Research Proposal on the Socio-Economic Impact of COVID-19 on UK

This research proposal aims to critically analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the UK economy, focusing on the labor market, private sector growth, and consumer purchasing power. It identifies a research gap by noting the qualitative nature of the information, lacking statistical analysis. The proposal includes research questions addressing the pandemic's effects on the labor market and private sector, along with objectives to evaluate these impacts and changes in consumer behavior. The literature review synthesizes existing research, highlighting the pre-pandemic economic landscape, the risks to the workforce, and the altered spending patterns of consumers. The methodology section outlines the research philosophy, approach, choice, data collection, and analysis techniques, emphasizing the use of secondary data and thematic analysis. Ethical considerations and a proposed timescale for the research are also included. Desklib provides a platform for students to access this and similar assignments for academic support.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
(Impact of Corona Virus on the
UK Economy)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
RESEARCH QUESTIONS.............................................................................................................3
RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.......................................................................................3
Research Aim..............................................................................................................................3
Research Objectives....................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................6
ETHICAL CONSIDERATION.......................................................................................................7
PROPOSED TIMESCALE..............................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
COVID-19 is the global pandemic which has created impact over the whole world. The
pandemic made Government of the United Kingdom to put restrictions over the movement of
people and continuing the business operations (Keogh-Brown and et. al., 2020). The outbreak of
COVID-19 has made companies to lay off employees due to not able to generate revenue or
profit. The present report covers information about the impact of COVID-19 over labour market,
private sector and the purchase power of buyers.
The main reason of conducting the current investigation is to carry in-depth information
about the impact of global pandemic COVID-19 (Hu, 2020). This investigation topic has my
great interest because it covers data about the current happening of the world and how it has
affected the lives of the people as well as operations of the business.
The main research gap identified in the current investigation is that present report covers
qualitative piece of information and this shows that it does not include statistical or numerical
information (Jeris and Nath, 2020). This investigation is also quite important for the researchers
as well as students who want to collect information about the impact of COVID-19 in economy
of the United Kingdom. Therefore, this report covers in-depth information about the effects of
COVID-19 over labour market and private sector.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
 How COVID impacted the labour market?
 How COVID impacted the private sector growth and the purchase power of buyers ?
RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Research Aim
To critically analyse the impact of Corona Virus on the UK Economy
Research Objectives
 To critically evaluate how COVID impacted the labour market.
 To critically evaluate how COVID impacted the private sector growth.
 To critically evaluate how COVID impacted the purchase power of buyers.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review is the chapter that assists in the collection of second-hand data and the
addressal of research questions. This report also includes the opinions and views of authors so
that relevant data can be assembled.
How COVID impacted the labour market?
According to The Monday Briefing (2019), it is identified that in early 2019 UK had seen
unemployment fall to the lowest level since 1974. It was against a backdrop of sluggish Gross
Domestic Product growth and this is considered as greatest achievement. It had also recorded
that self-employment had grown in over the years in the United Kingdom before global
pandemic COVID-19. UK had experienced balanced demand and supply of labours for
maintaining low unemployment.
According to Alradhawi and et. al., (2020), around 7.6 million, or 24% of the United
Kingdom workforce, are at risk due to global pandemic COVID-19 related with lock down
restrictions. Places and people with the lowest incomes are the most vulnerable. UK Government
has tried to save lives of people by slowing down the spread of the COVID-19. This has taken
dramatic measures with broader implications for economic activity (Brewer and Gardiner, 2020).
UK had declared lock down on March 23, 2020 for controlling the impact of global pandemic
COVID-19. Such a rapid fall in results has important implications for employment. Around 7.6
million jobs were at risk because companies have laid off, temporary furloughs and reductions in
pay and hours. Almost 50% of every job at risk in all those occupations earning less than £10 per
hour. It is estimated in the weeks of April 6 to 19, 2020 around 22% of the working age
population had furloughed.
How COVID impacted the private sector growth?
According to Keogh-Brown and et. al., (2020), private sector is the area that helps an
economy to grow and develop. It is identified that private sector of the United Kingdom like
retail industry were focusing towards expanding their business in different countries. In simpler
words, private sector growth was steady because many investors were investing their funds to
different businesses to gain high return. Private companies were also in beneficial stage because
they also had multiple sources of funds to borrow.
According to Hu (2020), COVID-19 has created over a large impact over businesses of
the United Kingdom. For private organisations, arranging and acquiring capital is quite

challenging even in during ordinary times. The unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19 had
created disaster for the companies. COVID-19 has created slowdown in taking new loans from
different lenders because investors had created mind-set during COVID-19 that they have to face
losses because companies are not able to continue their business operations. The outbreak of
COVID-19 had created a level of uncertainty for private companies operating in the United
Kingdom. The pandemic has increased the debt level of private companies and it quite difficult
to clear in next multiple years (Jallow, Renukappa and Suresh, 2020). This outbreak has created
debt raising environment because market which is available with capital have more crowd and
increase in defaults. All credit relationships require to be considered whether they are traditional
players such as alternative lenders and banks such as private equity or private debt providers.
How COVID impacted the purchase power of buyers?
According to Jeris and Nath (2020), buyers are the people who purchase products and
services as per their disposable income as well as their present earnings. Before outbreak of
global pandemic COVID-19, buyers had high disposable income because they used to spend
more luxury items as well as they were aware that they have permanent source of income. In
simpler words, purchasers had source of income and had mindset of buying luxury products and
also products other than essential products.
According to Brewer and Gardiner (2020), the outbreak of COVID-19 has changed
altered and dramatically altered the intentions, purchasing patterns and intentions of customers.
This is the global crisis that has gained notable attention due to globalisation-the interconnection
of countries and markets and its unprecedented hold by digital and traditional media. It has been
analysed that consumers continued to spend and there are some cases in which customers spend
more in comparison of pre-pandemic levels on some essential products like household supplies
and groceries (Chronopoulos, Lukas and Wilson, 2020). It had also analysed that customers have
started spending their funds on home entertainment due to restrictions on the movement of
people. People have also started spending more on massive gaming culture at their home only.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is the section that gives certain methods for accumulating,
evaluating and analysing data in a systematic way. It also assists in the collection of information
in such a way that every objective could be easily achieved and research questions could be
addressed. Therefore, in this methods are included which will be used by investigator to collect
and analyse data.
Research Philosophy: The philosophy is of two important kinds that are: positivism and
interpretivism philosophy (Mohajan, 2018). Researcher will select interpretivism philosophy so
that non-numerical information could be evaluated and analysed.
Research Approach: The approach is categorised into two important kinds that are:
inductive and deductive approach. Researcher will select inductive approach so that theoretical
data can be evaluated and analysed. The main reason of choosing inductive approach is that it
focuses on theoretical data.
Research Choice: The choice is classified into two important types which are:
quantitative and qualitative research choice (Ngozwana, 2018). Investigator will choose
qualitative research choice because it assists in the collection of theoretical and text information
rather than numerical data (Holmlund, Witell and Gustafsson, 2020). The main reason of
choosing qualitative choice is that it assists in collecting timely theoretical data. With the
assistance of qualitative choice researcher assembles theoretical data which is generally opinions
and views of the authors.
Data Collection: It is divided into two important kinds that are: primary and secondary
data collection. Researcher will choose secondary data collection method as it helps in
accumulating second-hand data directly from the available sources. The secondary sources that
will be used by investigator are: books, articles, journals, newspapers etc. The major reason of
using secondary sources is that it helps in saving time because information is already available
on different platforms in relation to the topic (Patel, 2020).
Research Technique: The technique that will be considered by investigator is systematic
literature review and case studies (Basias and Pollalis, 2018). These techniques will assist in
collecting qualitative and second-hand information in a systematic way.

Data analysis Technique: Thematic analysis will be used by investigator to analyse
information because it assists in evaluating relevancy of assembled theoretical piece of
information (Cypress, 2019).
Therefore, secondary data collection method will be used by investigator so that
qualitative information could be evaluated and analysed in a systematic and timely manner
(Heslop, Burns and Lobo, 2018). There are certain difficulties that can be faced by researcher
which are: issue in managing time, lack of funds, finding appropriate source for collecting data
etc.
Advantages and disadvantage of qualitative research choice method
Advantages
The major advantage of the qualitative research method is that it assists in saving funds
of the researcher because it is gathered from the available sources such as books, journals,
articles, newspapers etc. The other significant advantage is that it assists in collecting detailed
piece of information in the shorter time period (Daniel, 2018). Another significant benefit of
qualitative method is that it assists in presenting old content with the help of experienced
marketer. New and genuine ideas are generated so that valuable content could be carried out in a
systematic way.
Disadvantages
The main disadvantage of the qualitative research choice method is that the gathered
information can not be statistically presented. This clearly shows that the gathered information
cannot be measured (Gear, Eppel and Koziol-Mclain, 2018). The other disadvantage of the
qualitative method is that the information assembled through secondary sources might be
expired. This ultimately reduces the validity and relevancy of the assembled piece of
information.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
Ethics are the significant element within an investigation because it assists in doing the
research in an ethical manner.
There are certain ethical issues which can be faced by researcher which are: identifying
new and existing information so that research objectives could be achieved, maintaining
confidentiality of the gathered data, properly communicating outcomes and results of the whole
investigation (Urcia, 2021). The questions of the investigation will also be addressed without

including own thought procedures and biases. The motive of the research project will also be
communicated in such a manner that people associated with the project could contribute by
providing relevant and accurate information could be collected and analysed.
PROPOSED TIMESCALE
Gantt chart is a kind of chart that illustrates schedule of the project. Henry Gantt is
known as the inventor of Gantt chart. Gantt chart is used by investigator for scheduling the
activities and tasks of the whole investigation. In simpler words, Gantt will divide every activity
with appropriate time interval so that researcher could have proper track of the activities which
are done and which need to be done (Thambinathan and Kinsella, 2021). The current
investigation will be completed in the time period of 6 weeks so every activity and task is also
divided into this given time duration. Therefore, it helps in doing the investigation in a
systematic way.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alradhawi and et. al., 2020. Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental well-being amongst
individuals in society-A letter to the editor on “The socio-economic implications of the
coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic: A review”. International journal of surgery
(London, England), 78, p.147.
Basias, N. and Pollalis, Y., 2018. Quantitative and qualitative research in business & technology:
Justifying a suitable research methodology. Review of Integrative Business and
Economics Research, 7, pp.91-105.
Brewer, M. and Gardiner, L., 2020. The initial impact of COVID-19 and policy responses on
household incomes. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 36(Supplement_1), pp.S187-
S199.
Brewer, M. and Gardiner, L., 2020. The initial impact of COVID-19 and policy responses on
household incomes. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 36(Supplement_1), pp.S187-
S199.
Chronopoulos, D.K., Lukas, M. and Wilson, J.O., 2020. Consumer spending responses to the
COVID-19 pandemic: an assessment of Great Britain. Available at SSRN 3586723.
Cypress, B.S., 2019. Qualitative research: Challenges and dilemmas. Dimensions of critical care
nursing, 38(5), pp.264-270.
Daniel, B.K., 2018. Empirical verification of the “TACT” framework for teaching rigour in
qualitative research methodology. Qualitative Research Journal.
Gear, C., Eppel, E. and Koziol-Mclain, J., 2018. Advancing complexity theory as a qualitative
research methodology. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17(1),
p.1609406918782557.
Heslop, C., Burns, S. and Lobo, R., 2018. Managing qualitative research as insider-research in
small rural communities. Rural and Remote Health, 18(3), pp.250-254.
Holmlund, M., Witell, L. and Gustafsson, A., 2020. Getting your qualitative service research
published. Journal of Services Marketing.
Hu, Y., 2020. Intersecting ethnic and native–migrant inequalities in the economic impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 68,
p.100528.
Hu, Y., 2020. Intersecting ethnic and native–migrant inequalities in the economic impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 68,
p.100528.
Jallow, H., Renukappa, S. and Suresh, S., 2020. The impact of COVID-19 outbreak on United
Kingdom infrastructure sector. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment.
Jeris, S.S. and Nath, R.D., 2020. Covid-19, oil price and UK economic policy uncertainty:
evidence from the ARDL approach. Quantitative Finance and Economics, 4(3), pp.503-
514.
Jeris, S.S. and Nath, R.D., 2020. Covid-19, oil price and UK economic policy uncertainty:
evidence from the ARDL approach. Quantitative Finance and Economics, 4(3), pp.503-
514.
Keogh-Brown and et. al., 2020. The impact of Covid-19, associated behaviours and policies on
the UK economy: A computable general equilibrium model. SSM-population health, 12,
p.100651.

Keogh-Brown and et. al., 2020. The impact of Covid-19, associated behaviours and policies on
the UK economy: A computable general equilibrium model. SSM-population health, 12,
p.100651.
Mohajan, H.K., 2018. Qualitative research methodology in social sciences and related
subjects. Journal of Economic Development, Environment and People, 7(1), pp.23-48.
Ngozwana, N., 2018. Ethical dilemmas in qualitative research methodology: Researcher’s
reflections. International Journal of Educational Methodology, 4(1), pp.19-28.
Patel, N., 2020. Qualitative Research Methodology and its Scope in Health Services
Research. Journal of neurological research and therapy, 3(2).
Thambinathan, V. and Kinsella, E.A., 2021. Decolonizing methodologies in qualitative research:
Creating spaces for transformative praxis. International Journal of Qualitative
Methods, 20, p.16094069211014766.
Urcia, I.A., 2021. Comparisons of Adaptations in Grounded Theory and Phenomenology:
Selecting the Specific Qualitative Research Methodology. International Journal of
Qualitative Methods, 20, p.16094069211045474.
Online sources:
The Monday Briefing. 2019. Jobs and work, how the UK compares.[Online]. Available Through:
<https://blogs.deloitte.co.uk/mondaybriefing/2019/05/jobs-and-work-how-the-uk-
compares.html>