AD1RBM: Research and Professional Skills for Business and Marketing

Module code: AD1RBM

Module provider: School of Agriculture, Policy and Development

Credits: 20

Level: 4

When you'll be taught: Semester 1 / 2

Module convenor: Dr Elena Millan, email: e.s.millan@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Professor Kelvin Balcombe, email: k.g.balcombe@reading.ac.uk

Additional teaching staff 1: Mrs Louise Smith, email: l.smith2@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 18 November 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

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. 

The 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. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. Demonstrate understanding of the potential role and value of qualitative and quantitative research methods to social science research in marketing and business settings. 
2. Understand the nature and circumstances under which particular qualitative methods might be used and select the most appropriate qualitative format for addressing a specific research question. 
3. Identify and use appropriate quantitative methods and develop proficiency in a spreadsheet/statistical package to solve a range of problems relating to the marketing mix, and business and economics applications 
4. Develop writing skills for marketing and other academic assignments 

Module 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 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Sessions including lectures demonstrated by practical examples where students may 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. 

Study hours

At least 46 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

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

Assessments with numerical marks

• 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 three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/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.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Literature review (500 words) - Semester 1

Reassessment

Additional costs