AP1EQ5-Research and Professional Skills for Business and Marketing

Module Provider: School of Agriculture, Policy and Development
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:4
Terms in which taught: Autumn / Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Dr Elena Millan
Email: e.s.millan@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module will provide an awareness and understanding of some of the main research and professional skills used by consumer researchers, applied economists, and business managers. You will also gain the ability to perform related research examples, and to develop writing skills for marketing and other academic assignments. A secondary purpose is to provide experience in the use of computers and standard software packages, particularly spreadsheets, as well as general study skills and career development.

Aims:

This module aims to introduce students to professional qualitative and quantitative research methods, and to provide them with an understanding of the underlying theoretical frameworks in consumer research and applied economics. Students will get practical experience through the development of a qualitative consumer research project that includes design, data collection, analysis, and report writing. In addition, students will gain a crucial awareness and understanding of some of the main quantitative methods used by applied economists and business managers working in sectors across the supply chain, and the ability to carry out related numerical examples. Students will also develop writing skills for marketing and academic assignments. A secondary purpose is to provide experience in the use of computers and standard software packages, including spreadsheets, as well as study and career skills development more generally.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the module students will demonstrate their core skills in the following areas:

• Demonstrate understanding of the potential role and value of qualitative and quantitative research methods to social science research in marketing and business settings.


• Understand the differences between qualitative and quantitative research approaches, and their advantages and shortcomings.


• Consider the circumstances under which particular qualitative methods might be used and select the most appropriate qualitative format for addressing a specific research question.


• Identify and use appropriate quantitative methods to solve a range of problems relating to the marketing mix, and business and economics applications


• Be proficient in a spreadsheet package to organise data and to solve economic and business problems


• Use a statistical package to summarise and present marketing, business and economics data


• Understand the difference between a sample and a population and the role that probability plays in distinguishing the two


• Develop writing skills for marketing and other academic assignments

Additional outcomes:

By the end of this module students will:

• Be able to formulate and test simple statistical hypotheses using a statistical package


• Develop skills for conducting qualitative field work, and gain experience of using some of these methods to address specific consumer research questions


• Have the capacity to identify the appropriate techniques to deal with business and marketing problems


• Develop study skills and career management skills

Outline content:

Topics covered will include the following:

• The Qualitative-Quantitative distinction in the Social Sciences


• Verbal data: interviews and focus groups


• Numerical data: basic numeric skills and spreadsheet skills


• Qualitative research design, qualitative data collection methods (in-depth interviews, focus groups, ethnography, netnography, projective techniques), ethical issues in undertaking qualitative research


• Quantitative research design, basic statistics, probability, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals


• Data analysis, presentation and reporting


• Writing skills for marketing and other academic assignments: library skills and applied project literature review report


• Study skills


• Career management skills

Global context:

This module will consider the international context of Research and Professional skills for Marketing and Business, with the aim to improve students’ understanding of how such methods can be context-bound. 

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Lectures supplemented by tutorials or workshops where students conduct data analysis and complete example sheets relating to lecture material. Help available from lecturer and teaching assistant(s). Some independent group work will be carried out in the field.

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures	12	20
Tutorials	8	9
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)	80	71
Total hours by term	100	100	0
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written assignment including essay	35
Report	30
Practical skills assessment	20
Class test administered by School	15

Summative assessment- Examinations:

N/A

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

• Literature Review Report (between 2,000 and 2,500 words mandatory limit) (35%)


• Individual research report on a specific Marketing research problem, based on qualitative data collected by your team and structured as follows: Introduction, Literature Review, Research Methodology, Data Analysis and Research Findings, and Conclusions (between 1,500 and 2,000 words mandatory limit) (30%)


• Individual Quantitative set exercise in Professional Business Research Methods (20%)


• Individual Quantitative In-Class Test in Professional Business Research Methods (15%)

Formative assessment methods:

• Literature Review (500 words) (0%)

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

A mark of 40% for each of the three components (Writing skills, Qualitative part, and Quantitative part).

Reassessment arrangements:

Reassessment by coursework.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books:  None

2) Specialist equipment or materials:  None

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear:  None

4) Printing and binding:  None

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification:  None

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence:  None

Last updated: 22 September 2023