Creating an Effective Research Proposal

The research proposal must include a background which describes the basic situation underlying your project. It must include a statement of the problem or opportunity that forms the basis of your project. It must describe the rationale for your project, why you wish to carry out this research and the benefits that will accrue from its successful conclusion.

You must create research objectives that, when successfully completed, will have the information that enables you to solve the problem or capitalise on the opportunity that is the aim of your research.

It must also include a literature review that evaluates the context for your research, and sources academic research and models that are relevant to the project. It should include a critical evaluation of relevant theoretical and practical references and include breadth of understanding and depth of critical evaluation. Reviews will require analysis and evaluation of evidence and sources and be informed by theory and appropriate practice. This literature review must also identify the research “gap” and, if desirable, allow the development of a conceptual or theoretical framework.

You must evaluate and fully describe the research methodology and methods that will be necessary to successfully complete the research. Data collection methods must be selected and described which are consistent with the research philosophy necessary for its completion: these can include secondary and/or primary data sources. The methods by which the data you collect will be analysed and need to be justified.

Finally, ethical, validity and reliability issues relevant to the research must be discussed and a time plan for its completion must be calculated and displayed as a Gantt chart (or another suitable format).

• It is expected that you use current peer-reviewed journals and articles to ensure that you have an in-depth understanding of your topic particularly for the Literature Review.
• There must be sufficient linkage between theory and practice.
• Harvard style of references should be used.

Ensure that the assignment has the following structure and contains the details outlined:

A Background to the Research Proposal: this has to be related to your selected topic and question area - so to write this you might follow the following process:

Firstly, think about an area of business in which you have a general interest and find a number (perhaps 6) of academic papers (from Academic Journals) showing that there is a proven track record of academic interest. When looking at the Journal articles examine the research questions and the methods and methodologies being used – are they quantitative/qualitative? Were case studies, surveys, interviews etc. used?

Also think about what has, at a personal level, driven you towards this area for research.

Be clear to have a rationale for what you will examine in your research and what you are not looking at. Provide clear reasons for this – why should people, businesses and the academic world take notice of the research results you come up with.

Make sure the overall context for the research is explained clearly.

All of the above needs to be incorporated into the context of your proposed topic area.

Research Objectives – make sure these are specific and relate to the expected outcomes of the research. Ensure that they clearly relate to the research question you have set.

This should be an analysis and synthesis of the literature pertaining to your topic. You should ensure that you use up-to-date sources and assess current academic concepts and models relating to the topic, the research question and objectives developed. The structure of the LR might be as follows:

• Is there a rationale for the chosen topic?
• Are the main sources stated?
• Is there a clear structure?
• Does the review flow with a logical progression?
• Does the review convey the thinking of the writer?
• Are secondary sources, citation, references, synthesis, critique, chronology, seminal works, models used throughout?
• Is the current position conveyed?
• Is there a clear concluding statement?
• Is there a clear implication for further research?
• Are research questions specified?
• Are there emergent themes?
• Is the literature review conclusive?
• Has a theoretical or conceptual framework been identified?

• Research Methodology – Philosophy, Reasoning, Design
• Is there a logical and cohesive structure to the proposal?
• Are all the relevant sections included?
• Is the approach adequately explained? This needs to include, inter alia, the philosophical approach, whether or not you see the work as inductive or deductive in nature and whether the approach is quantitative, qualitative or both.
• Are the proposed research methods appropriate to the research task? Are data sources to be primary, secondary, or both?
• Have the data types been defined and classified?
• Have target populations and samples been defined and justified if necessary?

• Is the proposal for analysis linked back to the literature, the research questions and Conceptual Framework (if adopted)?
• Have analysis methods been specified?
• Is there an adequate time plan for the research?

• Are validity and reliability issues discussed?
• Are the ethical issues in the project understood and dealt with?
• Are the intended outcomes for the research made known and is there a clear understanding of the value added?

LO1: Define and identify a research topic through critical review and reflection of relevant academic literatures and other appropriate sources/evidential materials. Assimilate and review an appropriate range of literature sources Identify the underlying principles of various analytical methods commonly applied in business and management research.

LO2: Formulate research questions and describe and critically evaluate differing research methods, including the formation of hypotheses, or other research models, or paradigms and justify the selection and use of specific research methodologies.

LO3: Comprehend and critically evaluate the differentiation between qualitative and quantitative methods as they are used in research design and evaluate the appropriateness of their application, use, and value in differing aspects of business functions and requirements.

LO4: Critically appraise the importance of, and the definitions and nature of, primary and secondary data, and be able to plan for (a) the selection, collection, or creation of data for interpretation and data analysis; (b) critically analyse, interpret and manipulate data, and (c) synthesis results and interpretation of data and form conclusions.

LO5: Integrate and plan key research activities and schedules including the setting of timetables and research objectives, and the acceptance of accountability for all aspects of the conduct of a research project.

LO6: Understand the significance of descriptive and inferential statistics and its applications such as SPSS.

LO7: Understand the importance of, and be able to effectively demonstrate skills in, the conventions which are required for the carrying out of a major research project including the design of experimental and non-experimental research projects; the preparation of an integrated research proposal and effectively manage the design and delivery of this.