Capstone Topic - Investigating the Impact of Social Media on Contemporary Business Practices.

Title Insert title of the research. The title describes the scope of the research.

Investigating the Impact of Social Media on Contemporary Business Practices. Background and Rationale This section will be used to create the readers interest. It can include a specific description of the topic that is to be investigated. A brief preview of the topic and the foundation of the problem should also be given. The researcher can achieve this through building up a detailed background of circumstances that lead to the problem being examined. Therefore, the background helps the reader understand the specific problem addressed by the researcher. The background to the problem should not be more than a page. Problem to be Investigated Describe the gap in literature and hence the need to conduct the research. For example, after reading ten articles about your topic from reputable journals, you may discover that previous studies have not used your specific target population as the participants. In this example, your research would be filling the gap of targeting participants that were limited in previous studies or not used as participants at all. The problem statement should be eight lines in length in a paragraph format.

Aim of the Study The aim of the study refers to the goal of your research. Your aim should be clear, unambiguous, concise and indicate what you intend to achieve with your research. This section starts with: The aim of this study is.The aim should be five lines in length in a paragraph format.

Research Objectives There should be three objectives. Kindly refrain from listing more than three objectives. Research objectives should be preceded by infinitive verbs such as to determine, to identify, to describe, to establish and to develop. Use bullet points to list your research objectives. For example, research objectives may be written as follows: The objectives of this research are: To identify the most common social media platforms used by businesses. To determine the extent to which social media affect businesses. To identify which aspects of social media affect businesses.

Research Questions Convert your objectives directly into questions. There should be as many research questions as there are research objectives. If there are three research objectives, there should be three corresponding research questions. Use bullet points to list your corresponding research questions. For example, corresponding research questions may be written as follows: The following research questions are derived from the research objectives: Which are the most common social media platforms used by businesses? To what extent does social media affect businesses? Which aspects of social media affect businesses? Significance of the Study When conducting research, it is necessary to establish and convey to the reader why the research is of critical importance and to whom the research would be beneficial, that is, the organisation; members of an organisation; or a particular region, relevant stakeholders, the public or even to government. How will the research make a significant contribution to business, government or society? This section should be 8 lines in length in a paragraph format. Literature Review One of the most important and fundamental tasks when conducting a research study is the review of literature. This, for a researcher means, going through and getting acquainted with the available journal articles that have been provided by other authors or researchers, in the same area of interest as that of a researcher. For example, if a researchers interest is Internet banking adoption, the researcher would need to review previous literature on a global scale in the area of Internet banking adoption. Reviewing the literature helps the researcher in pin-pointing the gap to be filled and in identifying the questions that the researcher might want to find answers to. At the initial stage of the research, reviewing the literature helps to clarify ideas, identify the theoretical roots of the study and establish the methodology appropriate for the study. This section should be 1.5 to 2 pages. Research Method The most common classification of research methods are quantitative and qualitative research methods. Quantitative research makes use of a questionnaire to gather data that is revised and tabulated in numbers. Developing a questionnaire and emailing that questionnaire to participants is an example of quantitative research. Qualitative research makes use of a questionnaire and interviews to gather data, and presents data in the form of a prescriptive narration with words to understand the natural setting of the phenomenon being studied. Developing a questionnaire and conducting telephonic or face to face interviews using that questionnaire is an example of qualitative research. Choose ONLY ONE of these research methods. The reason for choosing a specific research method should also be stated. Target Population The target population is a listing of all the elements in the population from which the sample is drawn. Restrict your target population to a maximum of one group of professionals. For instance, if a company consists of the marketing department, information technology department, finance department and human resources department, choose only one department appropriate to your research. Thereafter, state the total number of this target population. For example, you may state: The total number of the target population was 75 staff members from the finance department. The reason for choosing a specific target population should also be stated. Sample Size A sample is regarded as a subset of the population. Thus, some elements and not all the elements of the population would form the sample size of a study. The sample size should be derived from the total number of your target population and you would need to explain how your sample size was derived. You may access the Website shown below to derive the sample size from the total number of the target population (a 95% confidence level and 5% margin of error is generally valid in research). For example, if the total number of the target population is 300 employees, 169 employees will form the sample size of the study (according to the sample size table reflected in the Website shown below). Please remember that a sample size is not the number of responses that you will receive through your data collection instrument. A sample size is determined prior to conducting data collection. For the quantitative research method, the total number of the target population should ideally be 75 and the sample size should be 63 (according to the sample size table reflected in the Website shown below). For the qualitative research method, the total number of the target population should ideally be 30 and the sample size should be 28 (according to the sample size table reflected in the Website shown below). https://www.research-advisors.com/tools/SampleSize.htm

Sampling Method State the chosen sampling method and the reason for choosing that sampling method.

Data Collection State the secondary data collection methods. State the primary data collection method. Data Analysis and Interpretation State the type of analysis based on the research method that was chosen. For quantitative analysis, state: The data will be analysed via Microsoft Excel. Graphs, charts and tables with corresponding explanations will be provided. For qualitative analysis, state: The data will be analysed via content analysis. The purpose of content analysis is to identify the main themes that emerge from the responses given by the participants of the study. Furthermore, tables and graphs with corresponding explanations will be provided where applicable. Bibliography Include a bibliography.