An investigation into potential different motivations for the retention and satisfaction of Gen X and Gen Y staff in the Hospitality Industry.

The Final Research Project is the sole assessment artefact for this module and is marked out of 100. Progression to this final artefact is dependent upon achieving a pass mark for your Research Proposal in U25890. This is to ensure your research topic and plan are appropriate.
This artefact assesses all module learning outcomes.
Length: No more than 5,000 words (there is no tolerance; aim for as near to this as possible)
Report style/presentation: Standard report format (ask if in doubt), using 11-point sans serif font (e.g. Calibri or Arial) and 1½ line spacing. All pages should be numbered sequentially. Use left-justified text (do not use right-justified text – ask if in doubt). Ensure each section and sub-section are numbered sequentially. The following sections are needed:
• Title*
• Executive Summary*
• Contents*
• Introduction (including aims, objectives and research questions)
• Report body, divided into appropriate sections/sub-sections
• Conclusions and recommendations
• Reference list*
• Appendices*
* These items should feature on separate pages and are excluded from the word count, as is the text in any tables or figures in the main body. If tables or figures are included, they should be captioned correctly with sequential numbering and included in the contents page, under appropriate headings (e.g.: ‘Table of Figures’).
The title page should include the following items:
• Research project title;
• Module name and code;
• Your student number;
• Total number of words (excluding above items marked with *).
Outlined below are the specific requirements for each section of the final research report:
1. Title and Executive Summary (worth 20% with items 2 and 3)
Clarity: The title should be relevant and appropriate, clearly identifying the focus of the research topic.
Structure and coverage: You should provide a concise account of the whole report and, therefore, include the following: brief outline of the problem; aims; objectives; key findings; and recommendations/implications. This should easily fit onto one page of 1½ line-spaced text.
Academic integrity: Ensure all content attributed to another source is appropriately referenced (this applies to the whole report).
2. Rationale (worth 20%, with items 1 and 3)
Clarity: You are expected to state clearly why you have chosen your topic and include clear aims and objectives for the research.
January 2020 – updated March 2020 2
Academic: You must provide a fully referenced academic justification for the project, stating why this area is worthy of review, based on sound academic evidence with appropriate references (i.e. not owing to a personal interest or work experience – helpful those these might be!!). An academic rationale might therefore attempt to prove that the issue is under-researched; existing research requires updating; there is a new use of existing theory; a contemporary issue means existing models are inappropriate, etc, etc.
Applied: The topic must relate to a definable problem in the area of hospitality or tourism and sound evidence should be provided (e.g.: newspaper report, previous research, etc). This may be limited to a particular company, or widened out to a relevant industry area, dependent upon the research evidence you identify.
3. Research questions (worth 20%, with items 2 and 3)
Linked to rationale: Your questions should address the issue/problem you identified in your rationale DIRECTLY. You must ensure that your questions are just that, rather than statements (i.e.: they end with a “?”)
Appropriate focus: You should not adopt too broad or narrow a stance towards your topic – you are advised not to make your own task harder by choosing questions you later find existing academic research cannot answer!
Breadth: You should not have too many (or too few) questions; up to three questions is suggested.
4. Literature review/critical discussion (worth 45%)
Coverage: You should incorporate a range of literature in this section, including both academic and applied material. At the very least, you should be aiming to include at least 10 separate academic sources but you are free to draw from as many as your topic warrants (hint: the ability to incorporate more literature usually makes the task of critical analysis much easier and often results in higher marks!) More generally, literature sources could include, but is not limited to: academic journal articles; industry reports (e.g.: MINTEL, WTTC), government/professional bodies (e.g.: VisitBritain, Tourism Management Institute), statistics (e.g.: ONS data), trade magazines (e.g.: Hotelier), credible internet sources, broadsheet newspapers, etc. It is not necessarily the number of sources you cite, but the relevance, currency, quality and academic rigour of your sources that are important (i.e.: focus on peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles as the predominant source type). Students are expected to cite/refer to the original article/source rather than secondary referencing via textbooks in coursework.
Structure and clarity: You should write in a clear, concise manner and structure your sections so that the literature review flows logically towards your conclusions.
Critical analysis: Your discussion should be analytical and evaluative rather than simply describing the content of other sources. You should build an argument throughout your work and compare and contrast differing points of view. These arguments should be well evidenced and supported by credible sources.
Relevance: You should show the relevance of the material you discuss throughout, evaluating the significance of your findings. Excellent work will locate the topic in a broader business and social context but the relevance of any ‘digressions’ must be clearly signalled to avoid losing marks.