The Research Process

Chapter 4

The ProcessExplore

Propose

Prepare

Execute

Analyse

Publish

Research proposal

The research proposal is your opportunity to persuade the powers that be that you know what you are talking about. That you have thought through the issues involved and are going to deliver. That it is worthwhile to take the risk and give you license to get on with it

[Robson, 1999]

Criteria of a good project proposal

It must:

• be direct and straightforward

• communicate well

• be well organized

• reference enough, current, relevant sources

It must NOT:

• be longer than eight A4 typed pages.

Purpose of a proposal

You write a research proposal in order to:

• organize your thinking

• clarify the path to your goals

• lessen the possibility of failure

• show that your research is worthwhile

• solicit funding

• prevent conflict with your supervisor

Contents of a proposal

Your proposal will:• explain the type of problem you want to

investigate• state how you plan to do this• indicate the significance of your research• help assess your ability to do research

(to understand, summarise, generate and organise knowledge)

• compel you to formulate clear goals

Layout of the research proposal

• The title and author• The introduction• The description of the problem area• The problem statement• The research objectives• The methods to be used• Project schedule• Outline of final report• The references

The title and authorPurpose:

• To capture the essence of the research project

• To indicate what the topic of the research is

• To provide essential keywords for the purposes of retrieving the title through abstracting services, etc

Checklist for Title

Criterion Yes No

Does the title accurately describe the exact nature of the main elements of the study?

Is the title free of technical terms or jargon?

Does the title communicate a concise, unambiguous picture of the contents?

Does the title serve as a good identification of the study for retrieval purposes?

The introductionPurpose:

• To indicate the general importance of the field

• To indicate the nature or present understanding of the field

• To convince reader of relevancy of project

The introduction: continued

• Description of area of study (Background)– Establishment of the area of study

• Description of focus area– Identification of the particular focus of the topic

within the area of study

• Description of specific issues of interest– Identification of the more specific issues of interest

The description of the problem area (literature survey)

• Conceptual framework of study– To establish the conceptual framework for the study – Moving from general to specific

• Identification of problem area– To indicate where the study fits into the framework– identifying a gap in the previous literature or – identifying an inadequacy in the previous literature

• Rationale– To thus justify the value / need of conducting this

study against the backdrop of the previous research

“Knowledge does not exist in a vacuum. Your research only has value in relation to other people’s research, that is, in relation to existing knowledge”.

[Jancowicz, 1991:116]

The problem statement / statement of purpose

• To state the exact research problem in brief, concise terms

• must be related to your research aims

• shows validity of research proposed

• is followed by sub-problems (questions)

• From your research problem you need to develop your argument

Example: Problem statement

Modern science materials are not effectively used by primary school teachers

Research question

Example: Research questions

– Do teachers use and value modern science materials?

– How are the materials used in different classroom contexts?

– Why do teachers use the materials differently in different classroom contexts?

The research objectives

• To present the main objective(s) of the research– Primary research objectives

Statement of the main, conceptual objectives

• To present more specific objectives of the research

– Secondary research objectivesStatements of more specific, measurable objectives

Example: Research objectives

Primary objective– To develop guidelines for effective use of modern

science materials by primary school teachers

Secondary objectives– To determine the modern science materials available

to primary school teachers– To investigate the use of modern science materials

by primary school teachers– To investigate the benefits of using modern science

materials in the class room environment

To determine the use of modern science

materials by primary school teachers

Modern science materials are not effectively used by primary school teachers

The methods to be used / research methodology

• Indicate the means by which the research objectives will be achieved

– Research methods

• Outline a procedure which can be repeated by others

• Indicate the sources of data to be used

To investigate the use of modern

science materials by primary school

teachers

Modern science materials are not effectively used by primary school teachers

Literature Survey

Survey

Interviews

Content Analysis

Argumentation

Project schedule / Project plan

• To indicate the proposed dates by which each stage of the research should be completed

Example of Project Plan Year 1

Task Planned start

Time in weeks

Planned completed

J F M A M J J A S O N D

1 Advanced literature study

20/01 6 08/03 - - -

2 Finalizing research problem / question

08/03 2 25/03 -

3 Planning research design

25/03 2 08/04 - -

4 Preparation of project proposal

08/04 3 01/05 - -

5 Further literature studies

01/05 2 15/05 -

6 Write chapter 2 15/05 3 08/06 - -7 Write chapter 3 08/06 3 25/06 -8 Analyze literature

work25/06 2 08/07 - -

9 Write chapter 4 08/07 3 30/07 -10 Design solution to

research problem30/07 2 14/08 -

11 Write chapter 5 14/08 3 03/09 - -12 Write chapter 6 03/09 3 25/09 13 Write academic

paper25/09 3 15/10 - -

14 Write chapter 7 15/10 2 30/10 15 Write chapter 1 30/10 1 07/11 -16 Review and edit draft

chapters07/11 2 21/11 -

17 Finalize thesis 21/11 1 28/11 -18 Proof reading 28/11 2 07/12 -19 Correct mistakes 07/12 1 14/12 -20 Handing thesis in for

examination15/12 15/12 -

Outline of final report

• Preliminary list of chapters with a short description on the contents of each chapter

The references / bibliography

• To list all references used in the research proposal document

• To list (and perhaps annotate) those references seen as central to the research

• To list references which are expected to be documented in the final thesis

“The formulation of a problem is far more often essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science”.

[Albert Einstein & Leopold Infield]