Description and justification of proposed project:

The research will be designed a two-pronged methodology. First, drawing on quantitative data derived from surveys on South Asian immigration and precarious employment in the UK conducted by research think-tanks and trade unions. Second, the research is intended to carry out a qualitative study through exploratory interviews. A qualitative study as the intention is to develop an understanding on how and why South Asian immigrants are mostly working in precarious working condition in the UK. The study will use a single research instrument which is interviews. Interviews as part of case studies have been selected given their ability to answer “how” and ”why” questions in-depth. To get in-depth research I will interviews of around 20 participants who are working on precarious working condition in the UK. The reason behind taking a face to face interview is, employees can give more detail information about their feeling and the actual condition of their work. Therefore, to ensure there is no abuse of research subjects during the data collection process the research will follow the principles of law and codes of research ethics. Only persons over 18 years of age who works on clothing retail, healthcare and restaurant in the UK and from South Asian background will be asked to take part in the research. All involved participants will be fully informed about the purpose, methods and intended possible use of the research (please see information sheet).

The content and structure of the dissertation

The structure of the dissertation is only one aspect of the assessment criteria in marking the dissertation as set out in section 17 below. However it is important – a poorly structured dissertation can be hard to follow. Although there is no particular structure that the dissertation must strictly follow, generally a dissertation will include the following sections/chapters, which must be presented in separate sections:

Abstract
Table of contents
Introduction (including a statement of the research topic and questions)
Critical review of the literature
Methods (including analysis/discussion of research questions/hypotheses)
Analysis and discussion of results
Conclusions
References
Appendices where appropriate.

Please discuss the structure of the dissertation with your supervisor. They will be able to provide guidance on this.

Presentation of the dissertation

Word Limits – for MSc programmes the word limit for the dissertation is 12,000 words. Students are advised to keep to the word limits given as any material overspill (normally more than 10%) will be penalised. Please note that the cover or title page, table or figures, references or any appendices do not count toward the word limit. The word limit reflects the level of detail required. This means that if your dissertation is too long, you have either taken too many words to explain your point or have given too many or too detailed examples. If your dissertation is too short it will not have gone into enough detail.

Font Type and Size – the dissertation should be presented using a font of adequate size (usually font size 12). It is highly recommended that a standard font such as Times New Roman or Arial is used. If footnotes are used then they should not be more than two points smaller than the font sized used in the main body of the text.

Spacing and Indentation – the main text of the dissertation must be double spaced throughout. There are exceptions to this including quotations (particularly from interview data) and footnotes which can be single spaced.

Tables and Figures – the presentation of tables and figures and is at the discretion of the student. However tables and figures must have a heading either above or below the relevant table/figure. They should be placed either within the text or in a separate appendices section at the end of the dissertation. Whichever approach is chosen there must be consistency throughout the dissertation.

Appendices – if appendices are used they should appear at the end of the dissertation. If more than one appendix is used they should be given a number or letter heading (appendix 1, 2; appendix a, b, etc.) as well as a title. The title of the appendices should appear in the contents page.

Ethical Review Form

Attachments:

Which documents have you submitted in support of this form? Delete as appropriate.

Information Sheet – Doc A
Consent Form – Doc B
Interview Questions Drafts – Doc C

Description and justification of proposed project:

This project intends to study the working conditions of migrants in the UK with a focus on the South Asian region. Along with researching data I felt the need to dialogue directly with my targeted group. Only persons over 18 years of age who works on clothing retail, healthcare and restaurant in the UK and from South Asian background will be asked to take part in the research

The criteria for selected participants will be primarily and initially down to their country of birth and secondly down to their job description. I will also be looking at their perceived rate of pay at initial selection.

Using carefully worded and sensitive interview questions, I will extrapolate the information surrounding their job description, works status, working conditions, satisfaction levels and pays.

In order gain the aforementioned information a drafts of questionnaire has been designed. Please see attached Doc C.

Ethical issues:

On the basis of the informed consent, potential participants will be able to make an informed decision on their possible involvement in the research. For the purpose of the interviews the information about the project will be provided to prospective interviewees in written form and will require the subjects’ approval by signing the interview consent form. Some of the questions can be sensitive, they have right to not answers the questions. It will completely depend on participants, whether they are comfortable or not with the interview questions. If in case any question upset the participant, I will stop the interview. Or, if it is about any specific question they feel uncomfortable they have right to skip the question. Also if any participants are not good enough to understand and speak English I am able to explain them the language they are comfortable such as; Bengali, Hindi and Urdu.

For the conducting of questionnaire, all participants will be informed in the introduction of the questionnaire that submitting a complete questionnaire implies consent to participate in research project. Before the data collection begins, potential participants will be informed about their right of voluntary participation, the right to decline to answer the questions, the right to decline to be recorded and the right to withdraw at any time. In addition to this, permission will be requested for audio recordings to take place for the duration of the interview. Participants have the right to deny or interrupt audio recordings at any point during the interview.

The confidentiality of information and anonymity will be assured. No real names nor identification would be used in the study and participants cannot be linked in any way back to the data. For the interview process, codes or fake names will be used.

Through the electronic submission of this form you confirm that the proposed project conforms with College ethical guidelines as set out in the College Guidelines on Responsibilities and Procedures for Ethical Review available at:

Only commence with the research after your supervisor has provided formal approval of your project in the online feedback box in Moodle.

Doc A:

Information Sheet

For the purpose of the Interviews

Working Conditions in the British Labour Market of South Asian Immigrants

The purpose of this research is to understand the working conditions of Immigrants from South Asian in the UK and why they are mainly working in precarious working conditions. The project is part of my MSc Management with Human Resource Management Dissertation University of London. My research involves in depth interviewing employees engaged in predominantly flexible contracts from the retail, healthcare and food sectors.

If you agree to take part, I will interview you for about 30 minutes. Interviews will take place on middle of August at any café in London. I will ask you questions about your working environment and conditions at your place of work. You can choose not to answer any particular question and you can end the interview at any point.

With your permission the interview will be audio-recorded. The audio-recording is used for transcription purposes. Audio-files and transcripts will be stored password protected on my personal computer. I, my supervisor, and the markers of my project will have sole access to these files. The files will be deleted when I complete my studies which will be no later than 1/10/2017.

You can choose to withdraw from the study until 22/08/2017 in which case your audio-recording and transcript will be deleted and not included in the final report.

In the research report I will not use your name or that of your organisation. I will identify common themes across interviews. If excerpts from your interview are used, I will screen these to not include information that, in my view, can indirectly lead to you becoming identifiable.

If you have further questions about this research project, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Name:

Email address:

Doc B:

Consent Form for the purpose of face to face Interviews

Department of Management

Please read the following before participating in this research:

I have read the Information Sheet and have had the details of the study explained to me. My questions have been answered to my satisfaction, and I understand that I may ask further questions at any time.

I understand I have the right to withdraw from the study at any time and to decline to answer any particular questions.

I agree to provide information to the researcher(s) on the understanding that my name will not be used without my permission. (The information will be used only for this research and publications arising from this research project.)

I agree/do not agree to the interview being taped

I understand that I have the right to ask for the audio tape to be turned off at any time during the interview.

I agree to participate in this study under the conditions set out in the Information Sheet

Signed by:

The researcher: Date: ………………

The interviewee: …………………………….. Date: ………………

Doc: C

Interview Questions Drafts

What is your job title?
How long have you been working for this company?
What are your contract hours?
Do you have a fixed term contract with regular hours or does your rota change weekly?
Does your Manager approach you for overtime? Yes/No
Do you think you get paid enough for this post? Yes/No
How much do you think you should be paid per hour?
Do you get an annual bonus from the company or commission/tips?
Do you get paid for holidays? Yes/No
Do you work on Bank Holidays? If yes, Does your company pay extra payment for Bank Holidays?
Do you get enough holidays according to your working hours? Yes/No
Do you get paid sick leave? Yes/No
Do you have to undertake additional shifts? Yes/No
How does this affect your health and well-being?
Do you sometimes feel any discrimination in your workplace by your managers or by other colleagues?
Does your company treat each employee fairly and equally?
Do you feel your ethnicity prevents your career prospects?
Does your company assess your performance?
Do you think your company should take on more staff? If yes, how many?

What do you think about your working environment? Do you think your company gives you enough scope to improve your career prospects and personal development?

The dissertation will require either Interview or questioner ( at least 15 people) which ever suits best depending on research. So please conduct the required interview or questioner.

Also at least 80-100 references is required

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