Research topics and projects
Find a topic you can investigate and see what our students are researching in the QUT Business School.
Within each area of interest, you can find open topics at your study level: PhD, Masters, Honours or the Vacation Research Experience Scheme (VRES) for eligible undergraduates.
Choosing a topic does not exempt applicants from providing a full research proposal in the application.
94 matching student topics
Displaying 1 - 12 of 94 matching student topics
Well-being, stress, and entrepreneurship
Stress processes and psychological well-being are key factors in the entrepreneurial process that relies on the agency and motivation of the individual entrepreneurs. Why many entrepreneurs are more satisfied with their job than employed individuals are? How do entrepreneurs cope with the various stressors during the founding phase and how could one help them to build relevant psychosocial resources?
- Centre/School
- Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research
- Study levels
- PhD
- Master of Philosophy
Blockchain technology and its implications for accounting
Blockchain technology is anticipated to further disrupt the digital economy of today. Blockchain is a distributed database technology and is the underlying technical platform for digital cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Blockchain has the potential to profoundly impact accounting and the underlying financial transactions it represents, yet there is very little research exploring the implications for accounting and the profession. This research seeks to investigate how blockchain technology may impact a particular aspect of accounting such as financial accounting or audit …
- Centre/School
- School of Accountancy
Quick, before the Phone dies! How does battery status influence customer decision making?
Customers are increasingly rushed by the battery status of their devices. That is, we quickly pick a tinder date on the Apple Watch just before it dies, haste to confirm a movie booking on a half-empty Microsoft Surface, and rush to finish a dinner booking on the last percent of our Phone. Little is known, however, about how, when, for whom and why this battery-induced rush influences our decision-making. Could it be that low batteries drive us to “just do …
- Centre/School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
- Study levels
- PhD
- Master of Philosophy
- Honours
- Vacation research experience scheme
Good and Small or Big and Bad: Adding Options to Large Prosocial Assortments creates Diminishing Marginal Utility.
Marketers increasingly work according to the premise that customers expect more from products than just high quality at a low price. Many assume that customers want to feel good about the products and therefore choose organic and prosocial options (Nielsen 2012; 2014). In supermarkets and other retail stores, this has significantly contributed to an increase in the total number of options. From a retail perspective, this might be problematic, however. Large assortments increase customer motivations to make comparisons (Chan et …
- Centre/School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
- Study levels
- PhD
- Master of Philosophy
- Honours
- Vacation research experience scheme
Uncertainty, Investor Sentiment and Financial Market Anomalies
The purpose of this research is to explore the roles played by uncertainty and investor sentiment in explaining financial market anomalies documented in the existing literature. The financial market anomalies of interest include, but are not limited to, the size effect, the value effect, the momentum effect, asset-related anomalies, investment-related anomalies, etc.
- Centre/School
- School of Economics and Finance
- Study levels
- PhD
- Master of Philosophy
- Honours
Quantitative and Qualitative measurement of Airline performance
The research project is two-fold. First, it incorporates quantitative and qualitative data to measure the performance of airlines (mainstream and budget carriers) using a supply-chain performance evaluation model such as Network Data Envelopment Analysis. Second, the project aims to quantify sources of inefficiencies and provide recommendations to policy makers and operations in ways to raise their efficiency levels.
- Centre/School
- School of Economics and Finance
Fraudulent Financial Reporting in China
The project aims to explore the factors associated with fraudulent financial reporting in China. The mechanism of corporate governance and external audit in mitigating fraud will also be investigated in this setting.If you are interested in researching this topic as part of a Master of Philosophy (Accountancy), and you are applying to commence your degree in Semester 1, 2018, you may be eligible for our School of Accountancy Accelerate Scholarship. …
- Centre/School
- School of Accountancy
Corporate board gender diversity and accounting conservatism
Female representation on boards has grown worldwide. There is a stream of study that investigates the relationship between board composition and financial reporting quality. However, there is little evidence on whether corporate board gender diversity is associated with one of the most important financial reporting quality metrics-accounting conservatism.The objective of this proposed study is to investigate the relation between corporate board gender diversity and accounting conservatism in the Australian context.If you are interested in researching this topic as part of …
- Centre/School
- School of Accountancy
Agricultural Cooperatives: considering performance and accountability
Cooperatives are unusual organizational structures, as they are highly democratic in nature (one member + one vote) and their successful operation involves delivery of environmental, business and social outcomes. Internationally, cooperatives are the 'normal' form of social enterprise, however in the Australian context they are considerably under researched legal form. In order to operate successful, cooperatives need to take into consideration the needs of multiple stakeholders, not the least their members and communities which they function to benefit. This thesis …
- Centre/School
- School of Accountancy
- Study levels
- PhD
- Master of Philosophy
Faithful Representation and the usefulness of Financial Information
Faithful Representation and Relevance are two fundamental qualities which are proposed to make financial information useful in the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting and its proposed revision. Faithful representation is further described as information which is complete, neutral and free from error. This research seeks to determine how faithful representation of financial information might be measured/determined drawing on representation theory concepts from the Information systems discipline.
- Centre/School
- School of Accountancy
- Study levels
- PhD
- Master of Philosophy
The effect of having too much choice
Two projects are available:The first one focusses on the effect of large choice assortments, for instance when choosing a movie from the large selection on Netflix. More specifically, data will be collected on whether customers that reside in densely populated areas prefer having more choices.The second project focusses on the effect of sequential choices, like when a customer makes a choice for milk first, and cereal subsequently, in a supermarket. More specifically, we will test whether an increasing number of …
- Centre/School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
Startup Cultures
In the startup world there is much talk of culture as a unifying driver of performance. Culture research has a long history, and there are measures (albeit disputed) of organisational culture. There are also a range of studies that have investigated relationships between culture and performance. For this project, the focus is on understanding what founders and other key personnel in startups mean when they talk of culture and how they 'measure' culture.The student is expected to produce an extended …
- Centre/School
- School of Management