The assessment for RPO is to produce an individual research review of 3,000 words in which you investigate the literature for one of the module lecture topics in depth and identify suggestions for future research in that area.

Assessment brief

The assessment for RPO is to produce an individual research review of 3,000 words in which you investigate the literature for one of the module lecture topics in depth and identify suggestions for future research in that area.

The review should be written in an essay style - but note that it has a specific format. Rather than writing ‘everything I know’ about a topic, you will choose a specific focus within that topic and develop that focus to create a research question, highlighting how further research into the topic could take place. Seminar activities are designed to help you produce your coursework and tutors will provide you with formative feedback as you develop your review.

The research review should contain the following elements (with word counts given for guidance):

A title which reflects the focus of your research review - this does not count towards your word count

An introduction where you briefly outline your choice of topic and the structure of the review which follows. You should use the Area-Focus-Aspect model to show how your topic will develop throughout the review towards your specific research question. (Approx 250 words)

A literature review in which you provide a thematic analysis of the literature relating to your topic. You should aim to include at least 20 sources which should provide a balanced blend between high quality academic sources (such as peer-reviewed journals and books) and other sources of information (such as industry reports, news articles and  secondary sources).  You should pick out three or four key themes within the literature which are relevant to the development of your topic. Stronger pieces of work will identify the key debates and gaps within the literature and use these as a means of focussing the review (Approx 1250 words).

A research question, based upon your literature review, which identifies a specific aspect of your topic that you think deserves further investigation. The research question should develop from gaps in the current literature where you think that more research about the topic is needed. You should also identify the specific area where you would target the collection of data for your research – for example which organisation, or group of people, or datasets would you use? (approx. 250 words).

An overview of two different and contrasting research methods that you could use to answer your research question. You should evaluate these methods by comparing and contrasting the types of knowledge they would generate and highlighting any ethical and practical issues which might arise. Stronger pieces of work will draw upon insights from some of the research methods used in the articles used for your literature review. Stronger pieces of work will also make links with epistemological and ontological issues linked to different research philosophies. (Approx 1,000 words)

A conclusion where you summarise the key points from your review and emphasise the value of your proposed research.  A strong conclusion will outline this value by, for example, highlighting the contribution to knowledge that your research would create, or highlighting a particular workplace issue that it might inform, or a group of people that might benefit from the research.  (Approx 250 words)

Draft outline

Title	(Same as Aspect)
Introduction (Approx 250 words)	Area: Bodies in organisations Focus: Workplace Drug Testing Aspect: How do organisations enforce drug testing policies and what are the workers opinion of such policies?
Literature review (Approx 1250 words)	Theme 1: Theme 2 etc:
Research question (Approx 250 words)	Research question: Target for data collection:
Research methods (Approx 1000 words)	Method 1: Method 2:
Conclusion (Approx 250 words)
Reference list

Introduction

An introduction where you briefly outline your choice of topic and the structure of the review which follows. You should use the Area-Focus-Aspect model to show how your topic will develop throughout the review towards your specific research question. (Approx 250 words)

Area   Bodies in organisations

Focus   Workplace Drug Testing

Aspect   How do organisations enforce drug testing policies and what are the workers opinion of such policies?

 

Literature review

A literature review in which you provide a thematic analysis of the literature relating to your topic. You should aim to include at least 20 sources which should provide a balanced blend between high quality academic sources (such as peer-reviewed journals and books) and other sources of information (such as industry reports, news articles and  secondary sources).  You should pick out three or four key themes within the literature which are relevant to the development of your topic. Stronger pieces of work will identify the key debates and gaps within the literature and use these as a means of focussing the review (Approx 1250 words).

Theme 1
Theme 2
Theme 3
Theme 4

 

EXAMPLE: De Paoli et al, 2013

 

Full Harvard Reference	De Paoli, D., Arge, K. and Hunnes Blakstad, S., 2013. Creating business value with open space flexible offices. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 15(3/4), pp.181-193.
Article type (eg journal article/book)	Journal article
General notes	De Paoli et al (2013) note how an open and flexible workplace at Telenor enhanced co-operation and creativity within teams. However, even though Telenor provided silent areas, not all workers thrived in this environment, and preferred to work at home.

 

Insert printout of article here, then place theme tags in the margin to the right

 

 

[F]EATURES	[F] Each department has one or more work zones. In each work zone there is an informal place to meet people and silent rooms to perform individual tasks. (De Paoli et al, 2013, p186) [F] Open and flexible work space (De Paoli et al, 2013, p183) [F] Low hierarchy. (De Paoli et al, 2013, p187)
[R]EASONS
[A]DVANTAGES	[A] Creates flexible team based work mode. Enhances learning, corporation, engagement and cooperation between employees and managers (De Paoli et al, 2013, p183) [A] Because of the work space, it gives them competitive advantage as they attract young and ambitious IT knowledge workers. (De Paoli et al, 2013, p183/186)
[D]ISADVANTAGES	[D] Not everyone wants to work in an open space solution. However, they combat this is through the silent zones. (De Paoli et al, 2013, p189)  [D] Situational perspective means not everyone in the workplace will farewell in an open plan environment, even if there are quieter working spaces. Meaning they will work at home more often (De Paoli et al, 2013, p189)

Article 1

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

Insert prinout of article here, then place theme tags in the margin to the right

Article 2

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

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Article 3

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

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Article 4

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

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Article 5

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

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Article 6

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

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Article 7

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
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Article 8

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
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Article 9

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
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Article 10

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
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Article 11

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

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Article 12

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

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Article 13

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

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Article 14

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

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Article 15

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

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Article 16

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

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Article 17

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

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Article 18

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

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Article 19

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

Insert prinout of article here, then place theme tags in the margin to the right

Article 20

Full Harvard Reference
Article type (eg journal article/book)
General notes

Insert prinout of article here, then place theme tags in the margin to the right

Research question

A research question, based upon your literature review, which identifies a specific aspect of your topic that you think deserves further investigation. The research question should develop from gaps in the current literature where you think that more research about the topic is needed. You should also identify the specific area where you would target the collection of data for your research – for example which organisation, or group of people, or datasets would you use? (approx. 250 words).

Research question (same as aspect from A-F-A model)
Target for data collection (i.e. who would you interview, do focus groups with etc)?

Research methods

An overview of two different and contrasting research methods that you could use to answer your research question. You should evaluate these methods by comparing and contrasting the types of knowledge they would generate and highlighting any ethical and practical issues which might arise. Stronger pieces of work will draw upon insights from some of the research methods used in the articles used for your literature review. Stronger pieces of work will also make links with epistemological and ontological issues linked to different research philosophies. (Approx 1,000 words)

	Method 1	Method 2
Method (eg focus group)
General description - what type of knowledge will it generate?
Advantages
Disadvantages
Linked research philosophies
Example from your literature review (eg how does one of your authors use this method?)
Ethical and practical issues

Conclusion

A conclusion where you summarise the key points from your review and emphasise the value of your proposed research.  A strong conclusion will outline this value by, for example, highlighting the contribution to knowledge that your research would create, or highlighting a particular workplace issue that it might inform, or a group of people that might benefit from the research.  (Approx 250 words)

Reference list

A reference list using Harvard-style which lists all references cited in the review (no more and no less). This will not count towards your word limit.

Cut and paste the full Harvard references from each of your articles here, then put them into alphabetical order. Alternatively, use Refworks to automate the task for you.