The Research Proposal Lecture 9

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The Research ProposalLecture 9

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Aims of this session

• Outline what a proposal should include what is
  its purpose?
• Highlight the importance of RQs
• Demonstrate the process of doing a research
  proposal

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Research is like a Choc Orange
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Research proposals are exercises in

• Artful design
• Creativity in use of methods techniques
• Reflexivity
• Elegant expression
• Imaginative rehearsal
• Strategic disarmament

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What proposals should do!

• Convey the researchers talent for
  conceptualizing, imagining, and writing
• The grounded theory proposal should show your
  ability to theorize the phenomenological
  proposal, to reflect phenomenologically the
  ethnographic proposal, to interpret culture
  the positivist proposal to determine the effects
  of variables

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More shoulds

• Communicate the researchers knowledge of their
  field
• Literature, theory
• Convey the nature of design
• Explain the reason for every design choice
• Use method/research citations throughout
• Always justify your choice
• in the light of the actual idea
• In research methodology terms

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Introductions

• To every section
• Rationale
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Method
• Sampling
• Ethics
• ect

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Introduction

• To entice/grab your reader
• To set the stage
• In it, you must address
• WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
• Use numbers to document its extent and nature
  illustrate with examples reference
• THE SIGNIFICANCE OF

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The Proposal

• Title
• Suggest the topic area leading to some indication
  of the focus
• Rationale
• No more than a couple of paragraphs what is the
  issue? Why is it interesting/ what are the main
  issues that have led you to think this is worth
  researching?
• Research questions
• Not!
• How many
• Be specific
• Link to what you could reasonably do

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The Proposal

• Review of Literature
• Need to read
• Need to be critical
• Need to use text books and journals the
  internet is not sufficient by itself
• Should start wide and narrow down
• Should link to the actual rationale and the
  research idea
• Think of it like an essay you set the title
• About 700 to 1000 words

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The Proposal

• Methodology
• Outline the research orientation are you
  phenomenological or Positivist (Moulder or
  Scully)
• What research strategy case, experiment,
  survey, or secondary data .others?
• All linked to the actual research
• Method
• What method of gathering data are you going to
  use and why?
• Sampling
• What sampling framework you have chosen and why,
  how many and why
• Always back up choices with explanations as the
  reasoning behind each choice reference and use
  research method texts

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The Proposal

• Technical and Ethical issues
• Brief explanation of any technical problems and
  how you might overcome them
• Ethics
• What ethical concerns you might face
• Minimum consent
• Confidentiality
• Privacy
• Referencing / Sources / Bibliography