FINA 1007 Research Methods: Assessment Guide & FAQs

Section 1 Overview of assessments

Expected study time

For every 1 hour of formal tuition, you should be spending 3 hours on independent study

Section 2 Dataset assignment – details

This coursework involves testing the CAPM theory. You will use one market index, one risk-free rate, and 15 companies’ daily stock price data, and these companies should be from at least two different sectors. The sample period should be the latest 2 years in length (i.e., from Jan 2022 to Jan 2024). The required data can be downloaded from Yahoo finance: http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/

The tasks are as follows:

1. Provide a brief description of the capital asset pricing model. (5 marks)
2. Using data for the entire sample period, regress each company’s excess return on the market excess return, making sure to include an intercept. Verify, in each case, that the beta estimate is statistically significant. Report and interpret the t-statistic for your alpha estimate. (Each company 5 marks, total 75 marks)
3. Discuss your results and their implications for the capital asset pricing model. (10 marks)
4. Discuss whether your results are sensitive to sector characteristics. (10 marks)

These tasks must be submitted in a report with the following sections:

1. Introduction
2. Regression results
   • 2.1. Results for company 1
   • 2.2. Results for company 2
   • 2.3. Results for company 3
   • …etc etc…
   • 2.15 Results for company 15
3. Implications for CAPM
4. Sensitivity to sector characteristics
5. References
6. Appendix

In the introduction, you must provide a brief description of the capital asset pricing model, in order to complete task (1). You must also include a description of your data.

In each of the regression result subsections, you must include a table of regression results as well as a discussion of these results, in order to complete task (2).

Tasks (3) and (4) must be completed in sections 3 and 4, and references must be included (in the appropriate format) in section 5.

The appendix must contain a screenshot of the first 10 rows of your dataset, including columns for date, stock closing price, market index, returns, a risk-free return, and excess returns.

The maximum word count is 1500 words, excluding the appendix.

Section 3 Research Proposal – indicative marking scheme and details

Overview

Your research proposal is preparation for your dissertation/research project. You will be allocated to a supervisor who will guide you in updating a published academic study for both research proposal and dissertation. The topics have been selected based on your programme and are designed to ensure you are educated in a basic set of research methods and methodologies. A group of students will work on the same topic, with variations to accommodate your interests. Your group will meet for 6 formally timetabled sessions, one hour per fortnight. Advantages of this approach are:

• You will learn about the specific research methods required to undertake a high-quality research project
• You can adapt it to match your interests and skills
• It reduces stress because you have a clear template to follow
• It enables you to share the workload – eg you could collect data on one industry and swap with another student who has collected data for a different industry
• It enables you to discuss concepts with other students in your group eg analytical tools
• It reduces the risk of plagiarising because the supervisors know what you should be doing

Indicative marking scheme

General guidance for Research Proposal:

The more time you spend reading, re-writing, editing and evaluating your work, the better it will be. This will also enable you to answer many of your own questions – an essential element of demonstrating that you are capable of the independent study required for dissertation. For example, students often ask whether a particular paragraph should be moved to another section of the dissertation. Your supervisor does not know the answer to this question! Try moving it to another part of your document to see if it fits better somewhere else. This will help you to develop your ability to evaluate your own work, and will ensure that you make better use of your supervisor’s time.

You will also benefit from swapping your work with students in a different group and giving each other feedback, whatever the topic. You might not be able to comment on the content but you can easily evaluate each other’s work for logical argument, structure, consistency, etc. Students who do poorly often write in a confused or illogical way. The actual content is not usually the main problem.

Introduction/Aims and Objectives/Literature review sections

• Are the aims and objectives clearly set out?
• Are all terms clearly defined and referenced?
• Have you organised your paragraphs into themes/topics, rather than by author?
• Have you drawn on the relevant academic literature, rather than relying on textbooks and other sources?
• Is your referencing accurate and correct?
• Do you have too many/few sub-sections?
• Is all the information directly relevant to your topic? Eg., if your topic is on banking in China, then do not write everything you can on banking and everything you can on China – you should focus first on ‘banking in China’.
• Have you concluded with a research question or hypotheses?

Method section

IMPORTANT: You are NOT required to describe the general theory relating to research methods that you will find in a textbook. Irrelevant material includes describing the difference between inductive and deductive research, or comparing qualitative and quantitative data, or providing a picture of the ‘research onion’ – you will lose marks if you include this type of material without explaining its relevance to YOUR project. you are required to explain what you plan to do in a way that demonstrates your knowledge of research methods and its applicability to YOUR study.

You must justify your intended choices in terms of methodology and method, including data collection and analysis. It should address the following issues that justify the choices you have made (not necessarily in this order)

• Why have you selected this methodology?
• Why have you selected this particular method? (which published studies have used this and why does it make sense?)
• Why have you selected this industry? (eg. previous studies have or have not been conducted in this area)
• Why have you selected this particular dataset/organisation/population (ie. how does it exemplify this particular problem?)
• Data collection – how will you collect your data? From where?
• Data analysis – how will you analyse your data? (ie. What method/technique?)

Other

• Are your plans and timings for data collection and analysis realistic?
• Do not waste time using fancy graphics/colour or a detailed contents/index page – you will not gain extra marks and they waste time

Section 4 – FAQ – supervision and general

1. I want to change my topic
   The topics have been selected based on your programme and are designed to ensure you are educated in a basic set of research methods and methodologies. If you have good reasons for preferring to update a different research paper you can:
   • invite your group and supervisor to agree a different academic study to update OR
   • swap with a student from another group – but this must be in the same programme and fit with timetables.

   If you wish to develop a different topic for your dissertation, you can discuss this with your supervisor in May.

2. I have an idea for a research project – please can I have a supervisor to guide me?
   This is not an available option because it is much more difficult for the student and requires additional supervision time beyond the timetabled amount. However, if you have exceptional grounds for undertaking something different, send a research proposal outline of 500 words to the module leader with the names of potential supervisors and details of your previous experience of research methods. You should continue working on the set topic in the meantime so that you don’t fall behind.
3. I think that one of my classmates is purchasing/copying a research proposal
   Last year a company that sells dissertations to students (illegal in the UK) anonymously emailed a supervisor to report that a student had purchased an essay from them. The student was withdrawn from the programme. However, we don’t need to prove that a student purchased or copied a dissertation. If your supervisor is suspicious (we are frequently suspicious) then the work will be automatically failed. If you query the fail you will be required to attend a viva to answer questions about the work. If you cannot answer the questions then the fail remains AND we will recommend to the Academic Offences Panel that you retake the module next year.
4. I want to change my supervisor
   Supervisory sessions are timetabled and organised by programme. If you wish to change your supervisor you will need to swap with a student from another group who is taking the same programme as you AND ensure the sessions do not clash with your existing timetable. Approval will be given when BOTH students have emailed the module leader and the supervisor with the following information: ID, programme of study, evidence that timetables permit a swap. See also FAQ 1.
5. I can’t see the submission link / I can’t find the handbook / I can’t find the lecture notes / I can’t upload my work / I can’t see the Ethics module – and anything else that is technical
   Contact the Digital Student Centre for any technical issue. Contact academics for academic issues.
6. I’m not receiving emails about this module
   Either you are not registered properly OR your inbox is full OR messages are going into your junk folder.
7. Can I email my supervisor for personal guidance?
   The other students in your group will have very similar questions so copy them in too. This will ensure that everyone receives the same information.
8. I can’t attend all of the sessions so can I get some support offline?
   The sessions are mandatory and attendance will be taken. The University’s policy states: “It is not the responsibility of the supervisor to chase the student who fails to attend meetings. The supervisor will keep notes of where a student fails to attend a scheduled meeting.” If you miss supervisory meetings you are not entitled to a personal tutorial. You will need to ask the other students in your group to share information with you. Students whose attendance is poor will be required to attend a viva (oral exam).
9. My supervisor is not responding to my emails.
   All emails sent to the module leader with complaints about supervision must also be copied to the supervisor. Do not expect prompt responses to emails sent during busy or non-teaching times. Do not expect a response if you send emails from a personal account or if you use unprofessional or disrespectful language. The supervisory relationship relies on courteous and respectful behaviour (see Section 7 below). If you have missed supervisory sessions then your supervisor might feel that you are not engaging properly and may prioritise other students.
10. Will I begin a different topic for my dissertation?
    No. You will continue with the same topic. For your dissertation, you will collect data, analyse data, draw conclusions from the data, compare your findings with those of the study you are updating.
11. My friends are doing something different in their groups.
    The supervisors will choose how to run the sessions, based on based on the topic, the students, and their own preferences. However, you should remember that you are working towards independent learning and the submission of a dissertation.

Section 5 – FAQ – submitting your assignment

12. I did not submit an Outline Research Proposal / I want to change my ORP
    There is no EC resubmission process for the ORP but you are still entitled to receive some feedback on your ORP – discuss with your supervisor.
13. Can I obtain feedback on a completed draft? Will my supervisor check my work?
    Your supervisor will not ‘check’ your work. The submission is entirely your responsibility. Each supervisor has a different approach to feedback. Your supervisor will advise you of the last date you can send work for comments, but you will not receive any feedback one week before the submission date (so your supervisor needs to have sufficient time to provide feedback). This ensures that you work independently for the final week before submission. Students who earn good marks follow the guidance in this document. You will also find that your friends can identify quickly whether your work is easy to understand.
14. How is my work marked?
    Supervisors focus on the research design first, and this carries 60% of the marks.
15. Who marks my work?
    Name your file <supervisor surname – your surname.docx> eg. <Russo-Smith.docx> to ensure your supervisor marks your work. Assignments incorrectly labelled will be left to the end of the marking process and may be delayed.
16. Can I use material from my FINA 1032 assignment in my research proposal?
    You can use some material but be careful because your research proposal will be marked against different criteria.
17. Can I see an example of a research proposal?
    The best example of a research proposal is the research methods section of the published academic study you are updating because this contains all the elements that should be included in your proposal. The only difference is that your research proposal is written in the future tense while the completed study is written in the past tense. Students’ research proposals are usually of quite poor quality, so it is a bad idea to rely on these. It is obvious when students copy from past research proposals because submissions include material that is wrong or irrelevant. If you cannot tell whether material is wrong then you will get a poor mark.
18. What sort of data/analyses do I need to include as an example? How much? What databases can I use?
    Your supervisor will provide guidance on suitable data and databases. Data might include, for example, a cut/pasted or scanned page from an annual report or accounts, with any relevant annotations showing specifically what information or data you will be using (eg. you might circle the two or three items that you intend to use). You can then refer to this in your proposal, saying how you intend to use it. You might also be able to identify any problems that you will need to overcome in your dissertation. See Appendix B for an example. Your supervisor will guide you on how to submit any analyses: this could be via an embedded link in your work or simply a screenshot.
19. Moodle is not allowing me to submit more than one file. I can’t upload a file with my data.
    You are not required to upload a separate file. Just copy/paste/insert a sample of your data, or include a link, directly into your submission.

Section 6 – FAQ – after submitting your assignment

20. Who marks my work?
    If you have named your file correctly <supervisor surname – your surname> then your supervisor will mark your work. If you have named your file incorrectly, then your work will be left until the end of the marking process and will be marked by an academic assigned by the module leader.
21. When will the marks be released?
    The marking process for this module is much more complicated than for other modules. This module has a very large team of markers to ensure that marking is done to an agreed standard across the various groups of supervised students. Therefore the process takes a little longer than other modules. We aim to complete all marking and moderation within 4 working weeks.
22. Other students have a mark, but I don’t.
    All marks will be entered before the Progression and Award Board meeting in June. There is no need to tell us that you don’t have a mark because this is flagged on Moodle! But if you do not have a mark four weeks after submission, you can email your supervisor. Some students’ work will be delayed pending investigations for academic offences.
23. I have missed the deadline due to technical/Moodle issues
    You will need to apply for extenuating circumstances via the student portal. Please do not write to any tutor asking for an ‘extension’, as there is no such process.
24. When is my dissertation due?
    If you receive an official letter in July advising you that you can proceed to dissertation then your submission date will be mid-Sept. If not, your submission date will be early December.
25. I can’t see any feedback….
    Feedback will be placed either on the headersheet OR in the bar on the right hand side OR in comment boxes on individual pages.
26. …but I feel this mark is unfair
    You are not qualified to mark the work of any student, and particularly your own! You are not a professional marker so it is risible and disrespectful to complain that your mark is ‘unfair’. The tutors mark across a wide range of students and against the standard of a masters degree. The marks have been awarded AND moderated by academics. All marks will be reviewed by an external examiner from another university. Please DO NOT send an email asking for your work to be re-marked as we will not do this. We understand that you worked very hard and expected to receive a higher mark but sadly marks are not awarded for effort. If you do not understand any of the feedback provided, then email your tutor for an appointment to discuss your work. However, you must read the feedback given on Moodle before you ask for an appointment. Your supervisor will not change your grade so do not ask for this..
27. I can’t see my work on Moodle – but I know I submitted it!
    After the submission date the links will be hidden from students. This means that you will not be able to see or access your work again until the marks are released.
28. I failed one/both of the assessments. What happens next?
    This will depend on the full set of marks across your programme. In July you will receive a letter informing you of any assignments you need to resit. Failure of either the dataset or the research proposal does not automatically lead to a resit. If you are asked to resit either or both assessments, then you must use the feedback to improve the work and discuss with your supervisor if necessary. Resits are due in the summer and the dates are set centrally – check Moodle. After the resit process you will be informed of the date for your dissertation submission. This date might be September – the same as other students. So even if you have failed the research proposal, you should continue working with your supervisor on your dissertation from May because the dissertation is an extension of your research proposal so you will need to do much of the same work for your research proposal AND your dissertation. In fact, carrying on with your dissertation will help you to improve your research proposal.
29. I have an overall mark of 48% for the module. What happens next?
    The Academic Exam Board will meet in July to consider your overall profile of marks and whether you will need to repeat either of the assessments. The decision is not made by the module leader.
30. I am repeating the module in the new academic year. Will I be allocated to a new supervisor and a new topic?
    It is better that you begin afresh because you will be with a group of students doing the same topic.

Section 7 – Managing your relationship with your supervisor:

Some students find the transition from coursework to a research project extremely difficult. They expect to be given ‘homework’ or to be told what to do in small steps. A research project (dissertation) is designed to demonstrate your ability to undertake independent study. It requires different skills from those that you have used in your coursework, including good time management and an ability to plan ahead. Students who are used to writing their assessments just before the due date will have the most difficulty in working on a research project. You also need to let your ideas and writing develop over a period of time. Students who do well understand that the final submission often looks completely different from their initial drafts. In order to get to the required wordcount and a good standard, good students write regularly, considerably more than the wordcount guideline, and regularly edit their work.

Remember that your supervisor is also your first examiner, so if your supervisor is happy with your work you are more likely to pass!

Other tips:

1. Your supervisor plays a key role in helping you to undertake and complete your research proposal. However, it is YOUR proposal and therefore it is YOUR responsibility to manage it through to completion. At the beginning you will have more questions to ask your supervisor about the process (eg. Have I read all the relevant literature in this area?), and at the end you will require more guidance on the content (eg. Are my conclusions clearly stated?).
2. In particular, you are responsible for managing your supervisor’s time. Do not expect your supervisor to be available at your convenience, particularly at very short notice or during holidays. Plan their time as well as your own. You will need to ensure meetings are arranged in advance, so that you know that they will be available. This will also act as an incentive to undertake some work for the meeting.
3. You are advised to work regularly and consistently on your project. This will help you to progress in small ‘chunks’ and ensure that you have something to discuss with your supervisor. Do not be tempted to delay or cancel meetings as their purpose is to ensure that your research project remains on track. If you have not progressed as far as you had hoped, then your supervisor can discuss this with you. Students who fail to meet with their supervisors are more likely to fail both the Research Methods and the Dissertation courses.
4. Never go to your meetings with a supervisor empty handed. The content of the meeting will be driven by you, so make sure that you have something to discuss or to ask.
5. Your supervisor is more likely to respond quickly and enthusiastically to requests for feedback if you ask them to focus on just a few issues, eg. Are the aims and objectives clearly stated? Does the literature review address the aims and objectives?
6. According to Potter (Doing Postgraduate Research, Sage, 2006) students who succeed in dissertation exhibit honesty in their relationship with their supervisor, are articulate, keep their supervisors informed of their progress, are respectful, and take responsibility for their own behaviour.
7. Remember that what you get from your relationship with your supervisor is a function of what you put into it.

The role of the supervisor is to:

1. Advise the student
2. Question the student on the approach taken
3. Guide the student to an adequate range of literature
4. Seek assurances from the students in relation to appropriate standards of data collection and analysis
5. Provide some limited feedback on drafts

Your supervisor will:

1. Not write your proposal for you
2. Not know the answers to all your questions
3. Not be available at your convenience
4. Not chase you for work
5. Not check your work – the submission is entirely your responsiblity

Students who do well in the research proposal (and the dissertation/research project more generally) tend to:

1. understand that it is a project that requires breaking down into small manageable chunks of work with clear timeframes for completing each one
2. read (more than once) the materials provided by the supervisor
3. understand and apply the concept of ‘independent study’ – ie. do not wait to be told what to do
4. accept that there are limits to the amount of help that can, and should, be given
5. manage their supervisor’s time by requesting meetings or feedback well in advance of your own deadlines
6. consult research methods textbooks throughout their project

Appendix A – Outline Research Proposal

This form must be finalised by the supervisor BEFORE it is submitted. Forms that are late or marked as unsatisfactory will lead to a 10 mark penalty applied against the research proposal.

Student’s name:……………………………………………………………….Student ID………………………………

Supervisor:……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Section 1: Date agreed with supervisor to complete this form prior to submission on Moodle __________

Section 2: Structure and content

Section 3: Plan of work – as required by your supervisor. For example:

• key milestones / deliverables (drafts, mini-presentations, other tasks eg data collection)
• how you plan to allocate 80 hours of individual study time to your research proposal (the remaining 35 hours will be spent on the dataset assignment)
• any other information requested by your supervisor

A GANTT chart is one way to present this information, but others are also appropriate

Section 4: Evaluation: The supervisor should comment t by EITHER indicating the appropriate evaluations below and then sending to the student for submission OR emailing comments to the student to be scanned in to the ORP submission.

1. Overall evaluation of the submitted Outline Research Proposal

• All elements are satisfactory
• Elements are mostly satisfactory
• There are some unsatisfactory elements
• This outline research proposal is deficient in many elements

2. This student has engaged by: attending the supervisory sessions, demonstrating evidence of preparing for the sessions, and undertaking work outside the sessions

• Completely
• Mostly
• Some evidence
• Very little evidence / none

Appendix B

1. Example of data to be submitted with research proposal – submit as part of the document, not a separate file. Maximum of one page.

Source(s): xxxxxx

Date: xxxxx

2. Plan of work for your dissertation – use the same approach contained in the Outline Research Proposal to indicates:

• How you plan to allocate 450 hours (MSc A&F, IBF, FMR) or 300 hours (MSc F&I, MBA) to your dissertation
• Tasks (eg data collection)
• Milestones (eg draft material to supervisor)
• Timings
• any other information requested by your supervisor

A GANTT chart is one way to present this information, but others are also appropriate

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