Research Proposal Structure Doctoral

7/25/2019 Research Proposal Structure Doctoral

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Lez Rayman-Bacchus /Research/ 2012 December

Research Proposal for Research Degrees(PhD/MPhil)

Aproposalmeans outlining what investigation you would lie to do in the near !uture"that is# 12-2$ months !ollowing the writing o! this %ro%osal&' (here should not be any)ase Descri%tion or Analysis in a *ro%osal+ case descri%tion and analysis should bewritten a!ter you have done the research# and have something to analyse'

(he model o! research %ro%osal %resented here is based on the idea that research !ollowsa logical develo%mental %rocess' ,n this %rocess the researcher begins by identi!ying aclear !ocus "Aim and b.ectives or Research uestion"s !ollowed by a review o! eisting%ublished nowledge around that !ocus "Literature Review&' (his establishes !or theresearcher what is nown and im%ortantly what is not nown' /he then e%lains howthey intend to investigate some as%ect o! the unnown "Research Design orethodology&' (his is !ollowed by )onclusions# and list o! Re!erences'

The Proposal(he *ro%osal should be organised as e%lained below' 3ollow the !ormat %resented hereusing the same main headings# and in the same order as shown here' All sections mustbe com%leted' uggested word count is 1400 - 2000'

Introductiona' ,ntroduction to the *ro%osal 5outline the sections o! the %ro%osal !or the reader6b' Research Aim and b.ectivesc' Rationale o! research7 why you want to do it# why it interests youd' Bacground7 signi8cance o! the to%ic and issues 5%ractical or theory6 relevant to the

study' ,denti!y "and cite& the debates'e' *otential contribution to nowledge' 3indings should be signi8cant# with im%lications

!or eisting theory# methodology# %ractice# or some combination' ore on what is acontribution to knowledgehere'

Research Aim and Objectives or Research Qestion(s)S%eci!y as clearly as %ossible the !ocus o! your research# written as anAim andsubordinate Objectivesor as one or more Research Questions'

(hin o! a Research Aim as an orange# and the ob.ectives as the segments' 9ou would nottry to %ut the whole orange in your mouth' Rather you would divide the orange intosegments and eat each segment' ,n a similar way thin o! the Research Aim as a broadstatement# which you need to divide into segments 5subordinate ob.ectives6 in order tocarry out the study'

,! your research is driven by %olicy debates# describe the s%eci8c as%ects o! thesedebates on which your research will !ocus' ,! your research is driven by theoreticaldebates# or a%%arent omissions or inconsistencies in the eisting literature "theoretical orem%irical what as%ects o! these debates will you address: ,! your research !ocus is onthe nature o! %ractice in some 8eld "e'g'# business management or science researchthen what as%ects o! %ractice will you e%lore "e'g'# managerial behaviour or scienti8cdiscovery:

,n thining about Aim and b.ectives it may be use!ul to ee% in mind the %ur%ose o!most research' Research is normally undertaen !or di;ering "and sometimesoverla%%ing& intellectual reasons7

Exploratory7 %rovides initialinsight to a new situation# issue or %henomenon'Descriptive7 classi8es %henomena


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Explanatory7 sees to e%lain a causal relationshi% that is meaning!ul< whyquestionsEvaluative sees to assess or measure im%act 5assumes a causal relationshi%6

ore on !ormulating research aims and objectives" and research #uestions#here'

5word count7 200 = >006

Literature Review3ollowing the stated Aim or Research uestion# you must review the %ublished literature#where you show what has already been %ro%osed# claimed# or established' (he literatureyou review should normally com%rise theoretical and em%irical studies# %olicy andindustry re%orts# and articles %ublished in the ?uality %eriodicals and news%a%ers'ummarise and evaluate the use!ulness o! these %revious studies in relation to yourstated aim or research ?uestion'

,t is im%ortant you show awareness o! the most im%ortant and relevant theories# models#em%irical studies and methodologies' A good literature review will com%are and contrasttheories and em%irical results# %ointing out agreement and disagreement# ga%s andoverla%s o! argument' A %oor literature review o!ten sim%ly %rovides summarised lists o!theories and em%irical studies# with little or no attem%t to com%are# contrast or evaluatethese theories and em%irical studies'

ae clear how well these %ublished studies address your research !ocus# by eaminingthe etent to which they %rovide insight to# or answer# each o! your research ob.ectivesor ?uestions' (he identi8cation o! omissions or weanesses in the %ublished literatureleads to the o%%ortunity and .usti8cation !or your study' ,n addition# identi!yingweanesses and omissions within the %ublished nowledge base re%resents yourcontribution to nowledge+ a contribution that you will see to elaborate and establish

more 8rmly through carrying out your own em%irical research'

De%ending on your intended research design "net ste%& you may convert the identi8edweanesses and omissions into hy%otheses' A hy%othesis is a sim%le but testablestatement that %ro%oses that one !actor "call it A& causes another !actor "call it B& tobehave in a certain way'

5@ord count7 00 - 40

Research Design3ollowing your review o! the literature# outline how you %lan to go about collecting

em%irical data that will build the understanding re?uired to !ul8l your research aim# ortest the hy%otheses you have develo%ed !rom your review o! the literature' Describe howyou will carry out your study# re!erring to !ramewors and conce%ts !ound in the researchmethods literature'

%eci8cally this section must describe your overall A%%roach and s%eci8cethods/(echni?ues o! collecting data$ 9ou must also e%lain how you will analyse thedata collected "ethods/(echni?ues o! Data Analysis what measures you are taing toensure the ?uality o! your research design "Research uality issues and show anawareness o! ethical considerations around academic research "Research Cthics issues&'

(he %ro%osal re?uires that you have made 8rm arrangements with your target "e'g'# theorganisation or community you %ro%ose to study or wor with& !or access to data %rior to

writing the %ro%osal# rather than describing that you %lan to see access to your targeta!ter the %ro%osal is written'

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a' verall A%%roach' (his will be either ualitative or uantitative# or some combinationo! the two' Describe your %articular A%%roach# e'g'# ethnographic case study"survey"or experiment+ and why the chosen A%%roach is a%%ro%riate !or the study'

b' ethods/(echni?ues o! Data )ollection '(he overall A%%roach is broen down into

s%eci8c methods/techni?ues o! data collection' 3or eam%le a ualitative A%%roachcan be broen down into semi-structured interviewing and observation# while auantitative A%%roach is broen down into ?uestionnaires# e%eriments# and others'Describe your chosen methods/techni?ues and e%lain why they are a%%ro%riatetechni?ues !or achieving your research ob.ectives or testing your hy%otheses'

c' ethods/(echni?ues o! Data Analysis' ow will you analyse the data collected:Describe the methods/techni?ues o! data analysis# !or eam%le the %rocedures youwill use !or analysing tet or ?uantitative data or %atterns "e'g'# statistical analysis&'

d' Research uality issues' C%lain how you will ensure that you collect the right data toaddress the research ?uestions or hy%otheses# or that the data you collect is reliable'(his re?uires some discussion about the validityand reliabilityo! your data# and what

triangulation techni?ues have been em%loyed to strengthen the validity and reliabilityo! your data' 9our 8ndings should also be generalisablerather than only valid !or the%articular %henomenon you studied' 9ou are encouraged to chec the meaning andrelevance o! these terms in any research methods tetboo "see Re!erences&'

e' Research Cthics issues' Does your %ro%osed research to%ic raise any ethical issues:3or eam%le# does your research design %resent any %ossible danger to your sub.ects"%hysical# emotional# %ro!essional&: ,! so what will you do to avoid that:

5400 = 00 words6

Conclusions

ummarise your %ro%osal# including your %otential contribution to nowledge'5200 = 240 words6

ReferencesAccording to arvard styleEame "year FArticle titleG#%ournal name# vol s7 %age no'Eame "year &ook name# *ublisher# *lace o! %ublication'

,nclude some Research ethods sources' ,ndicative7

Bryman A H Bell C "latest edition& &usiness Research 'ethods# !ord Iniversity *ress

Bryman A H )ramer D "latest edition& Quantitative Data Analysis with S(SS# Routledge'

Burton D "ed'& "2000 Research )raining !or Social Scientists# age *ublications ,nc'

)ollis# J' and ussey# R' "200> &usiness Research$ A (ractical *uide !or +ndergraduateand (ostgraduate Students "2edn' London7 *algrave acmillan'

)reswell# J'@' "latest edition Research Design Qualitative" Quantitative" and 'ixed'ethods Approaches# age'

)uba L and )ocing J "1KK$ ,ow to write about the social sciences# ar%er )ollins'

)urran J' H Blacburn R "2001& Researching the Small Enterprise# age

Casterby-mith '# (hor%e R'# Jacson *'# Lowe A'# "latest edition 'anagementResearch )heory and (ractice# age'

irden# C'R "2001 Evaluating Research Articles -rom Start to -inish$"2nd ed age*ublications# London# IM'

omm# R' "200> Social Science Research 'ethods# Basingstoe7 *algrave acmillan'

>


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olborn# ' "1KKK .egal Research *uide# Butterworths'

Janowicz AD "2000 &usiness Research (rojects# (homson Learning'

Johnson * and Duberley J "2000 +nderstanding 'anagement Research# age'

*unch M 3 "2000 Developing E/ective Research (roposals# age'

Robson )' "2002 Real 0orld Research A Resource !or Social Scientists and (ractitioner1

researchers"Blacwell *ublishers Ltd'Ryan B# ca%ens R@ and (heobald "2002& Research 'ethodology in -inance 2Accounting# (homson

aunders # Lewis * and (hornhill A "latest edition& Research 'ethods !or &usinessStudies# 3inancial (imes anagement

mith "200>& Research 'ethods in Accounting# age'

tott# D' "1KKK.egal Research")avendish'

Isunier J-) "1KKN& 3nternational and 4ross14ultural 'anagement Research# age

9in RM "latest edition& 4ase Study Research Design and 'ethods# age

Oimund@''#BabinB'J'# )arrJ')#riPn' "latest edition

&usiness Research 'ethods" )engage Learning'


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' Are usually numbered so that each ob.ective reads as an individual statement to

convey your intentions

Aims and Objectives shold not"

1' Be too vague# ambitious or broad in sco%e+ aims are o!ten over-o%timistic o! what

the %ro.ect can achieve'

2' Re%eat each other in di;erent terms

>' Be a list o! things related in an uns%eci8ed way to your research to%ic

$' Discuss details o! your .ob or research to%ic

#$ample research !estions and potential h%potheses

(hese need to be testable1' Does S have a %ositive or negative im%act on 9:

2' Does S vary by level in 9: 5e'g' Does .ob satis!action vary by level in theorganization6

>' Does S lead to 9 or O:

Contribution to nowledge,n thining about what could be your contribution to nowledge# consider7

(he im%ortance o! the ?uestion' @hy is the ?uestion worth asing:

(he signi8cance o! the 8ndings' @hy do these 8ndings matter:

@hat are their im%lications !or theory# methodology# %ractice:

@hat are the limitations to generalization o! the 8ndings:

aing a signi8cant contribution means adding to eisting nowledge or to thediscourse around a %henomenon'

Research wor is %art o! an ongoing discourse among many researchers# each criti?uingthe available evidence and %roviding !resh argument and evidence that contributes tonowledge and understanding'

Research involves ?uestioning the acce%ted wisdom "the obvious eamining andanalysing %henomena !rom a di;erent %ers%ective# and investigated through a variety o!techni?ues' Research sees to create new understanding o! the world# using new ideasand a%%roaches# rather than describing it using eisting !rames and tools'

As more evidence is %resented# eisting e%lanations are re-evaluated' ,n this waynowledge is constantly recon8rmed# elaborated# revised# or overturned'

Mnowledge claims may be small and still contribute to the discourse'

*otential )ontributions7

Re-contetualization o! an eisting theory or method# a%%lying a techni?ue in a newcontet# testing theory in a new setting# showing the a%%licability o! a model to a newsituation# and evaluating the result and any im%lications'

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)orroboration and elaboration o! an eisting model "e'g' evaluating the e;ects o! achange o! condition+ e%erimental assessment o! one as%ect o! a model&'

3alsi8cation or contradiction o! an eisting model# or %art o! one'

Drawing together two or more eisting ideas and showing that the combinationreveals something new and use!ul'

Develo%ing and testing a new conce%t# showing that something is !easible andvaluable "or not& and why'

,m%lementation o! someoneGs !ramewor or %rinci%le to some 8eld o! %ractice#showing how it wor and its limitations'

Cm%irically-based characterization o! a %henomenon "e'g' detailed# critical# analyticaccount o! the evolution o! an idea+ detailed analytic characterization o! a crucialcase study or a novel chemical com%ound# or a new %lanet&'

*roviding a taonomy o! observed %henomena'

@ell-!ounded criti?ue o! eisting theory or evidence "e'g' correlating the results o! anumber o! eisting studies to show %atterns or omissions&'

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Research Proposal Structure Doctoral