By the CIPD Assignment Helper team · Updated 26 October 2026
What Does the 7CO04 Research Project Brief Ask?
7CO04 asks you to plan, run and report a business research project on a people issue that matters to your organisation. A typical recent brief has four learning outcomes: plan the project, justify your methods, analyse your data, and recommend action with a cost-benefit case and a personal reflection.
The project has to add organisational value. That means a real business issue about managing people, with strategic relevance, not a topic that is simply interesting.
The indicative content for each criterion is detailed. It names journal papers, government and sector reports, sampling choices, validity and reliability, consent and confidentiality, and ways of presenting a business case to decision makers.
This example follows a typical recent brief. Briefs change each year, and centres set their own word count, template and deadlines. Check your own centre's brief before you plan.
How Do the 7CO04 Assessment Criteria Map to Your Report?
All 12 criteria from a typical recent brief, with what the assessor looks for in each.
| AC | What it asks | What the assessor looks for |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 Terms of reference | A research aim and objectives tied to a strategic people issue. | Why this issue, why now and why it matters to the business. |
| 1.2 Literature review | A critical review of academic, government, sector and professional-body sources. | Themes and debates, with the gap your project fills. |
| 1.3 Research questions | Clear, valid questions drawn from the published research. | Each question traceable to a theme in your review. |
| 2.1 Research methods | A justified strategy and design: qualitative, quantitative, sampling. | Methods chosen because of the questions, with alternatives considered. |
| 2.2 Limitations | Validity, reliability, bias, error and generalisability. | Honest limits and what you did to reduce them, such as a pilot. |
| 2.3 Ethics | Consent, confidentiality, and how data is collected, used and stored. | A specific plan, not one sentence on anonymity. |
| 3.1 Analyse raw data | Suitable methods for quantitative and qualitative data. | Analysis that answers each objective in turn. |
| 3.2 Present data | Tables, charts, graphs and thematic narrative. | Visuals that make the pattern clear, each with a short reading. |
| 3.3 Discuss findings | Primary findings compared with the secondary research. | Where they agree, where they differ and what it means for the organisation. |
| 4.1 Conclusions | Conclusions drawn from the questions, literature and analysis. | Conclusions that match the terms of reference, with nothing new added. |
| 4.2 Recommendations | Actions, an implementation plan and a cost-benefit analysis. | Costed, owned, time-bound actions, with costs and benefits stated. |
| 4.3 Reflection | Strengths, weaknesses and your research skills. | What you would change in a future project, and why. |
| All | Headings that show which criterion each section meets. | An assessor can find every criterion without searching. |
How Should You Structure and Split the Words in a 7CO04 Report?
Your centre sets the total word count. Use these shares as a starting point, then adjust them to your own brief.
| Section | Criteria | Share of words |
|---|---|---|
| Executive summary | Whole report | About 5% |
| Introduction and terms of reference | 1.1 | About 10% |
| Literature review and research questions | 1.2, 1.3 | About 25% |
| Methodology, limitations and ethics | 2.1 to 2.3 | About 20% |
| Findings and analysis | 3.1, 3.2 | About 15% |
| Discussion | 3.3 | About 10% |
| Conclusions, recommendations and cost-benefit | 4.1, 4.2 | About 10% |
| Reflection | 4.3 | About 5% |
Check whether your centre counts the executive summary, tables and appendices in the word count. Rules differ between centres.
Is Your 7CO04 Plan Ready for the Report Stage?
Send your approved proposal. A mentor maps it against all 12 criteria with you. You write every chapter.
What Does a Strong 7CO04 Terms of Reference Paragraph Look Like?
One short paragraph for a fictional company, showing how to justify a research aim (AC 1.1). It is not a model answer for your brief.
Illustrative paragraph — do not submit
Written for Sandline Freight, a fictional Dubai logistics company. Every detail is invented for illustration.
Sandline Freight, a fictional Dubai logistics company with 600 staff, lost a third of its new warehouse supervisors within their first year. Each early leaver means a fresh recruitment cycle and weeks of overtime cover for the team left behind. This project therefore aims to find out why newly hired and newly promoted supervisors leave within twelve months, and what the company can change. Three objectives follow: to review what research says about early supervisor turnover, to explore supervisors' own experience through interviews, and to recommend costed actions to the operations director. The issue is strategic because the company's growth plan depends on two new sites, each needing experienced supervisors. [Add one sourced point on supervisor turnover here.]
What Is Each Sentence Doing?
- Opens with the business problem and its cost, not a definition of turnover.
- States the aim in one sentence that names the group, the time frame and the outcome.
- Sets objectives the methods can actually answer: literature, interviews, recommendations.
- Links the issue to strategy, which is what "justify" asks for at Level 7.
- Marks where evidence belongs. In your report, cite sources you have read.
This paragraph is illustrative only. Do not copy or adapt it into your submission. CIPD and your centre require the work to be your own, and your organisation, data and argument will be different.
Which 7CO04 Mistakes Do Assessors Mark Down?
How Do You Adapt This 7CO04 Example to Your Own Organisation?
What Is Your Real Business Issue?
Start from a problem your leaders already care about, such as early turnover, absence or Emiratisation targets. Check you can reach the data.
Who Must Approve Access?
Get written permission before you collect data. Plan how you will handle personal data under Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021, or your free zone's own rules.
Which Criteria Does Each Chapter Serve?
Use headings that show the criteria. Keep a simple map of each AC to its section as you write.
What Will You Recommend, and at What Cost?
Build the cost-benefit case in AED with your assumptions stated, then reflect honestly on how the project went.
Where Can You Get Help With Your Own 7CO04 Project?
This page explains the brief. For mentoring on your own project, from question to final chapter, see our 7CO04 business research assignment help. For the whole qualification, see CIPD Level 7 assignment help.
What Do Learners Ask About the 7CO04 Assignment Example?
Ready to Plan Your Own 7CO04 Report?
Send your approved proposal or your draft chapters. A mentor replies during UAE working hours (GMT+4) with a plan and a fixed AED quote. You stay the researcher and the writer.