Reflective Journal: Holmes Institute HI6008 Business Research Project

This reflective journal documents a student's experience working on a business research project focused on the effects of social media on buying behavior. The journal details the student's contributions to topic selection, literature review, and research methodology, highlighting the skills gained and challenges encountered. It explores the process of defining the research question, the literature review process including the search for and summarization of relevant articles, and the student's role in the research methodology, including questionnaire design and data analysis. The journal also reflects on the research experience, including insights gained, issues faced, and the dynamics of teamwork, with a final statement indicating the sections of the project personally written by the student. The student discusses the importance of selecting a relevant topic, the need for contemporary sources in the literature review, and the significance of a well-structured methodology for data collection and analysis. The project highlighted the impact of social media on buying behavior, and the student's reflections emphasize the development of teamwork and analytical skills.

Assignment 3: Reflective Journal
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
1. My personal contribution to the topic selection, problem definition, research question, writing
of topic approval submission, and team charter. How I experienced this and what I learnt from it
.........................................................................................................................................................3
2. My personal contribution to the literature review report, i.e. search process, summarising of
relevant articles, designing the outline/argument/structure of the literature review, writing up the
literature review. How I experienced this and what I learnt from it................................................3
3. My personal contribution to the research methodology report, i.e. my role in discussions about
methods, sampling, questionnaire design, data collection, analysis and interpretation. How I
experienced this and what I learnt from it.......................................................................................4
4. My reflections on the research experience, insights I gained, and any issues, struggles,
challenges, synergies I experienced, individually and in the teamwork..........................................4
5. My statement indicating which sections of this research project I personally wrote and what
you learned from this experience.....................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7
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Introduction
Skills are important to conduct proper research which can be beneficial for development of skills
and acquiring new set of skills. The present study is focused on my experience that I have gained
by working on this project along with the issues that I have faced. The study also highlights the
section that were developed by me in order to analyse my knowledge and experience in a proper
manner.
1. My personal contribution to the topic selection, problem definition, research question,
writing of topic approval submission, and team charter. How I experienced this and what I
learnt from it
The most important part of the research is to select relevant topic which would be matching the
skills (Philbrick et al., 2017). The topic that has been selected is on the basis of the relevency and
the sources can easily be procured out of the topic. The topic also needs to focus on the recent
trends and must have a significant impact on the lives of the people. The topic that has been
selected for the research was Effect of Social Media on the Buying Behaviour. As per my
observation the social media and its impact on the buying behaviour is an area that is not
explored but everyone is experiencing it on a daily basis. I have also contributed to the fact that
the research objectives and questions needs to explore all the possible areas of the topic that can
be positive and negative. The approval of topic took nearly 2 days, as it was necessary to clear all
the necessary doubts in order to conduct proper research in the context of the study. I have
experienced that the topic that was selected by us can have a major impact on the readers as it is
something that everyone can relate and the impact of social media has been significant in our
lives.
2. My personal contribution to the literature review report, i.e. search process,
summarising of relevant articles, designing the outline/argument/structure of the literature
review, writing up the literature review. How I experienced this and what I learnt from it
The literature review can be considered to be a significant part for the study as it can help in
exploring the various areas that can be required for the topic of study. In order to conduct proper
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literature review relevant sources has been selected for the internet and various other sources. I
have learnt that the sources need to be contemporary and the papers which are considered as a
source needs to be exclusive that is within 5 years. The literature review has helped me to gain
proper knowledge of the context of the topic. I have learnt many aspects of social media that was
previously unknown to me. On the other hand, the relevant articles have been shortlisted by
proper analysis and evaluation along with their relevance on the topic of study. The structure
that was designed by me helped the research to flow in bottom up approach (Nash et al., 2017).
As the structure can clearly and concisely present the link of social media to the buying
behaviour. I have also suggested that various types of social media and different types of impact
also is important to be included in the study as it can help us to enhance the relevance and the
authenticity of the study.
3. My personal contribution to the research methodology report, i.e. my role in discussions
about methods, sampling, questionnaire design, data collection, analysis and interpretation.
How I experienced this and what I learnt from it
I have observed that methodology is one of the most important parts that can help the research to
be conducted in a smooth manner. The design, approach and philosophy need to be clear as it
can help in collecting proper data and deriving appropriate conclusion in this context. I have
been able to derive relevant conclusion by properly analysing the sources that has been used
along with the survey. The interpretation has been done by determining the response of the
participant and analysing the responses in a proper manner (Polonsky and Waller, 2018). The
questionnaire that was developed by me was in such a manner that it can help in gaining
responses relevant to the topic which can be reality analysed and then can be interpreted in the
context of the study. According to my experience both the form of data collection is important
but the analysis of the primary data is less complex as compared to the secondary data collection.
I have also observed that the data that needs to be collected in primary is challenging than
secondary data collection. The data has been analysed with the help of keeping the records in
proper manner and later observing the inclination of the responses and presenting them with the
help of proper punctuation.
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4. My reflections on the research experience, insights I gained, and any issues, struggles,
challenges, synergies I experienced, individually and in the teamwork
Personal issues that has been I was facing is that trying to find the relevant data in the context of
the topic study. The secondary sources and their analysis are the most challenging part along
with finding relevant data from the internet and other sources within the given time period as it
can be difficult to match these criteria (Bacon and Stewart, 2019). Other than that, as a team
there has been issues about certain aspects like survey question and the methodologies that needs
to be considered. There has been a difference in the point of view of my team and me due to
which there were certain setbacks that can be present in the research process. Other than that,
issues had also been present in selecting the sample and taking the response of the people as
major of the people were unwilling to participate in the survey. These issues were basically
related to their belief and communication due to which data collection has been the most
challenging part for the team in the present research study.
5. My statement indicating which sections of this research project I personally wrote and
what you learned from this experience
In the present research project, the sections that are written be me are literature review and data
analysis. Both the section where analysing the primary and secondary sources of data that can be
interpreted in the required information for the understandability of the readers. Other than that,
these sections have helped to gain significant knowledge about the topic of study and the trends
along with the perspective of people on the methods by which the impact that social media have
on the buying behaviour (Cassell, 2018). I have learnt that social media has been influencing our
lives in a significant manner and buying behaviour is one of the activities that has been
influenced by this social media in a significant manner. This research has helped me to gain
knowledge along with developing skills like teamwork which can be helpful for me in the future.
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Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that, the research project has helped me to gain proper knowledge
along with the required skills that can help me in my professional development. Teamwork and
dealing with real life issues can be two most prominent experiences that I have gained out of the
project which can be helpful for me and develop my personality in a significant manner.
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References
Cassell, C., 2018. “Pushed Beyond My Comfort Zone:” MBA Student Experiences of
Conducting Qualitative Research. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 17(2),
pp.119-136.
Bacon, D.R. and Stewart, K.A., 2019. “Lessons From the Best and Worst Team Experiences:
How a Teacher Can Make the Difference”: Reflections and Recommendations for Student
Teams Researchers. Journal of Management Education, 43(5), pp.543-549.
Polonsky, M.J. and Waller, D.S., 2018. Designing and managing a research project: A business
student's guide. Sage publications.
Nash, D., Hill, T. and Anthony, M., 2017. Experiential learning for MBAs: Are We Closing the
Business Competency Gap. Northeastern Association of Business, Economics and Technology,
p.277.
Philbrick, K.M., Maryott, K.M. and Magnuson, R.A., 2017. Using Experience-Based Learning to
Enhance Student Success: Step 1-Exploratory Research to Identify Discipline-Specific
Competencies. In Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning: Proceedings
of the Annual ABSEL conference (Vol. 44, No. 1).
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