BUSI49106 Research Methods for Managers - Nottingham Trent University

Sections of the research proposal?

The general outline below for your research proposal:
• Title of research proposal
• Introduction
• Research aims and objectives
• Literature Review and Research questions
• Research Methodology - including discussion of research philosophy, research strategy and research design
• Research Methods - include how you will collect data, sample size
• Ethics
• Research Plan - including Gantt chart
• References (Not included in word count)
• Appendices (Not included in word count)

Introduction (350 words)
This should introduce the proposal - background and rationale; what it is and who it's for, explain your interpretation of the brief, background and context, include the research questions and provide the scope of the proposal.

Research aims and objectives (150 words)
The research aim is a broad statement of the general intention of your research indicating what you intend to achieve by the end of the project; the research objectives state what you need to do in order to achieve your research aim

Literature Review and Research Questions (600 words)
This section offers a critical review of the key literature/knowledge underpinning the research questions. You need to provide a brief discussion of the key trends in the existing knowledge and how this relates to your research questions. Set out any conceptual frameworks developed from your plan which helped you to decide what type of analytical tools should be used. This section should therefore include your conceptual framework diagram. An example of a conceptual diagram is below:

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Figure 1: Example - A conceptual map of the interconnectedness of factors affecting student participation in online discussion forums

Research Methodology (300 words)
In this section discuss your ontological and epistemological perspectives. You should be clear on your underlying research philosophies that may influence the approach taken to data collection and analysis.

Research Methods (400 words)
Explain the approach to the research. Is this qualitative or quantitative research? What is your approach to collecting and analysing data? What research methods will be adopted? Explain how the methods employed in your research will help you answer the research questions above.

Ethics (200 words)

Note: You should present figures (such as graphs or graphical representations) with the titles following the representation and using a figure numbering system. You may wish to use the caption function by right clicking the graph and selecting caption in MS Word.

Introduction

• Your Introduction will comprise of the Background and Rationale for the research.

• Typically, the Introduction is written separately from the Background to the Research, however in the context of this module, the background and rationale will form the introduction to your research proposal

• You should explain what you are researching, why it is important, what prompted this research, and a general outline of your research question(s)

Research aims and objectives
• The research aim is a broad statement of the general intention of your research

• It indicates what you intend to achieve by the end of the project (not necessarily how you plan to do this)

• Research objectives state what you need to do in order to achieve your research aim
• (your research questions derive from these objectives and indicate what you need to do to answer your main research question, or test your hypotheses)

Literature Review and Research Questions

• A concise and critical review of the literature that provides the context and theoretical framework of the research

• With business and management research, your literature review may extend across more than one discipline e.g. strategy, marketing, HR, economics, and sociology.

• The literature review should include a conceptual framework, and the research questions you intend to address

Research Methodology

• Your general ontological and epistemological perspectives

• This section is very brief, but should concisely capture your research philosophy and why this approach is taken in the context of your research

• Ensure that you make the link to the context of your research clear.

• This section describes what are your proposed research methods.

• This includes the procedures selected for data collection, the sampling methods used, etc.

• This section should provide sufficient detail that the reader understands clearly how you intend to undertake this research and why (this connects to your methodology section)

• This section should be used to address any ethical issues that may arise in the conduct of your research

• Do you need to ensure anonymity of the data (e.g. individual anonymity, organisational anonymity)?

• How do you ensure confidentiality of the data collected? How will this data be securely stored during the research process?

Research plan - including Gantt chart

• Your research proposal should give some idea of how long it will take to complete different parts of your research (e.g. data collection), where certain activities may overlap, and what are the key deliverables

• The Gantt chart will be used to illustrate a general timeline for completing primary research activities using the case brief that you have been given. This should include consideration of key issues that may arise as a result of your research

• Harvard Referencing format for references list and in-text citations

Attachment:- Research Proposal.rar