Published 18th July 2022

Behavioural Finance:
Individual project Brief

Module code/name MSIN0225/ Behavioural Finance
Module leader name Daphne Sobolev
Academic year 2021/22
Term 3
Assessment title Individual project Brief
Individual/group assessment Individual

Return and status of marked assessments: Within 4 weeks from the date of submission as per UCL guidelines. The
module team will update you if there are delays through unforeseen circumstances (e.g. ill health). All results when
first published are provisional until confirmed by the Examination Board.
Copyright Note to students: Copyright of this assessment brief is with the module leader(s) named above. If this
brief draws upon work by third parties (e.g. Case Study publishers) such third parties also hold copyright. It must not
be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or shared any other individual(s) and/or
organisations, including web-based organisations, without permission of the copyright holder(s).
Academic Misconduct: Academic Misconduct is defined as any action or attempted action that may result in a
student obtaining an unfair academic advantage. Academic misconduct includes plagiarism, obtaining help
from/sharing work with others be they individuals and/or organisations or any other form of cheating. Refer to
Academic Manual Section 9: Student Academic Misconduct Procedure - 9.2 Definitions.
Referencing: You must reference and provide full citation for ALL sources used, including articles, text books, lecture
slides and module materials. This includes any direct quotes and paraphrased text. If in doubt, reference it. If you
need further guidance on referencing please see UCL’s referencing tutorial for students here: https://library-
guides.ucl.ac.uk/referencing-plagiarism/welcome. Failure to cite references correctly may result in your work being
referred to the Academic Misconduct Panel.
Content of this assessment brief
Section Content
A Core information
B Coursework brief and requirements
C Module learning outcomes covered in this assessment
D How your work is assessed
E Additional information

Published 18th July 2022

Section A: Core information

Submission date 01/08/2022
Submission time 10am
Assessment is marked out of: 100
% weighting of this assessment
within total module mark
100%
Maximum word count/page
length/duration
2000
Footnotes, appendices, tables,
figures, diagrams, charts included
in/excluded from word count/page
length?
Everything apart for the reference list, tables, graphs, and the
appendices is included in the word count
Bibliographies, reference lists
included in/excluded from word
count/page length?
In-text references are included in the word count.
The reference list is excluded from the word count.
Penalty for exceeding word
count/page length
Standard UCL penalties for exceeding (deduction of 10
percentage points, capped at 40% for Levels 4,5, 6, and 50% for
Level 7) Refer to Academic Manual Section 3: Module
Assessment - 3.13 Word Counts.

Penalty for late submission Standard UCL penalties apply. Students should refer to Refer to
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/academic-manual/chapters/chapter-4-
assessment-framework-taught-programmes/section-3-module-
assessment#3.12
Submitting your assessment Please submit your project to the Turnitin box ‘Individual
project’ on the web site of Behavioural Finance, under the tab
‘Submissions’.
Anonymity of identity. Normally, all
submissions are anonymous unless
the nature of the submission is such
that anonymity is not appropriate,
illustratively as in presentations or
where minutes of group meetings
are required as part of a group work
submission
The nature of this assessment is such that anonymity is required.


Published 18th July 2022

Section B: Assessment Brief and Requirements
For the Behavioural Finance project, students are required to conduct research on topic
of their choice, subject to the following conditions:
1. The project topic should be closely related to one of the topics taught in the course
Behavioural Finance, including
a. Judgment and decision making under uncertainty; prospect theory
b. Central behaviour finance effects (e.g. attention effects and the disposition
effect)
c. Emotional finance theories
d. Financial practitioner – client relationship
e. Bank client behaviour
f. Financial crime
g. Ethics in Finance.
2. The topic should go beyond the existing Behavioural Finance literature.
3. It should be possible to study the topic using quantitative research methods. The
use of qualitative research methods in addition to quantitative methods is optional.
4. The topic should enable research which is in line with the ethics requirements of
the School of Management. If the research involves participants, it should satisfy
the Ethics Code of Conduct of the British Psychology Society.

In particular, students are required to
• Conduct a literature survey on their topic
• Formulate a research question and two relevant hypotheses
• Design a study to test the two hypotheses. The study can include an experiment, a
survey, or analysis of secondary data
• For studies involving experiments or surveys: submit an ethics form through the
ethics form Turnitin box on the web site of the course. The work on the project is
conditioned by an approval of the ethics form
• Conduct the study
• Analyse the data
• Summarise and submit the literature survey, method, results, and conclusions in a
write-up. Project submissions should be done to the Turnitin box ‘Individual
projects’ on the web site of the course.

The write-ups should include:
a. [15 marks] Introduction
i. Background and literature review leading to the research question and
two hypotheses. The literature review should include papers from peer-
reviewed journal, but it can include also other sources of information.
ii. An explanation about the importance of the research question.
iii. An explanation about the contribution of the study to the literature
(showing in which ways the study is original).

[Marking scheme:
10-15 marks: Challenging and innovative research question, which has important
applications. The research question is closely related to at least one of the topics
taught at the course. The hypotheses are related to the research question and are
well-formulated. The research questions and the hypotheses clearly draw on
contemporary Behavioural Finance research, including studies which were taught
at the course Behavioural Finance.

Published 18th July 2022

5-9 marks: The research question is appropriate, but not innovative or somewhat
related to one of the topics taught at the course. The hypotheses are satisfactorily
stated. The relationship to the literature, to the contents of the course, and the
applications lack some clarity or are modest.

0-5 marks: The research question or the hypotheses are poorly formulated, have
unclear scope, or are not closely related to any of the topics taught at the course.
The relationship to the literature is unclear or absent.]

b. [25 marks] Method
i. Data sources (for experiments and surveys, that should include
participants’ details. For studies using secondary data – the data
sources).
ii. Additional information about the data / materials used (for experiments
and surveys – the materials, e.g. questionnaires, pictures, or graphs. For
studies using secondary data – any additional relevant information about
the data, e.g. data characteristics).
iii. Study design (for experiments and surveys, this section should include
the design and procedure of the study, independent variables,
dependent variables, control variables, operational definitions, and
procedure. For studies using secondary data – the independent
variables, dependent variables, control variables and any other relevant
methodological details).

[Marking scheme:
17-25 marks: The data sources are comprehensive and the design is thoughtful and
relevant to the research question and hypotheses. The research methods used are
robust. There is strong evidence of attention to details and critical thought about the
method.

10-17 marks: The data sources are appropriate and the design is clear and relevant
to the research question and hypotheses. The research methods used have many
limitations. There is some evidence of attention to details.

0-10 marks: Poor research approach which lacks consideration of the chosen
methods in terms of their suitability to the context of the research. There is little
evidence of attention to details. The study has many limitations or important details
are absent.]



c. [25 marks] Results, including hypothesis testing (and the statistical analysis
details), qualitative analysis (in case the study involved also qualitative
elements), explanations and interpretation.

[Marking scheme:
17-25 marks: The hypotheses are tested using relevant statistical methods and the
results are interpreted correctly. The analysis and the presentation of results is
outstanding or to a publishable standard. There is a clear contribution to
knowledge.

Published 18th July 2022

10-17 marks: The hypotheses are tested using relevant statistical methods and
some interpretation of the results is given. The analysis and the presentation of the
results are well-considered.

0-10 marks: The results are merely descriptive, are based on incorrect methods, or
are interpreted incorrectly. The contribution of the finding is minimal.]

d. [30 marks] Conclusion section
i. General discussion
ii. Applications
iii. Study limitations and suggestions for future research

[Marking scheme:
21-30 marks: The discussion draws on the relevant literature. It is insightful in
summarising the results and clear. The conclusions are outstanding and answer
the research question. The applications are important. The limitations are clearly
stated, and the suggestions for future research can contribute to research in the
field.

11-20 marks: The discussion includes satisfactory conclusions, which answer the
research question. It draws merely on the research mentioned in the introduction.
Some applications are discussed. The limitations are superficially discussed and
the recommendation for future research are appropriate but go only little beyond
the scope of the project.

0-10 marks: The discussion includes partial or incorrect conclusions. It does not
draw on literature or only on very narrow aspects of it. The applications, limitations,
and suggestions for future research are missing, inappropriate, unclear, or
incomplete.]


e. [3 marks] In-text references and a reference list at the end, according to the
Harvard referencing standard.

f. [2 marks] Appendices including any relevant details, such as experimental
materials (e.g. questionnaires, pictures, graphs), data summary tables etc,
which support the project.

Write-ups should be written in peer-reviewed journal paper style. Marks will be given
for academic writing style, clarity, and for being concise (apart for the contents).
Please use the terminology taught in the course when it is relevant.

They should be up to 2000 words (not including the reference list, tables, graphs, and
appendices).



Published 18th July 2022

Section C: Module Learning Outcomes covered in this
Assessment
This assessment contributes towards the achievement of the following stated module Learning
Outcomes as highlighted below:

1. Understand central behavioural finance theories and their applications: students’
project should be closely related to the contents of the course Behavioural
Finance. Thus, to write a project, students should understand the theories taught
in the course.
2. Recognise the way psychological factors influence financial decision making: the
course reviews psychological factors affecting financial decision making, and thus,
related projects should demonstrate knowledge of these effects.
3. Be familiar with research methods used in behavioural science: students are
required to be familiar with research methods used in Behavioural Finance in order
to design an original study.
4. Be able to perform research on Behavioural Science: students will indeed conduct
a Behavioural Finance study. Thus, they will demonstrate that they can conduct
research on Behavioural Finance.



Section D: How your work is assessed
Within each section of this coursework you may be assessed on the following aspects,
as applicable and appropriate to this particular assessment, and should thus consider
these aspects when fulfilling the requirements of each section:
• Appropriate use of relevant literature;
• The strengths and quality of your overall methodology, analysis, arguments
and evidence that you provide in support of your arguments;
• The accuracy and appropriateness of any analysis;
• Structure and coherence of your project;
• Appropriate and relevant use of the taught topics and additional reference;
• Each part has requirements with allocated marks;
• Maximum word count limits.


Student submissions are reviewed/scrutinised by and internal assessor and are available to an External
Examiner for further review/scrutiny before consideration by the relevant Examination Board.
It is not uncommon for some students to feel that their submissions deserve higher marks (irrespective of
whether they actually deserve higher marks). To help you assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of
your submission please refer to UCL Assessment Criteria Guidelines, located at
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/sites/teaching-learning/files/migrated-
files/UCL_Assessment_Criteria_Guide.pdf

The above is an important link as it specifies the criteria for attaining 85% +, 70% to 84%, 60% to 69%, 50%
to 59%, 40% to 49%, below 40%.

Published 18th July 2022

You are strongly advised to not compare your mark with marks of other submissions from your student
colleagues. Each submission has its own range of characteristics which differ from others in terms of
breadth, scope, depth, insights, and subtleties and nuances. On the surface one submission may appear to
be similar to another but invariably, digging beneath the surface reveals a range of differing
characteristics.


Section E: Additional information from module leader
(as appropriate)

Good luck with your project!


























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