Assignment Sample on FINA 1007 Research Methods
Department of Accounting & Finance
Research Methods (FINA 1007)
This form should be signed by the supervisor BEFORE the student uploads it. Forms that are late or marked as unsatisfactory will result in a 10 mark penalty to be applied to the research proposal.
Student’s name:………………………………………………….Student ID………………………………
Supervisor:……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
| To be completed by student | Brief guidance or evaluation by supervisor as appropriate | |
| If replicating a study, then name of the article to be provided here | N/A | |
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Working title of dissertation |
Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility on Corporate Financial Performance: a case of ASDA | |
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Aims and objectives (in bullet point form)
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The main aim of the study is to assess the corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate financial performance considering the case of ASDA in the UK. The objectives are;
1. To assess the CSR roles and responsibilities of ASDA and the retail segment in the UK 2. To explore the financial performances of ASDA and compare with its competitors in the past 10 years 3. To understand the impact of CSR on the financial performance of ASDA |
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Research question(s) and / or hypotheses (in bullet point form)
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The research questions are;
1. What are the CSR roles and responsibilities of ASDA and the retail segment in the UK? 2. What are the financial performances of ASDA and compare with its competitors in the past 10 years? 3. What is the impact of CSR on the financial performance of ASDA? |
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| Methodology to be followed | The study will follow a qualitative research methodology whereby the data sources will be secondary including data from the ASDA annual reports, CSR reports, and other publicly available data for the retail segment of the UK. | |
| Proposed research design to specify the following (in bullet form):
research method (e.g. survey q’aire, case study); population from which sample will be taken; size of sample; planned date and method of data collection; data to be collected; method of data analysis |
The current study design will be based on case study methods whereby the case of ASDA in the UK will be explored. Since, the study design will be based on case study; all company related information including data from annual reports and white papers, as well as e-news and others will be used. Data will also be collected from journal and books so that the findings from the data analysis can be hypothesised and supported based on existing theoretical information. Therefore, the study will collect data from journal papers, books, e-news, company reported like CSR reports and annual financial reports, industry database and white papers. Furthermore, the data collected will be assessed using the help of narrative assessments, which is a type of qualitative analysis. In this process, the trends of revenues and other financial data will be presented using descriptive methods and graphs but no statistical analysis will be done. Based on these findings and the CSR activities will help to address the research purpose that is to assess the corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate financial performance considering the case of ASDA. All data findings will be presented in textual methods and will be presented critically so that the objectives of the study can be addressed. |
Sections below to be completed by the supervisor – please circle as appropriate
- Overall evaluation of the submitted SoI:
| All elements are satisfactory | Elements are mostly satisfactory | There are some unsatisfactory elements | This statement of intent is deficient in many elements |
- This student has attended supervisory sessions and undertaken the required readings
| Completely | Mostly | Some evidence | Very little evidence / none |
- The student has provided evidence that s/he has looked at old dissertations on Moodle and can answer some basic questions about the structure and content of a dissertation
| Yes, has a good understanding of the contents and structure of a dissertation | Some understanding is evident | Yes, but understanding is poor | No evidence that student has looked at old dissertations |
Supervisor’s signature:……………………………………………………………………………Date: / /
