Assessment Session - The Research Proposal and Its Components

Lecture 11
Assessment Session The Research Proposal

and its Components
Research Proposal: Key

Areas
Executive Summary
Title, introduction and rationale
Aim/objectives/research questions
Literature
Approach, design and methodology (data
collection)
Access and ethics
Timeline/milestones
Conclusion
Executive Summary
A short section that summarises your proposal
in such a way that anyone reading it will
become familiar with the content without
having to read the whole proposal.
It is a summary of the proposals main or
essential information.
Similar but not the same as an abstract.
Longer than an abstract: around 500 700
words.
Title, introduction and

rationale
Provide a draft title - Title should be no more than
15 words and should adequately reflect the
content of your proposal.
Introduction or background should set out what
the research area is about.
Rationale - This is where you should indicate why
the research area is important and worth the
effort. This might be expressed in the form of a
problem that needs solving or something you find
exciting
about
various
practices
in
an
organisation/industry or country that you wish to
highlight.
Rationale (contd.)
In this section you may wish to make
reference to or draw attention to some
relevant literature but only to a limited
extent.
Research questions/aim and

objectives
Research questions are essentially the same
as objectives. You can have either or both
e.g. RQ What are the key factors that
influence employee engagement?
O - To identify the factors that
influence employee engagement
Should have maximum 4 and minimum 2
objectives/research questions

objectives (contd.)
An aim is a general statement of what you
intend to accomplish e.g.
The aim of this research is to examine
the advertising campaigns undertaken in
the year 2010 for the marketing of
computer games by three companies
Objectives specify how you intend to
accomplish the aim. The two therefore have
to be connected and support each other

objectives (contd.)
The objectives of the research emerge from
the aim of the research
Objectives are usually written in short phrases
presented as bullet points. For example:
- To highlight the advertising campaigns of
the three companies
- To compare and contrast the advertising
campaigns of the three companies
Literature Review
Source and read literature that is situated within the
area of your research or nearest to it. Use the key
concepts in the title of your research to help you
identify the areas within which you should focus
your reading
Reading the literature provides an indication of the
kind of research being carried out in your area
It also draws attention to any gaps in the research
area which suggests the need for research in this
area to plug that gap
Approach, design and

methodology
The approach you adopt for your research will
reflect
the
different
philosophical
underpinnings of research projects
You research approach and design will detail
precisely how you intend to achieve your
objectives. It will also outline the general way
in which you intend to carry out the research
The research design section gives an overall
view of the method(s) chosen and the reason
for that choice
Approach, design and

methodology (contd.)
In the research design section you should refer to
where the research will be carried out e.g. in a
particular organisation or more than one; on a
particular sector(s) or country; you should also specify
who will participate e.g. managers, employees,
ministers etc.; you should also clarify how you intend
to carry out the research e.g. survey and or interviews.
In the data collection or methodology section you need
to clarify exactly how the data will be collected e.g. if
using a survey, how will the survey be distributed?
What will be the sample size? If using interviews, how
many will you conduct? How will they be analysed?
Access and ethical issues

In terms of access issues, outline how you will
gain access to participants/sample.
What ethical issues is your research likely to
raise? How will you overcome those?
Mention that consent will be sought from
respondents and that you will adhere to the
guidelines for conducting ethical research and
will seek ethical approval from your University.
Timeline/milestones
Helpful if you divide your research plan into
stages. These stages can be similar to those
outlined in the example of the Gantt Chart
which I gave you in the tutorials. The dates
should be approximate dates and should
reflect the start period of your thesis stage
which is likely to be July 2016 and end date
likely to be September 2018
Remember that some activities may overlap
i.e. may take place at the same time.
Conclusion
Your conclusion to the proposal should be
fairly brief and should sum up the whole
proposal, restating what the proposal is
about, how it will be executed and what the
researcher expects it to contribute to the
area.
References
Referencing should be in Harvard format
All references in the content of the proposal
must appear in the list of references at the
end of the proposal
References must be in alphabetical order
Remember the marking

criteria!
(see module handout page 6)
Structure/Organisation and Presentation
Knowledge and Understanding
Skills and Application
General points to note

Assignment should be in report rather than essay
format.
Do not use 1st person.
Should contain clearly distinguishable sections; use
sub-headings where necessary.
MUST submit on Turnitin using the link on the
modules Moodle site.
Turnitin version will be used to check for plagiarism.
Submission date is 12th of May by 1700 hrs.
Late submissions on turnitin will be penalised.
General points to note
Assignment should be 5000 words (+/- 10%). This

does not include references or appendices. Absolute
maximum is 5500 and absolute minimum 4500.
Include a word count.
Make sure you insert page numbers.
Include a general statement that this is your own
work.
Assignment can include appendices at the end but
only include material that is directly relevant.
If inserting figures/tables make sure that they are
relevant, numbered and have a title that reflects
their content.

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Lecture 11

Assessment Session The Research Proposal

Research Proposal: Key

Title, introduction and

Research questions/aim and

Research questions/aim and

Research questions/aim and

Approach, design and

Approach, design and

Access and ethical issues

Remember the marking

General points to note

General points to note

Assignment should be 5000 words (+/- 10%). This

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