RESE1075 Foundations of Scholarship and RM

1. RESE1075Foundations of Scholarship and RM Session 7: Briefing on Research Proposal Prepared by Dr Jo Cullinane (2008) Updated by Nola Stair (2014)

2. SESSION LEARNING OUTCOME • Comprehend the requirements for their research proposal • Articulate the method they will use to determine their topic area for the proposal and the subsequent Research Report

3. Assessment for this course:

4. Research proposal • Work individually to write a 2000 word proposal • Outline the topic you propose to research in the Independent Business Research Project course. In your proposal, demonstrate that you: • Have a clear and specific research question/ aim/ hypothesis • Have contextualised your research within the academic literature; • Understand the philosophical and methodological bases for your research; • Have a sound method • Use Harvard style in-text citation and referencing • NOTE: You must achieve a pass mark in order to proceed to the research project (dissertation) stage • Due: • Hand in via VLE

5. Proposal Topics • The topic should: • Be appropriate to the MBA • Be sufficient to develop into a 12,000 word dissertation • Have an aim or hypothesis • Embedding the proposal topic • The proposal must also: • Reflect knowledge and understanding of relevant academic and professional literature Include an overview of an appropriate research design to address the topic • Fully referenced and professionally presented.

6. What is Research? • ‘Enquiry’: • Research is a systematic way of asking questions. A method of enquiry. Or… • Discovery’: • To find something out in a systematic way in order to increase knowledge • Research is conducted to solve problems and expand knowledge • Seeking through methodological processes to add to knowledge by the discovery of non-trivial facts and insights.

7. General Specific Starting Off… What is your research about? • Research Interest • Research Topic • Research Hypothesis/ Aim • Research Objectives

8. Differences Among Topic, Hypothesis and objectives • A research interest is the broad subject matter being addressed in a study. • A research topic is a specific issue or concern to be studied • A hypothesis/aim is the major issue to be addressed in the study… Why should you do it? • Research objectives are subsets if the research hypothesis the researcher would like specifically answered or addressed in the study.

9. Attributes of a Good Research Topic • Definition • are your research question(s) and aims clear? • Access • will you have access the data, people, documents for the research? • Achievability • can the work be completed in time and within any major constraints? • Symmetry of Potential outcomes • will the research be of value? Negative results are often equally useful • Related to theory • does the topic contain issues that have a clear link to established theory? • Value and Scope • Can the research provide insights or contribute to solving a problem?

10. Choosing the topic • 1. Draw - up a short list of topics • Consult library catalogues, colleagues and fellow students • 2. Select a topic for investigation • Explore possible outcomes and decide what the emphasis of your study • 3. Establish the precise focus of the study • Draw up a ‘first thoughts’ list of questions and subject each to a rigorous examination

11. Research Aims • Your aim should be able to be phrased as a question, but ask yourself… • Is it actually more than one question? • If it is addressing more than one question: • are those questions related? • Are they addressing fundamentally different issues? E.g. should we do it and how should we do it? • Is it solving an organisational problem • Is it relevant to your scheme (MBA)? Does it draw on concepts and theories from your taught modules? • Is it sufficiently strategic?

12. Aims -Examples • To re-launch company XXX into the European market after its transfer from its existing manufacturing site in England • To investigate and understand the benchmarking process and how XXX could utilise this technique to give them a competitive advantage in their strategic planning. • Improve the effectiveness of XXX company by researching current and future trends in it in order to gain competitive advantage. • To assess the needs of our customers and develop the services to meet the needs of customers. • Are these good or poor aims?

13. Formulating Research Hypothesis: • A research hypothesis is simply a formal statement of your research question, taking into account what you learned from searching the literature. • The research or experimental hypothesis is our prediction about the relation that exists between the independent variable that we are going to manipulate and the dependent variable that we will record.

14. Hypothesis: • A “Hypothesis” is a declarative statement in quantitative research in which the investigator makes a prediction or a conjecture about the outcome of the measured relationship. Example: • It is my hypothesis that there will be a difference in mid-term examination scores between those who arrive early to class and those who either arrive late or skip class.

15. Null Hypotheses • A “Null Hypothesis” makes a prediction that there will be no statistically significant difference or relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. - what happens if the research cannot confirm anything. • Null Hypothesis (N0): • There will be no confirmable difference in mid-term examination scores between those who arrive early to class and those who either arrive late or skip class.

16. Pg 1 Title Page Research proposal: <Working Title> <your name> <date of submission> Pg 2 Executive Summary Pg 3-6 Contextualisation Summary of key research in the area (literature review – see next slides) Questions or issues that remain unanswered Value of the research in terms of possible outcomes Pg 7 Research Methodology Meta-theoretical basis Research question or objective Aim or Hypothesis Pg 8-10 Research Method Possible methods to address the research question or objective Explanation of the chosen approach to the research Proposed specifics of the research Pg 11 Feasibility of the research Overview of any impediments to undertaking the research Agreements, resources, skills and budget Schedule Risks and ethics Pg 12-14 Partially annotated bibliography list of references Appendix: Dissertation structure in chapters Structuring the Proposal

17. NEW - Structuring the Proposal Introduction Describe general area to be studied Explain why this specific area is important to the general area Background / Review of Literature Summarize what is already known about filed. Include basic background info on topic from literature review Discuss previous critical studies Why are these studies insufficient? What questions remain unanswered? Research Objective Methodological position (ontology and epistemology) State Aim, Objective, or Hypothesis List specific questions to be explored Explain how questions are related to larger issues in the Introduction Method and Design General method to explore the research question or objective Explain why method is best suited, potential difficulties in collecting data and how to overcome, design features to ensure ethical purposes Describe participants & selection process How will data be presented and how it will be analyzed to support aim? Significance / Conclusion Overview of how proposed research will lead to significant improvement over original studies and benefit to field. References Include all references in Harvard Style

18. Purpose of literature review • Position the study • what new angle are you exploring? • Links existing research with your own empirical work • Ensures you answer the ‘right’ questions • repeating and extending work of others, • pioneering new territory • The evaluation and critique of the existing research: • Identify relevant concepts, methods, techniques & facts • strengths & weaknesses of existing research • show how references agree/disagree • Task is to build an argument, not a library • Should not be a summary without analysis

19. Your responsibilities Proposal Timetable Outline/ Plan Accuracy and academic honesty Drafts Progress Due dates Your Supervisor’s responsibilities Fine-tuning topic Feedback on work Guidance Discussion Advice Marking During the Dissertation