Principles of Business: School Based Assessment

1. Cover Page – Research Topic, Candidate(s) Names, Business Cognate Subject(s),

School, Candidate Numbers, and Date.

2. Table of Contents – This should include the main headings of the project and
corresponding page numbers.

3. Topic/issue/problem – Identify the issue, topic or problem to be investigated. This is

what you want to research, for example:
a. School’s cafeteria or stationery shop
b. Snack shop at school events
c. School projects
d. Income and expenditure statements
e. Business plans, etc.
For example:
● An investigation into the factors which contribute to the decline in the sale of soap in
Farm Fresh supermarkets.
● A study of the impact of the supply chain on the profitability of Chaguanas North
Secondary School Cafeteria.

4. Objective of the project – Your objective should be directly linked to the stated
topic/issue/problem and must be realistic or doable.
For example:
● To find the source of capital available to young entrepreneurs in St. Kitts.
● To identify the challenges associated with acquiring capital during a recession.

5. Background or overview of the topic, issue or problem.

✔ History of the business
✔ Problem Statement/Topic/Issue
✔ How or why the problem statement/topic/issue is important to
the student
✔ The impact of the problem statement/issue/topic on society
6. Methodology
Data Collection Instruments
Primary Data: Identify which you use:
​ Questionnaire; Surveys
​ Surveys
​ Observation
Secondary Data: Identify which you use:
​ Textbooks
​ Newspaper clippings
​ Examination of Accounting records or Financial Statements
​ Internet Sources
Sample
​ Size of Sample: State how many from the school’s population you gave the
Questionnaires or how many were interviewed.
​ Type of Sample:
o A convenient sample (Choosing those who were readily available to be
interviewed for example Only Form Four (4) students were available to
be interviewed.
o A random sample (Choosing individuals to be surveyed randomly)
o A quota sample (Choosing for example 10 boys, 10 girls to
be interviewed).
Data Collection Strategies
​ Primary Data Strategies – A variety of qualitative methods were used:- (eg An interview
schedule was designed and included 6 questions). Interviews were conducted to find out
.
​ The owner of the cafeteria was interviewed etc.
​ Teachers and students were interviewed etc
​ The researchers observed the buying patterns of .

​ Secondary Data Strategies - Describe the existing data/information that you have made
use of. If you reviewed Accounting records (quantitative data)

Type of Data: Quantitative or Qualitative

Method of Presentation: Tables, graphs, charts.

Method of Analysis: Mean, Mode and Median

Justification of Data Collection Methods

​ Give at least two reasons for the methods you choose. Examples:
o Interviews were conducted to obtain opinions or insights into .
o Surveys were used because they provide a means to .
o Observation allowed the researchers to .
 o Final accounts or Accounting records or ledgers were examined to gauge
how the business has been performing.
o Newspaper and or magazine articles or internet sources were used to
support the findings of the research.
o Business textbooks provided relevant theoretical support for the
research project.
Limitations
​ Give at least 2 limitations
o Due to time constraints the researchers were unable to have a larger
sample of students
o The small size of the sample for the research, made it difficult to
generalize findings.
o Some participants for example the cafeteria owner was unwilling to share
vital information.
o It was a challenge for the researchers to find the researchers to find the
time to conduct the research.
o It was challenging, given time constraints for the researcher to devote
more time to the project.
o The researchers had other projects and assignments to complete with
similar deadlines.
7. Presentation and Analysis of Data
● Use of graphs and charts
● Use of Mean, Mode and Median – For each graph or chart you are to calculate
the mean, mode and median. Below shows the formulae you can use to
calculate.
o To calculate mean = Add the numbers then divide by how many numbers.
✔ 2 + 6 + 8 + 4 = 20 20/4 = 5
o To calculate mode is the number that occurs most often.
o To calculate median - order the numbers from smallest to largest and
select the middlemost number.
8. Conclusion
● Restatement and summary of your findings to say what they mean in relation to
the stated Research Objective(s).

9. Recommendation
● Should be based on your findings
● Suggestions for further research to focus on aspects of the issue not covered in
your research, or to use a different or larger sample to gather additional data to
support decisions that may need to be taken.
● Must be realistic and informed by the findings
● Should contribute to a better understanding of the topic/issue/problem, or
provide a creative/innovative solution to a problem.

10. References/Bibliography – Where did you get your information from, cite all books, url,
etc. Must be in alphabetical order.
11. Appendices – Any other information that cannot be placed in the project, such as your
questionnaire and interview question.
References or Bibliography (APA Style) – Below shows information on the APA Style of
citing research papers or projects.

You can also use this link to assist with generating your citation/reference:
https://www.citationmachine.net/apa

Books:
Author’s last name, first initial. (Publication date). Book title. Additional information. City of
Publication: Publishing Company.

Magazines/Newspapers:
Author’s last name. first initial. (Publication date). Article title. Periodical title, volume
number (issues number if available), inclusive pages.

Online Journal:
Author’s name. (Date of publication). title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number,
REtrieved month day, year, from full URL.

Online Document:
Author’s names. (Date of publication). Title of work. Retrieved month day, year, from full
URL.