Research Methods

Aims

​​This unit aims to help students and potential managers to appreciate the ethics and value of research in planning and executing their own research project or response to an organisational challenge. Its specific focus is to introduce the philosophical principles underpinning research design and execution, the research methods necessary to successfully undertake an advanced research project and/or advanced written report and to introduce modes of analyses and data interpretation.​

Learning outcomes

​​​​​At the completion of this unit the student will be able to:

• develop and defend an interesting or novel set of questions and an appropriate set of methods to investigate those questions
• make judgements about what to include/exclude in producing a critical literature review
• demonstrate awareness of the potentially contradictory methodological and theoretical frameworks that can be selected
• demonstrate an understanding of the practical challenges of collecting and analysing data using different methods, (including reflection on any ethical issues raised)
• use a referencing system (i.e. Harvard Bath) with consistency and accuracy
• Develop viable alternatives and how they would address sport management issues

• Present reflections in written and oral form ​

  Skills

• Ability to select, analyse and present numerical or non-numerical data

• Reflective practice

• Presentation skills

• Ability to formulate a research question

• Ability to produce work to agreed specifications and deadlines

• Ability to work independently, without close supervision or guidance

• Comprehensive and scholarly written communication (e.g. essays)

• Ability to select, summarise and synthesise written information from multiple sources

• Ability to formulate a research question

• Ability to critically review literature

• Ability to collect and analyse quantitative and qualitative data

• Ability to produce work to agreed specifications and deadlines ​

Sport Marketing and Promotional Culture

Aims

​ This unit aims to introduce the concepts, analyses and activities that comprise marketing management, and provide practice in assessing and solving marketing problems. In addition, the unit aims to develop a critical understanding of the practices of marketing, advertising, promotions and publication relations and their relationship to sport and sporting organisations. ​

Learning outcomes

At the completion of this unit the student will be able to:

• explain, from a critical perspective, the influence and impact of the promotional industries on sport and physical culture, and vice versa
• critically assess the economic, political, cultural, and technological conditions surrounding sport and promotional culture and their relationship to specific promotional practices
• identify and critically reflect on the practices used by the promotional culture industries to reach and affect consumer/public opinion
• apply common marketing principles and methods in a sport management context
• demonstrate a critical understanding of the principles of building brands and implementing promotion and advertising activities
• identify key components of a marketing plan

Skills

• Analyse the relationship between an organisation and its market
• Apply and criticise models commonly used in the marketing profession
• Professional Practical Skills: Recognise and evaluate elements of a marketing plan
• Written and oral communication
• Team building and management
• Reflection on own strengths and weaknesses

Business Management

Aims

​This unit aims to provide students with a solid grounding in the key managerial disciplines that will enable them to understand how operational performance is managed and enhanced and how the strategy of organisations is developed in relation to their internal capabilities and external environments.​

Learning outcomes

At the completion of this unit the student will be able to:

• evaluate the strategy of business organisations
• demonstrate a critical understanding of economic constraints that affect management decisions
• analyse key financial statements of business organisations and prepare cash budgets
• appraise the role of budgets in an organisation
• critically assess the contribution of HRM to organisational performance
• identify key components of a business plan and develop ideas for new businesses
• apply decision making techniques to management problems

Skills

• Understanding of theory and its application to real business situations
• Use theory to analyse case studies
• Ability to interpret data
• Choose appropriate information for analysis and interpretation
• Application of concepts and models to practical situations
• Preparation and production of effective business plans and reports
• Critical thinking and ability to construct an argument
• Writing and presentation skills
• Personal/Interpersonal Skills: Ability to work in teams
• Understanding their own strengths and weaknesses in group and individual activity

Managing Sport Development

Aims

​This unit aims to provide students with a theoretically informed understanding of the use of sport, or any a form of physical activity, as a mechanism to enable individuals and communities to achieve their full potential through initiatives that promote personal and social development.​

Learning outcomes

At the completion of this unit the student will be able to:

• critically assess the politics and strategic impact of public, private and voluntary sector involvement in sport development
• critically reflect on the global influences evident within contemporary sport development practice
• critically interrogate the role of sport as a tool for development

Skills

• Problem solving in a variety of situations
• Advanced oral communication skills
• Understanding career opportunities and challenges ahead
• Is sensitive to and can react appropriately to contextual and interpersonal factors in a professional context​ ​

Sport Leadership and Athlete Management

Aims

​This unit aims to develop the students’ understanding and appreciation of theoretical perspectives that inform approaches to leadership and managing organisations, contemporary issues in organisational culture and the ethics of workplace practices. The unit also aims to introduce and advance students’ knowledge of contemporary and emerging issues relevant to employment law within a sporting context. ​

Learning outcomes

​At the completion of this unit the student will be able to:

• the ability to critically evaluate and synthesise information in relation to contemporary and emerging issues facing sports organisations
• acquire an understanding of the concepts associated with differing approaches to leadership and managing organisations
• develop and apply an understanding of the legal principles associated with employment contract terms, statutory employment rights, intellectual property, and duty of care as it applies to sport employment law

Skills

• Application of various theories
• Develop research skills through critical reading, analysis of information and data; and the production of written work
• Develop ethical approaches to business activities ​

Sport Management Practice Track

Aims

​This unit aims to develop the students' abilities to conduct research-based projects applying the skills, concepts, and techniques acquired in the taught programme to practice based management scenarios, including a case study involving an actual management problem. The students will be presented with a current management problem for which they will conduct appropriate research, analyse data and present a viable solution. The unit not only encourages students to conduct research to think about and address actual management problems through a cross-functional lens, the unit also encourages reflection on common managerial issues such as project management, group dynamics, organisational culture, leadership and employee welfare. The unit's objectives are designed for students to further develop their abilities to analyse data; review literature; make informed methodological choices and present findings of their investigation and analyses.​

Learning outcomes

At the completion of this unit the student will be able to:

• plan and conduct research on a practice-based management issues
• understand and critically assess the particular challenges confronting actual organisations
• evaluate the need for and sources of relevant data
• support their arguments with relevant empirical evidence
• interpret the significance of findings from relevant sources of quantitative and/ or qualitative evidence to inform decision making
• develop viable alternatives and how they would contribute to management solutions
• present reflections in written and oral form
• identify literature relevant to a chosen management issue, thereby appreciating the relationship between practice and theory
• develop an argument with references to appropriate concepts and/or linking together arguments from disparate literatures or disciplinary perspectives and
• complete the assignment within an agreed deadline

Skills

• Critical thinking
• Develop research skills through critical reading, analysis of information and data; and the production of written work
• Present informed opinions and solutions to managerial problems
• Ability to synthesise multidisciplinary perspectives on the same problem
• Reflective practice
• Ability to produce work to agreed specifications and deadlines
• Ability to work independently, without close supervision or guidance​ ​

Sport Management Dissertation

Aims

​This unit aims to give students the opportunity to identify a novel and feasible research question and relate it to relevant literature and empirical material and to develop a cogent, credible and sustained argument that addresses the research question, and to do this within a fixed time period. The dissertation involves a process of supervised research study for postgraduates aimed at developing understanding of how to define a new research question; make informed methodological choices using modern techniques; design a research inquiry; analyse data; write a project report.

Learning outcomes

At the completion of this unit the student will be able to:

• define and answer a research question in a chosen area of interest
• support the argument with relevant empirical evidence and/or reference to appropriate concepts, and/or linking together arguments from disparate literatures or disciplinary perspectives
• interpret the significance of findings from relevant sources of quantitative or qualitative evidence
• provide a new interpretation on existing information or provide an original view on an issue
• do all the above in written form in a dissertation that conforms to acceptable standards of presentation and expression and
• complete the assignment within an agreed deadline ​

Skills

• Comprehensive and scholarly written communication
• Ability to select, analyse and present numerical or non-numerical data
• Ability to select, summarise and synthesise written information from multiple sources
• Ability to develop rigorous arguments through precise use of concepts and frameworks
• Ability to synthesise multidisciplinary perspectives on the same problem
• Ability to formulate a research question, then develop and present an original & coherent answer
• Ability to produce work to agreed specifications and deadlines
• Ability to work independently, without close supervision of guidance ​