Reflective Journal Report for HI6008 Business Research Project

This reflective report presents a student's personal learning journey within a business research course, focusing on the HI6008 unit. It details the process of topic approval, literature review, and research methodology, including quantitative data collection through questionnaires. The report reflects ...Read More

Running head: BUSINESS RESEARCH
Business Research

BUSINESS RESEARCH 2
Introduction
This reflective report presents an understanding of the topic approval and literature
review. It also shows the learning regarding the research methodology and distilling the
findings from data. This reflective report also takes into consideration the writing up a
project report. It also reflects on the research experience, insights gained, teamwork.
1. Topic Approval
Problem definition
I began to identify an interesting research topic by focusing on current trends in the
market. After identification, I have decided to research on “Role of Social Media in
engaging young consumers” because it is highly used to connect the people across the
world. This was challenging for me to select one research topic that is interesting for all
team members.
Research question
I have decided the research question that would be addressed throughout the research
such as determining the role of social media in engaging young consumers in the
context of Sydney.
Writing of topic approval submission
I have also improved my learning regarding the writing of topic approval submission. In
this way, I have focused on developing an effective research question as it helps me in
topic approval submission (William, James, and Arora, 2015).
2. The literature review
Search process
Throughout the business research course, I have improved my learning about the
search process. It was supportive for me to perform my responsibilities in a team. My
role in the team was searching via online databases for relevant research papers. I
have used online investigation and gathers the required information for this
investigation. This was interesting to me as I am competent to access the internet.
Summarising relevant articles
Throughout the business research course, I learned the ways to summarise the relevant
articles. I have applied this learning in practical life. I read different articles related to my
research topic and summarise the article to gain depth knowledge regarding “Role of
Social Media in engaging young consumers”.
Designing the outline of the literature review
From business research, I have increased my learning about designing the outlining of
the literature review. This was supportive for me in assignment 2 where I made outlining
of the literature review. On the basis of my learning, I have developed subtopics for
literature review such as key drivers of rapid expansion about social media marketing,
Australian market, as well as, critical point of view (Zikmund, 2012).
Writing up the literature review
Business research course has increased my experience regarding the writing up the
literature review. In this way, I have critically write-up the literature review.
3. Research methodology
Discussions about methods
From business research, I have developed my knowledge about the methods. In this
way, I have learned several techniques of conducting the research such as quantitative,
qualitative and mixed methods. I have applied a quantitative method for my research

BUSINESS RESEARCH 3
because of the unavailability of pre-existing information. Throughout the research, I
have also increased my experience in gathering the primary data through a
questionnaire (Bell, Bryman, and Harley, 2018).
Sampling
Through business research, I have learned that there are different sampling techniques
such as probability and non-probability sampling. In this way, I have applied a simple
random probability sampling technique to choose the sample from a large amount of
population. I have also decided to select 200 participants between the ages of 18 to 25
years.
Questionnaire
From business research, I have learned that different kinds of the questionnaire can be
used in designing the questionnaire such as open-ended, and close-ended. I have
applied this learning in designing a questionnaire related to “Role of Social Media in
engaging young consumers”. In this way, I have developed a Likert scale and Google
Docs application in questionnaire structure (Abzari, Ghassemi, & Vosta, 2014).
Data analysis and interpretation
From the business research course, I have developed my understanding of data
analysis. In this way, I have presented the gathered data through charts. I have
increased my learning regarding interpretation. This was effective for me to analyze the
data and interpret it in a comprehensible manner (Wu, Noorian, Vassileva, & Adaji,
2015).
4. Distilling the findings from the data
Throughout the business research course, I have increased my learning regarding the
ways of proving the hypothesis through findings from data. This learning would be
applied by me in developing the findings from data in an effective and efficient way as
well as, it was supportive for proving the hypothesis (Dunlop, Freeman, and Jones,
2016).
5. Writing up the Project Report
Business research course was helpful for me to write up the project report. In this
course, I learned that the researcher should use own words for completing the
investigation in an ethical manner. I have also increased my experience that proper
formatting and grammar, and good sentence structuring issue should be considered. I
have applied these learning and experience into write-up the project report (Labrecque,
2014).
6. Reflecting on the research experience, insights gained, teamwork
Through the business research course, I have developed my research experience. I
have also gained insights regarding the literature review, research methodology, and
data analysis and interpretation. This was supportive for completing the research on
“role of Social Media in engaging young consumers” in an effective manner. I have also
performed as teamwork where each team member has contributed to a team. It was
beneficial for completing the main aim and objectives (Nowak, & McGloin, 2014).
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that business research course has
developed my understanding regarding the problem definition. It has also increased my
learning regarding the literature review as well as, research methodology. It can be
summarised that business research has improved my learning related to data analysis

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and interpretation. It also developed my understanding regarding distilling the findings
from data and writing up the project report. I have also improved my learning regarding
research experience, insights gained, and teamwork within the investigation. It helps me
to make further research in different fields.

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References
Abzari, M., Ghassemi, R. A., & Vosta, L. N. (2014). Analyzing the Effect of Social
Media on Brand Attitude and Purchase Intention: The Case of Iran Khodro Company.
Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 143, 822-826.
Bell, E., Bryman, A. and Harley, B., 2018. Business research methods. USA: Oxford
university press.
Dunlop, S., Freeman, B. and Jones, S. (2016). Marketing to Youth in the Digital Age:
The Promotion of Unhealthy Products and Health Promoting Behaviours on Social
Media. Media and Communication, 4(3), p.35.
Labrecque, L. I. (2014). Fostering consumer–brand relationships in social media
environments: the role of parasocial interaction. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28(2),
134-148.
Nowak, K. L., & McGloin, R. (2014). The Influence of Peer Reviews on Source
Credibility and Purchase Intention. Societies, 4(4), 689-705.
William, T., James, P. and Arora, K. 2015. Research Methods: The essential knowledge
base. 2nd edn. USA: Cengage.
Wu, K., Noorian, Z., Vassileva, J., & Adaji, I. (2015). How buyers perceive the
credibility of advisors in the online marketplace: review balance, review count and
misattribution. Journal of Trust Management, 2(1), 1-18.
Zikmund, W. G. 2012. Business Research Methods. 9th edn. USA: Cengage.