The summative assessment will be in the form of a 4000-word research proposal. The proposal should include as a minimum: Background, literature review/rationale, aims and objectives, research question or hypothesis, research methodology, methods, consideration of ethics, governance issues, validity / reliability / trustworthiness and reflection on your role in the process. ( ). The following is a suggested structure for the work. Title: A clear title for the research protocol which clearly addresses the variables and concepts that are being researched. Background: an outline for the key drivers and need for the research proposal. This may include key political, professional, clinical and service user drivers for the research project. Literature review: a critical discussion of the research literature that forms the foundations for your proposal. This will inform the rationale for the research project and explore how it builds on existing knowledge and /or practice. In other words, your critical reading and summarising of the literature will show what is known, as well as what is not yet known about your particular topic. Aims and Objectives: a clearly articulated outline of the aims and objectives of the research proposal which will clearly derive from literature review. Research Question / Hypothesis: Clearly defined question (s) that is specific to the study in order to provide data that will provide answers. The research question or hypothesis will also indicate the kind of empirical evidence which you are proposing to collect. The research question or hypothesis will frame the boundaries of the research project (what it is / isn’t about). Methodology: This will provide the philosophical and theoretical orientation of the research project that will inform the study design and the methods used to collect data (this is what we explore in the ‘thinking about research’ part of the module). This needs to build on the literature review, in that the methodological approach you adopt needs to clearly answer your research question(s). Methods: Here you should discuss what we explore in the ‘doing research’ and‘analysing research data’ parts of the module. You should cover sampling and recruitment strategies, inclusion and exclusion criteria, data collection methods and process for analysing the data. It is important to explore issues of reliability and validity with regard to empirical data and the research process, and the feasibility of carrying out the research. This section will also include a consideration of the key ethical concerns associated with the study together with the strategies and processes that will be implemented to address those concerns. These may relate to issues of confidentiality, anonymity, capacity and consent, vulnerable populations etc. Governance issues will relate to the organisational and political processes that govern the research processes. Discussion: this includes a critical reflection on your role in the research process together with a commentary on your development as a researcher and the strategies that you will implement in order to conduct the research project.

While many of your research projects will require you to read articles published in scholarly journals, books or other peer reviewed sources of information, there is also a wealth of information to be found in more popular publications. These aim to inform a wide array of readers about issues of interest and are much more informal in tone and scope. Examples include general news, business and entertainment publications such as . Note, special interest publications which are not specifically written for an academic audience are also considered “popular” i.e., (Evaluating Information Sources, n.d., What is a Popular Source? section) The above indicates that when reading a text—especially reading to learn and rely on the content of a text—we are to exercise due diligence. We need to exercise critical thinking and not blindly accept all information that passes our way. Our researcher reputations are at stake. And we are accountable to the readers who may rely on the information we provide. For this assignment, you will locate and download a popular journal article to analyze the author’s use of logic. Types of sources. (n.d.). Indiana Wesleyan University Online Campus Library Services. As you read the sourced article for this written assignment, keep in mind the quality writing tips you have learned in your reading. One significant way to begin improving your writing skills is to improve your reading skills. By reading at-once on different levels, you will not only be taking in and processing the words (and information) that are displayed—but you will also be consciously assessing the quality of the information, the craft of the writing, and the aesthetics of the formatting. In other words, you will begin to read differently as a result—you will become a discerning reader. By reading ‘actively’, you will inherently build habits of observation that can carry over into your doctoral and professional writing through use of new words and a multitude of ways to articulate what you want to say.

Chosen Scenario: The manager of Human Resources, who supports the Marketing Department, has been contacted by an employee who has expressed the following: As a member of a marketing team where new clients are assigned equally among team members, this employee feels that he is being skipped over, and new clients are being assigned to others based on fit, which in his case, he perceives, is related to racial origin, i.e., Caucasian clients are being assigned to Caucasian team members, clients of color are being aligned with team members of color, etc. The employee has expressed his intention of filing a formal complaint and is seeking guidance and support from the Human Resources manager responsible for this department. Question 1: Explain the investigation process (you do not have to outline an entire investigation). Question 2: As an HR manager, identify the first three steps you recommend the HR team take to begin to investigate this scenario.

1 Apartment Investment Opportunity: 20221 by Charles H. Wurtzebach ABSTRACT. The purpose of this case is to present the challenges facing individual, taxable investors when evaluating multiple investment opportunities. Many individual investors rely on investment advisors or local brokers to source and underwrite investment opportunities. While each individual investor typically has varying investment goals and objectives driven by their individual financial circumstances, an analyst can develop a sound approach for evaluating investment opportunities. In this case, a local broker who has worked previously with several family members over the years has presented three Chicago area apartment investment opportunities to two cousins. Issues related to the investor’s overall real estate targeted total return and risk appetite, property performance characteristics, and market demographics all play a role in the analysis and will impact the final recommendation. FOCUS Not unlike major institutional real estate investors, individual investors look to real estate to deliver specific performance characteristics to their overall portfolio. These characteristics include enhanced risk-adjusted total returns, attractive current income, effective asset class diversification, and a hedge against unexpected inflation. The present case highlights these issues and the challenges associated with developing a coherent asset level investment analysis. Of particular interest are the challenges resulting from evaluating multiple available investment opportunities. In addition, these decisions must be made within the constraints of changing market conditions and varying investor goals and objectives. SETTING Josh Wainright, an investment advisor, is based in Chicago, Illinois, the home of many members of the DuPage family. In January 2022 his attention focused on the needs of two cousins at different stages of their lives. Ron DuPage recently sold his business to a medium-sized public company in exchange for $25 million of the company’s stock. He then retired and expected to live comfortably on the $500,000 in dividends paid on the stock plus retirement and other income he had of an equal amount. Ron and his wife Carol, a retired school teacher, plan on traveling extensively and visiting their grandchildren regularly in California. Ron is 68 years old and his wife Carol is 65. Ron feels the need to diversify his investments, however, and plans to sell up to half his stock and reinvest in real estate and other investments. Even though the basis in the stock was negligible, he feels that now would be a good time to take advantage of the current tax law and pay his capital gains at the 15% rate before, as many fear, Congress increases the capital gains rate further. 1 This case includes the analysis of current market conditions, three apartment properties in widely different submarkets of a major metropolitan area with particular focus on risk, market, rent analysis and the use of commercial data providers. This current version has been updated from the earlier 2016, 2019, and 2021 versions. 2 Rene DuPage is president and sole stockholder of a small-sized paper company that had earned in excess of $3 million before taxes and $2 million after taxes in each of the previous five years. She has received many offers to sell her company in exchange for the stock of a public company; but she enjoyed the independence of running her own business. She has determined that her paper business could best grow through internal expansion rather than by acquisition. On the other hand, she did feel it wise to diversify her own investments. Over time, she has accumulated over $16 million now invested in short-term securities, which she considered unnecessary for her present operations and thus available for outside investment. Rene is 55 years old and plans to work another 15 years or so. She is currently unmarried and has no children. Her interests include golf, travel, and the arts. Both Ron and Rene feel that real estate would give them the benefits of an attractive current income and total return, diversification, protection from unexpected inflation, and some tax advantages. Each wants to purchase a property large enough to attract future buyers when it becomes time for them to sell. They have seen what a shutdown in the commercial mortgage market had done to property values during 2007-09 and recognize the liquidity risk associated with commercial real estate investment. They are also aware that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected near-term real estate performance. While early in 2020 the real estate market suffered as unemployment rose and before an effective vaccine was widely available, by late 2020 and 2021 the market not only recovered but prices took off in many markets. This was particularly true as apartment tenants migrated out of downtown markets to less urban, more suburban markets. In the short-term, the circumstances may present a buying opportunity. To compensate for these current risks, the DuPage’s want a minimum after-tax leveraged return on their investments of 12%. Other important factors for the DuPage’s were the surrounding demographics. In the Chicago area, the demographics of a neighborhood can change dramatically block-to-block and it was important for the DuPage’s to invest in a property that would be in constant demand. Josh found the website Site To Do Business (http://www.stdb.com/) extremely useful in identifying adequate areas that might suit the DuPage’s requirements. Josh Wainright has worked with the DuPage family for many years and has located three properties that he feels might be suitable investments for his two clients, either in partnership or individually. He had brokers show the properties to Ron and Rene DuPage and both of the DuPage’s were enthusiastic about them. A licensed commercial real estate broker in Illinois, Josh expects to split the selling commission associated with any property the DuPage’s invest in. The following memo from Josh to Ron and Renee presents his “investment pitch.”