Overview:
The final complete project is the culmination of your independent research study. It should incorporate
your abstract, introduction, updated literature review, methodology, findings, analysis and
conclusions. It should be fully and accurately referenced in Coventry University Harvard Style and
should include your research instrument (e.g. questionnaire), ethics documents and proof of ethics
approval.

You should aim to complete a draft of your project at least two weeks before the submission date so
that you can submit it to your supervisor for feedback. Alternatively you may submit draft chapters to
your supervisor as and when you complete them for feedback. You are advised to discuss which
approach your supervisor prefers and adhere to that. It is not advisable to leave it all to the last minute
and submit the full project to your supervisor a few days before as they may well not have time to
provide feedback to you to enable you to improve your work.
Submission of your project will be online via Turnitin on the module web, full details are given below.
Final Complete Project: 7,500 words: This word limit is a good guideline as to how much content
you should include and adhering to the word limit is part of the assessment.

The Brief:
Your final complete project should include the following sections:
• Abstract/Executive Summary (~200 words)
• Introduction (~500 words)
• Literature Review (~2500 words)
• Methodology (~1300 words)
• Analysis/ Results (~2000 words)
• Conclusions (~1000 words)
• References (not incl. in word count)
• Appendices (not incl. in word count)
More detailed descriptions of each chapter are provided below.
Abstract/Executive Summary
The abstract is a brief overview of what your project is about it should provide a taster of what is to
come. You can get an idea of different styles and forms of abstract from any of the journal papers that
you have read for your project, there is no prescribed structure, so you may adopt your favoured style.
Typically this is framed around the following questions:
• What were my research questions and why were they important?
• How did I go about answering them?
• What did I find out in response to my research questions?
• What conclusions did I draw regarding my research questions?
• Don’t give it all away though!
Introduction
The introduction should provide a lead into your project including the background of the industry, product,
company or issue you are researching, explain the gap in the existing research and guide the reader
through the rest of your project. You may find that some of the introduction to your original literature
review can be incorporated here now that the lit review forms part of a larger document. Typically the
introduction is framed around the following:
• Central issue of your research
• Why it was worth researching
• Background on the theoretical/academic basis for your research
• Background about company/market on which the research is to be focused, if relevant
• Background of the research setting
• Rationale for your research
• Your research aims and objectives
Literature Review
The literature review should provide the theoretical foundation for your study. It should include all the
relevant theories and models relating to your research study and should provide a framework for your
methodological design and analysis. In addition it should be an updated and improved version of the
literature review that you submitted for formative coursework FCW2. Any new developments in your topic
area should be incorporated and you should also use the feedback you received from FCW2 to enhance
the quality of your chapter generally. Typically it addresses the following purposes:
• Set your study within the wider context
• How it supplements previous work on the topic
• May inform research questions
• Develop hypotheses
• Suggest a methodological approach
• Show how the academic theories discussed underpin your research project
• The project title should reflect the content of this chapter.

Methodology
Your methodology should explain and justify your chosen research philosophy (e.g.
positivist/interpretivist, inductive/deductive etc.). You should explain why it is your preferred
philosophy in terms of the way that you view knowledge and why it is the most appropriate approach
for your particular research questions/objectives. The second part of your methodology should outline
your research design, sampling approach, research setting, research instrument (e.g. questionnaire,
interview questions), any ethical considerations, and the validity, reliability and generalisability
aspects.

Analysis/Results
Your findings/analysis/results/discussion can be structured in a number of ways depending on what
works best for your particular project. Quantitative and qualitative analysis chapters will tend to differ
quite significantly from each other. Again you can get ideas by looking at some of the journal articles
that you reviewed in your lit review.
Some general rules are that for quantitative results you should make the best use of tables, charts
and diagrams to present your analysis. You are likely to have developed some hypotheses for testing
and the results of these are quite often summarised in one overall table as well as individual tables
generated from SPSS/Excel. The most important tests/analyses may be included in the body copy of
the chapter and less important tests in the appendices. Quantitative analyses often report the findings
first and then include a follow-up chapter to discuss the findings (called Discussion).
For qualitative analysis it is usual to present your analyses in themes, outlining the crux of each
theme in your own words and supporting your arguments with verbatim quotes (from your
participants). You may include full transcripts in your appendices, however it is preferred for you to
include your analyses output such as ‘large sheet of paper’ in the appendices and it is good practice
to include a profile table analysis of your participants. In both qualitative and quantitative you should
compare your findings with those of previous studies, so refer back to your literature review and
reference those comparisons.
As a general rule you should follow the guidelines below:
• Report the facts that your research discovered
• Include tables/graphs
• Include verbatim quotes from participants
• Include narrative accounts of observations
• Purpose is to present facts – not comment
• Structure clearly and logically
– Correspond with research objectives
– Thematically
• Compare to previous research
• Be selective – important parts

Conclusions
This is your final chapter and if you have conducted your study well you should have sufficient
knowledge and evidence to express your opinion so finally your chance to put your head above the
parapet (although still in the third person). The conclusion should be selective and pull out the most
important and significant aspects of your findings. It MUST answer all of your research
questions/objectives, so it is sensible to structure the main part of your conclusions around your
stated research objectives, and it should compare your findings with previous literature and theories
and show where you have extended knowledge (found new things).
In comparison to your findings/analysis it should draw implications and make judgments about your study
and make recommendations to the company or industry concerned. You should also make
recommendations (and discuss implications) for marketing managers, academics and researchers. You
should discuss limitations of your study (e.g. small sample) and make recommendations for future
research.

References
Your project should be fully and accurately referenced in CU Harvard Style (guides can be found on
the 3001MKT module web). Ensure that any direct quotes are properly referenced to avoid plagiarism
charges and make sure that you reference your paraphrased content too (they are still someone
else’s ideas!).
Appendices
Be selective here. Do not include everything just in case. Consider whether each item is really
necessary. Ensure that all references are referred to somewhere in the main body of the report,
otherwise there is no point. Ensure that you do include:
• Research instrument e.g. blank questionnaire, interview questions (discussion guide)
• Ethics documentation
– Participant info, informed consent form, etc
– Proof of ethics approval