Independent study Spring 2019 info updated

Independent study Spring 2019 info updated. Main points are as follows:

1. Research design: sample size of at least 50 is acceptable
2. Main quantitative data analysis technique to use is correlation analysis, including bivariate and multiple regression analysis
3. Secondary data to use are typically annual reports which include information related to corporate governance and financial management
4. Research methods that involve primary data are still not allowed
5. For multiple regression analysis, limit the number of independent variables to 3 at most. I.e.: y = a + b1x1 + b2x2 + b3x3
6. Oral presentation is on the Independent Study proposal information only; not required to provide briefing on project progress status in oral presentation
7. Final assignment reports are to be co-assessed by the two local tutors

Establishing linkage in ALRA theoretical framework development: some ideas

In the process of constructing and, subsequently, elaborating on the theoretical frameworks in the agile literature review approach, one needs to establish linkage between theoretical framework components and between academic ideas. For example, if a researcher's research topic is about how to motivate a learner to learn and take up creative writing, he/she needs to conceptually explore how "motivation" is related to "creative writing". Now, there is academic literature on the academic topic of "motivation" and also on "creative writing". When doing the literature review, the researcher might come across academic articles that examine the conceptual linkage between "motivation" and "creative writing", e.g. what can specifically be done to motivate a learner to learn and take up creative writing with theory-driven justification of ideas and viewpoints. This makes the researcher's linkage establishment task in this ALRA exercise easier. However, a researcher might not be able to find directly relevant academic articles like this. In this case, the researcher needs to rely on his/her intellectual reasoning and imagination to (i) adapt academic ideas and (ii) suggest how academic ideas in the "motivation" and "creative writing" topics can be related. This means, for example, the researcher needs to suggest how to motivate a learner to learn and take up creative writing, based on intellectual reasoning and intellectual imagination to bridge the "relevance gap" in the academic literature. This intellectual bridging by the researcher is necessary because the existing academic literature does not have works (e.g., intellectual discussion and empirical findings) directly on the on-hand research task (involving literature review effort) of the researcher.

The linkage establishment task in ALRA theoretical framework development is important and inevitable because the ALRA is doubly systemic in nature. See the following diagram for a recap of ideas: