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Course: PEBL 101: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY & DESIGN FOR BUSINESS > Section: UNIT 8a: RESEARCH PROPOSAL PREPARATION RESEARCH; REPORT WRITING AND DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS. PART 1 – RESEARCH PROPOSAL PREPARATION

Unit 8a Learning Outcomes

Indicative Content

Research proposal – importance, format and content

Intended Learning Outcomes for Unit 8:

By the end of Unit 8, you will be able to;

1. explain the meaning and format of a research proposal
2. prepare a research proposal
3. explain the meaning and format of a research report
4. prepare a different parts of a research report
5. use various approach to disseminate research findings

Unit 8a E-tivies

Learning Outcome(s) addressed: Unit 8a supports Module Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6.

Purpose: In this part of Unit 8, you will apply, blend and utilize the knowledge and skills acquired from all the previous units (i.e. 1 to 7) to craft a practicable plan (i.e. research proposal) for undertaking a business-related research project.

Over to you: In this part of Unit 8, we intend to utilize all the knowledge from units 1 to 7 to document how best to identify a business-related researchable problem, come up with suitable objectives, research questions, study scope, relevant literature to be review and methodology (i.e. research design, study population and sample, data collection and analysis) devise a viable plan (approach) necessary to address the identified problem.

Preparatory research: In order to learn about the research proposal;

1. Read minilecture on introduction to research proposal available here.
2. Read minilecture on contents of a research proposal here.
3. Read about citation and referencing using APA format here and Harvard format here.

E-tivity 8.1: In the group discussion forum, create another new discussion topic in your group forum titled ‘E-tivity 8.1’. Under it, review the citation and referencing style that was used to prepare the concept paper and ensure that it conforms to the APA style or Harvard style (One will be chosen by the facilitators). To learn more about the APA style and the Harvard style;

1. Read about APA citation style here.

1. Visit the South Mountain Community College website to learn APA referencing and citation style h ere. This website is available under a creative commons license.

1. Visit The Betty Archadale Library website that explains the APA style here.
2. Read Coventry University Harvard Reference Style Guide and Glossary available here.

 As you refer to the above documents, group members should discuss and agree on the most suitable adjustments. Select a weaver for this section who should adjust the citations and references. Post a new adjustments for the ‘Concept Paper’ that you created under E-tivity 2.1 by 28^th April 2019.

Link to other Units:  Unit 8a links to Units 1, 2, 3, 4 5, 6 & 7

Anticipated time required for Unit 8a activities: 5 hours

Deadline for Unit 8a activities:

E-tivity 8.1: Adjusting citation and referencing style in Concept Paper: 28^th April 2019.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

A research proposal is a plan for carrying out the entire research. It shows what, why, when and how one is going to carry out the study and who will be the respondents. It shows whether the problem you propose to investigate is significant enough to warrant the investigation, the method you plan to use is suitable and feasible, and the results are likely to prove fruitful and will make an original contribution. In short, what you are answering is 'will it work?'

Before research is done, it is imperative that the researcher plans how he/she is going to carry out the study. This plan will be like radar to an aircraft or the captain to a ship. A properly constituted proposal will enable a researcher know in advance what they are looking for, how to look for it, where to look, which books to read, whom to talk to, how to analyse and present the data.

Research Proposal(Ctd...)

The meaning and purpose of scientific research proposal writing

Scientific research proposal writing is an outline of how a research will be done. Much attention is normally paid to the statement of the problem and its significance, objectives and/or hypotheses, methods to be used and expected findings and their usefulness. Whether a research is to be done for one’s own interest or for the dual purpose of academic and financial gains, writing a research proposal is indispensable.

It serves the following purposes

1. It provides answers to various questions such as ‘what is the objective of the research? What data are needed and how will these be gathered? What will be the time, place and sample of study? How will the data be analyzed and interpreted? What will be the cost and labour needed in the study? What will be the level of accuracy desired in their results?
2. It acts as a standard and guidepost which helps the researcher in anticipating shortcomings and deviations that may arise in the actual research later on. It provides guidance while the research is in process and keeps the researcher focused on the research program.
3. It helps in carrying out research validly, objectively, accurately and economically. If the design is ideal, the researcher can rely on both his findings.
4. It forestalls the possibility of a fruitless enquiry and acts as insurance against future failure. The researcher can know what has already been done in the area of their interest and focus on the new areas.
5. It helps one to think about the variables to be studied, evaluate hypotheses about the variables and their measurement.
6. It helps the researcher focus sharply on the research problem and set realistic time by which the research will be accomplished. It allows problems to be defined and managed before the project begins.
7. It helps in soliciting for funds to carry out the actual research. A detailed proposal is necessary if funding is being sought. It helps the researcher to convince him/herself and others that the research is worth supporting. A proposal is a request for support of sponsored research, instruction, or extension projects. It is however noteworthy that the proposed research should relate to the sponsor's interests.
8. It provides documentary evidence of what analysis was planned prior to the research commencing.
9. It allows the researcher to review and critically evaluate the current literature and know how to approach the current research program.
10. It helps the researcher to develop novel ideas. During writing the proposal, a researcher has opportunity to develop new and good hypotheses to be tested.
11. It helps the researcher know the difference that the research project will make to his/her university, students,  his/her discipline, the state, the nation, the world, or whatever the appropriate categories are.

Research Proposal(Ctd...)

Format and contents of a Research Proposal

Various institutions have their specific formats for writing research proposals and any one aspiring for their acceptance/funding must stringently follow the formants. However, the fundamental aspects of research proposal writing are the same. At MAK, proposals for research reports have the following components;

Title;

1. Introduction

1.1 Background to the study

1.2 Statement of the Problem

1.3 Purpose of the Study

1.4 Objectives of the Study

1.5 Research Questions or Hypotheses

1.6 Scope of the Study

1.7 Significance of the Study

2. Literature review

2.1Suitable sections

3. Methodology

4. Time Schedule

5. Budget

6. Anticipated Problems

References

Appendices

Title

It must be brief, concise and accurate, reflecting the content of the research. The researcher should make sure that it contains both the dependent and independent variables, especially if the research correlational in nature. It also indicates the purpose of the study. Words like relationship, impact or effect may not be used in correlational studies.

A topic should be chosen with care. Selecting a suitable topic requires a clear research question and current significance.  Normally a research topic should satisfy the following criteria:

(i) state the key variables included in the study,

(ii) relate it to the research design and/or state relationship between variables for associational studies,

(iii) state the population/area/organisation to which results would be applicable or where the data will be collected from,

(iv) avoid redundant words like impact, relationship, effectiveness, etc.,

(v) use only acceptable discipline-related terms,

(vi) should neither be too long to be over explicit nor too short to be over implicit; it should be concise and to the point.

Research Proposal(Ctd...)

1.0 Introduction

This gives the general introduction to the study and the other parts in the chapter.

The introduction of a proposal should begin with a capsule statement of what is being proposed or the intended aim of the study and then should proceed to introduce the entire chapter one to a stranger.

1.1 Background to the Study

It gives the context of the study and answers the question “Why am I doing this study now?” It also gives specific examples of the nature of the problem and provides data as evidence from case studies, previous research, newspapers, audit and other reports, etc. It gives a review of background information to the problem.

Both common and operational definitions of key variables or concepts in the research are given together with their indicators/elements (observable behaviors). The indicators of the variables should also be given. More so, the aim of the research should be given. It lays a basis for developing a research problem. It should be backed by evidence and/or statistical data.

It should give enough background to enable an informed layman to place the particular research problem in a context of common knowledge and should show how its solution will advance the field or be important for some other work.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Once a researchable problem is identified, it is stated clearly in one or two sentences. It answers questions like; what is it that you want to investigate? What is troubling you or what is the problem that you think your research will seek to address? It brings out a knowledge gap, an unanswered question. It describes

• What is wrong out there?

• What has been done to try and rectify the situation? (Other steps attempted)

• Whether the situation been rectified? If NOT, then;

• What the probable cause is?

• What will happen if the situation continues? (Some catastrophé or injustice)

1.3 Purpose of the study

This gives the general reason for carrying out the research. It should include all or most of the key words of the title, either exactly as they appear in the title or in another form. e.g. the purpose of our study is to establish a relationship between motivation and organizational performance ( a case of any organization you wish to study)

1.4 Objectives of the study

Objectives are statements of the results that are measurable and must be observable at the end of the research. They briefly indicate what you intend to achieve after carrying out the study. They should be related to the variables that appear in your topic and statement of the problem. The objectives indicate the scope or the extent to which you are going to undertake the research. Therefore, concrete verbs and not abstract ones are used to state them. Verbs like determine, compare, list, find, calculate, identify, establish etc are relevant in stating objectives. Verbs like understand, appreciate, study, know, think and see are irrelevant in setting objectives since they are abstract. They are written in operational format using words like ‘establish’, ‘examine’, ‘assess’, etc

Objectives should be SMART, that is

S - Specific

M - Measurable/manageable

A - Achievable

R - Relevant

T - Timely

Objectives should also be realistic with regard to local conditions. They should be clearly phrased to specify what is going to be achieved. Objectives should exhaust variables presented in the topic and/or conceptual framework.

Objectives should be stated in action verbs that are specific enough to be achieved not vague/abstract verbs.

Examples:

ACTION VERBS (RECOMMENDED) | VAGUE / ABSTRACT VERBS (AVOID)
To: -

• Identify

• Describe

• Find

• Determine

• Establish

• Investigate

• Compare

• Calculate

• Analyse, etc.
To: -

• Know

• Appreciate

• Understand

• Study

These vague verbs do not direct student’s activity towards acquiring specific data.

They are stated to include activities that will be done. The activities should be exhaustive to cover the purpose of the study. However, the objectives should not be too many. Three to five of them are enough. They are hierarchical and chronological from the most basic to the most complex. They should not include giving recommendations to policy makers since that is implied in the research and should appear in the research significance section.

1.5 Research Questions/hypotheses

These are questions that are raised which the researcher will seek to answer so as to address the research problem and objectives stated. Sometimes for simplicity, objectives are turned into questions.

Hypotheses are tentative answers to the research problem that the researcher has to test at the end. They always have to be tested. It is common and advisable that research questions be stated instead of hypotheses.

1.6 Scope

This provides the boundaries of your research. They should include the geographical and conceptual or theoretical (content boundaries).It states the parameters within which the researcher will operate and commonly outlines the following limits of the study;-

1. Geographical scope (Sampling scope) which defines the area and individuals involved. This indicates the location/where you intend to do the research. The location of your respondents.

2. Conceptual (subject) scope which defines variables and their respective meaning in the study. This refers to the content and subject areas about which the researcher is going to do research i.e. motivation and organization performance. It gives the meanings and limitations of the variables.

3. Time scope which indicates the time frame which the research is going to cover. It is commonly stated for longitudinal studies.

1.7 Significance of the study/ Problem justification

This indicates the usefulness of the study you intend to undertake i.e. who will make use of the research findings ie who will benefit from the study and how. The gap between what is known and what is not known is identified by reviewing previous researches on the problem. If no research has been done on the problem then, what the local people know and do not know about the phenomenon may form a basis for the significance of the research. The way in which the research being proposed differs from previous researches is outlined and the way the research will attempt to solve the problem. The researcher should not be over ambitious to solve too big problems or exaggerate what the research cannot achieve given the available resources of time, personnel and funds.

Significance of the study answers the question “Who will benefit from the study and how?” It also outlines who will use the results of the study and how you expect your users to utilise the findings

2.0 Literature Review

This involves a critical review of existing works on the variables. Critical means what has been done and what has been left out. Literature review answers the question “What have other researcher said about the variables and their relationships and what have they left out? What are the interrelationships among the variables?” It is much more than a collection of different extracts; it must be well organized preferably according to the different themes or variables of the study and should be presented in a reflective manner indicating that the writer or researcher has given thought to what has already been written on the subject. It is always preferable to begin from the general area to the specifics and then the relationships.

Review of the writings of recognized authorities in the area and research studies previously carried out would make the researcher familiar with what is already known and what still remains to be done. Systematic review of related literature is expected to yield among other things, insight and information needed. The review of related literature is expected to assist the researcher in several ways in finalization of undertaken study. Searching should contain only those studies or literature which is related to the problem either as a whole or to some aspect (s) of the problem. The review of literature should be as concise as possible and must have continuity in thoughts.

Upon completion of the literature review, a researcher should have a solid foundation of knowledge in the area and a good feel for the direction any new research should take. Should any additional questions arise during the course of the research, the researcher will know which experts to consult in order to quickly clear up those questions.

For more on literature review, see

http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1038752.files/Doing_a_Literature_Review.pdf

The importance of literature in scientific research

1. To point out what has been done about the problem and what is probably left out ie pointing out the level of debate pertaining a particular issue. It is a tool of assessment of the current state of research on a topic. This is probably the most obvious value of the literature review. Once a researcher has determined an area to work with for a research project, a search of relevant information sources will help determine what is already known about the topic and how extensively the topic has already been researched. The main purpose is to ensure that you understand the broad context to your specific issue, need or problem and to avoid the duplication of existing research, especially flawed or outdated research.
2. Identification of the experts on a particular topic. One of the additional benefits derived from doing the literature review is that it will quickly reveal which researchers have written the most on a particular topic and are, therefore, probably the experts on the topic. Someone who has written twenty articles on a topic or on related topics is more than likely more knowledgeable than someone who has written a single article. This same writer will likely turn up as a reference in most of the other articles written on the same topic. From the number of articles written by the author and the number of times the writer has been cited by other authors, a researcher will be able to assume that the particular author is an expert in the area and, thus, a key resource for consultation in the current research to be undertaken.
3. Helps the researcher to gain more knowledge on the area they are researching about. and develop general explanations for observed variations in a behavior or phenomenon. The researcher can identify potential relationships between concepts and to identify researchable hypotheses. It can enable you to place your research in a larger context, so that you can show what new conclusions might result from your research.
4. Helps to justify the research problem through identification of key questions about a topic that need further research. In many cases a researcher may discover new angles that need further exploration by reviewing what has already been written on a topic. For example, research may suggest that listening to music while studying might lead to better retention of ideas, but the research might not have assessed whether a particular style of music is more beneficial than another. A researcher who is interested in pursuing this topic would then do well to follow up existing studies with a new study, based on previous research, that tries to identify which styles of music are most beneficial to retention.
5. Helps to define concepts and give their indicators and meanings. The researcher can learn how others have defined and measured key concepts.
6. Literature is practically useful in discussion of the researcher’s findings. Whenever findings are analysed and presented, it is imperative that the researcher shows the extent to which they agree with previous studies when discussing them.
7. It guides in questionnaire design by giving clues on the nature of issues to be raised when asking questions about given variables.
8. It helps the researcher to familiarize him/herself with the methodology, content and conclusions of others' research on the chosen issue, need or problem and to articulate the key research issues relevant to his/her issue, need or problem. Determination of methodologies and data sources used in past studies of the same or similar topics will enrich the current study. It is often useful to review the types of studies that previous researchers have launched as a means of determining what approaches might be of most benefit in further developing a topic. By the same token, a review of previously conducted studies might lend itself to researchers determining a new angle for approaching research. This introduces the researcher to the advantages and disadvantages of various methodologies and methods for research so as to comprehend more deeply the relationship between methodology, methods and results and to choose the most appropriate and productive methods for your data collection about your issue, need or problem
9. It helps the researcher to familiarize him/herself with potential successful responses to his/her chosen issue, need or problem which others have both attempted and evaluated for their effectiveness. This will help the researcher to learn from other researchers' experiences and to guarantee that when he/she chooses and implements his/her specific responses, he/she is aware of both the advantages and disadvantages attached to these, or similar, responses when implemented elsewhere.

What Questions Should the Literature Review Try to Answer?

A literature review summarizes and evaluates the state of knowledge or practice on a particular subject. To do this, most literature reviews must address the follwoing four tasks or sets of questions;

a)  to determine what each individual study has examined and

b) what each has concluded from its examination.

c) summarizing the collective results. To do this, sort the results into three categories: what the existing studies and reports have in common, what the studies disagree about, and what they overlook or ignore.

d) reach a judgment about the quality of the literature overall: what are the key findings that appear to be valid, and where is more work needed?

The most recent literature on the research topic is skimmed and information supporting or contrasting what the researcher has about his research is cited. The literature is obtained from previous research reports, government sources, the internet, databases, library, indexes and abstracts of journals, etc.

In literature review, if words of another author are cited verbatim, quotation marks must be used to engulf the words. If the words are cited by rephrasing them retaining only the key words, this is paraphrasing. The latter option is better and only information that has something to do with hypothesized relationships of one’s research’s variables is relevant. The review must be brief to avoid duplication of information of previous researches. Moreover, what is more important is new empirical knowledge to be generated by a new research not the already documented information from previous researches.

Plagiarism must be avoided. It is citation devoid of showing the source of information. It is a serious offence that can lead to penalty, like prosecution in court or discontinuation from studies. Some forms of plagiarism, in order of seriousness from the least to the most serious are;

· Citing one’s own past work without acknowledgement

· Citing a secondary source as a primary one

· Summarizing someone else’s ideas or findings without acknowledgement

· Lifting parts of another persons work verbatim without citing the reference

· Publishing someone else’s work in your own name.

The following table gives the indicators of good and poor literature review;

A ‘good’ literature review….. | A ‘poor’ literature review is…..
….. is a synthesis of available research | …..an annotated bibliography
….. is a critical evaluation | ….. confined to description
….. has appropriate breadth and depth | ….. narrow and shallow
….. has clarity and conciseness | ….. confusing and longwinded
….. uses rigorous and consistent methods | ….. constructed in an arbitrary way

Citation in the text

The American Psychological Association (A.P.A) system recommends the name and year system of citation. Citation by the name and year system is done by writing the sir name of the author followed by the year in which the work was published. Pages from which one cites may be given or left out.

APA Sources

1. http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/referencing/apa.htm

2. http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/referencing/apa.htm#How_to_cite_references_within_the_text_of_an_assignment

3. http://www.vanguard.edu/Home/AcademicResources/Faculty/DougDegelman/APAStyleEssentials.aspx

3.0 Methodology

This section should describe area where the research will be done and reasons for choosing it, the design of the research, the population, sample size and sampling methods, how the data is going to be collected and analysed or how the hypothesis will be tested. The rationale for sampling methods proposed must be given. The instruments to be used are described and how their validity will be established. Reasons for choosing data analysis methods to be used, how the analysis will be done and tentative interpretation of coefficients to be computed should also be given. Generally this section covers;

a) Research type, strategy and design

b) Survey population

c) Sampling design / methods

d) Sample size

e) Sampling procedure

f) Sources of data

g) Methods of data collection

h) Tools of data collection

i) Data collection procedure

j) Data analysis (cleaning, coding, entering, analysing) and tools eg SPSS

k) Data presentation eg in charts, tables

When writing this section, the future tense is used.

4.0 Time schedule

This indicates roughly how long the research will take. A Gantt chart is used to indicate which activities and how long each activity should take. It shows time for doing the research from the proposal write-up, data collection and analysis, report writing and submission of the final report.

The researcher has to provide a time schedule budgeting the time and energy at his/her disposal. With this in mind, s/he may divide his/her project into a number of manageable phases and assign time limit to each phase for its completion. These stages may cover:

a) Preparatory work

b) Library work

c) Proposal preparation

d) Construction of tools including their pre-testing

e) Field work/ data collection

f) Data processing and analysis

g) Preparation of report

h) Presentation of the report/ dissemination of research findings

The time frame should be realistic, allowing some flexibility to cater for emergencies that may delay accomplishment of the research. It would be ridiculous for one to fail to beat the deadline that one set for him/her self.

5.0 Budget

This indicates the financial requirements for the research. The budget is important most especially if you are to identify a sponsor for the research. Preparing a working guide with time and budget estimates gives details about the funding, costing and timing of various steps of the research project.

The cost of the project is to be estimated in terms of total duration of the project and facilities needed. It may contain the following items:

1. Salary of research assistants
2. Travel expenses
3. Purchase of Books and tools
4. Development/Adaptation of Research Tools
5. Printing of tools & correspondence etc.
6. Hiring charges
7. Data Processing (Computer)
8. Report writing, photocopying, binding etc.
9. Contingency (stationery, postage, etc.)

Whether the source is known or unknown, the researcher has to draw a budget stating how much money will be used and the expected sources. If one has more than one financier, he or she should let each know the amount that each one will contribute. If it is not allowed to have more than one financier for one research, one should not receive money from both of them to avoid the possibility of both of them stopping funding the research. The budget must be within the limits allowed and in fact some financiers prefer a budget that is even less than the stipulated maximum.

Therefore, the size of a research should be commensurate with the available funds. If a researcher is over ambitious and complicates the research unnecessarily, he/she should use his own other sources of funds.

6.0 Anticipated problems

This indicates the prediction of some problems you are likely to face as you undertake the research. These will hinder the success of your research

References

This is the list of all the sources of literature cited in the work, presented in alphabetical order by the surnames of the author(s). Only authors who are cited in the text should appear. The list should be presented in an acceptable format.

The list of references should be in alphabetical order.

General principles of Writing a Reference list

- the reference list should begin on a new page
- the title of the reference list should be ‘References’ and should be centred on the page
- the reference list should be double-spaced and have a hanging indent
- a hanging indent is where the first line of each reference is fully left justified while subsequent lines are indented to the right. The width of the hanging indent should be 5-7 spaces or 1.25 cm. Hanging indents and double spacing are set by the word processors
- all references in the reference list must be cited in the text
- all references cited in text must be included in the reference list. Exceptions are unpublished items such as correspondence
- references are listed in alphabetical order by author surname/family name
- the author names for each reference are given in the order they appear in the source
- where there are two articles with the same authors and date, the references are ordered alphabetically by article title and a suffix (i.e., a,b,c) is added to the date
- organisation names should be written in full unless they are obviously recognisable
- when citation ends with a URL do not add a full stop

Common abbreviations:

& = and

chap. = chapter

ed. = edition

Ed. = Editor

(Eds.) = multiple editors

n.d. = no date

No. = Number

p. = page number (single)

pp. = page numbers (plural)

para. = paragraph

Pt. = Part

Rev. ed. = Revised edition

Suppl. = Supplement

Tech. Rep. = Technical Report

Vol. = Volume

Referencing takes on different forms depending on the source of information and the style (ie APA or Harvard) as shown below;

APA Sources

1. http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/referencing/apa.htm

2. http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/referencing/apa.htm#How_to_cite_references_within_the_text_of_an_assignment

3. http://www.vanguard.edu/Home/AcademicResources/Faculty/DougDegelman/APAStyleEssentials.aspx

Appendices

These are all the other attachments that the researcher may with to provide as additional evidence or for clarity. They may be maps, Reports, etc.