–6 participants, including at least two line managers and two non-managerial employees. An interview guide will be prepared with open questions on how talent is identified, developed and retained, what support employees feel they receive, and what might encourage them to stay longer. Semi-structured interviews are chosen because they provide flexibility to probe for deeper explanations, while still keeping the discussion focused on the research objectives.

Other methods such as focus groups and observations were considered but rejected. Focus groups may inhibit open discussion about retention and management if colleagues are present, and observation would be harder to organise within the time available.

3.3 Sampling

The sample for the questionnaire will be all BrightWave Marketing employees (approximately 40 staff). The target response rate is at least 20 completed questionnaires. A non-probability convenience sampling approach will be used, as all staff will be invited via internal email and participation will be voluntary.

For interviews, purposive sampling will be applied to select participants who can offer different perspectives (e.g. junior staff, senior staff, managers). Around 4–6 interviews are planned, depending on availability and consent. While this is a small sample, it is appropriate for an in-depth case study and manageable within the time limits.

3.4 Data Analysis

Quantitative data from the questionnaire will be entered into Excel (or similar software) and analysed using descriptive statistics, such as frequencies, means and simple cross-tabulations. This will help identify patterns in how employees view current talent management practices and their intention to stay.

Qualitative data from interviews will be transcribed and examined using thematic analysis. The researcher will read through the transcripts, code repeated ideas (for example, “limited progression”, “supportive manager”, “flexible working”, “lack of feedback”) and group them into broader themes linked to the research objectives, such as “development opportunities”, “recognition and reward” and “work–life balance”.

Findings from both data sets will then be compared and integrated to answer the research aim.

3.5 Limitations

This research has several limitations. First, it focuses on a single SME, so the findings may not be generalisable to all UK organisations. Second, the sample size is small and depends on voluntary participation, which may introduce self-selection bias. Third, the study relies on self-reported data, which can be influenced by personal feelings, fear of criticism or poor recall. Finally, time constraints mean that the research provides only a snapshot, rather than tracking retention over a long period.

Yes, you need a real organisation. The brief says you must choose a real case organisation (ideally a local SME or small charity) and link your research to Talent Management in that setting. You should be able, if possible, to collect some primary data from them (e.g. a short survey or interviews).

The proposal (about 1,000 words) is your plan: title, aim, objectives, short background, and proposed methodology + ethics form. It’s marked Pass/Fail only. The report (3,000–4,000 words) is the full project: introduction, literature review, methodology, company background, findings, discussion, conclusion, references and appendices. This is where you get Pass/Merit/Distinction

You are expected to try to collect some primary data (e.g. questionnaires, interviews or observations) from your chosen organisation to go with your secondary research. If access is limited, you should still document what you did, explain your sampling clearly, and be honest about the limitations in Chapter 3 (Methodology) and Chapter 6 (Discussion and Conclusion).

It cannot just be your opinion. You must link your work to academic and professional literature on Talent Management. That means using books, journal articles and reliable sources in your literature review (Chapter 2) and then comparing your findings (Chapter 5) with what the literature says in Chapter 6. All sources should be properly referenced in the reference list

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