PRE-SESSIONAL LONG-ESSAY TITLES FROM PREVIOUS YEARS


FACULTY OF SCIENCE
School of Biological Sciences (BIO) School of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy (CAP) School of Computing Sciences (CMP) School of Environmental Sciences (ENV) School of Mathematics (MTH) -no topics


FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
· Development Studies
· Economics
· Education and Lifelong Learning
· Law
· Norwich Business School
· Social Work and Psychosocial Sciences no topics

FACULTY OF SCIENCE

SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

BIO 2006
1. Discuss the major challenges facing conservation biologists in 2006.
2. Discuss the threat posed to biodiversity from introduced species.
3. The role of biotechnology in crop plant improvement (MSc in plant genetics and crop improvement)

BIO 2003
Why save Biodiversity?
(for MSc in Applied Ecology & Conservation or Diploma students)

BIO: 2002
Describe plant biotechnology and say what its future might be (for MSc in Plant Breeding & Biotechnology students)

SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL SCIENCES AND PHARMACY

CAP (Chemistry) 2004:
1. The chemist’s role in the pharmaceutical industry.
2. Safety in the organic chemistry research laboratory.

SCHOOL OF COMPUTING SCIENCES

CMP 2006

"In ten years time we'll be looking for security patches for our
clothes" Discuss this statement in the context of the development of
wearable computing.
(Main resources: start from MIT MediaLab, DBLP bibliography server and ACM digital Library.)

"Companies cannot afford to outsource IT functions required for
competitive advantage" Discuss. (Starting point: ACM report on Globalisation and Outsourcing, 2006)


CMP 2005
What does the international TV franchise "Robot Wars" tell us about robots?

How secure is the Internet? Discuss potential threats and security measures.

What are the challenges in pervasive (ubiquitous) computing?

Almost every transaction we conduct nowadays (buying an item in a shop or restaurant, making a phone call, accessing a web site) is recorded and stored on a computer. What benefits and problems will "data mining" of this information bring?

Discuss the development of computer animation and how you think this development will continue over the next ten years.

Bill Gates has said that speech technology is the key to a more natural interface with computers. What are the difficulties associated with, for instance, designing a system that is designed to make a hotel booking over the telephone without any operator assistance?

7. The impact of computers on everyday life after 10 years: visions of the future.

CMP 2002:

1. The history of the World Wide Web.
2. Will Blue Tooth be a new standard? Discuss.
3. Is digital Audio Broadcasting the sound of the future? Discuss.
4. Will computers ever completely replace books? Discuss.
5. What role will e-commerce play in the 21st century?
6. How secure is the Internet? Discuss potential threats and security measures.
7. MP3 and digital music technology – discuss.
8. Discuss the development of computer animation and how you think this development will continue over the next ten years.


CMP 2001:
1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of digital libraries for academic and scientific work.

CMP 2000:
1.“The value of the World Wide Web will depend on our ability to deliver high quality intelligent information retrieval systems”. Discuss.




SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ENV 2005
1. Outline the potential reasons for the worldwide reduction in the distribution of coral reefs.

2. Discuss how the devastating impacts of tsunamis upon human society can be mitigated.

3. Compare and contrast the approaches to limiting carbon emissions amongst industrialised and lower economically developed countries (LEDCs).

4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches to disposing of domestic municipal waste?

5. What is the global water cycle and how might the availability of
fresh water resources be affected by climate change?

ENV 2004
1. Outline the potential reasons for the worldwide reduction in the distribution of coral reefs.
2. Discuss how the devastating impacts of volcanic hazards upon human society can be mitigated.
3. Compare and contrast the approaches to limiting carbon emissions amongst industrilased and lower economically developed countries (LEDCs).
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches to disposing of low- to intermediate-level waste?
5. What is the global water cycle and how might the availability of fresh water resources be affected by climate change?

ENV 2003
1. Discuss the benefits and environmental impacts of the Three Gorges Dam on the river Yangtse, China.
2. Discuss the main challenges facing the supply of freshwater to the growing world population.
3. Provide a case for adopting renewable energy resources to meet the energy demands of industrialised societies.
4. How does the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event affect the global climate.

ENV 2002:
1. What are the implications of climate change for global biodiversity?
2. What are the environmental costs and benefits of large impounded surface water reservoirs?
3. Discuss a conservation success story.
4. Waste management.
5. Remote sensing and geographic information systems : their application in environmental management.




ENV 2001:
1. The health impact of air pollution in the UK.
2. The development of environmental impact assessment in Britain.
3. Environmental monitoring and mensuration in the People’s Republic of China.
4. Provide a general introduction to the likely impacts of climate change on the hydrological cycle.

ENV 2000:
1. Is man’s vulnerability to natural hazards created more by man than by nature?
2. What are the most significant environmental problems facing the world during the 21st century?
3. Wildlife conservation in Cambodia.
4. Compare the role and effect of the recycling systems in the UK, Japan and Germany.
5. Describe the most important environmental problems in Indonesia, and comment on the role of government in overcoming them.
6. What is environmental impact assessment?
7. A comparison between biodiversity conservation organisations in the UK and Taiwan.
8. What are the purposes of environmental impact assessment?
9. Forest destruction and urban activity in Southeast Asia.
10. Will the adoption of environmental management systems by industry lead to environmental improvements?
11. Assess the environmental effects of renewable energy sources.

ENV 1999:
1. The consequences of dealing with pollution in China and the OECD countries: a comparative evaluation.
2. Some environmental problems in Saudi Arabia: causes and solutions.
3. Sick Building Syndrome: its causes and solutions, with particular reference to Thailand.
4. The importance of prediction in the natural environment, with particular reference to the El Nino event.

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

DEV 2006
Having selected a developing country, describe and analyse the two most important development issues affecting that country and give reasons why one should take priority over the other in government investment.

Social development:
1) Using specific examples, contrast the concepts of social development and social policy, and assess their relevance to developing countries.

2) Why is the state considered central to social development? How does the state’s role change according to approach to social development? Referring to specific country experiences, consider the state’s strengths and weaknesses as a tool of social development compared to the market and other institutions.

3) Taking two different countries, compare and contrast their experiences of social and economic development over a period of several decades. Pay particular attention to relationships between economic and social change.

4) To what extent are poverty indicators an effective touchstone of social development? What alternatives exist, and what are their relative strengths and weaknesses? Illustrate with examples.

DEV 2005
1. Prioritise three development issues affecting your country or a developing country of your choice, and give your reasons.
2. 'Development Studies is about the alleviation of poverty in poor countries': discuss in relation to your country or a developing country of your choice.
3. 'Development issues can only be understood by economists'. Discuss
4. Do you think the process of globalisation increases or decreases inequality and poverty ?
5. Based on your experiences or reading, please suggest some ways in which education might contribute to development.
6. Obstacles to development in any one developing country of your choice.

DEV 2004:
1. Prioritise three development issues affecting your country or a developing country of your choice, and give your reasons.
2. ‘Development Studies is about the alleviation of poverty in poor countries’: discuss in relation to your country or a developing country of your choice.
3. ‘Development issues can only be understood by economists’. Discuss

DEV 2003:
1. To what extent can Japan’s historical experience of development provide a model for developing countries today ?
2. Do you think the process of globalisation increases or decreases inequality and poverty ?
3. Is it possible schooling might damage cultural diversity ?
4. Based on your experiences or reading, please suggest some ways in which education might contribute to development.
5. Local ethnic minorities in Yunnan are able to solve – and have solved – their own environmental and developmental problems without external intervention. Discuss this view, showing whether you agree or disagree with it. Give specific examples related to typical problems found in rural Yunnan, SW China.
6. Discuss development issues in your country and how you would deal with them and prioritise.



DEV 2002:
a. Discuss the changing context and character of poverty in one developing country of your choice, over the past 20 years.
b. How may a society’s schools fail to meet its development objectives?
c. How might religion and culture influence access to health care for women in developing countries? Discuss using examples from Africa and South Asia.
d. Is there a distinctive East Asian ‘path’ to development? Discuss in the light of the experience of Japan, Taiwan and ‘South’ Korea.
e. How should the issue of child soldiers be dealt with ?
f. Unemployment-a development problem in South Africa.
g. Social injustice and insecurity of the poorest people’s lives in Bangladesh.
h. How people live in the drought-prone areas of Sudan : the case of North Darfur States.
i. How should human rights be promoted in a global economic system ?


DEV 2001:
a. Discuss, using evidence, the development gains of one developing country of your choice in the last 20 years.
b. Discuss, using evidence, the development gains of the rural areas of one developing country of your choice, in the last 20 years.
c. How the feminisation of poverty in India can be solved.
d. The importance of women in development projects in Brazil.
e. The validity of JICA’s WID policy.
f. Education for working and street-based children.
g. The development of the democratic process in Nepal since 1990.
h. Discuss the role of extension in the diffusion-innovation process in Indonesian rural society.
i. What are the causes of poverty in Mongolia and what measures are being taken to alleviate it?
j. Discuss the conflicts between the Nepalese government’s environmental management policies and the livelihoods of the local population.

DEV 2000:
1. Describe the three most important development problems in your country, and comment on the role of international aid in overcoming them.
2. Describe two major development problems in any developing country.
3. The role of development in rehabilitation after armed conflicts.

DEV 1999:
1. Obstacles to development in any one developing country of your choice.
2. The Grameen Bank’s role in the relief of poverty in Bangladesh.
3. Female labour in transnational corporation factories in any one developing country of your choice.





BUSINESS, ECONOMICS, MANAGEMENT, MARKETING

SOC 2005 - MEDIA
1. How has the development of electronic media changed the culture of
western industrialised societies?
(BA Soc Culture Media – LP33)

2. What are the consequences for global culture of changing means of
communication? (BA Soc Culture Media- LP33)

1. Do you think that different national cultures are being superseded by an international uniform culture? (BA Soc Culture Media – LP33)

SOC 2002 :
1. Should Britain join the Single European currency in the near future?

2. What are human rights ? How can they best be protected ?

3. Describe the extent of foreign multinational firms in a country of your choice. Assess their impact on the macro economic performance of that country.

4. What are the benefits and costs for China for joining the WTO ?

5. The costs and benefits of Foreign Direct Investment in the People’s Republic of China.


SOC 2001:
1. “Hollywood, McDonalds, Starbucks, Microsoft. There are now no longer many different national cultures. Instead, there is just one: a global US culture.” Do you agree?

2. How can experimental economics be used to limit the damage caused by climate change?

SOC 2000:
1. What role has the United States played in the Asia-Pacific region since World War Two?

2. Should Britain join the Single European currency in the near future?

3. What is the impact of Japanese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the Thai economy?

4. Econometrics – a valuable tool for economic planning. Discuss its role in today’s world with appropriate examples.




ECONOMICS

ECONOMICS 2006
1. What factors determine the price per barrel of oil? What do you expect to happen to the price of oil in the next 50 years?

2. Is unemployment bad for the economy?

3. How can we halt environmental degradation but preserve living standards?

4. Is globalisation beneficial for both developing and developed countries?

1. Outsourcing is bad for the UK Economy. Discuss.


MANAGEMENT/ MARKETING
MGT 2006 (marketing or business management)

1. Describe the benefits of marketing for an organisation you know well

2. What do you understand by the term 'marketing'?


3. What makes a good manager? Give examples for firms that you have
come across

4. Why should businesses cooperate with each other? Can you give some examples?

5. Do you think there is a difference between management and leadership?


MGT (marketing) 2004:

1. Describe Kotler, Amstrong, Saunders and Wong’s (2001) model for the consumer buying decision process and explain how a detailed understanding of this model helps marketers develop more effective marketing strategies to capture and retain customers. Draw attention to and discuss some of the problems associated with this model using appropriate examples.


2. You have been asked to explain the value of marketing tools to your manager who believes that the only way to be successful is to use ‘intuition’ in the development of strategic marketing plans. Illustrate one marketing tool or model, explain in detail the way it works and critically assess its ability to assist in the development of strategic marketing plans.


3. You are employed as a marketing manager in a company that sells its services to both individual customers (consumers) and corporate customers (organisations). Your Managing Director has asked you to prepare a presentation explaining the differences between consumer marketing and organisational marketing. Prepare a document that discusses these differences with appropriate examples to illustrate these differences. Explain how at least two of the differences you identified would influence your firm’s marketing effort.

4. You are employed as a marketing adviser to an internationally renowned university in the UK. You have been asked by the vice-chancellor to review the positioning strategy of the university with particular emphasis on establishing a clear means of differentiation from competing institutions in the UK. Explain how you would set about performing this assignment by describing the various tasks you would perform and their sequence.


5. Marketing orientation is very important for contemporary firms. However, not all firms are marketing orientated. Define marketing orientation, discuss the key obstacles faced by firms wishing to move from a product to a marketing orientation and suggest how they can overcome these obstacles.


6. Suppose you are product manager for a new aseptic packaging material which preserves milk and other dairy products without refrigeration. The product is in the introduction stage of its life cycle. What are the implications of this position in the decisions you must make about each of the 4Ps when designing a strategic marketing plan for this product? When (and if) this product reaches the growth and mature stages, what changes will you have to make in your marketing plan?


MGT (business management) 2004:

1. You have recently been appointed as planning manager in a division of your company that must reduce costs. Discuss how you would use value chain and resource analysis to develop a new strategic plan. Describe an example of a large organisation that has made significant changes to reduce costs.

2. Discuss the ways in which a firm starting in the furniture retailing business could achieve a sustainable competitive advantage through product differentiation. What are the difficulties of making such a strategy of differentiation work? How could such a firm attempt to compete with an established international retailer such as IKEA?

3. You have been hired as a consultant to the general manager of a large
manufacturing company. This company must develop a new corporate strategy to present to the board of directors. Discuss how this could be done by using, either the BCG matrix, or the directional policy matrix. Illustrate your answer with example.


1. Discuss the pros and cons of an international firm entering the Chinese car manufacturing industry by means of some type of strategic alliance or joint venture with a local firm. Describe the key success factors for making such an operation successful. Illustrate your answer with an example of any such partnership.


2. Explain what is meant by the term “corporate governance” and why it has become an extremely important topic for company directors in recent years. What advice would you give to the top management of a large supermarket in the UK to help it improve standards of corporate governance?

Undergraduate question
If you were an academic working at a UK university, and you were given charge of an English language course for university students, how would you use management ideas to make the course effective and successful?


MGT 2003:
1. What is management? Pick a well-known organisation or an organisation known to you. Use it to explain what ‘management’ is and give an illustrative example of how it is managed.
2. The future of business is e-business. Discuss.
3. What do you understand by the term management ?
4. What is the purpose of marketing ?

MGT 2002:
1. The rewards for being one of the first firms to develop and market a new product or service are thought to be substantial. Why is this so? What risks are involved? Under what conditions should a firm opt for being a follower rather than a leader in the introduction of new products or services?

2. What is the job of corporate executives? Discuss this in relation to strategy and the management of change. Illustrate your discussion with examples.

3. You have been asked to develop a strategic marketing plan. Describe the stages of how you would do this and explain the methods you will use to make sure the plan will be implemented.

4. How can an organisation decide its generic strategy and then manage it? Make sure that you show clearly how competitive difference is achieved.

5. What is competitive advantage ? Illustrate your discussion with examples.

6. Discuss Internet Marketing and Management strategies.


MGT 2001:
1. Developing competitive strategies to position a company against its competitors is often compared to war. Taking examples from different positions within the market, describe some of the strategies and tactics which can be adopted.

2. How might the application of the marketing concept differ between organisations? Illustrate your answer with appropriate examples.

3. General and Strategic management are used as terms to mean many things. Give your view of what each one is, with reference to actual organisations.

4. “Strategic planning is no longer just a top-down activity.” Discuss why this might be true, with examples from your reading.

5. How to manage people in an organisation.

6. What is the difference between marketing concept and marketing organisation?

7. Discuss the management strategy of a major multinational company.

MGT 2000:
1. Compare Japanese and Chinese management systems.

2. Why are buyer-seller relationships becoming an increasingly important aspect of marketing? Illustrate your answer with company examples.

MGT 1999:
1. What is management, and how have views on the nature of management changed since the end of the Second World War?
2. Views of management in China during the last twenty years.


EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING
EDU 2006

1. Write about an aspect of the education system in your home country, its history, strengths, weaknesses and future development. This might be about pre-school, school or post-compulsory education and might include curriculum, assessment or access. Choose a small aspect to talk about so that you have room to develop your ideas about how it is changing or needs to change.

2. What are the similarities and differences between learning English as a Foreign Language in your home country and learning it in an
English-speaking environment ? How do the differences impact on you as a learner?

3. What are the impacts of the globalisation of higher education?

4. What makes a good teacher? Is the answer to this question the same whichever country you live in?

EDU 2004

1. An outline of the education system in my country, with a discussion of its principal strengths and weaknesses.
2. How can people’s opinions be explored?
3. Discuss whether boys and girls have different prospects in life. Base your answer on an analysis of the experiences of people that you know (including yourself).


EDU 2002:
1. How might music contribute to promoting ‘good education?

EDU 2001:
1. A comparison of child education in Japan and Britain.
2. What do you consider to be the strengths and limitations of education in your country?

LAW

LAW 2004:

1. Consider the contribution of ‘ the law’ and ‘lawyers’ to the operation of either international trade or commercial life generally.


2. Consider the role and scope of the law in relation to those who may benefit from intellectual property protections.

3. Explain a problematic area encountered in any commercial or comparative law subject previously studied.

4. Discuss the role of the English doctrine of precedent (or ‘stare decisis’) in the development of the common law.

LAW 2002:
1. What is a letter of credit and how is it used in international transactions for the sale of goods?

2. What is the United Nations Committee on International Trade Law? Explain its role and functions

3. What are the elements of a contract in English Law?

4. Explain the concept of equity in English Law.

5. Discuss the new laws and regulations that have had an effect on Thailand’s economy.


LAW 2001:
1. The idea that people can have ‘rights’ without ‘responsibilities’ is a nonsense. Discuss this view of law.

2. Discuss the potential effects on Chinese financial law that are likely to happen as a result of China’s joining the WTO.
3.Can breaking the law ever be morally justified?




Dell Computers was until very recently the worldwide market leader for PC sales. Despite an increase in profits the management has decided to reduce costs by laying off more than 7,000 employees. Furthermore; Dell has decided to reverse its long standing policy of direct selling only (online, mail and phone) by offering its products through the US retailer Wal-Mart.
Discuss the possible reasons and factors that have led to the recent changes at Dell.

You are the manufacturer of an MP3 player. Carry out a segmentation exercise on the UK market and decide first of all your market segment. With your product in mind, describe briefly how knowing this segment can help you design a suitable marketing mix (4P’s).

Discuss the reasons why some companies decide to expand overseas and describe two methods that may be adopted to achieve that. Highlight the advantages and possible disadvantages of both methods.

You are the managing director of a major clothes retailer in the UK. The shareholders have asked you to introduce some changes to the normal business practices to become more environmentally friendly. What changes would you suggest?

Following a major accident in your successful factory, the workers have demanded that you implement some major health and safety improvements to the working conditions. The cost involved would be substantial especially when stoppage time is included. Your aim is to minimise cost and avoid strike action. What proposal would you put through to the workers/union in order to reach a satisfactory outcome?
6 Discuss the role of Human Development Indicators (HDI) and contrast them with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita levels. Present data for different countries and evaluate their performances as reflected by both measures for a period of at least 10 years. Select two countries and try to explain what influenced their GDP growth rates and the change in their HDI.7 Economic development in rich countries was accompanied by urbanisation. In the recent past, the rate of urbanisation in developing countries has also increased creating new environmental challenges. Discuss the recent fast urbanisation in developing countries and the specific environmental challenges resulting from it. In addition, choose one developing country as a case study and analyse its recent urbanisation experience and the accompanying environmental consequences.