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Assignment
Marketing Brief
Background information. Direct-to-consumer genetic testing kits became very popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, but growing concerns around data safety and privacy have arisen with a large competitor in the market having entered bankruptcy protection (see a news article about 23 and Me). This made existing UK consumers concerned about whether their personal information and genetic data was safe or whether it would be sold. As such, there is a pressing issue in the market about how to acquire new consumers with this existing concern around personal information and genetic data (genetic information and customer information) safety and privacy. The client (‘Company X’) is a well-known company that specialises in helping consumers discover their family history by supporting the building of a family tree (genealogy) with the opportunity to enhance this service through the use of direct-to-consumer genetic testing to connect extended family members via their genetic information (DNA). Privacy calculus theory offers a means of understanding an individual’s willingness to disclose personal information based on weighing the perceived benefits of disclosing the information in comparison to the perceived risks. As such, with the existing concerns amongst consumers that have not purchased a direct-to-consumer genetic testing kit, research is needed into how potential UK consumers feel about providing their personal and genetic material to well-known Company X. The research could then be used to inform the marketing strategy to allay concerns around data privacy and safety.
Objectives. The company has asked you[ Please note that this is fictitious for the purposes of the assessment. You are only writing a research proposal for the assessment and are not going to be doing any data collection. ] to submit a research proposal for the following research objective:
To understand what is shaping consumers’ willingness to disclose genetic and personal information for the purpose of learning about their ethnic ancestry and family tree.
Target to research. Those potential UK consumers that have not previously bought a genetic testing kit from Company X. It is important to emphasise that the direct-to-consumer testing kit is not for the purpose of health-related information (i.e., predisposition to health conditions). Company X is also only interested in UK consumers aged over 17. Given the budget of this research, you will need to think carefully about who you will include in your sample. Considerations need to be made in terms of sampling for identifying and gaining access to individuals related to the research objective.
Who is to use the findings. Company X will use the research findings1, and specifically, their marketing department so it would inform marketing promotion to improve sales of their service (genealogy tracing and family connections).

Constraints. Research must be completed within or under ￡30,000, and this includes staff (researcher, research assistant), stationery, postage and telephone, travel and sustenance, incentive and Secretarial and administrative costs (i.e., transcription and/or administration support). Timeframes are that the research should be completed by May 2026.

Administrative considerations. Typically, we would expect a presentation of the progress made in the research. Interim progress reports will need to be provided in-person in London. A maximum of three of these will be needed. Examples of the purpose of the meetings could include the first relating to the sampling progress and the other being about the findings from analysis and the final relating to the draft report. Your key contact will be Dr Sarah Forbes at Company X for the interim reports/presentations of progress but can also supply further information about the research needs.

Format for assessment:

The assessment requires you to draft a research proposal that will address the marketing research promotion problem outlined in the marketing brief. Your research proposal should adopt the following structure (section 1-9):

Research proposal: Official layout of a marketing research activity

1.Executive summary (approx. 100 words): Summary of the major points from each of the other sections, presenting an overview of the entire proposal.

2.Background (approx. 350 words): As part of this you should demonstrate some knowledge of the relevant academic literature and the problem needing to be addressed. The background section should show where your proposal fits into the debate in the literature (6-8 academic peer reviewed journal articles). In short, the academic literature should be your point of departure into the rest of the proposal. The background should indicate the key literature sources from which you intend to draw your ideas and provide prima facie evidence that your research is grounded in the academic literature. You will find chapters 2 and 3 of Saunders et al (2023) useful here. The role of a relevant theory must be included in this section (avoid simply adding at the end of the section). This should relate to the weighing of benefits and risks and consumer interest toward genealogy etc.

3.Research objective (approx. 50 words): The background and problem definition section should lead smoothly into a statement of your research objective.

4.Research design (approx. 600 words): This will outline how you intend to go about achieving your research objective and help establish that your proposal is viable. In this section you should explain your overall research design which should follow what is covered within the research onion (see Chapter 5 of Saunders et al. 2023). Do not supply a figure or picture of the onion here. Additionally, you must outline how you as the researcher will be reflexive when implementing the chosen research design. You must also compare and contrast the chosen research design compared to an alternative (research design that is not selected) and reflect on the limitations of the design chosen. Lastly, you must show an understanding of the ethical issues that would arise in the research (see Chapter 6 in Saunders et al. 2023). Academic peer reviewed journal articles or alternative academic citations (methods textbooks) should be used for the research design to justify what is chosen.

5.Fieldwork/data collection (approx. 350 words): You should explain who will be in your sample with supporting academic evidence for why they are the focus. This section is also where you will need to outline the sampling technique used (see Chapter 6 (access) and 7 of Saunders et al. 2023) as well as the specific sample size (and where they will be sampled from) and how the data will be collected (and how long the data collection would take per participant/respondent). Finally, outline control mechanisms to ensure the quality of data collected should be specified. You should be using academic literature to rationalise/justify the decisions made in this section. The fieldwork/data collection section should inform the budget and timetable. Academic peer reviewed journal articles or alternative academic citations (methods textbooks) should be used to justify decisions made.

6.Data analysis (approx. 250 words): Describe the analysis that would be conducted, e.g., content analysis, multivariate regression analysis etc. Will software packages be used (e.g., NVivo, SPSS) If so, these will need to be specified. Also, a description of how the results will be interpreted in light of the research objective (beyond the analysis techniques) will be needed. You must also compare and contrast the chosen analysis to an alternative analysis (that is not selected; see Chapter 12 or 13 in Saunders et al. 2023). Academic peer reviewed journal articles or alternative academic citations (methods textbooks) should be used to justify decisions made.

7.Reporting (approx. 100 words): This is where you outline the nature of any interim reports to be presented and when they occur in the timetable. Interim reports must take place in-person so be aware of transportation (train ticket) and accommodation costs for your budget. You will also outline what will be in the final report and whether an oral presentation of the results will be made. You should also outline how the findings will relate to the chosen theory (mentioned in the background section) so references are expected in this section.

8.Costs and timetable (approx. 200 words): This is where you propose a timeline of what is to happen when (i.e., establishing access with participants (people and/or company). If you wish to, you may use a table for your budget and/ or timeline (this helps to keep the word count low as you should only use approx. 200 words for this section). Costing to be used for the budget are listed below in the ‘What would you charge’ section below. You should outline who is doing what activities when doing your budget for costing purposes. You are not permitted to supply your budget as an image (to avoid inclusion in the word count) as it is to be included in the word count. You must supply your budget in a text/ table that is included in the word count. No references are needed in this section.

9.References (not included in the word count): You are to supply a reference list of the sources used within this research proposal.

Note: You will be drafting a research proposal only. This scenario for the assessment is fictitious, and you are not to undertake any data collection.

What you would charge – considerations for your budget:

Typical costings are listed below to be used to inform the budget. If you select methods that are not listed below you must supply evidence of what the chosen method would cost by supplying a quote acquired from a reputable supplier.

Staff charges:
This is the time committed to developing an interview schedule and/ or a survey which takes time. Depending on your choice of methodology, below are the charges you would need to budget.

Lead researcher (you):
When you are working on a piece of research you charge ￡825 per working day (7.5 hours; ￡110.00 per hour) for your time. You will need to be involved in the project in some manner and as a result you will need to charge some money for your time. You need to consider how much of your time you would contribute and to charge. It needs to be realistic and you need to have some role in the research, i.e., you cannot say you are not involved. Your involvement will be needed in the research but also the interim progress report meetings so this time needs to be factored into your budget.

Research assistant (not you):
If you elect to use a research assistant for your research project, you will need to budget this. Someone who is junior but skilled at qualitative or quantitative analysis will be charged at ￡555 per working day (7.5 hours; ￡74.00 per hour) for their time. A research assistant is cheaper than charging more of your time but you need to be aware that some lead researcher time is needed to be included in the budget.

When considering the amount of time needed for staffing, you need to account for time for transport (if completing interviews and/ or focus groups), data collection, data analysis, interim reports, meetings about project progress, report drafting, report drafting with amendments and presenting final report etc.

Secretarial and administrative costs:
You will need to include secretarial and administrative costs in your budget. Someone who is grade 6 (term used to refer to level of job position) will cost ￡174.00 per working day (7.5 hours; ￡23.20 per hour) for their time. You must include a minimum of 7.5 hours of their time in the budget.

Software charges:
The staff charges include overhead costs so you do not need to charge for the use of software (e.g., SPSS, NVivo, Qualtrics).

Sustenance charges:
In the event that you and/ or your research assistant have to go and conduct interviews and/ or focus groups (or other method that requires them to be physically present), you would charge ￡17 per day for food and refreshments. You will need to consider how many days a person is away conducting the data collection (not applicable for surveys) to calculate how much to include in the budget for this. Note: if you select survey, you do not need to travel or charge sustenance for data collection because YouGov will collect the surveys for you (Note: you would still need to prepare the survey etc).

Train tickets:
For the purpose of this assessment, you will not be able to drive for any data collection but you would use trains to get to the desired location (if applicable; note that if you choose to do a survey you would use the company YouGov to collect the data on your behalf; i.e., you would not need to travel if you are using a survey). You will need be expected to have costed train tickets for your interim reports/presentations as the company is in London. A flat charge of ￡180 per return ticket would be charged regardless of the location you ‘travel’ to in the UK.

Accommodation charges:
These charges are applicable to interim reports/presentations with Company X in London and if you are conducting focus groups and/ or interviews outside of Glasgow. Depending on where your data collection is taking place, you will need to budget for you and/ or your research assistant to reach that location as well as charge for the anticipated cost of staying in accommodation. A minimum charge of ￡185 per night will be expected in the event that you are travelling anywhere outside of Glasgow. Note that if any researcher is travelling for data collection (even for 5 minutes) this needs to be charged in the budget. You will need to supply a strong rationale for your sampling (which includes location) in your fieldwork and data collection section.

Transcription/ survey payments costs:
Focus groups:
For a focus group (or focus groups) you are charged ￡1.75 per minute for transcription by your trusted transcriber service. You cannot undertake the focus groups online (remotely) and must do them in-person. You would also need to pay the participant an incentive for their time. This is ￡10 an hour. It is not possible to use Nvivo or Artificial intelligence (or equivalent) to transcribe your qualitative data. You must pay to have your qualitative data transcribed.

Interviews:
For interviews you are typically charged ￡1.45 per minute for transcription by your trusted transcriber service. You cannot undertake the interviews online (remotely) and must do them in-person. You would also need to pay the participant an incentive for their time. This is ￡10 an hour. It is not possible to use Nvivo or Artificial intelligence (or equivalent) to transcribe your qualitative data. You must pay to have your qualitative data transcribed.

Survey respondent payment:
The organisation you approach in the event that you conduct a survey is YouGov and for a 30-minute survey amongst the desired sample, you will be charged ￡18 per respondent. This cost includes the incentive for the respondent so incentive over and above this for using a survey are not needed. For example, if you wish a sample of 500 respondents to complete a 30 minute survey, you would include ￡9,000 in your budget.

Frequently asked questions:

Instructions

Q: I think I would like to do something different from the research objective. Can I
No. You are to complete the research proposal to address the research objective provided.

Q: Do I have to collect data for this assessment
No. You are not to collect any data. You need only write the research proposal (sections 1-9) and that is it. You are not allowed to collect any data.

Q: Do I need to rationalise and justify my decision in each section of the research proposal
Yes. Justifying and rationalising within your proposal is expected so do make sure you use academic references to support what you write in all sections. The only section where you would not need to include references is the ‘Costs and Timetable’ section of the research proposal.

Q: Should I write the proposal in the first person
You should not use first person when writing the proposal.

Q: You mention that the background section should include a theory. Where would I find a theory
The instructions mention privacy calculus theory and you are welcome to use this. I would recommend looking for academic peer reviewed journal articles that have used this theory for their research. The theory should not be mentioned merely at the end of the background section. The theory helps to understand the problem you are exploring, i.e., a person’s willingness to supply personal and genetic information.

Q: I was thinking about saying I am using an inductive approach to theory development but remembered you saying this was not possible. Can I use it anyway
No. You should not be taking an inductive approach to theory development. If you do, this shows an inability to follow instructions.

Q: Is the proposed research taking place in the UK
Yes. The research proposal would be proposing research that would take place in the UK. It must be stressed that you are only writing the research proposal for the assessment and you are not collecting any data (no data collection is to take place).

Q: When can the proposed research begin I need to know this for when I am writing the research proposal. I am aware that this is fictitious and no data collection is actually to take place.
You can write in your research proposal that the research begins as early as September 2025 if you wish to. Do be aware when you are supplying a timetable that the proposed research must be completed by May 2025.

Q: I am writing about sampling and analysis in the research design section. Is this correct
No. Please refer to the format of the assessment section on page 6 and 7. You will see that sampling is to be referred to under the Fieldwork/data collection section.
Analysis is to be mentioned in a section about analysis.

Q: I am no very familiar with reflexivity. Could you send me additional material
I would highly recommend that you engage with the library and search for reflexivity. Also, there are a number of academic articles that discuss reflexivity. For example:
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis.
Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589-597.
Jamieson, M. K., Govaart, G. H., & Pownall, M. (2023). Reflexivity in Quantitative Research: A rationale and beginner’s guide. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 17(4), e12735.

Q: What are some of the common mistake students make within this assessment
Students think they are to undertake a data collection – you are not to undertake a data collection and are instead to write a research proposal. Students overlook part of what is required in sections 1-9 of the research proposal. You should read what is to be included in each of the sections very carefully to make sure you include all that is required. Students who do not effectively justify the decisions made within sections of the research proposal.

Q: For the fieldwork/data collection section of the research proposal, do you have any tips for what to include
Make sure to indicate who is going to be in your sample and rationalise why they are being sampled using academic sources, outline what sampling technique is being used and why, and finally, outline the control mechanisms in place to ensure the quality of data collected. For example, for surveys, this would be pilot testing, ensuring there is a high cronbach alpha of survey scales, and for interviews or focus groups this would be the use of moderator training, pilot testing, avoiding leading questions etc (include academic references).

Q: The assessment states that a description of how the results will be interpreted in light of the marketing objective (beyond the analysis techniques) will be needed. Do you have any advice on this
What this means is don’t just say what the analysis technique is (e.g., don’t say a [analysis technique] will be used and findings determined) but actually tell the reader what can be learned as a result of using this technique, i.e., tell the reader what the technique can enable you to understand and how this will address the research objective.

Q: In a couple of places in the assessment it says we must compare and contrast to an alternate. What does this mean
By understanding similarities (if applicable) and differences between two things, we can increase our understanding and learn more about both. You need to show the reader that there was a clear why you chose X instead of Y. Academic references should be used when doing this.

Q: I want to do a mixed-method methodological choice for my research design in the research proposal (e.g., qualitative research and quantitative research). Is this advisable
No. It is not advisable to do a mixed-method methodological choice for your research design. The timeframe you are to work within is tight and undertaking, for example, interviews and a survey is not practical. This would appear overly ambitious, not well thought through and would not work well in practice, even though this is a fictitious scenario.

Paragraphing

Q: My writing is not the best. Do you have any links/ information that would be helpful to strengthen my own writing skills
Yes. The university has support available:

Q: I am wanting to write my assignment using bullet points. Is this ok
No. You should not be using bullet points for your assessment.

Quotes

Q: How many quotes are appropriate in this assessment
You are not to use any quotes within this assessment.

Word count

Q: Does the word count include the executive summary
Yes. The word count of 2000 words includes the executive summary.

Q: Does the word count include in-text referencing and headings
Yes. The 2000 words includes in-text referencing (e.g. Apple (2016) and Pear (2017) found…) and headings.

Q: Does the word count include the reference list
No. The word count does not include the reference list.

Plagiarism

Q: Do our assignments get put through plagiarism software
Yes. The software used is ‘Turn it in’. It evaluates your work and cross checks it with all available material (including academic journal articles, books, websites etc.) and reports where material has been copied from. Students’ assessment submission would also be compared to other assessment submissions to identify incidents of student misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, collusion or commissioning).

Q: What is academic misconduct
Academic misconduct is any kind of cheating or attempt to gain an unfair advantage. Common types of academic misconduct:
●plagiarism: using someone else’s words/ideas without appropriate referencing
●collusion: inappropriate collaboration with other students
●commissioning: using work written or improved by someone else, e.g., friends, family or essay-writing companies.
●Unacceptable use of generative AI in assessments For further information please visit:

Using artificial intelligence (AI)
Q: Can I use artificial intelligence (AI) to do a grammar check for my assessment

Yes. You are allowed to use AI to check your grammar. You are not permitted to use AI to create content, translate work or complete the task.

Formatting

Q: What font should I use and what line spacing
The main text for this assignment must be word-processed in Arial, font 12, double spacing, minimum 2cm margins all around.

Q: Can I use subheadings in my assessment submission
With this assessment outline there is a section outlining how to format our submission (see page 6 and 7). These sections should be your subheadings.

Q: How do I structure the body of the assessment submission
I am unable to give a definitive answer because many students would have identified chosen different research objectives to address, which makes offering a ‘one size fits all’ structure within each section (see page 6 and 7) impractical. I can only stress that students should consider flow and coherence in the presentation of the assessment submission.

Q: What do you expect for the word count of each of the sections of the assessment
This is specified in the format section of the assessment outline (see page 6 and
7).
Q: Can I send you my draft to have a look through
No. We need to be equitable to all students so if I read your material, you would be advantaged over other students. Also, this would undermine the objective of the summative assessment which is for students to develop independent research skills. Although, I would recommend that you take advantage of the formative assessment which I can review and provide feedback on.

Tables or Figures

Q: Can I include tables and diagrams in my assessment submission in the main assessment format
Yes, for the budget and for the timeline. An example is shown on the next page.

Provisional Timetable
(you fill the squares black to signify which month activities occur)
Example of filled in boxes is to simply show you how to fill them in.

09-2
5 10-
25 11-25 12-2
5 01-2
6 02-2
6 03-2
6 04-2
6 05-2
6
[….]
[….]
Sampling and
data
collection agreement
from
Company X
Sampling and preparation/ scheduling
[Research method] collection
[….]
[….]
[….]
[….]
[….]
[….]

Some activities to consider:
●Sampling and data collection agreement from Company X
●[Research method] data collection
●Data preparation for quantitative analysis/ transcription of qualitative data
●Analysis of transcripts and documents
●Dataset preparation for analysis (for survey)
●Writing of report ● Interim report(s)
●Delivery of Draft Report ● Delivery of Final Report
●Development of dissemination materials
●Dissemination

Example Cost and Charging Arrangements

Item Staff member/ charge Day rate/
charge per unit Work on project Total charge
Project management and professional time Lead
Researcher ￡825 [number] days of project
management, communications and
disseminations activity ￡
Research assistant ￡555 [number] days
of data
collection,
[number] days of analysis ([number] days for interviews, [number] days for documents) [number] days of writing up = ￡
[total number] days
Secretarial and administrative costs Grade 6 (minimum 7.5 to be costed) ￡23.20 per hour [Total hours] x
23.20
[How many focus group minutes] x 1.75 ￡
Transcription costs (delete if not used) Focus Group
(delete if not used) ￡1.75 per minute ￡
Transcription costs (delete if not used) Interviews (delete if not used) ￡1.45 per minute [How many interview minutes] x 1.45 ￡
Incentives for interview participants (delete if not used) Interviews (delete if not used) ￡10 per participant [How many
participants in total] x 10 ￡
Incentives for focus group participants (delete if not used) Focus Group
(delete if not used) ￡10 per participant [How many
participants in total] x 10 ￡
Survey costs (delete if not used) YouGov
(delete if not used) ￡18 per respondent [How many respondents minutes] x 18 ￡
Accommodation Motel room ￡185 [how many nights need to be charged ] x ￡185 ￡
Travel Train tickets ￡180 Travel for [research method] [number] x 180 ￡
Sustenance Food ￡17 Sustenance for data collection days [number] x ￡17 ￡
Total charge for the budget ￡

Q: Will you look at an appendices for marking
No. I will only be marking the 2000 word assessment. I will not mark or likely look at the appendices. An appendix (plural: appendices) would be at the end of the assessment submission and should only include material that isn’t essential to your work, but which could provide useful context or background material. Always assume the marker will not look at the appendix. In the main body of your proposal, you should indicate when you’re referring to an appendix by citing it in parentheses. For any students that feel the need to include a lot of information in the appendices believing it will contribute to their assessment grade, I am sorry to inform you that it won’t for this assessment.

References

Q: What style of referencing should be used
The Harvard referencing style must be used for in-text referencing and the reference list.

Q: Can I use ‘as cited by’ when referencing what another author has referenced
No. You should only use ‘as cited by’ when you have searched everywhere to gain access to the original article that was referenced by another author and it cannot be found. Using ‘as cited by’ is poor practice since it puts you at risk of incorrectly representing the work of the original author (you are trusting that the author who is referring to the original author has correctly paraphrased what the original author wrote and/ or found).

Q: Should my reference list be in alphabetical order (based on the first author) Yes. Your reference list should be in alphabetical order (based on the first author; NB: Do not rearrange the author order of the academic journal article). If you are unsure
of how to reference, please reach out to the Departmental Academic and Communication Skills (DACS) team).

Q: Can I use academic journal articles that completed their research outside of the United Kingdom
Yes. You may read and use academic journal articles that have undertaken research outside of the United Kingdom.

Q: Do I put academic journal articles or other sources in my reference list that I did not use in my assessment submission
No. Only sources that you have read and referenced in your assessment submission should feature in your reference list.