Capstone (CAPS) 696

Overview

CAPS 696 – Capstone (Primary Business Research Design) is the culminating experience of the MBA program for students interested in understanding business research design. Students design a research study for primary data collection, but do not actually conduct the study or collect data. The course helps students evaluate consultant proposals, design small-scale studies, and assess data quality in business contexts.

Through a scaffolded 10-week process, students develop a viable research topic, formulate a clear research question, conduct a focused literature review, and design a methodology (qualitative or quantitative). The course emphasizes the "chain link" approach: Topic → Research Question → Literature Review → Methodology → Ethics → Contributions.

Students are assessed through a project proposal, an interim report, and final research design report under the guidance of an academic supervisor.

Outline

This course is divided into 10 weeks across three major phases

• Week 1: Research Proposal (Stage Gate 1)

• Weeks 2-5: Methodology Development and Interim Report (Stage Gate 2)
• Weeks 6-10: Final Research Design Report (Stage Gate 3)

  Week	Topic	Assessment
  1	Topic Selection and Proposal Development Students review research fundamentals, select a viable business research topic, formulate a clear research question, conduct a preliminary literature review (5-8 sources), and describe their proposed research design. The proposal must be approved by the Academic Area Manager (AAM) to proceed.	Capstone Project Proposal (1000-1200 words)
  2	Research Process and Literature Expansion Students understand qualitative and quantitative research approaches, expand their literature review, and establish communication with their assigned supervisor.	Literature review development (working toward 10-12 sources)
  3	Methodology Development (Split by Design) Quantitative students: Study sampling strategies for survey research. Qualitative students: Study sampling approaches.   All students draft methodology sections.	Draft methodology section (sampling, data collection, analysis)
  4	Research Ethics Students learn ethical principles for research with human participants, including informed consent, confidentiality, risk mitigation, and voluntary participation. Students draft ethics sections.	Draft ethics section; begin Interim Report assembly
  5	Interim Report and Research Quality Quantitative students: Study survey instrument development. Qualitative students: Review interview protocol design.   All students address research quality/rigor.	Interim Report (2000-2500 words)
  6	Incorporating Feedback Students review supervisor feedback on the Interim Report, expand the literature review to 10-12 sources, and refine the methodology based on feedback.	Progress toward a complete draft
  7	Complete Draft Development Students finalize all report sections and submit a complete draft to the supervisor for feedback (strongly recommended).	Complete draft to supervisor (recommended)
  8	Refinement and Integration Students incorporate supervisor feedback, refine introduction and conclusion sections, check APA 7 citations, and polish overall structure and flow.	Complete all revisions
  9	Final Revisions Students complete all final revisions, conduct comprehensive quality checks, ensure all sections meet requirements, and prepare for final submission.	Report should be complete by the end of Week 9
  10	Final Submission Students conduct final proofreading, perform quality checks, verify APA formatting throughout, and submit the Final Capstone Report.	Final Capstone Report (5000-5500 words)

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Identify viable business research topics and formulate clear, answerable research questions appropriate for primary data collection
• Locate and evaluate scholarly literature organized by themes to establish what is known about a business topic and justify the practical business relevance of the research question
• Design a feasible research methodology including sampling strategies, data collection procedures, data analysis approaches, and appropriate research quality criteria
• Apply ethical principles to research design, addressing informed consent, confidentiality, risk mitigation, and voluntary participation
• Communicate research designs effectively in professional written reports with appropriate academic formatting, and work collaboratively with supervisors to refine methodological approaches

Evaluation

Your grade will be based on the successful completion of three written assignments, evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis:

Activity	Weight
Proposal (Week 1)	Pass/Fail
Interim Report (Week 5)	Pass/Fail
Final Capstone Report (Week 10)	Pass/Fail

To receive a passing grade in this course, you must meet these minimum standards:

• Receive a Pass on all three deliverables (Proposal, Interim Report, Final Capstone Report).
• Meet deadlines as specified (Stage Gates 1, 2, and 3).

Materials

Digital course materials

Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:

Bhattacherjee, A. (2025). Social science research: Principles, methods, and practices (Revised ed.).Social Science Research - Principles, Methods, and Practices (Bhattacherjee) - Social Sci LibreTexts

All additional materials, including TCPS 2 Chapter 1: Ethics Framework and supplementary methodology readings, are available online through the Digital Reading Room (DRR) in Brightspace.

Important links

• Graduate Diploma in Management (GDM)
• Contact an Advisor
• Master of Business Administration
• Accelerated MBA for Executives
• MBA for Accountants
• MBA for Health Leaders
• MBA for Supply Chain Management