Page limit: 10 pages, following the formatting instructions herein
Overview
You are required to act as a market research consultant whose role is to prepare a written report which addresses several assessment questions. In preparing this written report, you are required to respond to a client brief, to analyse and interpret market research materials, to engage in meaningful critical reflection, and to put forward strategic recommendations.
The purpose of this assessment is for you to demonstrate your comprehension of the market research theoretical concepts and frameworks taught in this course, as well as your ability to apply this knowledge by utilising critical thinking, making judgements, and providing recommendations in the context of a client brief. This is a key skill in contemporary professional practice. Your written report, which comprises your responses to several questions, will provide the client with the necessary information, presented in a logical, factual manner, for them to make informed decisions about how to interpret market research, and to develop competent strategies in the area of concern.
Please read the following slides, which contains key information about this assessment:S224 MKTG1045 Assessment Information.pptxDownload S224 MKTG1045 Assessment 3 Information.pptx
ASSESSMENT DOCUMENTS:
There are three files that you need to download and use in the completion of Assessment 3: Consulting Report. The first contains the client brief and the four (4) assessment questions that you are required to address. The second is the client questionnaire. The third is the client data analysis output. All three files are uploaded below.
MKTG1045 Final Assessment S2 2024.pdfDownload MKTG1045 Final Assessment S2 2024.pdf
Client Questionnaire.pdfDownload Client Questionnaire.pdf
Client Data Analysis Output.pdfDownload Client Data Analysis Output.pdf
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Further information:
- RMIT University termsLinks to an external site.
- Student Conduct PolicyLinks to an external site.
- Academic Integrity resourcesLinks to an external site.
- Contract cheating: what it is and what are the consequencesLinks to an external site. (RMIT Learning Lab)
- Note sharing: what are the rules and the consequencesLinks to an external site. (RMIT Learning Lab)
Assessment criteria
This assessment will measure your ability to:
- Comprehend theory: Demonstrated by correctly selecting, summarising, and elaborating upon the theoretical concepts and frameworks that are relevant to the question.
- Apply theory: Demonstrated by consistent and skilful application of correct and relevant concepts and theory to solve the market research problems presented and provide well-grounded judgements and recommendations in the context of the client brief. Further, evidenced by consistent elaboration on learning, critical abilities, logical thinking, original and strategic insight.
- Engage critically: Demonstrated by accurate and meaningful organisation, synthesis, analysis and evaluation of evidence to reveal insightful patterns, similarities and differences related to the topic or context, as well as testing hypotheses, claims and solutions.
- Deliver report professionalism: Demonstrated by your ability to adhere to the formatting requirements outlined in the ‘Assessment Details’ and provide a response that is clearly written and logically structured.
Course learning outcomes
This assessment is relevant to the following course learning outcomes:
CLO1 | Explain market research theories and concepts to colleagues and use this knowledge to design research studies in response to managerial problems. |
CLO2 | Compare and contrast a range of common market research tools in order to evaluate the most appropriate tool for a unique research question. |
CLO3 | Design and implement a research tool in response to a client brief within a team or individually. |
CLO5 | Develop a report that critically analyses market research data and provides a recommendation. |
Assessment details
You are required to act as a market research consultant whose role is to prepare a written report. This written report will consist of your answers to several questions related to a market research brief that is accompanied by supplementary materials. These supplementary materials may include (but are not limited to): a questionnaire, and/or SPSS data analysis output. You will only be asked to work with supplementary materials that have been taught to you on the course.
This assessment (Assessment 3) will build and extend upon the knowledge and skills you’ve previously demonstrated in Assessments 1 and 2. Remember, in Assessment 1, you demonstrated your comprehension of market research concepts and frameworks. In Assessment 2, you showed your ability to apply the theory taught on the course in relation to qualitative research. Now, in Assessment 3, you are required to show your ability to apply theory in relation to quantitative research.
Importantly, the assessment questions will seek your application, not regurgitation, of theory. In your responses to these questions, you will be asked to go above and beyond repeating information and show application of theory, critical analysis, strategic insight, and structured thinking.
The report is to be written for a specialist client (i.e., who has set the market research brief), and as such should be written at a suitable professional level, using specialised terms and concepts appropriate to them. It is further critical that students use specialised terms and concepts to demonstrate their command of the taught course material.
Your written report must be submitted as a Word or PDF file. No other file types will be accepted. Times New Roman size 12 font, 1.5 line spacing, 2.5cm margins should be used. All pages are to be numbered in the bottom right corner. Your name, student number, and course code should be included in the header of your submission document or on a cover page (a cover page is not included in the page limit).
There is a strict 10-page limit for your submission (this does not include a cover page, if used). Anything that exceeds 10-pages will not be marked.
There is no need to include a reference list since you are not required to draw on outside material. If you make the choice to include outside materials, you will need to reference these appropriately and include in the page limit.
You do not need to include an executive summary, introduction, or conclusion. Your submission only needs to include your written responses to the assessment questions.
Please clearly label your response to each question (e.g., Question 1). You should not repeat the text of the question in your submission. Doing so would lead to an artificially high similarity score in Turnitin and would unnecessarily use your page limit.
Paragraphs should be concise and follow a logical order. Bullet points can also be used where appropriate and useful (e.g., listing information). You can format text in bold, italic, underline, or highlight where appropriate and useful. Tables should be used where instructed in the final assessment
The specific questions you required to address for your written report will be provided in Assessment 3, when it is released on the above outlined date.
Assessment 3 focuses on quantitative research, including research methods and data analysis. Below there is a list of potentially assessable topics. Not all these topics will be part of Assessment 3 – you may be required to link topics and certain topics may be emphasised more or less than others. No topics outside of the ones below will be part of the final assessment.
- Lecture 7 = Survey Methods (A)
- Lecture 8 = Survey Methods (B)
- Lecture 9 = Data Analysis (Descriptive Statistics)
- Lecture 10 = Data Analysis (Inferential Statistics)
- Lecture 11 = Experiments
The lecture slides, recordings, associated readings, and tutorial activities that pertain to the potentially assessable topics provided throughout the semester will serve as useful resources for your written report.
Knowledge of SPSS will be required to complete your written report, including interpreting SPSS output and/or conducting analyses using this program. All required information regarding SPSS will be covered in the relevant lecture slides, recordings, associated Canvas resources, and tutorial activities.
Referencing guidelines
There is no need to include a reference list since you are not required to draw on outside material. If you make the choice to include outside materials, you will need to reference these appropriately using the referencing guidelines below and include in the page limit.
Use RMIT HarvardLinks to an external site. referencing style for this assessment.
You must acknowledge all the sources of outside information you have used in your assessments.
Refer to the RMIT Easy CiteLinks to an external site. referencing tool to see examples and tips on how to reference in the appropriated style. You can also refer to the library referencing page for more tools such as EndNote, referencing tutorials and referencing guides for printing.
Submission format
The written report must be submitted in Word or PDF file format (no other file types will be accepted). The assessment will be submitted in Canvas as a file upload. As part of the submission process, your written report will be processed through Turnitin to generate a similarity report.
Academic integrity and plagiarism
Academic integrity is about honest presentation of your academic work. It means acknowledging the work of others while developing your own insights, knowledge and ideas.
You should take extreme care that you have:
- Acknowledged words, data, diagrams, models, frameworks and/or ideas of others you have quoted (i.e. directly copied), summarised, paraphrased, discussed or mentioned in your assessment through the appropriate referencing methods
- Provided a reference list of the publication details so your reader can locate the source if necessary. This includes material taken from Internet sites
If you do not acknowledge the sources of your material, you may be accused of plagiarism because you have passed off the work and ideas of another person without appropriate referencing, as if they were your own.
RMIT University treats plagiarism as a very serious offence constituting misconduct.
Plagiarism covers a variety of inappropriate behaviours, including:
- Failure to properly document a source
- Copyright material from the internet or databases
- Collusion between students
For further information on our policies and procedures, please refer to the University website.Links to an external site.
Extensions/Special Consideration
Should you be unable to submit the final report by the above outlined due date , you will require approval for Special Consideration or an extension from the course coordinator.
To apply for an extension from the course coordinator, students must use the Assessment Extensions Tool. You can access this in the left-hand menu on Canvas.
This tool enables you to simply and quickly apply for an extension from within your course Canvas menu. Please download the Assessment Extensions Tool guide (PDF)Links to an external site. for steps on how to request an extension using the Assessment Extensions Tool. There is also a Help tab with this information in the Assessment Extensions item itself. If you experience any technical issues with the Assessment Extensions Tool, please contact IT ConnectLinks to an external site. or tel: 9925 8000.
- Note that extensions can only be granted for a period of seven (7) calendar days or less, and must be applied for by 11:59PM on the Wednesday before the final report is due.
- Before applying for an extension, see below table outlining circumstances and required evidence.
- Extension requests received via email and/or outside of the below circumstances/without supporting evidence will not be approved.
- If you need an extension of time beyond seven (7) days or if you have missed the one (1) working day requirement to submit this request, you should apply for Special Consideration.
CIRCUMSTANCES: | REQUIRED EVIDENCE: |
Medical Grounds Physical or Mental health issue, including COVID |
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Personal Circumstances (such as bereavement, carer’s responsibilities, involvement in police/criminal incident, etc) |
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Employment Grounds |
The document provided must be recent, and where possible include a signature as well as the name, title/position and contact details of the author of the document, clearly displayed. |
Technical/IT Issues (ie: power/internet/system outage) |
The date and time of the incident or issue/communication should be included. |
Other grounds not listed above |
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Assessment declaration
When you submit work electronically, you agree to the assessment declaration.Links to an external site.
Rubric
Assessment 3: Consulting Report (2024 AoL compliant)
| Criteria | Ratings | Pts | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeQuestion 1#AoL6a Critically Engaged Formulate & justify decisions based on empirical evidence & research ---------- Application in analysing, evaluating and developing recommendations about quantitative research |
| 16 pts | ||||||
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeQuestion 2#AoL6a Critically Engaged Analyse & evaluate complex information sources ---------- Application in analysing, evaluating and developing recommendations about quantitative research |
| 10 pts | ||||||
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeQuestion 3 |
| 14 pts | ||||||
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeQuestion 4 |
| 10 pts | ||||||
Total points: 50 |